Bruce Willis’ ‘Death Wish’ remake slammed as ’racist’ after trailer drops

IN THE US where gun violence and racism remain hot-button topics, the trailer for Death Wish comes off as pretty tone-deaf.

REMAKES are all the rage these days, so there wasn’t much to buzz about when we learned that Eli Roth would be remaking Death Wish with Bruce Willis.

When the trailer dropped yesterday, however, the internet began singing an entirely different tune. In the US where gun violence and racism remain hot-button topics, the trailer for the flick – in which Willis becomes a hoodie-wearing vigilante who uses his gun to clean up the streets – comes off as pretty tone-deaf. Twitter was quick to jump on this, noting Roth’s inability to read the room in a post-Trayvon Martin era.

In the last 24 hours or so, Death Wish has been called everything from “racist” to “alt-right fan fiction”, and they’re not done yet. Many noted that the original flick had been set in New York City, and relocating it to Chicago in 2017 just felt plain “irresponsible.” The trailer, which also seems to emulate a pro-gun rights stance, has elicited a series of angry, shocked responses from Twitter users.

Angry, old white man becomes an armed vigilante against Chicago civilians. That's a dangerous message. Is Death Wish alt-right fan fiction? pic.twitter.com/7VIrMbLWXv

— Adam Best (@adamcbest) August 3, 2017

Eli Roth's Death Wish remake is so nakedly fascist that alt-righters will have an erection before the trailer ends https://t.co/sDY5fQXR9W

— Alan Zilberman (@alanzilberman) August 3, 2017

Fair or not, I can't think of a more tone-deaf idea in this political/social environment than white filmmakers remaking #DEATHWISH...

— Scott Mendelson (@ScottMendelson) August 3, 2017

Political leanings aside, the movie doesn’t look particularly good, which was also taken into account by many users. The idea of a white man heroically taking matters into his own hand and using lethal violence to take out who he thinks deserves to die seems like something that might have flown back in the 70s, when the original flick was released, but it couldn’t feel more ignorant nowadays. The trailer shows his knack for violence being treated with a sense of humour that totally condones it, and that did not sit well with many:

Maybe #DeathWish isn’t a good idea in a post-Trayvon Martin world. White dudes on vigilante rampages for their fridged wife is very 1980...

— Donna Dickens (@MildlyAmused) August 3, 2017

Hot take: the original Death Wish was a steaming pile of barely-veiled racist shit. The remake can't possibly be any better.

— Bryce Pugh (@brycepugh) August 3, 2017

Many folks, however, did not find the trailer maddening, and instead took to trashing the “social justice warriors” who were ruining a new Bruce Willis movie for them and ridiculing the logic of being unhappy with the flick:

The left's freaking out about how Death Wish is an alt-right movie promoting racism and fascism. Eli Roth is Jewish, you hysterical goons.

— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) August 4, 2017

How anyone could find Death Wish "racist" is beyond me. Willis kills black & white guys--all are thugs! #PCIsReallyGettingOld

— Jen (@jennifermcfarl4) August 3, 2017

If they're calling the Death Wish remake "racist" and "alt-right fan fiction", you know it's going to be GREAT!

— Kalkidas (@cvdevol) August 4, 2017

Death Wish hits US theatres November 22. Willis, Roth, and the rest of the team have not addressed the backlash, but it’s safe to say that a fair amount of people have a death wish for this flick.

This article was originally published on The Decider