"The Conjuring 4: Critical Race Theory" from The New Yorker, by Nina Sharma

[Ilsa]

The Conjuring 4: Critical Race Theory,” Reviewed

By Nina Sharma

July 2, 2021

Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) have devoted three “Conjuring” films to visiting the homes of white people and confronting the spirits that haunt them. In this installment, set forty-eight years after the original movie, Ed and Lorraine—formerly liberal, now aging boomers—investigate a local public school where children have fallen prey to a seemingly unnatural force. “We are good white people!” their parents cry. “What did we do to get our kids possessed by a decentralized investigation of U.S. history?”

As in the other “Conjuring” films, before the Warrens arrive on the scene, the white families try everything to stave off the terror—in this case, the terror of recognizing that racism connects and affects us all. First, they complain to the PTA. Then they ask the state to ban any curriculum that might require students to face the frights of a multicultural perspective. “Look at the pain my white child is in—getting comfortable having uncomfortable conversations,” screams Taylor Smith (portrayed by the timeless Lori Loughlin), as her possessed daughter, Paige (played by the newcomer Madison Rockefeller-Rothschild), sits quietly in a corner reading “The 1619 Project.”

SNIP

[ColinC]

1. Of course critical race theory is a law school course

Never even taught in public schools. The warrens may just be focusing on regularly taught history...