Chamblee54

The story starts on twitter. @chescaleigh #Oscars2015 voter finds Selma cast wearing #ICantBreathe shirts to their film premiere “offensive” #OscarsSoWhite @chescaleigh Apparently protesting police brutality is offensive? But this same #Oscars2015 voter loved American Sniper soooo that says it all @ShaunKing I said it when Lebron wore it & I’ll say it re: the SELMA cast, if this shirt offends you, you are probably racist.
Evidently, the cast of the movie “Selma” wanted to make a statement, or get publicity for the movie, or both. They wore t shirts to an event. The shirts say “I CANT BREATHE,” in all caps comic sans letters, with no apostrophe. This refers to something said by Eric Garner.
The t-shirt clad cast is posing in the “hands up don’t shoot” pose. This gesture became popular after Micheal Brown was killed. Many people find it unlikely that Mr. Brown made this gesture.
The Hollywood Reporter posted a story, Oscar Voter Reveals Brutally Honest Ballot: “There’s No Art to ‘Selma,'” ‘Boyhood’ “Uneven.” An oscar voter went into great detail about the different categories she was voting on. She liked “American Sniper” because it made a lot of money. This is important to the movie industry. If you want to send a message, call Western Union.
Daily Kos, condensed the story to three juicy sentences. “But if the movie isn’t that good, am I supposed to vote for it just because it has black people in it? I’ve got to tell you, having the cast show up in T-shirts saying “I can’t breathe” [at their New York premiere] — I thought that stuff was offensive. Did they want to be known for making the best movie of the year or for stirring up shit?”
PG is tough to offend, and easy to annoy. To have a grandstanding movie cast exploit a human tragedy is annoying. To have a internet facility call this pose “coming together in solidarity”, and call those who disagree racist, is distasteful. At what point does the word racist cease to have any meaning?
While researching this story, PG found this. “Unfortunately, students were not given the opportunity to hear any of Dr. King’s groundbreaking speeches in the film (Selma). That is because the film doesn’t include any direct quotes from the brilliant orator. Believe it or not, Martin Luther King, Jr.’s speeches are copyrighted, and filmmakers could not use his words in the movie without fear of being sued. Dr. King’s family owns the rights … and are famously litigious.”
Pictures today are from The Library of Congress.