Birds of Prey fans, upset with the movie’s poor opening weekend, have begun a trolling campaign against the upcoming Sonic The Hedgehog movie in the hopes of diverting some of those viewers to watch the Suicide Squad spin-off.
The tactic used by these Birds of Prey fans was to tweet false accusations that the Sonic movie was offensive or extremely disappointing.
Despite Sonic the Hedgehog not arriving in theaters until February 14th, numerous users claimed to have seen the film and that their families had a much better time seeing Birds of Prey, recommending that audiences go see that film instead and using the official hashtags for both movies.
Many of these troll tweets, with some tweets being copy-and-pasted between various users, claimed that the film used “homophobic slurs” and was “dull, boring, and lifeless.”
I took my husband and 2 sons to go and see #SonicMovie and was appalled to hear homophobic slurs used throughout the movie! Luckily #BirdsOfPrey was showing in the next room and my family had a much better experience!
— 𝐔𝐥𝐲𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬 (@jalopysmog) February 10, 2020
I took my husband and 2 sons to go and see #SonicMovie and was appalled to hear homophobic slurs used throughout the movie! Luckily #BirdsOfPrey was showing in the next room and my family had a much better experience!
— Florence Pugh’s wired pupils (@sk1nnysp1ce) February 10, 2020
I took my husband and 2 sons to go and see #SonicMovie and was appalled to hear homophobic slurs used throughout the movie! Luckily #BirdsOfPrey was showing in the next room and my family had a much better experience!
— blind rights activist (@sjwiftiee) February 10, 2020
#SonicMovie was dull, boring and lifeless. The bad CGI was distracting. The jokes didn’t land, especially with the villain, and the whole plot is very cliched. I’m truly disappointed 👎🏻 I’ll be taking my boys to see #BirdsOfPrey though. They’re very excited and so am I!
— madam googoo saw bop (@korianduhrs) February 10, 2020
went to see #SonicMovie and I’m not sure what was faster, sonic or the audience leaving. from his abysmal design to the jokes that didn’t land, I asked for a refund and went to see #BirdsOfPrey instead which had the room filled with laughter and joy! pic.twitter.com/u9sdc2fLmD
— armaη saw bop (@RESlDENTEVILS) February 10, 2020
Related: After Poor Opening Weekend Warner Bros. Changes Margot Robbie’s Birds of Prey Title
YouTuber The Quartering documented a number of other examples.
In one particularly extreme tweet, a user stated that they had been the “victim of a horrible hate crime” during her viewing of Sonic the Hedgehog:
I was a victim of a horrible hate crime while in the theater watching #SonicMovie where these white men called me a fag and spit on me. Going to see #BirdsOfPrey made me feel safe to go to the movies again.
— harley quinn’s gay best friend (@cancertingz) February 10, 2020
Some Birds of Prey fans have since attempted to claim that their tweets were simply jokes, alluding to the over-the-top nature of their content.
However, these claims become dubious under Poe’s Law: “Without a winking smiley or other blatant display of humour, it is impossible to create a parody of fundamentalism that someone won’t mistake for the real thing.”