Some of you might remember Indiewire’s Anthony Kaufman’s outrageously obscene and patronizing reaction when a *gasp* black conservative (Sonnie Johnson) appeared onscreen in support of Sarah Palin in “The Undefeated.” It was a revealing look at the dark side of an ideology that takes personal and comes out swinging with a vengeance whenever non-white, non-Christian, non-males escape the Liberal Plantation by daring to think independently of the Leftist collective.
For me, the most shocking moment in “The Undefeated,” however, comes with the appearance of a black person about two-thirds of the way through. I’m not sure if it’s what Bannon had in mind when he wanted to seize the audience’s attention, but the arrival of black conservative female activist Sonnie Johnson made me realize just how white everyone appears to be, in both Palin’s Alaska and Bannon’s Tea Party.
Translation: Any black person who doesn’t think like I do is obviously a “token” willing to be being used by the Right.
Kaufman did eventually apologize to Johnson (her memorable response is here), but like I said, his first reaction was very revealing.
Today, apparently because the writer/director is “a white Republican,” Kaufman attacks the integrity of a film he admits he hasn’t seen. And the title of the suspect film is — wait for it, wait for it — “Fear of a Black Republican.”
Coincidence?
I think not.
In an article filled with only speculation, suspicion, and a desire to do harm (on one of the Web’s most widely-read independent film sites, no less), Kaufman openly questions the film and filmmaker’s claim of being non-partisan:
I haven’t seen either film, however, so I can’t say if they’re any good, nor can I say if their claim to non-partisanship is valid. I have my suspicions, frankly.
But Kevin Williams’ “Fear of a Black Republican” and Brian Malone’s “Patriocracy” are both being presented as somewhat even-handed.
Williams’ website claims “Fear of a Black Republican,” is a movie that “neither party wants you to see,” and judging from reports, the movie seems reasonable in its general criticism, criticizing Republicans for inadequately and ineffectively trying to court African American voters, and chastising Democrats for taking for granted the African American vote.
But before we give Williams–a white Republican–the benefit of objectivity, it’s hard for me to believe that he’s not surreptitiously pushing some sort of anti-Democrat agenda.
Anyone who’s read Big Hollywood for any period of time knows that on a regular basis I openly doubt claims of political objectivity coming from any number of filmmakers. But my doubts are actually based on something called a TRACK RECORD. George Clooney, Robert Redford, and Paul Haggis can scream “non-partisan” all they want, but we already know who these people are and what they’re about. This, however, is Kevin Williams first film as a writer/director. Ever.
But here’s the most revealing part of Kaufman’s hit-piece: he mentions and links to Williams’ website; which means that he not only knows how to contact Williams, but he also knows how to –wait for it, wait for it — PURCHASE A COPY OF THE MOVIE. In other words, before he attacked the integrity of a fledgling film currently struggling to find an audience, Kaufman could’ve actually waited until Monday to watch his intended target and wrote about it from an informed point-of-view afterwards.
Imagine that.
To be fair, I should mention that Kaufman does take the time to speculate about a film that he suspects “leans left,” but that film is only questioned in a single paragraph at the very bottom. In other words: a fig leaf.
For the record, I know Kevin Williams. We met once and when we did I found his personal thoughtfulness towards the difficult subject of race and politics impressive enough that I asked him to come on board Big Hollywood and tell our readers about his film. After I extended the invitation, he warned me that the film went after Republicans, not just Democrats. I told him that made me twice as eager to bring him on board. And so I have no doubt that had Kaufman simply taken 30 second to fire off a short email, he would’ve found Williams just as impressive. But since it’s Kaufman who’s made speculation part of the ground rules here, now it’s my turn to play.
Maybe Kaufman didn’t want to be impressed by a “white Republican” filmmaker, just as he didn’t want to talk to Sonnie Johnson before stripping away her humanity until he found the token he needed to not upset his own beliefs.
Fear of a Black Republican?
More like, fear of all Republicans.
And shame on Kaufman. Unlike the “leans left” filmmaker Kaufman speculates over, Williams is a first-timer out there busting his ass trying to get his project off the ground and, unfortunately, a site like IndieWire matters.
But I suspect Kaufman knows this.
I’ve never seen IndieWire as a partisan attack dog before — as a part of the New Blacklist.
Maybe I was wrong.
I’ll leave you with Kaufmann’s laughable closing words:
It’s a good reminder–for me, and for others–to cool down the political-baiting and speak the truth.
Like I said: laughable.
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