The upcoming movie about the 2019 Christchurch massacre has been slammed by many for its “white saviour” narrative.
The announcement of the movie, titled They Are Us, has garnered negative reactions, with a petition for the movie to be scrapped already gaining more than 60,000 signatures in four days.
The movie premise has been criticised for focusing too much on Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern rather than the New Zealand Muslim community, promoting a white saviour narrative.
Many also believe the movie has come too soon after the Christchurch attacks.
Ardern herself has publicly distanced herself from the film, the mayor of Christchurch has said filming crew will not be welcome, and a New Zealand producer has pulled out of the project.
Many are calling for Rose Byrne, an Australian actress set to play Ardern, to remove herself from the project.
You guyssss, my grandma is literally gonna freak out if they make that Christchurch mosque shooting movie. I feel so bad, miskeenta she’s just started healing after seeing her husband die. This gonna restart her healing process, I’m so tired of people ughh. #TheyAreUsShutDown
— ko (@theycallmeko_) June 11, 2021
Sondos Qur’aan, the co-founder of the National Islamic Youth Association, the group responsible for the petition, has criticised the movie’s tone-deaf failure to platform Muslim voices.
“I was taken aback by the fact someone thought two years on from the attack it would be OK to highlight this attack … from a perspective that doesn’t acknowledge or centre Muslim voices,” she said.
One of the film’s producers, Ayman Jamal, defended the movie and explained that: “There is no one hero in this film”, which instead focuses on “New Zealand people from different backgrounds.”
i cant believe that someone legit sat down and thought “yeah making a movie about the christchurch mosque attacks and making it about a white woman just bc she handled it well (even tho it’s her job lol) yeah that’s a great idea”
— zemo | loki spoilers!! (@616DEVlL) June 15, 2021
The Christchurch shootings were terrorist attacks on two Christchurch mosques on March 15, 2019.
The gunman killed 51 people and injured 40. Described as an alt-right terrorist and vocal white supremacist, the gunman was sentenced to life without parole.
