Lena Waithe gets a backlash on social media over her new series ‘Them’, and some say they ‘thought a white person wrote it’ because of the depiction of racial violence.
Several people accused them on Twitter on Saturday, accusing them of appealing ‘fantasies of hate crime’ because of a scene in the fifth episode where a baby is brutally murdered while his mother is being raped.
The new horror series tells the fictional story of a black family who moved from North Carolina to a pure white neighborhood in Compton, Los Angeles, during the Great Migration of the 1950s.
Despite the hope that the move will be an escape from the Jim Crow South, the Emory family quickly faces the danger of both supernatural forces and racism from their new white neighbors who include the n-word in their forefront lawn scorching.
Lena Waithe is confronted on social media about her new series ‘Them’ (photo promo poster), and some said they ‘thought a white person wrote it’ because of the depiction of racial violence
The series, created by black producer and author Little Marvin, and produced by Emmy-winning black producer, actress and screenwriter Waithe, was released on Amazon Prime Video on Friday.
But anger over the series largely erupted after the Los Angeles Times published a piece asking if the series had gone ‘too far’.
The review showed a flashback in the fifth episode showing the murder of the baby before the family left North Carolina.
At the scene, mother Lucky hides her son Chester in a closet while a white mob breaks into her home.
The mob finds that they and the men are sexually assaulting Lucky while the woman stops the baby in a pillowcase and throws him around while singing ‘cat in the bag’, before dropping the baby on the floor and killing him.
The episode in question was written by Little Marvin and Dominic Orlando and directed by Janicza Bravo.
Social media users slammed the violent portrayal and slammed Waithe, questioning the portrayal of violence against black people, and some calling it ‘propaganda for white terrorists’.
‘I’ve been a horror superfan for over thirty years. “Lena Waithe’s’ Them ‘is the cheapest kind of horror,’ one person wrote.
‘This is propaganda for white terrorists and torture of porn fetishists. There is a big difference between fear and disgust. The program is disgusting. ‘
The series, created by black producer and writer Little Marvin (left) and produced by Emmy-winning black producer, actress and screenwriter Waithe (right), was released on Amazon Prime Video on Friday.
Another person said: ‘Lena Waithe, like many bourgeois black artists, uses black trauma to give their work the depth that they are too lazy or unable to provide.
“Too often people view a job as profound because black people are victimized and Waithe doubles down to look deep.”
Others doubt how colored people approve of the series.
“I think lena waithe should review ‘them’ and try to decipher who her target audience was,” one person wrote.
for whom exactly did she make this series? honestly, when I saw the trailers for it and read about the series, I thought a white person was writing it. do NOT look at ‘them’. ‘
Another agreed: ‘Lena Waithe to get just as far as it is may be a sign that there is still little to no diversity in these rooms, because Lena does not give this story to a living black person presented and got the green light. ‘
“Lena Waithe will pay for her crimes against the black community,” one person wrote along with a meme from an angry dinosaur Barney.
Several people took to Twitter on Saturday to say what they claimed was an appeal to ‘fantasies of hate crime’ about a cruel scene in the fifth episode where a baby is brutally murdered while his mother is being raped.
Both Waithe and Little Marvin are black.
Little Marvin defends the violence, saying it is necessary for ‘authenticity’ about the experience of black people during the period in America.
“Yes, there are concerns, but at the end of the day, as an artist, I have to sit by myself and wrestle with the authenticity of the show,” he told the LA Times.
“If I can sleep at night because I know this whole business has authenticity and integrity, that’s fine with me.”
He said that the aim was not to be ‘challenging or hot-button’, but to ask two things: ‘what frightens us the most and what feels the truth. The two things were usually the same. ‘
The executive producer also indicated the most important timing of his release because he said it was “a tight spot to be in 2021.”
“We are incredibly broken and split the middle,” he said.
‘There are people who want to take the country back to a time they consider great, and there are people who are fighting for progress. It’s a tight spot to be in 2021. ‘
The nation faces a racial reckoning after the death of George Floyd and several police killings of black people.
The new horror series tells the fictional story of a black family who moved from North Carolina to a pure white neighborhood in Compton, Los Angeles, during the Great Migration of the 1950s. A clip from the program
Despite the hope that the move would be an escape from the Jim Crow South, the Emory family quickly faces the danger of both supernatural forces and racism from their new white neighbors who, among other things, use the n-word in scorching their front lawn.
The trial of white cop Derek Chauvin for the murder of Floyd is currently underway in court in Minneapolis.
Floyd’s death has prompted renewed calls for racial justice and an end to systemic racism, but it’s because concerns are also growing about the rise of white supremacy and extremism.
Little Marvin said he had recently seen shocking videos of violence against black people, inspired to tell the story of ‘Them’.
“My inspiration was to wake up every day and to see cell phone videos of black people being terrorized in some way, whether through threats from the police, surveillance or something else,” he said.
“History goes back to the founding of our country. I also thought of the American dream. There is nothing more striking about it than owning a home.
‘There is a lot of pride in it, especially for black people. But as you know, it was anything but a dream. It was a nightmare for black people. ‘
Little Marvin defended the violence by saying it was ‘authenticity’ of the experience of racism, and several social media users agree that those who criticize it are ‘uncomfortable’ with the reality of racism.
Several social media users agree with the creators, arguing that those who criticize the portrayal of violence are just ‘uncomfortable’ with the reality of racism.
‘#THEM on Amazon is insane. “This latest genre of horror that investigates black trauma through racism will not disappear any time soon,” one person wrote.
And judging by the reviews, it makes our melanin-free friends uncomfortable. So you know it’s good. ‘
Another person agreed and replied, ‘Glad you enjoyed it (?!)! I could no longer agree – I heard one reviewer say it was just too much and she wanted it back.
‘Miss the whole point there. Really tough show to consider everything, but I’m glad it’s getting the recognition. ‘
The criticism is largely directed at Waithe, better known as Little Marvin, after she became the first black woman to win the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series for the Netflix comedy series Master of None.