Everything That Upset the Internet This Week

by Meghan McKenna

What is the web-o-sphere angry about this week? A soul singer’s take on Michael Jackson, Disney’s first openly gay character, a comedian’s portrait of Aretha Franklin and a very scary YouTube ad. Here’s everything you need to know.

Sam Smith is caught saying he doesn’t like Michael Jackson

THE STORY: English singer-songwriter Sam Smith, of “Stay With Me” fame, joined fellow singer-songwriter, Adam Lambert, on a boat cruise in California. In a video uploading to Instagram by Lambert, Smith is heard saying: “I don’t like Michael Jackson, but this is a good song.” To which, someone off-camera can be heard responding: “Wow.”

THE REACTION:

RIGHTEOUSNESS OF THE RAGE: Sure, it’s surprising that a soul/pop/R&B artist isn’t a fan of the biggest soul/pop/R&B artist of all time. (Especially since, you know, accusatory similarities have been drawn between Sam Smith’s James Bond movie theme song “Writing’s On The Wall” and Michael Jackson’s “Earth Song.”) But did this single sentence, off-the-record backhanded compliment warrant a very personal take down from Jackson’s ex-wife? No, not at all. Personal opinions on art are allowed, right? It’s not like he called him untalented, he just said he didn’t like him.

Jim Carrey shares a portrait of Aretha Franklin

THE STORY: Funny guy-turned-painter Jim Carrey shared his latest work of art with the internet: a portrait commemorating the late Aretha Franklin, Queen of Soul.

THE REACTION:

RIGHTEOUSNESS OF THE RAGE: Art is up for interpretation and critique, and here’s mine: I’m pretty sure this image shows Franklin singing under a beaming spotlight, right where she belongs. But also, yes it does look like a portrait of Paula Deen.

Jack Whitehall has been cast as Disney’s first openly gay character

THE STORY: Disney announced this week that British comedian Jack Whitehall, a straight man, will star alongside Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Emily Blunt in Jungle Cruise. A source told The Sun that Whitehall’s character would be “hugely effete, very camp and very funny” and confirmed: “He is playing a gay man.”

THE REACTION:

RIGHTEOUSNESS OF THE RAGE: Representation is incredibly important, and is something we all need to be paying close attention to. But I would be a hypocrite for justifying this Internet outrage when Brokeback Mountain, Moonlight and Call Me By Your Name — which all feature straight actors playing gay characters — are among my favourite films. The problem (I think) isn’t that Jack Whitehall is playing a queer man, the problem is that the character is being described as an old-fashioned, super camp comedic stereotype. But that’s just what we know via a “source” in The Sun, so let’s hold out a little longer before we really rage. In other words:

An ad for the horror movie The Nun is popping up on people’s YouTube

THE STORY: A six-second pre-video advertisement for The Nun, the second spin-off to emerge from The Conjuring after Annabel: The Creation, sees a volume icon decreasing before the titular nun bursts from the darkness, scaring the living hell out of unsuspecting YouTube viewers.

“When a young nun at a cloistered abbey in Romania takes her own life, a priest with a haunted past and a novitiate on the threshold of her final vows are sent by the Vatican to investigate. Together they uncover the order’s unholy secret”, the synopsis teases. “Risking not only their lives but their faith and their very souls, they confront a malevolent force in the form of the same demonic nun that first terrorized audiences in The Conjuring 2, as the abbey becomes a horrific battleground between the living and the damned.”

THE REACTION:

RIGHTEOUSNESS OF THE RAGE:  If this happened to me, I would log out of my YouTube account indefinitely. Thankfully, YouTube has since removed the trailer for The Nun, deciding that it is “too scary” for viewers and that it violated the site’s “shocking and violent content” policy. “We value diversity and respect for others, and we strive to avoid offending or shocking users with ads, websites, or apps that are inappropriate for our ad network”, YouTube confirmed in a statement.

 

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