Right-winger organizing boycott of Will Smith

[quaoar]

http://www.salon.com/ent/col/fix/2004/12/03/fri/index.html

A Will Smith boycott? Hard as it is to imagine anyone questioning the values of a man who once left the Academy Awards -- shortly before the winner of the category in which he'd been nominated was announced -- to rush to the side of his ill child, that's precisely what activist Jon Alvarez, who runs the Web site PABAAH.com (Patriotic Americans Boycotting Anti-American Hollywood), is doing. Alvarez is trying to start and stoke a movement against Will Smith in response to comments the actor reportedly made four months ago to a German newspaper, Frankfurter Allgemeine. Asked whether the 9/11 attacks had changed him, Smith said, "No. Absolutely not. When you grow up black in America, you have a completely different view of the world than white Americans. We blacks live with a constant feeling of unease. And whether you are wounded in an attack by a racist cop or in a terrorist attack, I'm sorry, it makes no difference." Smith continued, "In the '60s, blacks were continuously the victims of terrorist attacks. It was civil terrorism, but terrorism nonetheless. We are used to being attacked. That constant state of vigilance -- a sort of defensive state -- that hasn't changed at all. For me, nothing has changed at all." May sound reasonable to you, but apparently not, alas, to Alvarez, who's planning to forswear all Smith movies henceforth -- and hopes others do the same.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

1. They do this...

Simply for publicity. Will a Will Smith boycott do anything to improve society? Will we be a better people for it? Will our sheets be whiter and brighter and the rest of our clothes smell springtime fresh?

Nope.

Just find someone famous, get people pissed off at them and solicit money.

It's the new growth industry.

[Kurovski]

26. But the message remains:

say something the extremist nutjobs in this country don't like and you just might pay the price. It's intimidation. In this case somewhat similar to the kind that was institutionilised in the Old South.

I agree with the post below about people going to see movies with Will Smith anyway.

For myself, I'll still watch movies with Repub actors. Arnold S. is always saying crazy crap and I'll still watch his movies.

He's the only actor I've seen who can't act worth a damn, but whose movies I still enjoy.

Go figure.

[Lone_Wolf_Moderate]

37. You mean Schwarzenegger, right?

I love Will Smith's movies. I'll still watch Arnold's movies, or Chuck Heston's movies as well. The fact is, an actor's politics do not affect my movie-watching choices.

Besides, what was so anti-American about what Will Smith said?

It seems that the only ones who really pay attention to actors' politics, are the right-wingers who always complain about them, unless of course they're conservatives.

[Kurovski]

55. Yes, I do.

Really, why deny yourself the pleasures of the "Planet of the Apes " series because you disagree with Heston's politics?

[eleonora]

2. Won't work

people will still want to see their favorite blockbuster.

[infusionman]

3. I can't help it...

That I was born white. But Will has a good point here.

[KitSileya]

4. How thought-provoking....

Mr. Smith's comment, that is, not that dipshit who's trying to boycott him.

Smith said, "No. Absolutely not. When you grow up black in America, you have a completely different view of the world than white Americans. We blacks live with a constant feeling of unease. And whether you are wounded in an attack by a racist cop or in a terrorist attack, I'm sorry, it makes no difference." Smith continued, "In the '60s, blacks were continuously the victims of terrorist attacks. It was civil terrorism, but terrorism nonetheless. We are used to being attacked. That constant state of vigilance -- a sort of defensive state -- that hasn't changed at all. For me, nothing has changed at all."

It really puts things in perspective, doesn't it? People have been hammering the numbers when it comes to the likelyhood of being the victim of a terrorist attack, but the sheeple don't comprehend. I doubt they'll see what Mr. Smith is trying to say, but for the rest of us, it's yet another illuminating comparison of how it is being black in America.

[Democrat 4 Ever]

8. Doesn't all of this just scream McCarthyism?

I feel like Alice in Wonderland and have fallen down the rabbit hole, walked through the looking glass and everything is backward. Up is down, down is up, either say what "they" want to hear or we will destroy you. America has regressed back to the 50s mentality that you either drink the Kool Aid or "the establishment or good and righteous people" will see you ruined in every way possible. Next step rat out your friends - "Name people you know that feel the same way you do." "Do you know of anyone who didn't vote for Bush?" Black listing has returned. We saw it during the campaign with Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins and the Dixie Chicks and Michael Moore, just to name a few. Free speech is becoming a distant memory in this country. Joe McCarthy must be smiling from his little place in hell.

[formernaderite]

28. Not really....come on, we're talking some fringe group here...

...Mcarthyism, censorship is NOT the same thing as a boycott. I'm getting tired of people comparing the two. I remember helping organize boycotts in the late 60's and early 70's. Consumer boycotts are a right, and I defend the right of anyone to organize and promote a boycott. Sure, they can be based on just about anything...that's the beauty of the boycott. It's one of the last ways we as a little consumer can fight the corporations and powerful.
We're just as able to boycott on the basis of politics...heck, I've seen a few lists floating around here about "which" stores to shop at. Is that also Mcarthyism to you?

[noamnety]

15. How dare he!

How dare Will Smith compare terrorist attacks on black with attacks that actually affected white guys?!!!

</sarcasm>

[goclark]

18. Yea, Will just told the truth

and they can't face the truth.

Of course many blacks were victims of 911, our hearts cry for all of the families, of any hue.

But Will is exactly right,Black America is always on RED ALERT. We have been on RED ALERT since we came to this country on boats tied up by terrorists and sold to their terrorist friends.

We are on RED ALERT when we go into a store to buy a $500 purse and the store clerk tells us, " Oh that is expensive," and when we look it over the clerk follows us around the store to see if we will steal it.!

Our blood turns a dark mean red and the blood pressure rises.

Will Smith is a very bright man. I recall reading that he would like to be President of the United States. If Reagan can do it, so can WILL.

[GCP]

5. PABAAH - HUMBUG

What a total dickwad. Why is the US such a repository for such ass-holery? Just when I think I've heard it all, someone else crawls out of the woodwork.

[blackangrydem]

6. I like the Fresh Prince.

Who knows? He may have a future in politics.

[slor]

7. They are attacking...

one of the really big cross-over actors, racially speaking, so I do believe this boycott will show, yet once again, how stupid the "American is always right" crowd really is.

[Menshevik]

9. I remember when this PABAAH guy was on the daily show

HILARIOUS

If you haven't seen it: http://www.comedycentral.com/mp/play.jhtml?reposid=/multimedia/tds/cord/cord_8074.html&setplayer=real_media

[Democrat 4 Ever]

10. Thanks for the link.

Somehow I missed that show. It makes the point perfectly clear how these nutcases think. "McCarthyism isn't a bad thing." That is honestly the way these dickheads work. Scary.

[slor]

12. OMG...

that was so funny, I missed that episode...THANKS for the link. And j.alvarez is an idiot!

[ET Awful]

13. LOL - Leave it to the Daily Show to make an ass of the guy

I hope millions were watching the fool :)

[blondeatlast]

19. HILARIOUS!

Did you notice his "heroin-chic" girl-toy, too?

Thank you for this link!

[Menshevik]

34. the funny thing is

he takes real pride in coming off as an idiot

http://www.pabaah.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=737

Yeah, yeah...Alvarez says it's a "parody" but methinks he started calling it a "parody" after he realized what a fuckin moron he looked like in the daily show interview

[robre]

42. brain dead site protection system

[robre]

33. This isn't mccarthyism, just compiling a list of unpatriotic americans.

McCarthy denounced the man that won WW2, General George Marshall, as a commie.

[Catfight]

11. Will Smith is so good looking he could say anything he likes! nt

[pretzel4gore]

14. It's we (progressive liberal) who must defend Will, and Jeanne, Leonardo,

Sean Penn etc because the nazipoos probably target their families/careers....being a member of DU has alerted us to the dangers, and hopefully nazipoos like alvarez (even if he's just creating a lil ole job fer hisseff) need to be isolated, publicised and literally destroyed....anyone who's in the bushevik/nazipoo spotlight needs to know we can and will fight for them....
BTW didya hear geeb's new 'fatherland security' guy's a deadbeat who abandoned his little baby girl in korea (left her on a church step foxnews reports!) didya hear that the repuke's majority leader bill frist once admitted, according to cnn, using BLOWTORCHES on little kittens as part of med training? Didya hear cnn just said, that the reason no one did nothing on sept 11/01 was that a vast but secret military exercise involving jet hijackings crashing the wtc was, amazingly, being conducted at the very same time? Or that ABC news recently admitted that wtc #7 was demolished by prepared explosives? didya didya? Didya hear the foxnews report that the repubs won more then 100 county presisdential races recently by EXACTLY 18181 votes!!!??? OMG! That was the very same number they won several races in the '02 midterms!

[loupe-garou]

16. Johnn Alvarez is a "one size fits all" anti-progressive

idiot who lives here outside Syracuse, where I live. He is a publicity hound and a total ass as you can tell. The local media here plays his game , giving him more airtime than Michael Moore, when Moore was in town. They print all his moronic letters in the paper.

Yesterday he was picketing the craft fair put together by our local peace council, with signs about "communists" and "sodomites".......We arrived after they left, but I would have like to ask him what was wrong with Peace....

[blondeatlast]

20. Does he still have the "heroin-chic" girlfriend?

The one on the couch in the Daily Show clip?

That spoke volumes...

[loupe-garou]

24. I have non idea about his personal life

But she's probably a nice submissive girl from Cicero (stultifying Syracuse suburb full of swamps)

[thinkingwoman]

17. well the freak should

add me to his banned list if he doesn't like that statement.

9/11 didn't change me either. Why? Because for the prior 18 months my family had been living in hiding from a stalker who wanted to kill us.

We kept a restraining order for years and only dropped it because we thought he was getting off on seeing us in court each year.

We still look over our shoulders now, years later, as do our kids.

Terrorism? Yes it is a real threat. But in my life, terrorist will have to get in line behind the stalker.

[mbee]

21. Good one, the R/W terriorize people because of their supposed

hatred of terrorism. Figure that one out? They ought to check out their own people and stop them from commiting elction fraud and wasting our tax money.

[The Backlash Cometh]

22. Will Smith Rulz!

Bastard right-wingers. Will is telling the truth. I didn't come into this country with the defensive pose he's talking about. I learned it in time. It took 15-20 years for me to understand that what Will Smith is saying is true. Up to that time, I gave America a fair and honest trial. It wasn't until later when I realized that I had to make a choice between one race or pretend to be white in order to fully assimilate, that it dawned on me that I couldn't make the choice without being untrue to myself, since I was somewhere in between.

[colonel odis]

23. what did wil do? forget to take off his hat and move off the sidewalk for

a white woman?

sounds like mr. boycott just thinks wil's too uppity.

[hatrack]

25. Boy, bet Smith's quaking in his boots now!

There goes his Hollywood bankability!! :evilgrin:

[Nikki Stone 1]

27. Smith's remarks aren't simple enough--or sexy enough--to energize boycotts

It would be easier for the red staters and barnyard christians (small c for these "My Jesus hates you" folks) if Will Smith had bared his bum or his wife's boob. This is an easy concept. As it is, Will's remarks are too esoteric and require too much actual thought to process.

[OnionPatch]

29. Wow....he is so right!

I totally agree with what he said and I'm not even black!

I wouldn't worry a bit......the rightwingers goofy enough to hear about this boycott or promote it aren't fans of Will's in the first place. I predict it won't hurt him one bit.

Still, as a precaution, I make sure to support people who speak out against the American fascists.

[The Backlash Cometh]

31. You just made it into my buddy's list.

I have no clue how it works, but you're in.

[OnionPatch]

35. Gee thanks!

:hi:

[robre]

30. He deserves to be boycotted.

Will2k sampled "Rock the Casbah." This is totally unacceptable.

[mattclearing]

36. Thanks for this.

I was struggling to think of a similar reason, but was hamstrung by my enjoyment of "Enemy of the State," and my unwillingness to malign other less defensible movies of his.

If I had listened to his music, this would have been much easier.

[AP]

50. But, judging from this quote, you'd guess that he might appreciate the....

...political implications of sampling the Clash.

(And, incidentally, that song is a great commentary on the concentration of power in the hands of a few in the record industry.)

[imax2268]

32. man...

they boycott just about anything...soon they will have nothing left to boycott...

morons...

[Flammable Materials]

38. What do the Republicans have against black people??!?

I know, I know, but aren't they saying the same thing when people criticize Condoleeza Rice, Colin Powell, and Clarence Thomas?

[AgadorSparticus]

39. Couldn't have said it better myself. Will Smith ROCis not only talented,

he's obviously a very smart and grounded man. Nice to see that.

[Runcible Spoon]

40. like repugs even watch/buy Will Smith stuff anyway.

Freeper: "I jess kannn't understann all that hippity-hoppity slang jive blackie talk" :evilgrin:

[robre]

41. Will smith is pretty accessable

He makes dance mixes that hypocritical degenerate conservative assholes enjoy at their office parties.

[LizMoonstar]

47. "I like that Will Smith. ...

... He raps happy!"
- Neil Patrick Harris, playing the white intern at the black secret organization The BROTHERHOOD, in "Undercover Brother".

Oh man, this is getting ridiculous. I hadn't realised I'd gone to sleep and woken up in the 1950s this morning.

[Runcible Spoon]

53. *snarf!*

welcome to DU! :hi:

[Runcible Spoon]

54. *snarf!*

welcome to DU! :hi:

[Piperay]

43. Geesh what did he say that

isn't true or should get anyone upset. :shrug: Unless of course you are in denial about how it really is here.

[Hello_Kitty]

44. I can't for the life of me see what is wrong w/ what Will said.

He was merely describing reality for many people in this country. That Alvarez guy should have thought about what the statement meant before he went tearing off to exploit it. He just looks like an ass IMO.

[Walt Starr]

45. Yeah, like rightwing bigotted assholes would go to a Will Smith movie

anyway!

Fucking Limbaugh went off on Independence Day because it was too liberal, for Myth's sake!

[bush_is_wacko]

46. the funny thing is...

The founding fathers of this country would now be considered MINORITIES in this country because they were so liberal as to include freedom of religion rather than conversion to a specific religion in our constitution! We are well on the way to becoming the Kingdom of the Divided States of America! We have gone back a lot farther than the 1950's!

[kalidas]

48. Alvarez - he is freaking borg!!!

What a total freakazoid this guy Alvarez is! Give me a break. I am white, but I can totally appreciate and relate to what Will Smith said. African Americans are so strong it's incredible. The odds they had to overcome and still face everyday are formidable. I admire them tremendously and I do not think I could muster up the same resilience of spirit. This boycott will never catch on. Alvarez will be a group of one.

I can't understand why my idea to boycott Florida Citurs hasn't caught on. It would be a great way to exert pressure on them to clean up their vote fraud operation down there. We could really bring Jeb Bush to his knees if people would boycott Florida Citrus. Why isn't anyone interested in this idea?

[AP]

49. I like Smith. This is not only a smart comment, but it also explains why..

...Bush's fear campaign worked on white women but didn't work on any black voters.

[Blue_Tires]

51. the 'boycott' will go nowhere

this assclown is just looking for a little ink for his views and 'cause'

[Bouncy Ball]

52. Have fun Alvarez!

Personally I never watch Ah-nold the Gropenator movies, so have fun, dude!

(I think I come out better though!)

[Doctor_J]

56. Good luck with that

it's working so well against Michael Moore, Kirsten Dunst, Susan Sarandon, Julia Roberts, and other liberal celebs.

[c4550]

57. Entertainers

They can boycott him if they like. Don't know about the rest of you, but I give no weight to the opinions entertainers. It's their right to speak out if they wish. But I'm hardly going to base any decision on an actor/singer's statements.