via Apple
We talk a lot about those who are on the wrong side of history. Usually, we focus on the leadership. The hateful fascist leaders who divided their population against itself, who committed genocide of indigenous people, of immigrants, of people who didn’t match their religious or racial expectations, and of LGBTQ+ people. The villains who lead their countries to become machinations of death. We point and shame them for their abhorrent beliefs and policies that have not withstood—and will not withstand— the test of time. I’m sure you can think of many still pushing this hate today.
We don’t spend enough time talking about their enablers.
The people who stay silent in the name of “civility,” those who enable the authoritarians and hate groups. Those who would rather bury their head in the sand than choose to be on the right side of history. Because while they often outnumber those who wish to do wrong, they enable it through silence, and allow the creation of a terrible monolith.
Apple decided to hide a show about infiltrating hate groups to take down would-be violent offenders before they can commit acts of terror. The hate that fuels those groups is hate the right, and Trump, wish to normalize. That means talking about that hate can invite political ramifications, and Apple’s certainly afraid of that. Those who worked on The Savant, including Jessica Chastain, aren’t happy.
You shouldn’t be either. Self-censorship, “obeying in advance” as it’s often called, out of fear of a corrupt government’s retribution is never an excuse to stay silent. All it does is enable the state to enact violence on others. Apple decided to pass that danger along to others, instead of confronting it themselves.
The Savant
“I’ve never shied away from difficult subjects, and while I wish this show wasn’t so relevant, unfortunately it is. The Savant is about the heroes who work every day to stop violence before it happens, and honoring their courage feels more urgent than ever. While I respect Apple’s decision to pause the release for now, I remain hopeful the show will reach audiences soon.”
– Jessica Chastain on Instagram
The Savant is an adaptation of a 2019 article in Cosmopolitan titled, “Is It Possible to Stop a Mass Shooting Before It Happens?” The article detailed the efforts of a woman who infiltrated online hate groups, primarily misogynist hate groups, but many of them were found in right-wing circles and other hate groups. Misogyny, allegedly, is a fantastic indicator of when a person may become violent. There’s a great deal of overlap between violent extremists and misogynists.
The show itself would be a fictionalization of the real life “Savant.” Rather than her more freelance-like role, the character in The Savant would be a member of an anti-hate task force within the government. The closest we have to that is the FBI, and the DOJ isn’t very fond of their actual statistics on terrorist attacks right now.
It’s not hard to see why Apple decided to postpone the show indefinitely.
Apple’s Indefinite Postponing
“we’ve seen an unfortunate amount of violence in the United States: the kidnapping attempt on Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer; the January 6th attack on the Capitol; the assassination attempts on President Trump; the political assassinations of Democratic representatives in Minnesota; the attack on Speaker Pelosi’s husband; the assassination of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk; the recent shooting at an ABC affiliate station in California; and over 300 school shootings across this country.”
– From Jessica Chastain’s post on Instagram
The Savant was supposed to premiere last Friday. Instead, Apple “postponed” the release indefinitely. Depending on the trajectory of American politics, we may never get to see it. The content obviously attacks the heart of Trump’s base. Misogyny, racism, anti-queer hate, Islamophobia and antisemitism all go together with something else: supporting Donald Trump. It’s likely why Trump’s DOJ hid reports of most domestic terrorist attacks coming from conservative attackers.
Trump seems to go after anyone who speaks out against him. If Apple released something that made people who sound like Trump supporters seem as bad as they are, he’d likely attack Apple. Whether it would be pulling their exemptions from tariffs, lawsuits, or just getting his cult-like followers to abandon Apple, he’d be able to hurt Apple.
That’s precisely why Apple chickened out, and precisely why they’re needed to stand up. Because they could hold up a mirror to the society of violence Trump and his far-right ilk have inspired. Ignoring political violence will only perpetuate it. We have to call it out in the harshest terms. We have to hold a mirror up to hate and show the violence it perpetuates.
Apple says they decided to indefinitely postpone the show after “careful consideration.” It may come out one day, perhaps during safer times for free speech.
Apple’s Pro-Violence Decision
If you are the gatekeeper of a castle, and decide not to close the gates when the enemy approaches, you’ve taken the side of the enemy. Similarly, if you have a platform and choose not to defend the victims of hate, you have chosen the side of hate. When violence comes for the marginalized, stepping aside to allow the violence to happen is choosing the side of the abuser.
Apple chose the side of the abuser. It doesn’t matter what side of the political spectrum violence comes from, we must speak out against it. Those who seek to use violence to cause harm should not be humored. By deciding to hide something that discusses the people who work to stop extremist violence, Apple has made the topic taboo. And that’s exactly the treatment extremists need to carry out their plans. We need a society that does not treat anti-violence work as taboo. The only way we can work to prevent these issues is by discussing what makes a person fall into extremism, what we can do to stop that descent into violence, and how we can work together to ensure we don’t live in a society that speaks in violence instead of words; a world that prefers hate to compassion. Unfortunately, we seem to continue down a path of violence.
Sources:
- Daniel Arkin, NBC News
- Kinsey Crowley, USA Today
- Joseph Gedeon, The Guardian
- Michael Kan, PC Mag
- Aramide Tinubu, Variety