The “Last Jedi” was taken down by the ultimate Sith Lord — Darth Putin. The 2017 installment of the Star Wars franchise was reputedly widely panned by fans online — but much of the criticism was actually coming from Russians trying to sow political discord, a new study has found.
“A number of these users appear to be Russian trolls,” researcher Morten Bay found. Bay analyzed all the angry tweets sent to director Rian Johnson over seven months immediately following the film’s release. The negative reaction was split into three groups: those with a political agenda, trolls, and real fans. “Overall, 50.9 percent of those tweeting negatively were likely politically motivated or not even human,” said Bay, a research fellow and Ph.D. candidate at USC.
Out of the 206 negative tweets, 33 were sent by trolls and/or “sockpuppets” — a fake identity used for deception — Bay found. Among the trolls, 16 accounts appeared to be Russian. One of the accounts believed to belong to a Russian troll tweeted Johnson 13 times over three weeks that he had “ruined Star Wars.”
The purpose of the nefarious anti-Jedi plot appeared to be the same as it was during the 2016 US election: to further propagate “a narrative of widespread discord and dysfunction in American society,” Bay writes. In his paper, “Weaponizing the Haters: The Last Jedi and the strategic politicization of pop culture through social media manipulation,” Bay argues that the real response to the flick was actually much more positive. “Organized attempts at politicizing the pop culture discourse on social media for strategic purposes are significant enough that users should be made aware of these measures, so they can act accordingly,” Bay warns.
What we know for certain is that some people like the movie while others disliked the movie and many are taking to social media to merely argue with one another. At least Rian Johnson can sleep better at night.
Source: THR
