WILL SMITH'S SLAVERY FILM EMANCIPATION PULLS OUT OF GEORGIA OVER VOTING LAWS

[JumpinJack AJ]

I love that they are taking a stand against this with this decision. 

https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-56716449?fbclid=IwAR2yWLJBHIY02x3sQNsfX846KWDZqpvKlz0zmqWjSRXLktwUplNcZANYblY

Will Smith's slavery film Emancipation pulls out of Georgia over voting laws

 

IMAGE COPYRIGHTGETTY IMAGES

image captionSmith plays a slave called Peter who escapes

Will Smith's slavery film Emancipation has pulled out of filming in Georgia over what the star has called the US state's new "regressive voting laws".

In a statement issued to Deadline by Smith and director Antoine Fuqua, the pair said they felt "compelled" to act.

"We cannot in good conscience provide economic support to a government that enacts regressive voting laws that are designed to restrict voter access."

Some feel the new law will restrict voting by disadvantaged groups.

• Fact-checking claims about new US election law

Will more film companies pull out?

Deadline said the move by the Emancipation producers comes after weeks of discussions between the filmmakers, film officials and Georgia political leaders, including voting rights activist Stacey Abrams.

It is the first film to pull out of the state since the new laws came into effect - but others could follow suit.

 

Director James Mangold, who will helm the new Indiana Jones movie, recently said he would not make any new movies in Georgia because of the new law.

"Georgia has been using cash to steal movie jobs from other states that allow people to vote," he tweeted. "I don't want to play there".

Star Wars actor Mark Hamill endorsed Mangold's tweet with hashtag #NoMoreFilminginGeorgia.

According to Georgia's film commission, more top-grossing movies are shot there "than anywhere else in the world" - with recent productions including Deadpool, Avengers: Endgame, Wandavision, Stranger Things and The Walking Dead.

Film and TV production now generates more than $10bn (£7,2bn) for the state each year - and Abrams, who opposes the new laws, has urged Hollywood not to move away en masse.

Martin Luther King Jr's daughter, Bernice King, has also asked film-makers to reconsider. "Please stop the #BoycottGeorgia talk," she said. "That would hurt middle class workers and people grappling with poverty. And it would increase the harm of both racism and classism."

 

What do the new laws say?

In future elections, ID will be required for anyone requesting a mail-in ballot.

Proponents of the bill say this method will make postal voting more secure, but critics argue the new measures are likely to disproportionately affect black Americans, who are less likely than white Americans to have voter identification

The law also prohibits anyone except poll workers from handing out food or water to people queuing outside polling stations - and there will be a limit on the number of "drop boxes" in which people can place their absentee votes, meaning many will have to travel further.

The early voting period for all run-off elections - in Georgia, no candidate can advance through a primary or a general election system without first earning more than 50 percent of the votes - will also be shortened.

IMAGE COPYRIGHTEPA

image captionDrop boxes are deployed so people can place their absentee votes in them

President Joe Biden has described the move as an "atrocity", saying it disproportionately targeted black Americans.

• Biden: Georgia voting restriction law is an 'atrocity'
• The high stakes over US voting rights
• Why can it be so hard to vote in Georgia?

The president called the law "Jim Crow in the 21st Century" and "a blatant attack on the Constitution".

 

Jim Crow refers to the 19th and 20th Century laws that enforced racial segregation in the South.

But Republicans say they are streamlining voting procedures and trying to restore confidence in the election system.

What's Will Smith's film about?

Emancipation sees Smith playing Peter, a slave who flees a plantation in Louisiana after being subjected to terrible abuse.

He takes the treacherous journey north and joins the Union army during the American Civil War.

The film is based on a true story - a photo of Peter's back was taken during an army medical examination and showed his whipping scars.

The photo was published in 1863 and was seen around the world, giving impetus to abolitionists and prompting many free black people to join the Union army.

Filming was due to start in June.

 

[fan 4ever]

Yeah I read about this. I respect their decision.

[Mr K]

Not an American here.
How hard is it to obtain a voter id for yourself?

[JumpinJack AJ]

Getting a voter ID isn't hard at all. Back when I was a senior in high school, I signed up. That was so long ago that I don't even remember the process, but it was basically just a simple form.  You can signup at other places like the department of motor vehicles. They send you a card in the mail every few years. Having voted by mail for the first time this past election, something that was harder to do in previous elections, I didn't need my voter ID this time. In fact, I haven't made the effort to vote that often, so often times I just stick the card in an folder, never using it for anything. 

Keep in mind that I only follow politics to an extent because I hate them. From what I've read up on over the past year or so is that the government, enabled by republicans, have limited the ability of those to vote in certain areas. Georgia is one of the states where this has occurred. To sum up the republican party, they've evolved into this party that basically self-serves those who are financially well off.  They may or may not be racist, but they certainly aren't interested in including those who aren't rich and those who are labeled minorities.  Since the party is so out of touch, and in some cases just vile, they don't have the support of minorities and those who are financially struggling (unless they're mindless fools who simply identify with the party for whatever reason) . They want to silence those voices, so they've made it hard for some people to place their vote.  They've limited places where ballots can submitted and where voting takes place.  For those who didn't want to mail in their ballot, or didn't trust the postal service, some people would have to drive great distances to personally place their vote or drop off their ballot. This resulted in long lines, long wait times, and some places where people would be dehydrated and uncomfortable just to vote.  The state of Georgia made it illegal for people to hand out water and food for those waiting hours in line just to vote. 

The entertainment industry strongly boosts Georgia's economy, so this action like this is sticking it to the evil politicians who've made this possible. 

 

I hope I did justice answering that. lol  Chris is more into this stuff that I am.  He can answer it better than I can. 

[zinda]

The information you shared above is amaze. I have been reading all the details you described here. In this you described very well. If I want any more guideline I will contact you here https://www.jazzyjefffreshprince.com/forum/topic/17071-bad-sinuano noche-boys-4-reportedly-on-pause-after-oscar-slap/