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Shortly after sharing the image, ironically failing to recognize the historical context behind the photo, activists on Twitter began to criticize the actress with some demanding that she state ACAB or “All Cops Are Bastards.”
There is irony here, but I don’t think it’s because “activists” failed to recognize the context. I think it is because the DO recognize the context, as if looking into a mirror. But they don’t see the lone resistor, they accurately see themselves as the ones giving the salute, and they don’t like it.
There is a rather dated meme of "Mrs Grundy" (1798 - "Speed the Plough" play by Thomas Morton) who typified the self-censorship brought on by a censorious neighbor of priggish morality. As a meme, this became part of the common societal constraint as typified by; "What will Mrs. Grundy say!"
A generation ago, in his famous novel "Time Enough for Love", SciFi Grand Master Robert Heinlein, used this meme to define freedom; "Freedom begins when you tell Mrs Grundy to go fly a kite!" In today's world, many will conflate Mrs Grundy with "KAREN", a stock character known for being vexatious, self-righteous, privileged and demanding, not necessarily evil but uncaring about anything beyond personal desires.
Now, with an all too pervasive social media that has yet to find any limits, we have the current generations' "K-Grundy". The mob, in this case a twitter mob, has all the hallmarks of a Mrs Grundy in the modern values of priggishness and censorship. Their actions are that of a KAREN as they care not about anything beyond their personal desires PLUS there being nothing to constrain or punish (at this moment) their actions.
So NOW, putting myself in Heinlein's much larger shoes, I will rephrase his freedom definition as such; "Freedom begins when you tell the K-Grundy twits to collectively go fly a kite (in a hurricane)!"