Anyone who has paid any modicum of attention to the far left over the last decade or so should have seen this coming a mile away.
As soon as some piece of media from the left is lambasted (even for perfectly fair reasons), leftists recoil in horror, collectively huddle and then point a finger at you for being racist/sexist/X-ist/Y-ist/Z-ist and therefore unable to appreciate “art.”
The Disney+ “Star Wars” spinoff series “The Acolyte” fits that archetype to a tee.
As the show continues to be skewered by critics and lapsed fans alike, it was only a matter of time before some prominent figure attached to the project lashed out at fans for letting their [insert your bigotry of choice] get in the way of this viewing experience.
Enter: “The Acolyte” lead actress Amandla Stenberg.
Trending:
The 25-year-old took to Instagram on Wednesday — Juneteenth, for those who observe — and posted a blistering and angry (and vulgar) rap video where she seemed to blame everyone but the showrunners for the poor reception of “The Acolyte.”
And yes, she made race a big part of her Insta-screed.
(Surely, the introduction of pronouns and plot holes wasn’t what pushed fans away. It must be the racism.)
You can watch the rap video for yourself below, if you are so inclined to subject yourself to such things:
WARNING: The following video contains imagery and language that some viewers may find offensive.
Stenberg almost seemed to be challenging critics to a rap battle, at least based on the accompanying caption.
“Happy Juneteenth,” she posted, alongside a black heart emoji. “[A]nd to those who are flooding me with intolerable racism — since it took me 72 hours on my laptop to make this song and video, u got 72 hours to respond. and I expect [choreography]!!”
The video itself made it clear what it’s about.
The Hollywood Reporter transcribed the lyrics, which you can read for yourself below:
I’m going viral on Twitter again
Open up the news to find some interesting things
20 million views
Interview from 2018
With Trevor the king when I was a teen
I was running from city to city to speak on a story
You know the one: police murdering a black boy
My people cried in theaters finding release
White people cried they could see us as human beings
Trevor ask what I want the people to know
I say white people crying was the goal
If they could take one thing what would it be?
I say empathy
Ooooo that’s why they mad at me?
They splice lines make hate they recognize
Make it look like the same propaganda they spew
Cuz they conflate our pain with violence
And try to weaponize everything that we do
The desperation of oppressors is rising
And now they holding onto any of thing they can use
If you rely upon misinformation
That tells me you’re afraid of the truth.
The song referenced her comments to Trevor Noah about the 2018 film “The Hate U Give” during an appearance on “The Daily Show.”
“White people crying was the goal”
Amandla Stenberg, lead actress for the new Star Wars series, The Acolyte: pic.twitter.com/b9gOhvYVRj
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) June 5, 2024
The chorus to the song then goes: “We so bored, don’t f*** with yo discourse.”
The song continues:
And now you listening imma tell you something fascinating
They spinning WOKE bastardize it and appropriate it
Last I recall WOKE was something we created
Speak truth to power
Keep an eye out for you silly racists
And now they use it to describe anything they threatened by
Remember when Gambino put it in the zeitgeist?
It was all about the people recognizing bigotry
The power of community
Not fodder for your clickbait
Speaking of which journalists I’m looking at you
Did you forget it’s your job to provide the truth?
Spreading divisiveness mining the metrics and date
Seem you gave up all your ethics for money and views
And I can tell that the people are tired
And the kids don’t trust anything that they view
We can learn something from their discernment
The future’s coming and it’s always the youth.
After another round of the chorus, the song picks up again:
My sis said don’t let it get down my spirit
But I’m sick and f***in tired of suppressing my rage
400 years of taking their bulls***
To compartmentalize like my ancestors had to encage
If you don’t confront the pain that you live with
It’ll manifest as addiction disease and hate
I’ve seen the infection repressing can give ya
I’m not goin to be the next one sent to an early grave.
The racial animus in the rap video is evident, if a bit bespoke, but completely glosses over any actual criticisms being hurled at “The Acolyte.”
Are you a fan of the original “Star Wars” trilogy?
Now, are there a few truly vile racists who are slamming the show for employing a black lead actress? Of course there are. It would be naive to suggest otherwise.
But do those racists make up the vast majority of the criticisms of “The Acolyte”? And does addressing those idiots fix any of the omnipresent issues with the show? Uh, no.
(Cries of racism are also a tad hard to take seriously given “Star Wars” is a fictitious world full of intergalactic alien species, where one of the most canonically powerful and popular characters — a black Jedi named Mace Windu — exists.)
“The Acolyte” already was facing an uphill battle when people employed by the show called it the “gayest ‘Star Wars’ ever.”
And if this is the way the show wants to address genuine and meaningful criticisms, that uphill battle will be a losing one.
