Let me preface this by noting: Superman as a character have never been very important to me. Sure, I saw the Christopher Reeve revival of the story as a young adult and could understand its romantic charm, but I still considered it a slight and fairly forgettable film. I am surprised that it seems there is undue reverence given to it by adults who saw it as a kid. Moving forward, I had no interest in "dark" comic book movies, be they led by Superman or Batman, and feel it's something of a shallowing out of modern culture that grown people should care enough about them to take them seriously.
That said, I was pretty impressed by the trailer for the new Superman movie, because it looked like a distinctive, sharp and colourful visual style with actors who seemed to have some charm. And there's a superdog.
Hence, I expected it to be successful, and largely positive reviews indicate it probably still will be.
But - Right wingers of the "anti-woke" school have leapt into attacking it (and vowing not to see it) because (apparently), Superman helps some non white characters and some pre-publicity made a point of saying he represents the ultimate immigrant story.
I even saw a clip of Australian MAGA tragic Rita Panahi on the (terrible Fox Lite Australian version of) Sky News interviewing Douglas Murray (neither of whom have actually seen the film, surely - given it has only just been released) condemning Hollywood for making another woke film that is going to fail:
Head of DC Studios James Gunn says the new Superman film is about the story of America, following an immigrant who came from other places and populated the country.
“You would have thought the studios would have learnt from the Snow White disaster over the last year,” Mr Murray told Sky News host Rita Panahi.
“It’s always just this tedious, predictable, juvenile politicking being forced on us, whether on flags on the streets, whether by the police, whether by the studios.”
This is really pathetic. Unless a piece of fiction aligns entirely with their culture war views, it has to be condemned sight unseen.
And as for masked men grabbing people off the street - including women who have been there for 47 years without a criminal record - well, Rita and Douglas will happily turn a blind eye to those stories. I mean, this is indefensible:
But the morning of Sunday, 22 June, didn’t go like every other morning. In the early hours, while her husband, Russell Milne, slept inside the house, Kashanian was approached in her yard by plainclothes men who identified themselves as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) agents.
She was quickly arrested without her family being told anything. They only found out after a neighbor who happened to be awake witnessed the arrest and notified them.
According to the neighbor, Kashanian was handcuffed before being taken away by multiple agents, details Kashanian herself was later able to confirm to her family. Her arrest involved three unmarked cars, including one that appeared to be a lookout, which her neighbor and family believe had been watching for a moment when Kashanian was outside and alone.
“Had the neighbors not walked out at the same time they were pushing her into the car, we would not have known she was taken,” said Russell.
Kashanian was able to call her family about an hour later, when she relayed to them what had happened and where she was. Ice officers told her that she was being taken to a holding center in Mississippi, before eventually being transferred back to a detention center in Louisiana. After that Sunday morning call, her husband and daughter didn’t hear from her again until Tuesday.
She remains in Ice custody in Basile, Louisiana, despite having no criminal record.
The timing of Kashanian’s detention was just hours after US airstrikes in Iran, a move that has coincided with the ramping-up of deportations of Iranians by the Trump administration. It also comes amid a nationwide crackdown by Ice, which has seen tens of thousands of immigrants detained, often by masked agents, plunged many communities into fear and outraged civil liberties advocates.
9 comments:
Stepford. What a rambling post.
“It also comes amid a nationwide crackdown by Ice, which has seen tens of thousands of immigrants detained, often by masked agents, plunged many communities into fear and outraged civil liberties advocates.”
I’m really surprised they took this route after we said to go first. Their approach doesn’t make sense if the re-shoring plan is meant to take hold. An inflationary boom caused by labor shortages and subsequent business closures doesn’t seem ideal. However, there’s now chatter about offering amnesty to those in particular industries. I hope that happens, because I’m really disturbed by the idea of deporting people who aren’t criminals but are hardworking folks.
Masked men without warrant entering private properties deporting employed people without due process. Conservatives are celebrating that. Obviously nations must maintain control of their borders and illegal immigration has become a huge problem but the response is illegal and malevolent. The only reason they have backed down is because of economic concerns. It should have been about the law and decency.
Rita Panahi is terrible, no wonder she is on so late. Sky News is the advertising arm for conservatives. I like to play the game of how long I have to wait for a AND THE LEFT blah blah blah. Often less than 5 minutes. Whenever I encounter anyone who thinks like that I don't bother. Tom on Catallaxy does it all the time.
Recently watched a discussion between Murray and Dillahunty about Mr. Ambiguity(Peterson). I like Murray's style, comes across as very personable. Does Murray complain about the political points made by Clint Eastwood, Chuck Norris, and Kevin Costner films? I agree about Disney and woke themes though, even Murderbot clearly has unnecessary woke elements.
Yes, John, I agree broadly with the Right wing critique of the rise of "woke" (and "girl boss" in particular) has been so obvious and unsubtle that it has put audiences off.
But it is so ridiculous that saying something as bland as "superman is, like, the ultimate successful American immigrant story" - something that has been said many times before - should be targeted by the MAGA crowd as "woke" speaks so much of the MAGA attack on all immigration - even when their leader's family comes from immigration too!
Nothing surprises me with the Make America Goofy Again mob. The administration is flailing about. Only 2 deals signed before the tariff deadline but Trump kept saying he was receiving calls from all over the world. Is there any MAGAs calling him out on that?
Meant to say “the worst go first”
The focus should have been on China and Mexico, not Australia and Europe etc. The real issue is that Trump afforded all these tax cuts such as no tax on tips and overtime.. horrible decisions, but he doesn’t want to cut spending. He wants to pay for those with tariffs, thereby ruining trade.
Ryan Dawson said he saw Superman. He thinks it’s a terrific film for the relevant age range. He thinks it’s being trashed because it’s criticising genocide.
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