Friday, October 23, 2015

The Force Gets A Wake Up Call

If you're like me, and if you're reading this and you're not why they heck aren't you more like me, you search out any and all tidbits about the upcoming release of a little indie film called "The Force Awakens." So much so that I am subscribed to a forum called "Obi Wants To Know" that periodically sends out questionnaires about upcoming events and promotions pertaining to the release of this barely acknowledged cinematic trifle. I kid, since as you know aside from being quite the Star Wars nerd, I am a kidder. There is a great big clock in Marin counting down to the world premiere that blots out part of the beautiful horizon. Again. I kid. I'm a kidder. And I am a nerd who shivers with the anticipation of each new snippet of film that the makers feel like tossing our way.
Not everyone feels this way. Hard to believe, right?
There is a group that is planning to boycott the film. Not because they are so very committed to the original canon, or because they would rather have their childhood left alone by the Disney Corporation, but because they believe that when the Force Awakens it will wake up racist. Biased against whites. And not just because of that white armor that storm-troopers seem to favor, but because of what they perceive as non-colored folk. "#BoycottStarWarsVII because it is anti-white propaganda promoting #whitegenocide,"read one particularly inflammatory tweet. Apparently this is a pretty nasty little bandwagon upon which hate groups have found to jump. Why should we stay away from Episode VII? "(B)ecause it's nothing more than a social justice propaganda piece that alienates it's core audience of young white males." Hard to argue that "core audience" thing, but social justice? I'm pretty sure that if there had been any kind of social justice in the works, somebody would have figured out by now how to get Chewbacca a medal. 
But that's old news. What's happening now is that a bunch of rednecks with access to a keyboard are plunking down their thoughts about how "Jewish activist JJ Abrams is an anti-white nut." And just what is the anti-white nut? Is it the almond? I don't know, but for now I will choose to see this as a good thing because the best thing about a boycott is that it will make for shorter lines on opening weekend. If you're like me. 

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