Trolls Take Aim at Christian Bale Flick

It's set amid the Armenian genocide, which some label a 'lie'
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 19, 2017 1:44 PM CDT
Trolls Take Aim at Christian Bale Flick
Charlotte Le Bon, right, and Christian Bale in a scene from "The Promise."   (Jose Haro/Open Road Films via AP)

Amy Schumer isn't the only star doing battle with trolls lately. About 51% of 120,000 reviews on IMDb for Christian Bale's new movie The Promise, set amid the Armenian genocide, give the movie a one-star rating out of 10—and it's likely not because of his acting. The Promise, which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in September but is only scheduled for release this Friday, seems to be suffering from the same type of campaign that aimed to sink Ghostbusters and Schumer's 2016 book. In this case, trolls appear angry with the film's portrayal of the killing of 1.5 million Armenians beginning in 1915. Many countries, including Germany and France, consider it genocide, per the Washington Post. Turkey, however, does not.

But posts on Incisozluk, a Turkish version of Reddit, don't just dispute the events represented in the film. They show a concerted effort to do damage to it, reports the Hollywood Reporter. One user, for example, described the need for urgent action against the film before celebrating that its IMDb rating had at one point fallen to 1.8 stars, making it one of the site's 10 lowest-rated films. One one-star review simply notes the film is "based on a lie." The film's producer, Eric Esrailian, says the trolling is "a kind of censorship, really." The Promise has since rebounded and now has a 5.2 rating on IMDb with 48% of votes giving it a 10-star rating. Says Esrailian: "People realized you had to fight fire with fire." (Trolls also targeted Megyn Kelly.)

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