John Boyega/the Star Wars sequels
An interview with John Boyega came out yesterday and he had some pretty pointed words for Disney.
The reaction to The Last Jedi is something I remember – there were a LOT of black fans who criticized Finn being sidelined, but they all got shouted down relentlessly. Whereas at the same time there was another group of people very loudly saying, “Only white diehard Star Wars fans who don’t like change could possibly have a problem with this movie.” There was just a complete erasure of the complaints of black fans.
I saw comments saying “Only white people think The Last Jedi/Star Wars is racist.” And in the media any backlash to the film was portrayed as bigoted white guys ruining it for everybody else, which was true, but it was also true that black fans were disappointed, with good reason. And I really hate that it all got framed that way. There was this sense that white fans were saying to their black counterparts “Well there’s one black lead character there so what more do you want, now shut up, you’re ruining this progressive film!”
Sigh…
September 3, 2020 @ 8:09 pm
I’m not sure what’s worse, the manner in which Finn was marginalised, or the defence of this from rabid fans who insisted racism in Star Wars isn’t a thing.