Fanbases can be toxic, there’s no denying that. Whether it’s anime, film franchises or video games, a**holes are bound to show up and ruin things for people. The Star Wars fanbase is no exception as Kelly Marie Tran, known for her role as Rose from Star Wars: The Last Jedi has deleted all her posts on Instagram leaving a bare page amidst online harassment. Unlike Daisy Ridley (who deleted her account after receiving negative comments on her post on gun violence), Tran still maintains her account with only a page description with the words,” Afraid, but doing it anyway”.
Tran’s popularity through The Last Jedi was probably a doubled edged sword as the Star Wars fan-base is one of the most “passionate” fan-bases out there. Tran has utilized her popularity to express positive encouragement and empowerment through Instagram which in turn has attracted some of the more regressive Star Wars fans according to Screen Rant. Tran has received some straight up vitriolic comments from some fans not only for her portrayal as Rose but her appearance and ethnicity.
Tran has faced racist and sexist comments way before she erased her Instagram posts including in Star Wars fan page Wookieepedia. Someone changed the description for Rose to something overtly racist, to say the least. Wookieepedia does have a fairly strict policy in regards to vandalism, racism and harassment and managed to resolve it as quickly as possible.
It’s superfluous to say that this is pretty messed up. This childish and unnecessary behavior from the fans should not be associated with Star Wars. Call it freedom of speech but their actions perpetuate a notion surrounding Star Wars fans. Rose may not be the best Star Wars character but that isn’t necessarily Tran’s fault and even if it is, unnecessary trolls and negative comments (mostly on matters that have nothing to do with the film itself) don’t really do anything to change the events of the film.
Fans should be able see the difference between critiquing the film and personally attacking someone. Rose’s character may not have resonated with everyone but it’s best to separate the art from the artists or the character from the actor/actress. It’s only fair if the criticism pertains to the performance (which was fairly good on Tran’s part), criticizing anything else (such as her ethnicity) especially when it’s not warranted is just a d**k move.
Source: Screen Rant, Huffington Post
