OPINION: No amount of liberal shaming will make conservatives watch or open their wallets
When it comes to sports and popular culture, progressives love shaming and vilifying those who don’t watch and/or like something they themselves enjoy.
A recent example is a Texas A&M student’s contention that if you didn’t watch the recent Paralympics — but did watch the Olympics — you might be an “ableist.”
“Why aren’t we excited and watching the Paralympics?” asks kinesiology major Joshua Abraham. “It can’t be because we don’t like sports; we’ve seen how crazy our nation goes for sporting events.
“Or is it because, maybe, we don’t consider people with disabilities to be at the same level as other able-bodied athletes? Well, you might be ableist.”
I must be an “ableist, then,” because no, I didn’t watch much of the Paralympics, and no, unfortunately — through no fault of their own, of course — paralympians are not at the same level as Olympians.
The latter certainly doesn’t preclude viewing certain paralympian competitions, just as one may tune in to major women’s soccer, tennis and golf championships.
Our “sports-crazy nation” prefers the pinnacle of competition, whatever the sport. And the hard fact of the matter is that said pinnacle much more often than not comes via (biological) men.
The NBA is way more popular than the WNBA. The World Cup is way more popular than the Women’s World Cup. Major League Baseball crushes women’s softball. Etc.
And, yes, able-bodied athletic competition is more popular than that among disabled athletes.
Alas, for Abraham and those like him, it doesn’t matter if you support the Paralympics or similar causes via your pocketbook and/or time. Their pronouncements about their Paralympic viewing habits are virtuous, you see.
MORE: College assignment tasks students with ‘calling out’ someone for racism or homophobia
We’ve seen this shaming regarding women’s sports, as well as progressives’ advocacy for transgender athletes (specifically trans women, aka biological men) being allowed to play with actual females: You’re “sexist,” “transphobic,” and other such nonsense.
The virtue-signal shaming extends to popular culture in cases where progressives have contributed to (former) beloved creative franchises like the Marvel Cinematic Universe and “Star Wars.” Their efforts have largely tanked in terms of viewership (see: “The Marvels,” “The Acolyte” and episodes VII-IX for starters), and then critics are tarred as “sexist,” “racist,” “homophobic,” yada yada yada.
Fans of Disney’s “The Acolyte,” a female and minority-centric addition to “Star Wars” lore, ripped the company’s decision to cancel the show after one season saying it crumbled before “racists,” “sexists,” and “misogynists.” Protagonist Amandla Stenberg claimed the show was the “target” of “hyper-conservative bigotry” and the “alt-right.”
And remember the supposedly brilliant idea of making a prequel to the 1978 classic film “Grease” centered on “diverse storytelling around race and sexuality”? Unsurprisingly, it too was canned after one season. Digital Spy (among others) lamented it was “yet another diverse show with strong female and queer leads that has been cancelled …”
Like it or not, the facts are (and will remain) this: Able-bodied male-centered sporting events always will be the most popular with viewers, and poorly conceived entertainment that prioritizes identity and “message” over competent storytelling ultimately will fail among same.
So shame us all you want, progressives. But it certainly won’t get us to open our wallets.
MORE: Professor worries Marvel’s ‘Atlantis’ will use cultural appropriation, colonial racism
IMAGES: OPOLJA/Shutterstock.com
Please join the conversation about our stories on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Reddit, MeWe, Rumble, Gab, Minds and Gettr.