As Marvel Studios' latest offering on Disney Plus, Moon Knight has been wowing audiences with its engaging story and pretty gosh dang incredible action scenes. Many have been citing the car chase, in particular, as a real standout moment. Whether it's due to the cinematography or the power fantasy of shoving a cupcake into an enemy's face, it's difficult to deny the appeal.
However, there's one oddly specific aspect of the Oscar Isaac-led series that has inspired a focused, vitriolic reaction from a certain section of its audience. There's one scene in particular that some might see as fairly innocuous, if a bit morbid. Those who saw the newly-released first episode of Moon Knight will likely remember the scene featuring Ethan Hawke's creepy antagonist Arthur Harrow explaining his viewpoint to Isaac's Steven Grant. Aiming to bring the Egyptian goddess Ammit to power, he brings up various historical atrocities as examples of what could have been avoided if Ammit had been able to intervene.
Amid mentions of the obvious, like Hitler's horrific regime and the Roman tyrant Nero, Arthur also brings up the Armenian Genocide as an example of another avoidable disaster. This refers to the targeted annihilation of Armenian people in the Ottoman Empire during World War I, widely considered one of history's greatest tragedies. But what some might not realize is that the modern Turkish government officially considers the Genocide to simply have been a mass deportation, and refuses to acknowledge it as an actual genocide.
This viewpoint is apparently mirrored by many Turkish people, a number of whom have begun review bombing the otherwise generally well-loved Moon Knight in retaliation for the show calling out the historical act of brutality. Taking to sites like IMDb, some outraged individuals submitted negative reviews for the series, citing their distaste for perceived "propaganda" supposedly targeting the Turkish people. "There are too many scenes that contain elements of racism and vilification of a nation," said one disgruntled reviewer, while others are a bit more direct with their criticisms. "There is no Armenian Genocide, you historical ignorants," another wrote. "Are you all illiterate or anything else? Don't you ever read a real historical document? We are really really and really tired of your lies and ignorance. That is really enough."
The Armenian Genocide is a well-documented moment in history that a number of countries and most historians recognize as a legitimate genocide of a people and a culture. The mass murder of approximately 1 million Armenians is understandably a difficult subject to talk about. But the Turkish government's continued refusal to acknowledge it has apparently had an effect on modern sensibilities. Expressing that outrage through IMDb reviews is an interesting tactic, though perhaps it's a sign of the times more than anything. It's not the first time angry fans have review bombed something, though it may be a little less petty than irate men yelling at Horizon: Forbidden West because they don't find Aloy attractive enough.
But while the review bombing appears to have made a small dent, Moon Knight has still overall been enjoying favorable reactions from critics and fans alike. Simply mentioning a divisive historical atrocity can hardly count as activism (though it's about as far as Disney tends to go), but it's still worth noting when there are entire countries that continually try to erase it from history.
Moon Knight releases new episodes every Wednesday on Disney Plus.
Source: The Direct, IMDB