The Worst of the 'Star Wars' Fan Base Are at It Again

A long time ago in a galaxy really quite near, George Lucas gave us the first Star Wars, and thus caused all nerds everywhere to explode with B-movie glee as the rest of the world started to think their weird shit was actually cool.

I was born in 1996 (so yes I am one of those Millenials that the older folk on the internet love to hate) but the first real film I ever watched, to my knowledge, was the original Star Wars on VHS. Yes, remember VHS? Look, even I feel old now. My parents put it on for me and at that moment my love for science fiction was born.

There are few franchises that have stood the test of time and are arguably more relevant forty years into their life than when they first arrived. So perhaps it was inevitable that along the way, like all great franchises and series, they collect a rabble of angrier, more sinister fans who seem to spend more time hating Star Wars than they do loving it.

I'm speaking out now as the worst of the fan-base have done it again and made Kelly Marie Tran, who plays Rose Tico in The Last Jedi, delete all of her Instagram posts. She was subject to countless vile, sexist, and racist comments from so-called "fans" who hated her character. She's yet to fully delete her account, but has left her page bare:

Thousands of much kinder fans leapt to her support, including fellow Star Wars actors John Boyega and Mark Hamill, as well as The Last Jedi director, Rian Johnson.

He's absolutely right, what's not to love? The petite Asian actress is full of enthusiasm and an infectious energy. She comes across as a truly lovely young woman. She's incredibly kind and seems like a joy to be around.

I thought Rose was an interesting parallel to the audience, almost fanboying and idolising the heroes like she does during her meeting with Finn.

If you didn't like her character in The Last Jedi, then that's down to preference, and if that is the case, you criticise the writers. Emphasis on the word CRITICISE. It is imperative that you learn the difference. Use a dictionary, or Google, if you must.

This does not in any way, shape or form, give you the right to abuse any of these people on every social platform they have. Freedom of speech ≠ Freedom from consequence. Kelly Marie Tran may play Rose, but she is not Rose.

A pro-"straight white male" group has since taken credit for their part in pushing Tran from social media, with a rather disgusting level of proudness.

They are all their own beings and they each try to do their jobs as best as they can to satisfy the fans of the series, which unfortunately includes some truly horrible, ungrateful bullies.

This isn't the first time this has happened.

Jake Lloyd was only 9-years-old when he was cast to play a young Anakin Skywalker in the first prequel, The Phantom Menace, in 1999.

Keep that fact in mind.

He was relentlessly bullied at school for his part, and a lot of the criticism of the film generally fell onto him. He also got sent death threats in the mail from alleged "fans" who claimed he "singlehandedly ruined Star Wars."

Regardless of your opinion on his performance, to say a 9-year-old boy has singlehandedly ruined an entire franchise of work is beyond ludicrous. It really baffles me what kind of sick monster you have to be to send death threats to a child.

In 2015, he was arrested. This came off the back of a 100 MPH car chase which lasted for over an hour before he crashed. Soon after, he was transferred to a psychiatric facility to be treated for schizophrenia.

A young boy was cast in a huge movie in what could've been the role of a lifetime. What happened instead was beyond cruel, and just plain evil. The young man you see in the picture above resents the fame he should've been able to enjoy, he cannot bear the movie that gave it to him, and unfortunately lost touch with reality from all the abuse.

Social media has united us all, trolls included.

It's hard to ignore that the rise in the use of social media has created this idea of safety in anonymity for some people, opting to use their faceless profiles to spout hatred and feel that they can get away with it. Some people aren't so sly, and just use a public profile that can be easily traced to employers. But the fact remains; these people think it's okay to racially and sexually abuse an actor for their character in a movie.

John Boyega was met with a disgustingly racist Twitter trend when he was cast as Finn for The Force Awakens. The hashtag #BoycottStarWarsVII began with rancid trolls spewing nonsense as they failed to grasp the concept that a black man could also be a Stormtrooper. Thankfully, thousands of other Star Wars fans hijacked the trend and parodied those who took it seriously with hilarious effect.

Boyega's remained fairly nonchalant about those who direct hate at him, but he's been more than happy to support his castmates and the movie crew members who also come under fire.

The star of the sequel trilogy, Daisy Ridley, left social media completely in 2016 after facing huge backlash on a seemingly innocent post about gun-control. She said it "wasn't what she signed up for." She's right, it's all well being open for critique but no one should have to be exposed to the abuse that she and her fellow cast have been subject to.

The most common complaint Ridley's character, Rey, is that her character is a Mary-Sue. While they aren't wrong there, it's more than well explained throughout The Force Awakens and makes complete sense in the lore of the Star Wars Saga. Being a scavenger on the most backwater planet imaginable in SW history means you need to be able to look after yourself at least competently.

Her strong connection with the Force is still a little mysterious but wasn't this the same when we first met Luke Skywalker, someone who is also a fellow Mary-Sue. Do these people forget he barely even knew what the Force was before blowing up the Death Star? In space? Despite never flying a starfighter before? Obviously, we know now that it's because he's the son of Anakin Skywalker, the father of all Mary-Sueism in Star Wars in his role as the most blatant, on-the-nose equivalent of Jesus that movies has ever seen.

At the time of the original '77 Star Wars, we had no idea. Audiences were just so wrapped up in this dazzling sci-world that most inconsistencies were forgiven. There wasn't an overbearing set of fans to ruin the experience for the new wave.

I think we all know it's mostly to do with the fact we've got a beautiful and strong female character front and centre, which in their minds, cannot possibly happen in Star Wars. Apparently only Strong, Straight White Men can possibly have the ability to uphold such a saga.

Remember, this is despite the fact that Princess Leia basically helped pave the way for strong female characters in movies, without which we probably wouldn't have Rey anyway. Except these people were probably too busy jerking off over her in her controversial slave attire from Return of the Jedi.

The millions of Star Wars fans around the world are some of the most passionate in the world. But unfortunately for every few thousands of lovely fans, there are some that are so inconceivably backwards thinking and cretinous that all they've got this irrational belief the franchise actually belongs to them. (May I also remind you, this is a series still primarily aimed at kids.)

I mean, unless any of them are secretly George Lucas or a high-flying member of Disney, it doesn't belong to them at all.

Star Wars has always featured strong female characters, a diverse (in terms of the aliens, at least) cast, and an incredibly deep lore. None of which is going to stop because a few rampant manbabies can't accept that their poorly written fanfiction wasn't picked to move a multi-billion-making juggernaut forward.

I'm not saying I am perfectly onboard with everything the new movies have done either. But I am also able to get those ideas across with good humour and respect because I'm not a complete bell end (depending on who you ask).

Yoda said it best, "fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering." They can carry on bashing the movies they allegedly "love" until their mums finally boot them out of the basement but it's never going to get them anywhere. They really do make Mos Eisley look like Kensington.

Star Wars has always been progressing, and always moving forward, regardless of the quality of each release, they bring forward new possibilities and new ideas for all of us to fall in love with all over again. The toxicity ruins things for us who aren't quite so horrible, to the point where I myself sometimes feel embarrassed calling myself a Star Wars fan, through fear of association.

If I've rustled anyone's feathers, and you feel personally offended, then good. That suggests you're part of the problem. It's time to take a step back and think about what you're doing with your life.

You haven't had your preferred movies taken away from you. You can still enjoy those.

But if you have nothing but vile comments for the people who are lovingly trying to make something new for you, don't say it.

If you've read through this article and bafflingly don't see a problem with any of what's been said, there's no hope left.

You will be left behind.

And now, a word from your favourite villain to sign us off.