Very uncool.
A Red Letter Media personality, Jack Packard, has seemingly endorsed the insane conspiracy theory that paints YouTube Star Wars detractors as “alt-right” foot soldiers under the command of people like Steve Bannon, Milo Yiannopoulos and Alex Jones.
Packard retweeted the controversial Medium manifesto by Rewriting Ripley and said that “linking the alt-right’s culture war to Star Wars hate as a gateway drug” was “terrifying.”
The irony in this is, of course, that Red Letter Media is known for fiercely roasting Disney and its handling of Star Wars, with the Nerd Crew skits racking up millions of views on YouTube.
I had to double check the date to make sure it wasn’t a clever April Fools’ joke, but the tweet was dated April 2.
Damn.
Packard is taken to task in the comments.
YouTuber Aydin Paladin refutes Packard’s claim that the article was well researched.
Other pop culture YouTubers, such as Gary Buechler from Nerdrotics, point out the hypocrisy of someone from Red Letter Media taking a shot at Disney Star Wars critics, given how their own platform grew exponentially because of the shade they threw at Disney.
Red Letter Media ripped The Last Jedi in two videos with a combined 10 million views.
If you can't get your first sentence right, it's pretty easy to assume that you would buy what this blog is selling. https://t.co/qTDBkk6ojG— Nerdrotic (@Nerdrotics) April 2, 2021
While Packard doesn’t speak for the entirety of Red Letter Media, it’s still going to be disappointing for many to see anyone from RLM do a “heel turn” on anti-Disney Star Wars fans.
And that article trying to paint Star Wars detractors as brainwashed “alt-right” foot soldiers? They’re playing with fire.
But hey, we live in an age when a former U.S. senator can call Gina Carano a literal “nazi” and “white supremacist” on TV. So it could have been worse.
The Last Jedi preceded a massive decline in Star Wars, with Hasbro reeling from poor Sequel Trilogy toy sales and Solo: A Star Wars Story tanking at the box office.
Galaxy’s Edge opened with a thud in Disneyland.
Only with The Mandalorian did Disney seem to recoup many “lost fans,” but even that victory was short-lived. The firing of Gina Carano has polarized Star Wars along political lines moreso than it ever has been before.
But there’s no “huge divide?”
Sure, Jack. Whatever you say.
[Source: Twitter]
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