Netflix Employee Walkout - Transactivism in Microcosm

[EsmaCannonball]

mobile.twitter.com/rawsalerts/status/1450894069601914894

This is funny and sinister in equal measure.

Netflix employees in California staged a walkout in the wake of the recent Dave Chappelle special. A man was counter-protesting with a 'We Love Dave' sign. A transactivist physically accosts the man, rips up his sign and leaves him holding just the stick it was attached to. The transactivist then shouts, 'He's got a weapon!' giving the crowd the excuse they have been waiting for to jostle a peaceful protester backwards and shout abuse at him. One transactivist then drowns him out by rattling some jingles an inch from his face, while another (who would be great casting for a Netflix remake of The Crucible) repeatedly screams in his face, 'Repent, motherfucker!'

Like the Wi-Spa video, this is kind of perfect. It shows transactivists physically attacking someone, falsely claiming that person is the threat, and then using that to legitimise their own aggression. It all feels so familiar.

I don't know anything about the guy counter-protesting. He could be someone with whom I would agree with nothing except this. But he is absolutely right here and he deals with the situation so well. He makes them all look insane.

@DefineHappy

What is the individual with the hands up and body inches from the lone protestor doing? What is that behaviour supposed to achieve - it is such a deliberate and continued stance that it obviously has some aim? I honestly don’t understand why that is being done!

Because it makes it look like they are protecting the crowd from an angry person on the verge of attacking them (see post 3).

@Fariha31

The guy who broke up the sign and then shouts he's got a weapon needs to be prosecuted. He looks like a thug, a middle aged, middle class thug.

Allegedly he is a writer employed by Netflix.

@TofuDelights

Good god, both the bearded comedian and his friend could have been killed. One by the guy in blue shoving him over and cracking his head off the concrete pavement, and the other by the Netflix 'he's got a weapon' guy. Surely this needs police involvement, and an internal investigation by Netflix. The comedian's video of this is absolutely shocking, and I'm not surprised he's quite shaken up when he goes through the recordings.

The guy in blue who cracked the other protesters head looks like a proffesional heavy to me, like a cop or something?

[quote NecessaryScene]What is the individual with the hands up and body inches from the lone protestor doing?

Trying to provoke him into hitting her, or pushing her. Any sort of contact would be claimed to be an assault by him.

Even as it was, Variety went with the false headline "At times, the #NetflixWalkout situation threatened to devolve as counter protestors pushed against trans speakers."

twitter.com/jessesingal/status/1450979659865366534[/quote]
Fiction has just totally taken over at this point. Major Tom is no longer in earshot.

But this tends to happen when you start letting bits of reality be a negotiable thing.

I'm not going to name him, because I'd like more verification, but the 'He's got a weapon!' guy is reportedly a writer involved with the Frasier reboot. I love Frasier but it doesn't bode well if one of the new writers is fully signed-up to anti-free speech cancel culture. I guess episodes like the one where Frasier's new boss thinks Frasier is gay would be too insensitive, and if they ever remember Marty they'll have to remind us that All Cops Are Bastards. I suppose all the jokes about Roz are a bit sex-negative, too. Will Gil now be Gail? We can't fat-shame Kenny. And I suppose Daphne better have no lines as she's a cis white colonialist.

There's a video where Frasier guy is interviewed at the protest, if you want to compare.

He and his wife have a "trans daughter" apparently.

I want to know what drugs the repent motherfucker tambourinist was on? Their whole body was literally vibrating as they screamed.

Good god, both the bearded comedian and his friend could have been killed.

The friend is another bearded comedian, Dick Masterson. Author of "Men are better than women". So he'd be testing FWR's sense of humour...

I imagine we'll be seeing a similar video from him about that protest.

Just posting that before some TRA pops up on a thread about who we're "supporting". Both of them seem to be basically from the shit-stirring "please cancel me" end of edgy comedy.

And I know who I'd feel safer with, versus the anti-Chapelle protestors...

@Mycatismadeofstringcheese

I keep giggling at the repent mf’s person’s squeaky “excuse me , excuse me” as the get to the front of the crowd.

Anyway shouldn’t it be “repent birthing-person fucker”

Brilliant :)

@EsmaCannonball

I'm not going to name him, because I'd like more verification, but the 'He's got a weapon!' guy is reportedly a writer involved with the Frasier reboot. I love Frasier but it doesn't bode well if one of the new writers is fully signed-up to anti-free speech cancel culture. I guess episodes like the one where Frasier's new boss thinks Frasier is gay would be too insensitive, and if they ever remember Marty they'll have to remind us that All Cops Are Bastards. I suppose all the jokes about Roz are a bit sex-negative, too. Will Gil now be Gail? We can't fat-shame Kenny. And I suppose Daphne better have no lines as she's a cis white colonialist.

Oh bummer. We don't NEED a Frasier reboot, especially if it's going to be woke and unfunny.

But. The phrase connected to a Frasier writer immediately brought to mind a Frasier classic:

"Look out! He's Got A Nug!"

@DefineHappy

What is the individual with the hands up and body inches from the lone protestor doing? What is that behaviour supposed to achieve - it is such a deliberate and continued stance that it obviously has some aim? I honestly don’t understand why that is being done!

It's a form of intimidation. Be right in the persons face, but they can do little about it, because touching you to push you away would be considered assault.

As it was, the placard guy didn't appear too bothered, which I think robbed it of its intention to frighten him.

The same tactic was used at, I believe, the jamjar on Julie Bindel.

Masked men blocking the (narrow) stair case, so Julie and colleagues were literally unable to go up unless they pushed them out of the way. Which, again, would be considered assault.

It's a way of getting people to commit a crime and to make you a victim, based on your intimidation of them.

It should be recognised as an intimidation tactic and reasonable force should be allowed to combat it.

Yes, I sensed when I posted the OP that the sign-holding comedians probably weren't my cup of tea, but I was more interested in the transactivist tactics providing an excuse to assault them. The person who organised the event has a history of racist, misogynistic and homophobic comments, but that is glossed over as that person is trans and therefore on the right side of history.

We've had the one galloping backwards and forwards shouting "witch!" in women's faces, we've now got one rattling a tambourine and squealing "repent motherfucker!" in people's faces.

It's like witchfinding has discovered interpretive dance.

It's a form of intimidation. Be right in the persons face, but they can do little about it, because touching you to push you away would be considered assault.

This. We used to live in a country where we were a somewhat unwanted minority. The narrative was that "these foreigners" are violent and criminal. The local anti-foreigner protestors would do this thing where they tried to provoke you until you put up your hands and then they'd claim assault. Once a dude followed us around for a long while, pointing his finger 3 cm of my spouse's face, pushing up extremely close to him and putting his hands right next to my spouse's face, while another dude filmed with his cellphone camera. The idea was that my spouse would be provoked to push him away and they'd get material for their claims. Unfortunately for them we figured it out and my spouse kept his hands in his pockets as we slowly manoeuvred towards the police station.

It's like witchfinding has discovered interpretive dance.

I do hope we get something good at the LGB Alliance. It would be such a shame to go to have gone to all that trouble to arrange a venue and not get any decent performances.

I watched the entirety of Chappelle's show last night on Netflix as a result of all of this. I wouldn't normally have ever watched it otherwise.
The first 5-10 minutes, I nearly turned it off. The joke about child molestation was awful. But it did get better and I was "team Chappelle" by the end. I hope both he and Netflix get a lot of extra publicity and viewers because of this. Maybe people just watching to to see what the fuss is about will have their eyes opened and this will all backfire on the TRAs.

@Zeev Which country was that?

The joke about child molestation was awful.

Isn't it interesting that there are no protests about that? Apparently some things can be joked about.

I just watched this as I was logging into a SERIOUS WORK MEETING and ended up howling with laughter at Repent MotherFucker Tambourine Lady.

Oh my GOD!!

Dave Chappelle is not pro women, he's anti trans. He's also an antisemite.

What does it say about you if you condone his behaviour?

It's a form of intimidation. Be right in the persons face, but they can do little about it, because touching you to push you away would be considered assault.

As it was, the placard guy didn't appear too bothered, which I think robbed it of its intention to frighten him.

The placard guy is tall enough to look over the head of the person doing it which reduces a lot of the intimidation value. At the Bristol (I think) protests masked men did it to women a head shorter than them who couldn't see the exit. Bloody terrifying - and they think they're the good guys. Uhuh.

They hate Chappelle so much because he sees them… I mean he really sees them.

Makes me happy. Smug.

It's like witchfinding has discovered interpretive dance. 😂😂😂