Latest news with #FootballParents
Middle East Eye
5 days ago
- Middle East Eye
For Netflix, the Srebrenica massacre is a joke - and Gaza is the sequel
Once upon a time, "Never again" was uttered with trembling sincerity. It was the mantra forged in the ashes of Auschwitz, a promise to generations unborn that the horrors of genocide would never be repeated. But today, in an age of digital spectacle and political impunity, "Never again" has become "Ever again". And we are witnessing a grotesque inversion of memory. From the Warsaw Ghetto to Srebrenica to Gaza, the imagery of genocide - especially the suffering of children - has not only lost its sacredness, it has become fodder for mockery, comedy and the most cynical forms of entertainment. This is no accident, but a reflection of how unresolved histories and unaddressed root causes have created a culture desensitised to violence and hungry for spectacle. In a shocking display of insensitivity, the Dutch Netflix comedy Football Parents features a scene that compares the victims of the Srebrenica genocide to clumsy child football players, turning the Bosnian genocide into a punchline. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters Mocking victims More than 8,000 Bosniak Muslim men and boys were murdered under the watch of Dutch UN peacekeepers in 1995. Dutch soldiers not only failed to prevent genocide but also participated in committing it. Now, Dutch television mocks them. The scandal runs deeper. The Netherlands has been linked to three major genocides - the Holocaust, the Bosnian genocide, and now the genocide in Gaza. Incredibly, Football Parents mocked children's football skills by comparing them to genocide victims - a grotesque parallel to the 1993 killing of 74 Bosnian children The Dutch state is currently being sued for failing to prevent genocide in Gaza. Meanwhile, a recent study revealed that nearly half a million Dutch citizens took part in the Holocaust. Rather than confront its violent past, Dutch media recycles it as "dark humour". Incredibly, Football Parents mocked children's football skills by comparing them to genocide victims - a grotesque parallel to 12 April 1993, when 74 Bosnian children were killed by Serb shells while playing football on a school field in Srebrenica. This goes beyond tasteless comedy - it is genocide denial masquerading as satire. Denial is not merely an afterthought; it is an integral part of the genocidal process itself, as seen in Israeli TikTok influencers who produce viral "prank" videos feigning donations for Palestinian children in Gaza, only to reveal the appeal as a cruel joke. These clips have been viewed by millions, turning the real suffering of children under relentless bombardment into nothing more than a callous punchline. The unspoken truth How did we arrive here? From solemn commemoration to commodified suffering? From mourning child victims to ridiculing them on screen? The hard truth is that we never truly moved away from genocide. Srebrenica genocide survivors draw parallels with Gaza 30 years after massacre Read More » There was never a "Never again" because there was never a reckoning. The root causes - racism, colonialism, dehumanisation, militarism - were never dismantled. Instead, the same ideologies that fuelled the Holocaust found new expressions in new times, targeting new bodies. Gregory Stanton, founder of Genocide Watch, outlined 10 stages of genocide - classification, symbolisation, discrimination, dehumanisation, organisation, polarisation, preparation, persecution, extermination, and denial - that were never internalised by the so-called international community. If anything, they have become background noise and their warning signs normalised in political discourse and media narratives. Even linguistically, the promise was always fragile. Say "Never again" often enough, and the "N" erodes - until all that remains is "ever again". A mantra turned into prophecy: "Forever again." A lost innocence One of the most iconic images of the Holocaust shows a young Jewish boy in the Warsaw Ghetto in 1943, his arms raised in surrender, fear etched into his face. Taken by a Nazi photographer, the photo captured the innocence of childhood crushed under the weight of state violence and hatred. It became a symbol of innocence violated and a rallying cry for remembrance. But today, that same innocence is up for ridicule. Follow Middle East Eye's live coverage of the Israel-Palestine war In the West - particularly in cultural output from nations complicit in past genocides - the suffering of children has become fair game. The sacred is now profane. Children have always held a certain "entertaining" value in western media. Their pain is photogenic, their tears emotionally potent. But there is a fine line between representing suffering and exploiting it. And today, that line is not just crossed - it is obliterated. In the age of livestreamed war and algorithm-driven engagement, genocide is no longer just a crime - it is content. The Obmana - the Bosnian genocide - was the first genocide broadcast live on television. Harrowing images streamed into homes around the globe, laying bare the catastrophic failure of the international community to protect its victims. The genocide in Gaza has become the first fully digital genocide. Smartphones capture the last moments of children's lives in real time. Livestreams show entire families buried under rubble - only for those images to be drowned out by satire, denial, or worse, parody. This is not a bug in the system. It is a feature of how power operates today. The same states and institutions that fail to prevent genocide now allow the mockery of its victims to flourish in their cultural industries. The price of naivety The world watched in stunned disbelief as western power structures - political, media, and academic - betrayed their sacred "Never again" vow amid Gaza's unfolding genocide. By perpetuating this dehumanisation, Netflix is repeating the same propaganda that has historically preceded genocide But this betrayal has deeper roots, stretching back to Bosnia and Obmana, where the West effectively legalised and rewarded genocide. The proof? Srebrenica is still controlled by the very Serb forces who slaughtered Bosniaks. Impunity for genocide paved the way for its denial. The University of Vienna, under the leadership of Rector Sebastian Schutze, remains a glaring example of this. To this day, it refuses to issue an apology to the Mothers of Srebrenica for its documented role in genocide denial. Gaza confirms the grim truth: once we excuse one genocide, we enable the next. Despite an outcry in Bosnian media and direct petitions demanding that Netflix remove content that ridicules the Bosnian genocide, the platform has refused to act. This inaction shows utter contempt for the value of Muslim lives - echoing the dehumanising rhetoric recently amplified by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who remarked that Israel is "doing the dirty work for all of us". War on Gaza: Did we learn nothing from the Srebrenica genocide? Read More » Now, as the world scrolls through the Gaza genocide on their feeds, Netflix offers its audience Dutch-produced content mocking the last one - inviting viewers to laugh at the "good work" the Dutch UN peacekeepers carried out in Srebrenica - murdering Bosniak boys and men. Netflix exposes the twisted hierarchy of white supremacy, where even blonde, blue-eyed European Muslim genocide victims are denied full humanity, deemed unworthy of the series' removal by its leadership, Reed Hastings and David Hyman. By perpetuating this dehumanisation, Netflix is repeating the same propaganda that has historically preceded genocide. Many Bosniaks were shocked when the University of Vienna refused to apologise for its role in genocide denial. Now, they are utterly appalled to see Netflix mocking their dead. This betrayal cuts especially deep because, like much of the world, they had naively believed in the "Never again" promise - only to learn it never applied to them. The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye.
Time Magazine
30-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Magazine
Here's What's New on Netflix in May 2025
M other's Day is May 11 in America, and there are plenty of shows and movies about moms coming to Netflix this month. In Nonnas, out May 9, Vince Vaughn is inspired to open an Italian restaurant run by grandmothers because he has so many good memories growing up cooking with his mother and grandma. Football Parents, out May 16, is a series about the wacky moms of child football players. And Sarah Silverman's comedy special, Sarah Silverman: Postmortem, out May 20, pays tribute to her stepmother and father, who died just days apart in 2023. Here's everything coming to Netflix in May 2025—and what's leaving. Here are the Netflix originals coming in May 202 5 May 1 Angi: Fake Life, True Crime The Biggest Fan The Four Seasons May 2 Unseen (Season 2) May 4 Conan O'Brien: The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize for American Humor May 5 Britain and The Blitz Mighty Monsterwheelies (Season 2) May 6 The Devil's Plan (Season 2) Untold: Shooting Guards May 7 Full Speed (Season 2) Last Bullet May 8 Blood of Zeus (Season 3) FOREVER Karol G: Tomorrow was Beautiful May 9 A Deadly American Marriage Bad Influence Nonnas The Royals May 12 Tastefully Yours May 13 Bad Thoughts Untold: The Liver King May 14 American Manhunt: Osama bin Laden Fred and Rose West: A British Horror Story Snakes and Ladders May 15 Bet Love, Death & Robots: Volume 4 Franklin Pernille (Season 5) Secrets We Keep Thank You, Next (Season 2) Vini Jr May 16 Dear Hongrang Football Parents The Quilters Rotten Legacy May 20 Sarah Silverman: Postmortem Untold: The Fall of Favre May 21 Newly Rich, Newly Poor Real Men Sneaky Links: Dating After Dark May 22 Sirens Tyler Perry's She The People May 23 Air Force Elite: Thunderbirds Big Mouth (Season 8) Fear Street: Prom Queen Forget You Not Off Track 2 May 24 Our Unwritten Seoul May 26 CoComelon (Season 13) Cold Case: The Tylenol Murders Mike Birbiglia: The Good Life May 28 F1: The Academy May 29 Dept. Q May 30 A Widow's Game The Heart Knows May 31 Netflix Tudum 2025: The Live Event Here are the TV shows and movies coming to Netflix in May 2025 May 1 Airport Airport '77 Airport 1975 Ali American Gangster American Graffiti Burn After Reading Constantine Crazy, Stupid, Love Dawn of the Dead Eat Pray Love The Equalizer 2 Hanna Home The Jerk The Lego Move Mid90s Ocean's Eleven Ocean's Thirteen Ocean's Twelve The Paper Tigers Past Lives Sisters Starship Troopers The Sugarland Express Trainwreck Trolls Twilight The Twilight Saga: New Moon The Twilight Saga: Eclipse The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn: Part 1 The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn: Part 2 Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit May 2 Peninsula Train to Busan May 8 Heart Eyes May 11 ABBA: Against the Odds May 13 All American (Season 7) May 14 Married at First Sight (Season 17) Smile May 21 The UnXplained with William Shatner (Season 6) May 24 The Wild Robot Here's what's leaving Netflix in May 2025 May 1 About Time Annie Apollo 13 Blade Runner: The Final Cut Dallas Buyers Club Definitely, Maybe Erin Brockovich Europa Report The Flintstones Friday The Frozen Ground Fury King Kong Maid in Manhattan Next Friday Notting Hill Out of Africa Pompeii Public Enemies Queen & Slim Schindler's List Spider-Man Spider-Man 2 Spider-Man 3 Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse This Is 40 Tyler Perry's I Can Do Bad All by Myself Waterworld Wedding Crashers The Whale Whiplash The Wiz You, Me and Dupree May 4 Insidious: The Red Door May 5 The Peanut Butter Falcon May 9 The Lost City Resident Evil: Death Island May 10 Rambo Rambo: Last Blood May 15 The Clovehitch Killer Crossroads Madam Secretary (Seasons 1-6) May 16 The Sum of All Fears Tully May 19 A Simple Favor May 28 Burnt May 29 The Silencing
