There are a few new rules of modern life that bear repeating. The first is “get woke, go broke,” which this reporter first read via Glenn Reynolds’ Instapundit. The second is equally true but without a firm origin story: “Social justice warriors are never, ever satisfied.”
It’s why a movie like Snatched, meant to empower women, got crushed for casting people of color as the villains. Or why Austin’s upcoming SXSW film festival is being hammered for not being inclusive enough.
Deadline.com testified on the festival’s inclusive behalf, unveiling some numbers to back up its claims.
The festival is also upping the ante when it comes to inclusion and representation with female filmmakers accounting for 49 of the feature films and 23 films being helmed by people of color. Women also have a strong showing on episodics, with three of the premieres and eight of the pilots helmed by females. Meanwhile, people of color directed three of the episodics and six of the pilots.
There’s more.
The festival also will showcase two documentaries fawning over progressive icons. The first is Knock Down the House, a love letter to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and three fellow liberal women. The second, Running with Beto, comes courtesy of a new film studio founded by Obama administration alums.
Naturally, the event also will feature films detailing immigration issues from what will likely be a left-of-center view.
In the Ben Masters documentary, The River and the Wall, five friends venture into the unknown wilds of the Texas borderlands to document the environment before a wall is built.
What more could a social justice warrior want? How about differently-abled actors on the big screen?
The Ruderman Family Foundation, which fights for “the inclusion of people with disabilities,” sent out a fiery press release on March 8 blasting the SXSW event. The problematic content? Come As You Are, starring Gabourey Sidibe of Empire fame. The road trip film, according to the Foundation, features characters who use wheelchairs but are played by actors (Grant Rosenmeyer, Hayden Szeto) whom, the Foundation assumes, do not require wheelchairs off-screen.
“While it is currently unrealistic to expect all roles portraying disability to be played by actors with disabilities, authentic casting of actors with disabilities in a higher proportion of such roles will have a tremendous impact in changing public perception of disability in our country and around the world,” said Jay Ruderman, President of the Ruderman Family Foundation, in the press release. “Popular entertainment influences public attitudes, and the inclusion of actors with disabilities on screen will help eradicate stigma and misconception pertaining to disability.”
The minds behind SXSW tried oh, so hard to appease the Outrage Culture. A noble try, but they didn’t quite succeed.
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