• foxodroid [she/her]
        ·
        4 years ago

        i don't think it's a conspiracy to normalize Israel. I think it's like when COD had the " highway of death" but in their story the Russians, not the Americans, did it. Now you have a former IDF trainer, participant in the 2006 invasion of Lebanon, literally pro Gaza massacres, Gal Gadot partake in a role reversal of one of the most notorious IDF crimes.

        The specificity of the scenario seems like an intentional insult from the criminals.

        • CarlMarksToeCheese [comrade/them]
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          4 years ago

          How? How does someone watch someone shoot a rocket overhead, have Gal Gadot lasso onto it, and then throw it away to save Egyptian kids from being run over from a car give anyone a "Israel/the IDF is good" impression

          • Straight_Depth [they/them]
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            4 years ago

            Because Gal Gadot is the physical westernized embodiment of support for Israel and the IDF by being a willing participant in its associated crimes, supporting its military campaigns, and doubtless, the execs who manufactured that film know this, and know that her critics know this.

              • kilternkafuffle [any]
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                4 years ago

                I stopped watching Marvel shit, so I'll give an example from an earlier film - Iron Man. The Ten Rings militants/terrorists/army/whatever is not even real. But they're shown separating families/murdering civilians, made to look as realistic as possible with a TV announcer doing a story on it. The result is a narrative that this is the sort of thing that Afghans do - they're either abusing people or getting abused. And the sort of thing Americans do in response is journalists lamenting it, the military complaining they "never got the green light to go in", and Iron Man saving everyone just because he's such a nice guy.

                Gal Gadot saving Egyptian kids reinforces the same narrative - English-speaking Western-culture superheroes save the children of the world (and all inferior people are children to their benevolent Western benefactors). That's the relationship between Arabs and the West - benevolent rescue.

                I don’t think Gal Gadot’s IDF service is top-of-mind for most viewers, if they’re even aware of it.

                You're right. But if you like the movie and then look up the actress and BAM she's Israeli, your mind now extends the association - Israelis, they're Westerners just like us. They like hamburgers and they're funny and cute and they rescue Arabs on the side. They're "THE GOOD GUYS". If you hear some crazy radical or Middle Eastern politician then point out Israeli crimes, you'll think, "Nah... If anything bad happened, it was an accident. The good guys mean well."

                Whether "missile flying at 4 kids playing soccer" was intentional or not doesn't matter. The fact that the reality is Israelis kill Arab kids and the media tells you Israelis rescue Arab kids is quite enough.

      • Caocao [he/him]
        ·
        4 years ago

        say it with me:

        criticism of Israel is not anti-Semitic

          • kilternkafuffle [any]
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            4 years ago

            Agreed. There was historically left-ish Zionism - Labour Zionism, which was less racist, militarist, or expansionist. But that ship has sailed. It's like Big Foot - sighted once in the 1950s by a drunk farmer, never seen again since.

            An Israel can still exist and be compatible with leftism - but not the Jewish state with racial Apartheid, not a state that occupies land or denies the right of return to Palestinians. Or threatens all its neighbors with illegal military intervention.