No, There's No Racist Backlash Against Star Wars
May the hoax be with you
Every so often, there’s a moral panic about an alleged backlash against a black person appearing in a genre film. Or an Asian, or a woman, or a transgender individual, or whichever designated victim it is this time.
Here’s the pattern:
Handful of trolls spew racist crap online
Lots and lots and lots of people yell at handful of trolls
Topic trends on Twitter because everyone has publicly congratulated themselves on not being racist
And then, because a bunch of people are patting themselves on the back for standing up to a few anonymous trolls, it becomes a thing. News outlets write stories about it. The studio milks it for outrage clicks.
(And it’s funny to hear about “the most popular Disney+ show of all time.” Disney+ was launched on November 12, 2019. Two and a half years ago.)
Are they knowingly lying? I can’t dismiss that possibility, because after all, these are show-business people we’re talking about. They could be amplifying a few trolls as a cynical publicity stunt. Or maybe they’re just misguided but well-meaning. Either way, social media has distorted our view of the world. It makes us assume the worst about each other.
I mean, is America more racist today than it was when this happened?
Lando Calrissian is the coolest MF in the galaxy. He’s been around since 1980. Forty-two years ago! Before most of the people pretending this is a problem were even born. Back then, did George Lucas or Mark Hamill feel the need to put out a statement defending Billy Dee Williams?
Maybe calling their own fans racists will improve the quality of Disney’s output? It’s worth a shot!
Poor Alec Guinness.
Guess that makes a racist now? So be it.
By the way, where was Disney when people were screaming hate at Gina Carano? They just hung her out to dry. Guess it’s different when an actor thinks for herself.
And even that wasn’t the first time black actors have been cast in that play. Orson Welles did an all-black production of Macbeth all the way back in 1936. None of this is groundbreaking. Pretending 2022 America is irredeemably racist is just boring.
Speaking of accusations of racism, it’s now racist to criticize the White House press secretary:
This is, of course, a lie. Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. has been in Washington since Watergate. Fifty years next January. He does not know what it feels like to be an average American, and nobody believes he does. Least of all Karine Jean-Pierre.
They really are trying to do Bill Clinton’s “I feel your pain” schtick. It’s amazing. First Biden picks your pocket, and then he tries to commiserate with you about being broke.
It’s also racist to scoff at this:
She did see that part of his speech, because it was the first thing Biden said. He lied about his past, and now she’s lying about his lie. She’s gonna fit right in at this White House.
I’m a free speech guy, and what you’re about to hear from this fat, stupid YouTuber is free speech:
This guy sucks, but it’s obviously a joke.
That said, the double standard is undeniable. If a YouTuber spewed this kind of garbage about any Democrat politician, he’d be banned from all the things. If he talked about killing Gretchen Whitmer or Kathy Hochul, he’d be held up as an example of Trumpism destroying America. It would be national news. Brian Stelter’s fat head would turn all the colors of the rainbow.
None of that will happen to this idiot, though. It’s good to be a Democrat.
https://jimtreacher.substack.com/p/no-theres-no-racist-backlash-against?s=r
No comments:
Post a Comment