Сына Тома Хэнкса обвинили в расизме из‑за коллекции мерча с надписью «White Boy Summer»
Актер и музыкант Чет Хэнкс, сын двукратного обладателя «Оскара» Тома Хэнкса, выпустил коллекцию мерча под названием «White Boy Summer». Из‑за нее его обвинили в расизме, сообщил The Guardian.
Артист представил черные футболки, худи, майки, шорты, бейсболки и легинсы с белой надписью «Лето белого мальчика», напечатанной готическим шрифтом, популярным у националистов. Похожий шрифт использовался на обложке книги Адольфа Гитлера «Майн Кампф».
По словам Хэнкса, название коллекции отсылает к песне рэп-певицы Megan Thee Stallion «Hot Girl Summer». «Белым мальчиком» актер называет самого себя. Он утверждает, что не хотел никого задеть или обидеть этим выражением.
«Вы знаете, чем „Лето белого мальчика“ не является. Оно не несет какой‑либо недоброжелательности или предубеждения по отношению к кому‑либо другого происхождения, расы, образа жизни», — пояснил Хэнкс.
Позднее артист пообещал выпустить дополнение к коллекции — такие же товары с надписью «Black Queen Summer» («Лето черной королевы»). В видео в инстаграме он утверждает, что будет носить такой вариант мерча с еще большим удовольствием.
«Я хочу увидеть несколько белых мальчиков и несколько черных королев в футболках друг друга», — добавил Хэнкс.
What does Chet Hanks’ “white boy summer” mean? IG video explained!
Chet Hanks has let the world know that he thinks that this summer will be a “white boy summer” via Instagram. Leaving social media users confused about what he means by “white boy summer”, this isn’t the first time Chet has caused a stir on the internet. So, let’s take a look at his IG video and what he proposes summer 2021 is all about…
Chet is an actor and musician who has appeared in Your Honor, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Shameless and NCIS: New Orleans. He’s one half of the music duo FTRZ. Besides his success in the entertainment world, Chet has gained a lot of attention on social media in recent years.
Chet Hanks announces “white boy summer”
Taking to Instagram on March 26th 2021, Chet said: “Hey guys, look I just wanted to tap in really quick, I just got this feeling man that this summer is about to be a white boy summer.
In a bid to expand on what exactly he meant by “white boy summer”, Chet added:
“I’m not talking about like Trump, you know NASCAR type white. I’m talking about me, Jon B, Jack Harlow type white boy summer. Let me know if you can vibe with that and get ready, because I am.”
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What is a “white boy summer”?
Chet attempts to explain what a “white boy summer” is, referencing Jon B and Jack Harlow as examples of what it’s all about. Both are white musicians: Jon B, in his heyday, was an R’n’B sensation; Jack Harlow is a rapper who recently had hits with What’s Poppin and Way Out.
Despite these examples, it still remains unclear what Chet Hanks meant by “white boy summer.” It could be that he derived the concept from Megan Thee Stallion’s song, and subsequent meme/trend, “Hot Girl Summer”.
Megan’s idea of a “Hot Girl Summer” is “...basically about women — and men — just being unapologetically them, just having a good-ass time, hyping up your friends, doing you, not giving a damn about what nobody got to say about it. You definitely have to be a person that can be the life of the party, and, y’know, just a bad b**ch.”
Twitter reacts to Chet Hanks’ video
By the looks of Chet Hanks’ IG page and Twitter, many people were unimpressed by his “white boy summer” remarks.
One person Tweeted: “I’m scared of Chet Hanks “White Boy Summer”. WTF does that even mean. Cause we have endured a white boys winter.“
Another said: “Chet Hanks is proof that you can do everything right in the world and kids will still embarrass tf outta you“.
A further person added: “Someone tell Chet Hanks that we’re already several thousand years into a white boy summer“.
However, some people appreciated Chet’s video and wrote: “Even the best comedian in the world could never come up with a joke as funny as just a normal thought Chet Hanks has. His brain belongs on a museum“.
White Boy Summer Meme
Popular:
White Boy Summer
About
White Boy Summer is a mock movement started by the son of the actor Tom Hanks Chet Hanks. Many interpreted this as a call for social liberation of caucasian men, allowing them to act and dress in ways that make them feel most comfortable, similar to Hot Girl Summer and Christian Girl Autumn. After posting a video in which he launched the idea, many mocked the idea, arguing that white men are not in need of liberation and joking about stereotypes about white culture, focusing on the fashions and attitudes of white men.
Origin
On March 26th, 2021, Chet Hanks published a video on Instagram in which he said that has «this feeling that this summer is about to be a ‘white boy summer.'» He clarified that this was not meant in connection to American conservatism. «I’m not talking about Trump, you know, NASCAR type white,» he said. «I’m talking about me, Jon B, Jack Harlow type white boy summer. Let me know if you guys can vibe with that and get ready, because I am.» The post received more than 330,000 views and 57,000 likes in less than three days (shown below).
Spread
That day, Twitter user @KaraBTweets tweeted the video, receiving more than 4.9 million views, 94,000 likes and 24,000 retweets in less than three days (shown below).
Following the post, people began making jokes about the «White Boy Summer» idea, particularly on Twitter where people theorized what a «White Boy Summer» would look like. On March 27th, 2021, for example, Twitter user @itsthereal tweeted a TikTok video of a white man dancing like Michael Jackson to Jackson’s song «Smooth Criminal.»
Throughout the day, people posted images and jokes about White Boy Summer. For example, Twitter [1] user @DylanTop5 posted a photo of Hanks and comedian Larry David wearing revolutionary war costumes on the set of Curb Your Enthusiasm. The post received more than 29,000 likes and 2,300 retweets in less than two days (shown below, left). Twitter [2] user @gaysex420 posted an image of actors Glenn Howerton and Christina Hendricks with the caption, «putting this on my vision board for white boy summer.» The tweet received more than 13,000 likes and 900 retweets in less than two days (shown below, center).
Others posted images of other celebrities speaking Hanks’ words. On March 27th, Twitter [3] user @jacob__posts tweeted a photo of director David Lynch with the chyron featuring Hanks words from the original video. The post received more than 9,000 likes and 900 retweets in less than 24 hours (shown below, right).
On March 27th, Twitter user @neurotard shared a series of Instagram Stories from Hanks, in which he lays out the rules and regulations for «White Boy Summer.» In the video, Hanks says that salmon-colored clothes, no plaid shirts, Sperry Top-sider boat shoes and no calling women «smokeshows.» The post received more than 2.4 million views, 46,000 likes and 10,000 retweets in less than 24 hours (shown below).
Several media outlets covered the videos and reaction, including PopBuzz, [4] The Daily Dot, [5] The Cut, [6] BET, [7] The Wrap [8] and more.
white boy summer
[ wahyt boi suhm-er ]
What does white boy summer mean?
White boy summer is a phrase created and used on clothing merchandise by Chet Hanks, who is an actor and rapper and the son of actor Tom Hanks.
In social media posts, Hanks noted that he was not referring to “Trump, NASCAR type white,” but men like himself and white musicians Jon B. and Jack Harlow. He later tied the phrase to a particular style reflected by his clothing merchandise, which also featured the phrase Black Queen Summer. According to Hanks, white boy summer means “nothing but good vibes towards everybody.”
The term was seemingly modeled on the phrase hot girl summer, which became the subject of popular social media posts and memes during the summer of 2019 after it was popularized by rapper Meghan Thee Stallion.
White boy summer quickly became the focus of memes and jokes mocking the phrase and concept. Hanks was also criticized for releasing T-shirts and other clothes featuring the phrase written in a Gothic typeface resembling the kind sometimes used by white supremacist groups.
Note: In the midst of the online attention generated by the phrase (and just days after Hanks first used it in an Instagram post), it was reported that Hanks had allegedly been in a violent altercation with former girlfriend Kiana Parker, part of which was captured on video showing Hanks bleeding from the head. Parker was granted a protective order against Hanks in January 2021 and stated in court documents that Hanks had physically and verbally abused her. Hanks alleged that Parker had attacked him during the same incident and sought legal action against Parker for it.
How ‘White Boy Summer’ Became The Ultimate Bruh Moment
It seems like every passing season needs a definition these days. No longer are we content with simply recognizing the weather changing, they have to have an attitude behind it. Hot Girl Summer started it all in 2019, living on in the hearts and minds of many, and fall has been claimed by Christian girls everywhere. It was only a matter of time before someone pointed out that men have been left behind in this equation — and Chet Hanks has been the one to do that … if you’re white, at least according to some online.
Hanks has made previous claims to viral fame. His appearance at the Golden Globes last year debuted a questionable Patois accent and widespread bafflement at the fact that he was actually related to his famous father that seemingly everyone adores. A few short months later, he produced a memorable reaction to his parents’ coronavirus diagnosis. His new creation adds to this public persona, a confusing mixture of celebrity parentage, cultural appropriation and wannabe cult-figure status.
White Boy Summer was almost guaranteed success as a meme because the ideas behind it (whether serious or sarcastic) draw a parallel with how memes have satirized men and masculinity in the past. Hanks’s blond and muscular appearance calls to mind the Chad archetype, something which is underlined by the commitment he outlines in a subsequent video to helping his fellow white boys “evolve.” The comparison he makes may be between Pikachu and Raichu, but in meme terms, his vision calls virgins everywhere to finally make the upgrade.
As well as this, there’s an embrace of a «Dudes Rock» mindset. The catchphrase turned movement claimed to empower men by rebranding some of the more harmless negative stereotypes about them as a good thing, whether that be sleeping on a bare mattress or bulk ordering energy drinks off Amazon. Where the original conception of Dudes Rock was built on a sense of irony, White Boy Summer takes itself a little more seriously, working for self-improvement as well as self-acceptance. It’s not just about seizing the moment, you have to give off the right impression doing it.
That said, these improvements aren’t necessarily of the «being a better person» kind. Unlike the Megan Thee Stallion phenomenon it is inspired by, White Boy Summer is as much about aesthetics as it is philosophy. Notwithstanding his thoughts on slang to describe attractive women, when Hanks set ground rules, he appeared to be dictating a dress code. Monochrome and sneakers were in, anything you might find in the wardrobe of someone on the Goldman Sachs graduate scheme was out.
In his rejection of things like salmon-colored garments and Sperry Topsiders, he antagonizes the iconic format You Know I Had To Do It To Em. A meme that relies upon its male protagonist, in the summertime, radiating immensely powerful drip, it’s arguably a strong spiritual predecessor to White Boy Summer. Its rejection in the guidelines, therefore, suggests not just a development but an attempt to rewrite the blueprint.
Like many of those at the peak of internet fame, Hanks is eager to keep the high going. The phenomenon has proved to be a useful springboard for advertising his upcoming acting workshops. On top of that, he has already produced the inevitable merch, which has been criticized for using a font and color scheme many suggest do not help the accusations of white supremacy. As if to offset this, he has introduced an extra component as well. Reasoning that “you can’t be a real ivory king without a black queen,” Black Queen Summer is a further addition to the merch line that Hanks envisions his fellow boys will wear — so long as black queens do the same for them of course.
A move from white pride to racial fetishization might be bafflingly unsmart to many, but it feeds the outrage machine nonetheless. Crucially, this attracts the attention of ironic appreciators alongside more serious critics. Was this a social group that needed the signal boost? No. Did it even particularly want one? Not particularly. However, it is exactly this premise that has allowed White Boy Summer its moment in the sun. While it has opened up a new avenue for memes about certain types of men, it’s also given a dubious new income stream to a child of the rich and famous — who may not be acting that «#Respectfully» after all.
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