Elon Musk, the richest man in the world and the co-chair of President-elect Donald Trump’s soon-to-be-opened Department of Government Efficiency has a problem with a trigger warning card before a movie on TV. Musk recently shared his frustration with the AMC Network’s inclusion of a warning before the airing of Goodfellas.
The Martin Scorsese-directed crime drama follows the story of real-life mafia man Henry Hill and his life with gangsters. The film is known for being rooted in Italian-American culture but has also been criticized for promoting cultural stereotypes. The AMC Network had previously explained their decision to include the card before the film.
Elon Musk Criticizes AMC Network’s Trigger Warning Before Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas
Elon Musk has not shied away from criticizing the ‘woke’ section of society and has constantly put up posts about the various issues that the group usually talks about. Musk claimed that the ‘woke mind virus’ “killed” his transgender daughter and mentioned that he was tricked into granting permission to Vivian Jenna Wilson for gender-affirming care procedures (via USA Today).
While he has continued to share his thoughts on his platform X (formerly Twitter), he recently retweeted a post about the AMC Network’s trigger warning card before Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas. The crime drama has been criticized in the past for leaning into racial and cultural stereotypes and the trigger warning card mentions the same.
Musk’s comments on the reasoning behind including a trigger warning before a film that released 34 years ago got a lot of traction. The Tesla CEO’s reaction was affirmed by many of his followers, who took to criticizing the ‘woke’ section for being ‘too sensitive’.
While one can argue that Musk and his followers complaining about a group being too sensitive while getting annoyed by a trigger warning card is hypocritical, the move by AMC Network to include the card for a film that is not a product of its time but was a focus on a certain section of Italian-Americans was criticized by many before.
AMC’s Trigger Warning Card Before Goodfellas Has Received Criticism Before
Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas is often considered among the greatest films ever made. Starring an ensemble cast of Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, and Ray Liotta, the crime drama explored the life of Henry Hill, a former gangster turned informer who used to be a part of the Lucchese crime family.
The film received positive acclaim across the world upon release and was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and more. Pesci won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for the film. It has been parodied various times and was also reportedly an inspiration for David Chase to create The Sopranos.
AMC Network came under fire earlier this year for including a trigger warning before an airing of Goodfellas. Even before Elon Musk, many criticized the network’s decision to include a warning about outdated cultural stereotypes in a film that explored an Italian-American crime family.
An AMC representative reportedly mentioned to The New York Post,
In 2020, we began adding advisories in front of certain films that include racial or cultural references that some viewers might find offensive.
Though many may not be happy with the decision, the card does not appear at any other point in the film or in between scenes and only appears before the film starts. Some were also of the opinion that people belonging to the mob did not need any protection from a film.
Goodfellas is available to stream on Max.
