The apocalyptic thriller “Leave the World Behind,” an adaptation of Rumaan Alam’s critically acclaimed novel, the No. 1 film in the U.S. on Netflix this week. It is the first feature film from High Ground, the production company founded by former President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle Obama, in 2018, and it success has predictably attracted the ire of some conservative critics who remain fixated on the Obamas and are resentful of their popularity.
“If the world falls apart, trust should not be doled out easily, especially to white people.”
In a film that has a running time of 2 hours and 21 minutes and revolves around a mysterious disaster hitting New York City, some critics have latched onto a single line Ruth Scott (Myha’la Herrold) makes to her father, George Scott (Mahershala Ali), as pandemonium breaks out in New York City: “If the world falls apart, trust should not be doled out easily, especially to white people.”
The actor James Woods tweeted, “The Obamas are two of the most influential people on the planet. Politics aside, you have to agree that their potential power to create good in the world is monumental. That’s why seeing that power used to promote racial hatred is deeply disappointing.”
Fox News host Kayleigh McEnany, a White House press secretary during Donald Trump’s administration, asked on her show, “Why isn’t the headline the former president reviewed a script embedded with this racist line, and how did it get through?”
Ruth’s statement to not be trusting of white people, which most Black viewers would recognize as sage advice, is not the point of the film. It’s not even close to being the point of the film. The film is about the possibility of overcoming mutual distrust and suspicion, however reasonable or however unfounded. The film argues that even in periods of hostility, there are still opportunities for cooperation and even common ground, however painfully and shakily they come about. The love and…
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