Is this really a pattern or am I just paranoid?
I was watching the trailer for the upcoming movie “Sinners” and some right-wing comments are saying that the movie is DEI. The movie is new with new and original characters. Isn’t that what they said to do?
Racism
BUT
Not just regular “I don’t like minorities” racism, it’s nefarious, entrenched, institutional racism. Representation normalizes concepts of equality. Media without representation has long benefitted cultural white hegemony wherein white men are always the heroes and saviors, and minorities are the villains.
When minorities can also be the hero, it reduces the dominance of white men in culture. When anybody can be the hero, white men are no longer the default hero class.
There’s plenty of mature, self-actualized white men who celebrate representation and equality. The immature, emotionally stunted white men are very angsty over slowly losing their culture dominance.
A minority in a major role challenges the unspoken norm that culture is for white Americans. When anything challenges these norms, conservatives decry the “politics” in movies, video games, etc. But having a white person in the role is also political, in that it reinforces those norms. It’s just politics that they agree with, so they don’t notice it as political. It’s just How Things Should Be.