“She's the kind of woman who disgusts me!“
This declaration of love is that of Dylan Thiry, speaking to interviewer Sam Zirah on the latter's YouTube channel. Former reality TV star and widely followed influencer, the young man has been the subject of multiple accusations for at least a year, particularly linked to his “charitable” trips to Madagascar. Child trafficking, pimping, fraud… He refutes these allegations.
But a very well-known personality, the Afrofeminist journalist Rokhaya Diallo (to whom Dylan Thiry dedicates these sweet words), accuses him of something else: of being a “white savior”. A what? The activist and columnist says in order to clarify this (very) problematic designation: “The white savior means saying to yourself for example: okay, I'm going to go and settle in Africa, to help the children, because I want to save them as a European… It's a colonialist approach in fact“.
The reactions of the principal concerned, facing Sam Zirah? They are particularly scathing… About a subject which nevertheless requires nuance and reflection. And frankly deserves attention, like Rokhaya Diallo. Yes, we'll explain everything to you…
“It disgusts me!” : what is this white savior complex that Dylan Thiry is accused of?
“When I hear her talk, she disgusts me. Talking about white people, black people, that disgusts me“
That's what Dylan Thiry retorts, apparently stung, when faced with Rokhaya Diallo's comments. The designation, however, is clear. You should know that the “white savior” complex is not new. In pop culture, for example, the cases are uncountable. The character of Jake Sully in Avatar, Emma Stone in The Color of Feelings, Viggo Mortensen in Green Book, Michelle Pfeiffer in Rebel Spirits, Kevin Costner in Dances with Wolves…
Always, more or less, the same story: that of a white protagonist who integrates a racialized community until slowly but surely establishing himself as a true Savior of it. The archetype is clear: that of the pseudo savior of humanity bringing light to an unknown land. A real cliché, which cheerfully draws on a so-called “post-colonial” imagination. On social networks, the term has become largely commonplace.
But the influencer does not seem to recognize this.
Because it doesn't stop there…
Adding to Sam Zirah: “Saying like Rokhaya Diallo: you're white, you don't have the right to do that, I'm Senegalese… It's unhealthy, I don't like the way she speaks. And then she's there, doing nothing, on her couch…“.
And yet…
However, beyond the controversies linked to the financing of his charitable campaigns, he has been criticized for wanting to “create buzz” about the “misery of the world”, through particularly sensationalist stories… Elevating him as a hero who went to the rescue of the needy, through publications abundantly liked and commented on.
Anthology of feedback on TikTok: “After Dylan he does not have the intellectual level to understand a speech by Rokhaya Diallo”, “But he knows who Rokhaya Diallo is?!”, “Understanding is difficult sometimes”, “The art of understanding nothing”, “he didn't understand anything and he felt targeted because he clearly wanted to play the white savior himself“, Internet users say ironically.
Sam Zirah himself allows himself a slight correction in the face of Dylan Thiry: “No, but Rokhaya Diallo does things, eh!”
“She's an activist. And she specifies that being a white savior does not require being white in itself… She's just talking about the exploitation of photos and videos that focus on the misery of others And all this to promote yourself on social networks!“
Not enough to convince his interlocutor, however.
Who sees this as relentlessness against him. Too bad: the subject deserved much more than a simple pretext for an ad nominem clash.
