Simu Liu Faces Criticisms After People Uncover His Reddit History
Simu Liu, star of the new Marvel film Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, trended on Twitter last night after users uncovered his Reddit history and took umbrage with several of his posts.
The controversy appears to have started when Twitter user @CinnabonMonster posted a tweet calling Simu Liu the "celebrity ringleader" of the "Men's Rights Asians" movement after Slate published an article about the movement and its home on Reddit.
Liu has indeed posted on /r/aznidentity, which was named in the Slate article as "the unofficial hub" for Asian incels and MRAs. The fact Liu posted there at all was a red flag for some, though it appears the only posts he made in the subreddit were in a thread discussing his television show Kim's Convenience. Other posts called into question are from /r/AskReddit threads where he says terrorists tick him off and one where he said women aren't as good as men at sports and that he gets frustrated when girls play on his volleyball team.
In another post that circulated widely, Liu says he once had to play a pedophile and when studying for the role, developed compassion for people with the condition. In his post, he says that pedophilia isn't that different from being gay, asserting "everyone deserves sympathy," and it's not a black-and-white condition.
There have also been accusations that Liu is "anti-black," but there appears to be no evidence in his Reddit history to support those accusations. In fact, while accusations of racism and MRA behavior began spreading on Twitter, other users began doing a deep dive into Liu's Reddit history and suggested that the evidence therein doesn't support the accusations being lobbed at Liu.
Twitter user @katie_bee__ was among several users who went through Liu's entire Reddit history and offered some context on the circulating screenshots. User @LPCantLose posted a similar thread, coming to a similar conclusion that Liu was being attacked unfairly.
Other than that one time, I did not see a single comment from Simu on the aznidentity sub. He was not some big supervillain ringleader. Just an actor hopping in to sell his project that one time (which he occasionally did in other subs too). #SimuLiu
— Katie Bee (@Katie_Bee__) September 17, 2021
1) 2014, the "girls playing sports" one. Context: It's an AskReddit post asking about "asshole things you say or do". He knows it's an asshole thing. #SimuLiu pic.twitter.com/bPpWzhaiV6
— Katie Bee (@Katie_Bee__) September 17, 2021
2) 2015: Answering another AskReddit question, "What is something people do that makes you instantly despise them?," he describes things terrorists do and is frustrated by the "first world problems" being offered as answers by others. #SimuLiu pic.twitter.com/VSOmIOi0TC
— Katie Bee (@Katie_Bee__) September 17, 2021
These posts were a lot more involved than the throwaway AskReddit comments. Simu was earnestly engaging with a complex topic about how best society can protect children, set in the context of Germany's pedophile treatments. #SimuLiu
— Katie Bee (@Katie_Bee__) September 17, 2021
There's nothing else THERE there. Now, I have not gone through Simu's 12,000 tweets, because hell no I don't have that kind of time. But the dark insinuations going around about #SimuLiu's old Reddit account showing him to be a misogynistic racist MRA ringleader are false.
— Katie Bee (@Katie_Bee__) September 17, 2021
At the time of writing, Liu has yet to directly address the conversation surrounding his Reddit history, but he seems aware of it. While the conversation was going on, he boosted a 2019 tweet in which he advocated for positivity.
Oh cool this is here
— Simu Liu (刘思慕) (@SimuLiu) September 17, 2021
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Gumshoe
You almost couldn't ask for a better textbook example to give people who decry cancel culture. This is a guy who really posted nothing particularly bad at all, but it gets chopped up and taken out of context to create a new image of him where he is now an incel MRA who hates black people.
Even the pedophilia thing was basically a point that probably most people could agree with if they gave it some thought and listened to him with an open mind, and then it just gets misconstrued into "this sicko thinks pedophilia is great".
Alex Reynard
I grew up at a time when it was common for evangelical preachers, or "family values" politicians to vehemently condemn homosexuality as a demonic and corrupting "alternative lifestyle". And then inevitably someone would catch them sucking cock or taking it up the ass in a public restroom.
Now, thanks to the internet's ability to rummage through anyone's dirty laundry, ANYONE can enjoy the fleeting sadistic thrill of decrying and condemning the moral failures of others (as if they're never going to have a turn in front of the public ridicule firing squad themselves).
jacob BLackburn
So he thinks Pedophiles should be treated more sympathetically by being encouraged to get help? K i guess. Prefer if they just get executed but w/e
and he says playing sports with women is different because of the biological differences? It is. It absolutely is, most Men can spike a volleyball better than any Woman. The difference in upper torso and arm strength is so well documented its insanity to deny otherwise.
and he told a bunch of guys that making threats towards people because you can't laid is a shitty thing to do and that they should get over their first world problems? I mean… how do you DISagree with that??
But fuck it Cancel Culture is out in full force and we looking for people to lynch so w/e i guess.
Alexa play Strange Fruit.
AnonBlah867
Thoughtcrime, much?
jacob BLackburn
evidently by the downvotes lol
jacob BLackburn
My comment was sarcastic. i don't know if people understood that and downvoted or didn't and downvoted. Either way kinda proved my point
AnonBlah867
His comments on pedophilia are 100% correct.
Geigh Science
It's a slippery slope of terminology, though. What most people mean when they say pedophile is someone who actively abuses kids- It doesn't matter if they have a genetic urge to do so, or if they are simply in a position where they're able to do so and don't have a moral compass.
I think we're on a dangerous path once we begin to normalize pedophilia as "just another sexual orientation, like being gay"
AnonBlah867
I argued yesterday with a person who openly and explicitly advocated the murder of all pedophiles, per the actual definition (as well as probably including anyone attracted to someone under 18); this is a huge problem, and the fact that people so actively and maliciously misuse the word makes matters worse and more difficult to set straight for public awareness. Pedophilia is strictly a medical term with a very specific definition; using it for any other meaning is misinformation.
winton overwat
>I think we're on a dangerous path once we begin to normalize pedophilia as "just another sexual orientation, like being gay"
The issue with the current approach is that, because of all the social stigmas, laws, and red tape associated with pedophilia, you cannot engage pedophiles before there is a victim. Because there are little to no support groups and medical professionals are required in several jurisdictions to report potential pedophiles, they just hide and do their things because the second they try to find support is the second the police is going to knock the door.
I 100% agree with you that it should never be normalized because there is no circumstance in which pedophilia isn't rape, but perhaps a new approach could be taken to the issue. One that is preventative instead of punitive.
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