
Anti-woke stormtroopers are gunning for Superman. The world's gone mad
It's one long point-and-laugh at the puce-faced puffins who evacuate into their underpants over anything which doesn't accord with their 1950s Pathé News version of reality.
Here are some examples: the novel Frankenstein was called woke by the tabloids because the monster is portrayed as a "misunderstood victim"'. Spoiler alert: the monster is misunderstood. That's Mary Shelley's point.
Or there's the poster for the film of the computer game Legend of Zelda. It's woke as it features a girl. Spoiler alert: Zelda is a girl.
Then there's Rage Against the Machine. Their lyrics are woke, apparently. Spoiler alert: it's Rage Against the Machine.
Read more by Neil Mackay
There's the Welsh person who was called woke for speaking Welsh … in Wales.
The computer game Far Cry 6 is woke as it features Hispanic women. Have you guessed yet that it's set on a Caribbean island…?
A documentary about Tyrannosaurus Rex was woke as the dinosaurs didn't kill enough.
Lego is woke. Afros – woke. Allotments – woke. Jam-making – woke. Disney – woke. I mean, it's Disney, what do they want from the people who brought us Bambi and Dumbo? The movies of Leni Riefenstahl?
On it goes. A stream of absolute, sweaty-eyed, frothy-lipped absurdity.
Being anti-woke has become a joke. Look, there's been plenty of absolute blazing stupidity from the so-called world of woke.
We saw over-reach and insanity at the height of MeToo and Black Lives Matter. We've seen bad behaviour, including threats, from trans rights campaigners. The left in general has undoubtedly engaged in silencing and cancel culture.
But holy moly, the right-wing over-reaches daily. Misogyny and racism drip from the anti-woke mob. The bullying and abuse from the anti-trans brigade is simply mass dehumanisation. The right is currently – not in general but as a matter of policy – engaged in wholesale silencing and cancel culture.
For pity's sake, someone was charged under terrorism laws in Glasgow this weekend for wearing a t-shirt reading "Palestine Action". I repeat: for wearing a t-shirt.
The latest anti-woke crusade encapsulates the pitiful madness of the right perfectly. Superman has gone woke, seemingly. Cue right-wing commentators hurling themselves from skyscrapers.
It began when Dean Cain, who played Superman on telly in the 1990s, thought he'd seek some relevance. Trump-supporting Cain didn't like an interview given by James Gunn, the director of the new Superman movie.
Gunn said that Superman 'is the story of America'. It features an 'immigrant', and is about 'basic human kindness … something we have lost'.
Cain wailed: 'How woke is Hollywood going to make this character?' Well, sorry Dean, but Superman is an immigrant. Here's a clue: he's a refugee from planet Krypton.
The opening pages of the first Superman comic in 1938 describes the hero thus: 'Superman! Champion of the Oppressed, the physical marvel who has sworn to devote his existence to helping those in need!'
Some may call this woke, others may just call it "Superman being Superman" or "acting nice, like your mum told you".
Cain was on a roll, though, envisioning vistas of woke horror opening up before his eyes. 'How much is Disney going to change their Snow White?' he lamented.
Mate, Snow White hangs around with seven dwarves, I don't think they could make her more woke if they tried.
The anti-woke mob holler go woke and go broke. When I hear that I picture a bull defecating in a field, because the reverse is true.
Who single-handedly trashed every brand he owned with his obsessive, endless, 3am anti-woke squawking? Elon "Hammer of the Woke Mind Virus" Musk.
The anti-woke cult is just an update on the witch-hunt. Devotionals sound like Senator McCarthy at the height of his paranoid unravelling over communists in America.
Instead of Reds under the Bed, anti-woke stormtroopers see the woke creeping from every cranny in culture. They've lost their very tiny, very over-heated minds.
It would be funny if so many people in power didn't tag along behind as they think that's how to win approval from the English tabloids.
One recently ran an article about how sandwiches were woke. GenZ is apparently 'waging war on our sandwiches', and 'ditching English classics like ham and mustard in favour of fancy woke fillings'.
Yes, readers, fancy woke fillings! Is this why my grandfather fought the Nazis, so we could eat falafel!?
A quick perusal of the British media of late will show you that the new Pope is woke; architecture is woke; new banknotes are woke; as are Jaguar cars.
The woke are everywhere. Can't you feel their eyes boring into you? Don't you hear them whispering about you?
They're plotting to ban patriotic fish and chips, they're going to make our children read The Colour Purple everyday. Soon we'll be forced to dye our hair pink and listen to Kneecap.
Elon Hammer of the Woke Mind Virus Musk. (Image: PA)
The next James Bond will be trans! Doctor Who will be disabled! Won't someone think of the children!
The anti-woke league manages to be both sad, embarrassing and nasty simultaneously. It's a clubhouse for people who hate kindness.
To the anti-woke, anything which doesn't conform to their rigid, tyrannical and petty worldview must be smashed. Such narcissism is breath-taking.
By all means defend old-fashioned, conservative values. But have some proportion and perspective, lest you fall victim to the law of diminishing returns.
If you scream about woke bogeymen every five minutes, eventually folk just switch off. Who wants to listen to the same repetitive drivel about ideological phantoms from minds both fevered and dull?
When we see the symptoms of the anti-woke mind virus today, the rest of us just snigger. You're not a culture warrior, you're a joke.
Neil Mackay is The Herald's Writer at Large. He's a multi-award-winning investigative journalist, author of both fiction and non-fiction, and a filmmaker and broadcaster. He specialises in intelligence, security, crime, social affairs, cultural commentary, and foreign and domestic politics
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Sun
2 hours ago
- The Sun
Love Island fans insist returning Islander ‘did their research' as they expose ‘game plan'
LOVE Island fans insist a returning Islander 'did their research' as they expose their 'game plan.' Irish star Megan made her villa return this week in shock scenes, alongside fellow dumped Islander Blu. 3 3 Megan was voted least favourite girl after dumping Tommy for Conor, before being axed. But her return has seen her head straight for Conor to pick up where they left off. However, Love Island viewers aren't convinced, with some saying that the brunette beauty has returned to the dating show with a game plan. Taking to Reddit, one person speculated: 'Irish Megan really did her homework. Notice how when Yasmin first came in irish Megan threw the blame on her calling her 'boring and sloppy' and never held Harry or Dejon accountable. 'But now she's flipping the script, telling the girls 'Oh the boys were the problem' and 'It's not Shakira it's Harry.' They continued: 'Since her return, Helena who's always laughing and scoffed 'I'm not threatened by Shakira.' is now crying….its no coincidence that both Helena and Megan are shifting the blame onto Harry instead of Shakira after irish meg came in because they would've jumped guns blazing on Shakira if they hadn't known what the public say about them.' And the poster finished by saying: 'They're even openly acknowledging the 'divide' for the first time and Megan who was confidently arguing with 4+ girls during movie night is now shedding crocodile tears for people to sympathise with her…irish meg TRUST and believe that you will be on that spirit flight back to england i've had enough of them rigging this season and painting shakira and toni as the villains.' The comment was liked by thousands of people in agreement, but not everyone agreed with the theory. Some said it was a good thing that Megan was calling out the boys for their actions, while others fumed that the word 'game player' was being thrown about too easily. Love Island fans praise Megan as she calls out Harry for his actions in brutal speech On her villa return, Megan revealed the real reason she decided to come back. She said: "I'm excited to go back in, I think I left quite abruptly and I'm going back in for some clarity. "It was an easy decision to make. "When you can't speak to people for a couple of weeks and have to watch them on telly every night, you want some answers." Some Love Island fans ended up complaining to Ofcom about Megan and Blu's return to the villa. "Producers are ****s, they bring Megan back now that Shakira + Conor are happy + now I've seen that they've put the clip of Shakira + Toni talking about meg + demon in the grafties? "I hate them and ofcom will be hearing from me." Someone else added: "And the voting was rigged - I'm complaining to ofcom too, sick of the lies." A third penned: "@itv bringing back meg over alima is disgraceful. And I will be complaining to ofcom. "Megan recieved the lowest amount of votes. Alimas was never voted out by the public but by somone stealing her man. "S10 molly was kicked out the same way and eventually brought back." A fourth then said: "Everyone needs to complain to ofcom after that episode!!!!!!!" While a fifth added: "I'm actually gonna file an ofcom complaint cause how can they disregard our votes like that? "Megan literally had the lowest votes for favourite girl FOR A REASON." 3


Telegraph
5 hours ago
- Telegraph
The 30 best films on Disney+ to watch now
With Disney+, the clue is very much in the name: there's a lot more on there than just the classic catalogue we'd usually call Disney. Following their acquisitions of Pixar (2006), Marvel (2009), Lucasfilm (2012), and – biggest of all – 20th Century Fox (2019), the service went live with all of those separate coffers jam-packed. Many families own it chiefly for animated favourites old and new, so I've devoted about half of this list to cherry-picking those. Every Star Wars sequel (plus the TV spin-offs) is available, of course; ditto every entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I've only picked one favourite apiece in those canons, but franchise devotees will doubtless know their way around that content already. What's less foregrounded is some of the more adult-targeted Fox content, from a pretty broad range of genres, so this dominates the back end of my list. Yes, Avatar and its sequel are streamable, too, but there's a lot more to the studio's back catalogue than effects blockbusters. It would be a real blessing if Disney would license Fox's golden oldies – couldn't we have Laura (1944) or My Darling Clementine (1946) or All About Eve (1950)? For the time being, though, there's some splendid rummaging to be done in the past half-century. Skip to: Animation Musicals Comedy/Drama Fantasy and Sci-fi War Animation Moana (2016)


Daily Mirror
6 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
'UK's poshest Greggs' is in Grade II listed building and steeped in history
Greggs is one of the UK's most beloved fast food chains, and fans of the eatery are just realising there's a particularly 'posh' branch in a 300-year-old building There's nothing quite like sinking your teeth into a Greggs pastry while you're rushing about, or grabbing one of their sandwiches or coffees from the beloved sausage roll emporium for your lunch. Devotees love it for being affordable and dependable - and you can spot its distinctive blue, white and yellow Greggs branding from miles away. But this particular branch in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, appears rather different and has been crowned "the poshest" Greggs in Britain. This extraordinary branch sits within a 17th century Grade II* listed structure and is frequently hailed as the most beautiful Greggs across the nation. The heritage building's facade features timber panelling and merges Victorian, Georgian, Tudor and 1930s architectural elements. Back in the 1700s, it launched as a grocer and tea merchant, which remained in business until the 1960s. Today, it houses Britain's beloved bakery chain. Until recently, the outlet was covered in scaffolding as part of an 18-month restoration scheme. This work is now finished: the building's front has been reconstructed whilst numerous windows have been renewed and sections of the roof have been fixed. On Reddit, the outlet was christened "the country's poshest Greggs". This week, a TikTok user posted footage of the establishment and declared: "Sorry but this is the poshest Greggs I've ever seen." Greggs responded to the clip, saying: "RIP Henry VIII you would have loved Bury St Edmunds Greggs." Someone else remarked: "That isn't a Greggs. That's a Gregorys." Another said: "It's like Greggs and Wetherspoons had a baby." Another person concurred, observing: "That ain't Greggs that's Gregory's tavern for the whimsical." "I just know people eating sausage rolls with their pinky's out," one user quipped. Another likened the place to "Greggs if it was in a fantasy world." A local resident chimed in: "I grew up in that town. Everybody called it bakers oven cause that's what it was called before Greggs took it over." "I kind of like the fact they've not changed the outside of the building too much," said one other. "Love Bury Greggs," another fan declared. "If only every Greggs looked like that," added one other. In other food news, a woman recently tried a"secret" coffee shop at Buckingham Palace but was floored by the price. Another food lover tried the "UK's most expensive sandwiches" from Harrods and shared her review. Do you have a story? Get in touch at