CHRISTIAN TOTO: When Film Critics Actually Defended Free Speech.

The removal of one four-letter word from an Oscar-winning film created a panic in 2011.

Today?

The classic film “The French Connection” loses a brief but powerful sequence to appease the woke mob, and most film critics look the other way.

That wasn’t the case with “The King’s Speech,” starring Colin Firth as the man who would be known as King George VI. The R-rated film won four Oscars, including Best Picture, and scored $138 million at the U.S. box office.

The King’s Speech (2010) Official Trailer #1 – Geoffrey Rush Movie HD
The Weinstein Company, hoping to lure even more movie goers to watch it, released a PG:13 version of “Speech” which clipped several “F-bombs.” The studio sought out families who might cherish the movie’s hopeful messaging.

The response was swift and furious.

To be fair, movie critics used to be in the business of letting people know if a movie was good entertainment, and sometimes even teaching people about the art of filmmaking.

Now “criticism” is mostly about pushing a leftist narrative.