O Star Wars franchise has faced some challenges in recent years, largely related to the representation of various characters in the sequential trilogy – Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens (2015), Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi (2017), and Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker (2019).
Credit: Lucasfilm / Disney
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First, actress Kelly Marie Tran of Rose Tico noted that she left social media and sought therapy after Rian Johnson The last Jedi day off:
“I think we met [Tran and Jannah actress, Naomi Ackie] and immediately kind of got along and kind of talked about all the struggles of being people who didn’t grow up in privileged environments, very young in this industry, what that meant, what we would be dealing with. And I think the biggest thing that came out of that was making sure that you were not isolated or silent about the things you were dealing with.
Then, lead actor John Boyega – who played ex-stormtrooper Finn in the main trio of the final Skywalker Saga trilogy alongside Daisy Ridley (Rey) and Oscar Isaac (resistance pilot Poe Dameron) – talked about feeling marginalized as a black character in Star Wars.
Among his many statements, Boyega shared:
“What I would say to Disney is not to bring a black character to the surface, market it to be much more important than it is in the franchise, and then put it aside. It is not good. I’ll say it straight. You get involved in projects and you won’t necessarily like everything … ”
Credit: EW / Lucasfilm
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Now, Star Wars is facing a negative reaction on social media as a result of a Tweet shared on the franchise’s official Twitter account this afternoon. The Martin Luther King Jr. tribute of the day read:
“There comes a time when you have to take a position that is not safe, not political, not popular, but you must take it because conscience tells you it is right.” -Martin Luther King jr.
Today, we honor Dr. King and celebrate his legacy. The Lucasfilm family is committed to the fight for justice and equality in all corners of the galaxy. Each of us keeps the dream alive!
“There comes a time when you have to take a position that is not safe, not political, not popular, but you must take it because conscience tells you it is right.” -Martin Luther King jr. pic.twitter.com/BHxhQvkoBU
Almost immediately, social media users started posting replies, citing the alleged treatment of Tran and Boyega throughout their Star Wars mandates.
Twitter user K-2SO Nguyen wrote passionately:
staring at Kelly marie tran’s character standing aside to appease racist and misogynistic Star Wars fans, instead of defending her or protecting her from the undeserved vitriol she received
face Kelly Maria’s character being set aside to appease racist and misogynistic Star Wars fans, instead of defending her or protecting her from the undeserved vitriol she got https://t.co/f9aSjwoP59
A Twitter user by the name of Mucc shared these thoughts:
You reduced John Boyega’s character to TROS. You made Kelly Marie Tran’s character a secondary character for fear of TLJ’s reactions. Even when hated, George Lucas would never downplay a character’s role. Please reflect your words and actions.
You reduced John Boyega’s character to TROS. You made Kelly Marie Tran’s character a secondary character for fear of TLJ’s reactions. Even when hated, George Lucas would never downplay a character’s role. Please reflect your words and actions.
YAV1N4 referred to the ongoing controversy over Gina Carano in a post:
hopefully john boyega, kelly marie tran, oscar isaac, etc. are laughing about it in a group chat. and this is especially useless when gina carano is still your maid.
Carano, who plays Marshal Cara Dune of the New Republic in Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni The Mandalorian saga became known for its controversial tweets on political and social issues. Social media users were divided, with the hashtags #IStandWithGinaCarano, #WeLoveCaraDune and #FireGinaCarano all trends at various points.
hopefully john boyega, kelly marie tran, oscar isaac, etc. are laughing about it in a group chat. and this is especially useless when gina carano is still your maid.
Related: Jon Favreau allegedly prevents Disney from firing ‘Mandalorian’ star Gina Carano
To see more of what’s being said on Twitter, just search “Star Wars”On the social media site.
Regardless of your personal feelings about Kelly Marie Tran, John Boyega and even Gina Carano, this is clearly a controversial issue for Star Wars fans on social media. Stars from the original trilogy like Billy Dee Williams (Lando Calrissian) and Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker) did not weigh in on today’s reaction, although both are extremely active on social media.
Despite today’s controversy, the future is still bright if you are Star Wars fan, largely thanks to a certain Mandalorian bounty hunter and his little foundling named Grogu. The Mandalorian united Star Wars fans as much as the sequential trilogy divided them.
Credit: Lucasfilm
Related: Season 3 of ‘The Mandalorian’: everything we really know
In addition, Hamill’s recent participation in the lightsaber as a young Luke Skywalker in The Mandalorian The end of season 2 with the promise of several new series – probably including the introduction of the fan-favorite live-action Grand Admiral Thrawn in Mandalorian by-product Ahsoka – there’s a lot to wait for.
In addition to three Mandalorian spinoffs and seven other confirmed Disney + programs, there are three new films scheduled for release Star Wars canon over the next few years.
What are your thoughts on the reaction to Star Wars team is getting paid for your MLK posting?
