Does America Need a Kevin James Nazi Movie Right Now?
It's hard to claim that there's ever a right time to release a movie where Kevin James plays a neo-Nazi, but, really? Now? This week, despite the fact that America is in the midst of a historic national protest against police brutality and institutional racism, we're getting the movie Becky, in which the former King of Queens plays a violent white supremacist battling a 14-year-old girl. Not only is this thing headed to VOD, but it was also recently announced that Becky would actually be expanding its release to include drive-in theatres, because, oh, yeah, we're still in the middle of a pandemic too and drive-ins aren't just for necking 1950s teens any longer.
From all accounts, Becky isn't a probing look at the horrors of bigotry, but a goofy home invasion thriller in which the dude from Zookeeper has a giant swastika tattoo. Which, again, feels like a weird thing to unleash upon the world at this particular moment in time.
And Kevin James hasn't exactly been on a roll recently; James recently released a controversial short film on the Kevin James YouTube channel, which is apparently a thing. The video, Out of Touch, is a brief comedic sketch about two jogger friends who end up hunted by the police for not obeying social distancing protocols in a public park.
Which was "praised by right-wing media" but also criticized for several reasons; for one, its central premise echoes the sentiment of the anti-lockdown movement, depicting the safety measures being more threatening than the virus that's killed over 100,000 Americans. And it's especially tone-deaf considering that Black citizens are actually being threatened by both the police and civilians while enjoying public spaces. Ahmaud Arbery was tragically murdered while literally jogging. Either this just never occurred to Kevin James, or cargo shorts have the ability to cut off the circulation to your brain.
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Top Image: Quiver Distribution
