HBO Max is facing backlash after dropping the trailer to an upcoming documentary about the work of Renee Bach, a white American who went to Africa and misrepresented herself as a medical professional.
The project, called “Savior Complex,” unpacks how the Virginian went on a mission to Uganda and decided to set up a center to help malnourished children in the country.
Bach left her home in Virginia to set up her charity, Serving His Children, in 2010 and chronicled her life as a “white doctor” to the villagers in the blog, Angels of Africa.
From 2010 to 2015, she reportedly took in 940 children and of them, 105 died. In 2019, she was sued in a Ugandan civil court by two women and a civil rights organization for unauthorized child services that endangered the lives of children.
The trailer for the docuseries, which premieres on Sept. 26, states, “Savior Complex is a three-part HBO Documentary series examining missionary work in Uganda, where an American is accused of causing the death of vulnerable Ugandan children by dangerously treating them despite having no medical training.”
In the nearly three-minute clip, Bach seems to be clueless about her offense, particularly since she claims was sent by God. It also shows Black Africans disputing her white savior complex narrative, claiming she was the reason so many children died despite being under her care.
On the network’s social media, the tag for the film is “Are good intentions good enough?”
One celebrity who posted about the series D.L. Hughley. He shared the trailer on his Instagram with the caption, “You know what they say right… “THE ROAD TO HELL IS PAVED WITH GOOD INTENTIONS”!! Good intentions and evil agendas don’t mix!!”
Other comments poured in about the documentary, commenting on Bach’s actions.
“How did Africa allow her to walk away?”
“White supremacy at its peak is a white woman moving to Uganda, posing as a fake doctor, running a fake clinic, having hundreds of Ugandan babies die under her ‘care’, then being platformed in a docu-series because ‘intentions were good’. Sad.”
“Why isn’t she under the dirt?”
Why isn't she under the dirt? pic.twitter.com/9SwS53gIXn
— Cake Lady (@got_cake) September 11, 2023
“I hate that she didn’t get any time for this crime. Now she about to get paid for it with this documentary.”
“White woman tears will get these folks out of anything, most especially crime committed against Black People.”
RELATED: Another ‘White Savior’ Warned About Ugandan Missionary Renee Bach — No One Listened
Bach would go on to resolve the Ugandan civil court lawsuit with her and the charity agreeing to pay approximately $9,500 to each mother without admitting wrongdoing.
However, people online also criticized HBO, calling for a boycott of the movie. One said “How about, no one watch it. When it drops, if the app allows it, rate it bad on the main screen.”
Another said, “Why don’t we hold HBO accountable and fight the release like everybody did for the Yt Supremacy series on A&E a few years ago?”
Due to the backlash, A&E abruptly canceled a series about the KKK Klan, titled, “Generation KKK,” before it was expected to air. It intended to highlight the group’s racist history against African Americans and others, but some felt it would normalize the hate group. This film also arrived after Republican candidate Donald Trump won his presidential election in 2016.
READ MORE AT ATLANTA BLACK STAR.