I’m pretty sure this is real, but at the far edges of political correctness it’s sometimes hard to tell. A publication called Autostraddle just published a self-flagellating article begging reader forgiveness for daring to publish a positive review of the movie Sausage Party— specifically, a positive review of Salma Hayek’s portrayal of an “animated queer taco.” Apparently the movie, a raunchy animated flick that offends every ethnicity and most religions, was insufficiently sensitive in its portrayal of the LGBT population, and thus the positive review was out of bounds. It has been yanked from the site. The movie, on the other hand, is rated 82 percent fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
To clear their good names and assure readers that their hearts were in the right place, the editors published their internal Slack exchange about whether to post the piece. With apologies for the long quote, I’m pasting it below (with some bolded, bracketed comments). It has to be seen to be believed:
heather: Salma Hayek Is a Surprisingly Endearing Lesbian Taco in “Sausage Party”
how’s that [headline]?
i can’t see how a latina woman voicing a lesbian taco in a seth rogen movie could ever be a good thing, but this review says it is nuanced and sweet
riese: is the reviewer white (DF: Here we go — because white people can’t possibly explore the gay Latina taco experience)
heather: i don’t know
a lot of reviewers are talking about how this is a really nuanced allegory about theology and faith? (DF: If by “nuanced” you mean “getting hit in the head with an offensive allegorical baseball bat” then — yeah — it’s nuanced) that feels so impossible.
will someone else read the sausage party post? i have made the few edits it needed for readability, but i feel uneasy because i haven’t seen it and it is a latina lesbian taco falling in love with a hot dog bun (DF: And we all know how hotdog buns have historically oppressed Latina lesbian tacos)
Yvonne: lol i can read it
heather: thank you
[….]
Yvonne: i think it’s fine heather! i think i wouldn’t watch the movie because it’s in the category of movies i hate and i hope our readers can make that distinction for themselves. and it’s not like we’re endorsing this movie, just pointing out there’s a lesbian taco
heather: okay!
Yvonne: maybe we should include the trailer in there?
i had to go find it
and judge for myself
and was like oh eww
heather: i hope it’s not transmisogynistic. (DF: Where did that come from?) i went through ten pages of google results and tumblr and didn’t see anything about transphobia or transmisogyny (DF: It’s just fine that the movie absolutely brutalizes religious faith, but by golly it better not contain a Bruce Jenner joke.)
Yvonne: true
like if i think about it, of course i hate that they resorted to a stereotype, like making salma hayek use her accent for the voice of a taco but like this is seth rogan so my feelings are like :face_with_rolling_eyes:
heather: yeah, that makes sense!
Yvonne: do you think think the last paragraph is like an exaggeration? or does this fall into the thing of someone has an opinion different from yours type of deal?
Heather: i think the second thing. i mean, i don’t think it’s going to actually encourage queer rep in movies aimed at younger people; i don’t think that’s a thing that will happen at all. but i do think she’s right that having an animated lesbian character to sympathize with in a summer blockbuster aimed at the people who will pay money to see this is a big deal.
heather: also i wonder if the taco is bisexual
i can’t believe i am having this much of a crisis about this! (DF: We can’t either. Actually, we can.)
Yvonne: i get it though!
because sausage party is crass
heather: yes
Yvonne: like people in our community can critique the hell out of it
and pick it apart
heather: yes
Yvonne: because it’s meant for stupid fucking men (DF: I know, right? Men are the worst.)
heather: yes!
thank you, yes
that is my feelings exactly
Yvonne: and it’s not meant for us
and we don’t need more media like it in this world
because that is the world
Heather: no!
we do not!
i have lost my mind, thanks a lot taco movie
Yvonne: hahahahaha
i had no idea this was a movie!
heather: i wish i didn’t
heather: i’ll bet it’s so gross
Yvonne: for sure
so lewd (DF: It’s interesting how they write almost like a caricature of religious right scolds.)
heather: you have to read and write too much about donald trump to be forced to acknowledge that this movie exists! (DF: I’m sure Seth Rogen is just thrilled to be tied to the Donald.)
The apology actually contains a sentence that says this, “We heard from readers who questioned the consent of the sexual encounter between the taco and the hot dog bun.” That’s a real sentence someone wrote in response to real complaints. I think. At least I’m still pretty sure it’s not parody.
And this is particularly sad/funny/painful:
I want to personally apologize to every reader who was hurt by the Sausage Party review. I failed you as a senior editor of this website and I failed you as an ally. I am wholly sorry for the pain and anger I caused you. I offer you no justification. I was blinded by my own whiteness existing inside a system of white supremacy. I must do better. I will do better. I also want to take full responsibility for not working more closely with the freelancer. This was not her fault. This was an editorial failure. I should have asked more critical questions about the film, especially since no one I know had seen it.
I could go on. Truly, read the whole thing, but it’s articles like this that reaffirm my belief that the current wave of extreme PC has a short shelf-life. This is ultimately an exhausting way to live and think, and most artists and writers will have little patience for its constraints. We saw something similar in the late 1980s — the time when elite campus extremism got so bad (when speech codes became all the rage) that “politically correct” ultimately went from compliment to insult. PC is dragging us there again, and most people don’t like it.
UPDATE: I see that Mollie Hemingway has already written about this piece. Go read her critique. It’s better than mine.
?yvonne:> Your PC Exchange of the Day -- Please Tell Me This Sausage Party Apology Is Parody