Sherlock Holmes director Guy Ritchie’s new blockbuster King Arthur: Legend of the Sword opens May 12. The $100 million movie, which stars Charlie Hunnam, Jude Law and Idris Elba, is unlikely to be too faithful a take on the famed medieval Camelot exploits of Arthur, Guinevere and Lancelot.
The movie’s official Twitter account posted a tweet designed to whet moviegoers’ appetites by rolling out the Knights of the Round Table. But a reference on the poster to a character named “Kung-Fu George” (played by Tom Wu) caused outrage on Twitter. Some approved:
Guy Ritchie’s King Arthur looks like shite, but I would watch the hell out of a movie about a character named Kung-Fu George pic.twitter.com/99EOAbiHs5
— Hubert Vigilla (@HubertVigilla) April 21, 2017
But many social justice warriors objected to a character named “Kung-Fu George” on the basis that it promotes the stereotype that all Asians should be martial arts devotees.
Really wanted to see that new King Arthur but there’s a character named Kung-Fu George… nvm I guess.
— Stuart (@MooreStu) April 21, 2017
@chinesechica @dragonc The analogy would be Kung Fu George is the real King Arthur. Instead, this is reinforcing Asian male stereotypes that we all know kung fu.
— Jerry Wu (@wuhoo) April 22, 2017
Movie studio Warner Bros caved in to the protests and subsequently deleted the tweet. Geri who tweets under the handle ‘Chinesechica’ was claiming credit:
So I called out the new King Arthur movie for being racist in their advertising and they ended up deleting their tweet. I’m living. pic.twitter.com/PXvTWNtPDD
— Geri🌻 (@chinesechica) April 21, 2017
She kept going on about it:
@CougThoughts @DemonPatriarch @jpraise_dmc @kingarthurmovie Did our thread just get the King Arthur account to delete their original tweet?? I’m shook pic.twitter.com/P1zSEFL3HP
— Geri🌻 (@chinesechica) April 21, 2017
Modern-day heroism!
