Hacker Cinema
Abbott Elementary
2021 · TV series · 6 seasons
Created by Quinta Brunson
In this workplace comedy, a group of dedicated, passionate teachers — and a slightly tone-deaf principal — are brought together in a Philadelphia public school where, despite the odds stacked against them, they are determined to help their students succeed in life. Though these incredible public servants may be outnumbered and underfunded, they love what they do — even if they don’t love the school district’s less-than-stellar attitude toward educating children.
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4 comments on Hacker News
> “Woke”, for the most part, is a boogeyman that the conservative right uses as a summary label for various political movements on the left. Basically nobody on the left talks about “woke” except for perhaps a period of six months back in 2017.
There are left-wing critics of "Woke", see for example the African-American Marxist Adolph L Reed Jr – https://newrepublic.com/article/160305/beyond-great-awokening
If an unapologetic Marxist is attacking "Woke", that really disproves the contention that it is purely some right-wing bogeyman
Or, consider that the Trotskyist International Committee of the Fourth International published a review of the sitcom Abbott Elementary, which includes the line "In fact, in its treatment of Jacob’s wokeness, Abbott Elementary refreshingly mocks the suffocating trend of racialism in American culture" – https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2022/03/01/abbo-m01.html
Similarly, read their review of John McWhorter's Woke Racism – https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/06/14/ihjm-j14.html – in which they largely express agreement with his criticisms of the progressive "woke" ideology, but simultaneously condemn him for making those criticisms from a pro-capitalist instead of anti-capitalist perspective
And see the socialist publication Jacobin's approving review of the philosopher Susan Neiman's book Left Is Not Woke, which attacks "wokeness" from an explicitly left-wing perspective: https://jacobin.com/2024/07/wokeness-left-ideology-neiman-review
> I have the sneaking suspicion that "woke" has been turned into a dog whistle used by right leaning people. Maybe it's the new "uppity."
Here's an article by an African-American Marxist university professor, attacking "woke": https://newrepublic.com/article/160305/beyond-great-awokening
So it isn't true that only "right-leaning" people use the term negatively.
> 1) Can anyone who freely uses the word "woke" pejoratively please define "woke" as you use it?
I think, when people (either from the left or the right) attack "woke", one thing they are attacking, is a particular, very influential, form of contemporary left-wing thought, which (among other features) treats race, gender identity, and sexual orientation, as higher priorities (at least in practice) than the traditional left-wing focus on economic inequality and social class. If you read Adolph Reed's criticisms of "woke" to which I linked above, that definition is rather similar to how he defines it (although in that article he zeroes in on the race element in particular, and avoids the topics of sexual orientation and gender identity).
I actually don't like the term, due to its pejorative nature – I'd much rather we have non-pejorative names for things – but I'm not sure what would be a neutral replacement. I feel like, a lot of people who object to the name, do not do so because they'd prefer a more neutral name, rather they'd prefer it not be named at all, to make it harder for people to criticise it.
> 2) Can you please tell me the opposite of "woke?"
Well, if we understand it as a particular, very influential, variety of contemporary left-wing thought, it doesn't have a single "opposite" as such. Right-wing thought, in all its various forms, is an example of something which isn't "woke". But, traditional Marxism, such as that of Adolph Reed, is also an example of something which isn't "woke". If you want to find other traditional Marxists taking swipes at "woke", you don't have to go far – to just give a random example, the Trotskyist International Committee of the Fourth International published a review of the sitcom Abbott Elementary, which includes the line "In fact, in its treatment of Jacob’s wokeness, Abbott Elementary refreshingly mocks the suffocating trend of racialism in American culture" https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2022/03/01/abbo-m01.html – say what you like about Trotskyists, but if we are going to start calling them "conservatives" or "rightwing", then I don't think those two words have any meaning any more
I'm not a twitter user, but I would think these stats speak to some measure of pop-cultural relevancy?
"‘Euphoria’ Is the Most-Tweeted TV Show of the Decade (So Far)"
https://variety.com/2022/digital/news/euphoria-most-tweeted-tv-show-1235190599/
and
"‘Abbott Elementary’ Is No. 1 Most-Tweeted TV Comedy of the Year to Date"
https://news.yahoo.com/abbott-elementary-no-1-most-171433284.html
Also this https://www.imdb.com/chart/tvmeter/?ref_=tt_ov_pop list has Euphoria as #2 (formerly #1), although to be fair Abbott is not on the list, and I'm personally not familiar with Pieces of Her. So fair enough, might be overestimating for Abbott - but it is on ABC so perhaps relevant to average people. And of all of these shows mentioned, I've only seen The Dragon Prince - I'm only aware of the other ones via discussions.
Aside from what my sibling comment said about a fantasy world, why'd you pick Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist and The Dragon Prince? Surely shows like Abbott Elementary and Euphoria would be more culturally relevant? Or recent animated movies Encanto and Turning Red?
And even as far as the Dragon Prince is concerned, it's interesting how you mention it as overrepresentation when much of the diversity is relegated to secondary characters. Callum, Rayla, Claudia, Soren and Viren are all white (elves are in some ways minority coded, but the British accent makes that remain firmly in the realm of coding), and seem to be straight and cisgender.
I personally love stories with "overrepresentation" - and not only just to make up for a massive history of erasure and underrepresentation. It makes me so happy to hear people saying "I usually don't feel seen, but THIS character, they look/sound/act like me!" Honestly, as a gay man I still don't feel especially seen - and as far as gay characters I feel connected to beyond just that, it's pretty limited. I can think of maybe... 4 main characters? And they're all in the past few years.