The Jamie Lloyd Company has hit back after its production of Shakespeare’s “Romeo & Juliet” has been the subject of what they call a “barrage of deplorable racial abuse” aimed at an unnamed cast member.

The play, directed by Jamie Lloyd (“Sunset Boulevard”), stars “Spider-Man: No Way Home” star Tom Holland as Romeo and Francesca Amewaduh-Rivers (“Sex Education”) as Juliet.

On Friday, the Jamie Lloyd Company issued a statement, saying: “Following the announcement of our ‘Romeo & Juliet’ cast, there has been a barrage of deplorable racial abuse online directed towards a member of our company. This must stop.”

  • neatchee@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    No, this is how you properly show solidarity.

    An attack against a single cast member is an attack against the entire company.

    They are saying “it doesn’t matter who they attacked. Racism against our cast member is racism against us all because we are a family that stands with a single purpose, speaks with a single voice.”

    And if it only redirects 1% of the aggression away from the intended target and towards the white cast members instead, then it is worth it.

    That’s how you be a good ally

    • ObjectivityIncarnate@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      No, this is how you properly show solidarity.

      An attack against a single cast member is an attack against the entire company.

      This would hold water if they didn’t go out of their way to say it was race-motivated abuse.

      They did, so it doesn’t.

      if it only redirects 1% of the aggression away from the intended target and towards the white cast members instead, then it is worth it.

      lmao, this sentiment is the exact opposite of solidarity, and invokes the fundamentally-racist ‘white savior’ trope, to boot.

      • neatchee@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        white savior trope

        I and other white allies literally stood in front of police with crowd control weapons when my black friends yelled ‘white shield’ during the BLM protests in Seattle but tell me more 🤣 I’m nobody’s savior but I do know how to use my privilege for the benefit of others

        This would hold water if they didn’t go out of their way to say it was race-motivated abuse.

        So the options are “don’t reference the racism at all” or “name the victim”? Fuck outta here with that shit.

        • ObjectivityIncarnate@lemmy.world
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          8 months ago

          I and other white allies literally stood in front of police with crowd control weapons when my black friends yelled ‘white shield’ during the BLM protests in Seattle but tell me more

          Apparently, I do need to tell you more, since you clearly don’t understand that the fact that your black friends were literally verbally encouraging you, makes the above the literal opposite of “white savior”.

          So the options are “don’t reference the racism at all” or “name the victim”?

          No, the point is that those are effectively identical (since she is the only known black cast member), so why would you do one and not the other? Either do both, or neither. They also went out of their way to say there was exactly one victim. Why? Why do that, if their goal is not to clearly identify the one and only person who fits all of the criteria they put out?

          That’s weird, bottom line. If you asked me what 2 + 2 is and I was willing to tell you it was “the number that’s half of 8”, but I refused to say “4”, wouldn’t you think that was weird of me?

            • ObjectivityIncarnate@lemmy.world
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              8 months ago

              lol, I was perfectly clear, even gave you a simple analogy, but I guess that was just beyond you.

              Transparent move to preserve your ego by convincing yourself of my “mental gymnastics”, giving yourself an excuse for why you had no response.

      • ABCDE@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        This would hold water if they didn’t go out of their way to say it was race-motivated abuse.

        Why would they ignore what it is? I’m not sure what you’re getting at here.