‘The Last Jedi,’ has divided ‘Star War’ fans. Many were disappointed and wasted no time taking to social media to send the cast and crew negative feedback, and even personal attacks. Meanwhile, some fans praised the efforts of the final product.
This reaction from fans of the franchise is nothing new; following the release of ‘The Phantom Menace,’ some of the light-hearted moments were ridiculed by fans and critics alike. Now, ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ director James Gunn has shared his thoughts on the dangers of “fans” personally attacking filmmakers and actors.
Gunn’s statement comes on the heels of a confession from Jar Jar Binks actor Ahmed Best. Best revealed that due to the harassment he endured after ‘Phantom Menace,’ he contemplated ending his life. Gunn shared a post about the dangers of bullying.
Gunn’s post read:
“People responding to this post saying, ‘Yeah, it wasn’t the actor’s fault! It was the writer’s!’ are missing the point. Critique it. Don’t like it. But spewing hate and bile at individuals just doing their best to tell a story, even if the story sucks, is lame. Don’t watch it!”
Gunn’s comments are aimed toward ‘The Last Jedi’ critics that focus their negativity to writer/director Rian Johnson.
Gunn continued:
“’Star Wars’ (or any movie) may be important to you, but it doesn’t belong to you. If your self-esteem depends on how good you think the current ‘Star Wars’ is, or your childhood is ruined because you don’t like something in a movie, GO TO THERAPY.”
Say it louder for the people in the back!
Best’s recent confession is just one instance in a long line of negative results stemming from harassment in the ‘Star Wars’ fandom. ‘Last Jedi’ actress Kelly Marie Tran had to delete her social media accounts as a result of racist and sexist insults regularly being directed at her and her character, Rose.
Earlier this week, ‘Mission: Impossible – Fallout’ director Christopher McQuarrie was dragged into a series of abusive tweets about ‘The Last Jedi.’ The exchanged led McQuarrie to confess he had lost interest in directing a future ‘Star Wars’ movie due to the amount of negativity and entitlement from the “fans.”
The next film in the ‘Star Wars’ franchise, ‘Episode IX,’ will debut in theaters on December 20, 2019.
