Music-centric animal animated movie Sing is killing it with kids at the box office, grossing $76 million in five days.
But sensitive social justice warriors who have gone to see the movie aren’t exactly ‘singing’ its praises on social media. Instead they’re calling the kids film racist, principally for the fact that one plotline in the movie features a gorilla named Johnny who wants to sing but whose father runs a criminal gang.
In the movie, which stars the voices of Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon and Scarlett Johansson, Johnny, voiced by Taron Egerton, (SPOILER ALERT) is desperate to embrace his musical side instead of being part of the gorilla gang of robbers run by his father Big Daddy (voiced by Peter Serafinowicz).
When Johnny shirks his duties as a getaway driver for Big Daddy’s gang during a gold robbery, his father ends up in jail. Even though Big Daddy ultimately ends up appreciating his son’s musical career, that’s not good enough for people out there who seem intent on equating gorillas being on the wrong side of the law in Sing with racism:
Racist themes in the movie Sing were disgusting.
— Holly Cooper (@abogadatejana) December 27, 2016
Sing is lowkey a racist ass movie lol
— GG (@GiselAlfaro_) December 26, 2016
also super annoyed at the racial stereotype in the trailer for the movie sing. 🙄
— yella yazz (@yazzhabibti) November 21, 2016
Kinda annoyed that the gang members in Sing are gorillas 😕
— kat🖤 (@Kathrina_Mia) December 25, 2016
@emilynussbaum @1WookieMilson watching “Sing” I mean. Gorillas had a British accent but darker big animals (gorillas & bears) were criminals
— charlere uuanj (@phuchkafdmasses) December 26, 2016
The gorillas on Sing being gangsters kinda racist or I’m overthinking it?
— Halal B Sure (@yosoy_roland) December 25, 2016
why in this new #Sing movie they got the black gorillas as inmates….smdh
— thewildling. (@desssb) December 20, 2016
@AnaMardoll but the gorillas are gang members. Dad is incarcerated. Son wants to sing hip hop. Cringeworthy.
— Sarah Sammis (@pussreboots) December 12, 2016
Sing looks like a cute movie but I cant get past the fact that the gorillas are gang members in jail 😖 #SingMovie #Sing #ReallyNow
— Lady Kate (@KatRMitch) December 19, 2016
Women’s website The Revelist hit out at the movie in a piece by Andrea Moore headlined: “This racist stereotype doesn’t belong in animated movies — and even my 6-year-old daughter knows it.” Moore wrote: “A’family entertainment;: with a criminal gang of gorillas in rapper bling and orange inmate jumpsuits, and a big burly gorilla youth with a velvety voice: it’s f*cking grotesque.”
Then there is further unrest over Sing featuring Gunter, a pig voiced by Nick Kroll, who is German:
the new movie Sing is really racist tbh. they made the pig German, why tho? @singmovie
— Baka (@GoldCole123) December 23, 2016
Some even contend there is a global racist conspiracy at work in Sing:
Just saw Sing, Im guessing the Sheep (maybe Jewish), Gators, Elephants and Gorillas are the “Black” animals? Rosita the Pig was Puerto Rican
— Black Hanna (@MichaelOrganic) December 26, 2016
