“Star Wars” and the Toxicity of a Fanbase

I think you’d have to be living under a rock if you haven’t heard of Star Wars by now. The movie saga started in 1977 with Episode IV: A New Hope, and since then has grown to nine movies in total. It’s had numerous TV spin-offs, movie spin-offs, conventions, Disney attractions, children’s Halloween costumes, adult Halloween costumes, and LEGO sets. Star Wars has, in one way or another, infiltrated all of pop culture for 44 years now, and most likely will into the future. The most glaring problem with this mass conglomerate of media—no matter all the other details that might be unattractive—is the fanbase. 

To clear the air, I’m not saying a problematic fanbase is exclusively a Star Wars issue. Any popular form of entertainment with a group of people who like it is bound to fall into a problem of a toxic fanbase. See: BBC Sherlock, Supernatural, Homestuck, and other forms of entertainment that have graced Tumblr since the beginning of fandoms. Star Wars, however, is a little different in how influential it has been in terms of pop culture. When one form of entertainment grips the world like that, the fans can become a little obsessive.

Starting off, the Star Wars fanbase is, of course, mostly male. It was originally catered to the male gaze (see: Carrie Fisher’s Slave Leia outfit in Episode VI: Return of the Jedi), but this is something that has altered over the course of its runtime. As time has gone on, the fanbase has expanded to everyone, but some of that old sexism can still be seen in the way certain fans treat female actresses in the franchise. One of the most notable examples of this was the treatment of the actress Kelly Marie Tran after her role in Episode VIII: The Last Jedi. As the first woman of color in a leading role, many female and POC Star Wars fans were very excited to see what would occur. In the movie, she plays Rose Tico; a main character that has a friendship with Finn (one of the protagonists). Following the release of the movie, however, she was attacked by toxic fans who filled her social media with slurs.

The rampant sexism and racism she faced from fans actually led the creators of Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker—the following movie—to decrease her role dramatically after the attacks. Fan service is described as when a piece of media is altered to cater to the needs of the audience. Star Wars—especially as Disney tried to cope with what happened to Kelly Marie Tran—showed an example of this by cutting her script and plot dramatically in The Rise of Skywalker. It is not exclusive to big companies, but it’s definitely easier to pinpoint when a corporation is catering to what the fans want, as opposed to what they intended the story to do.

Now it is unfair to label the entire fanbase as toxic seeing as a certain group went after Kelly Marie Tran, but the hold that the fans have on public perception of the movies can also be seen as a red flag. When the prequel trilogy came out, for example, a lot of fans absolutely despised it. Comprising episodes I, II, and III, the movies presented us with the best of late 90’s/early 00’s CGI and special effects. Don’t even get me started on the abomination of Jar Jar Binks. The point is, when the movies came out, they were clowned on for absolute years. The fanbase, with the older fans from the original trilogy, dictated they were bad, and so the public perceived them as bad. However, when the sequel trilogy came out, the prequels started looking a whole lot better for that second generation of fans who grew up watching episodes I, II, and III. Public perception of the current Star Wars movies is truly dependent on the loudest fans at the time. Who knows, maybe in 15-20 years when they decide to add on to the franchise, or make a TV adaptation of the movies, or even re-release one of them, public perception will change again.

Movies are, in the end, just a whole bunch of pictures going super fast with some pretty noises layered over top. They mean something to us and impact the way we see the world. We gather with others like us that enjoy these messages, give them other meanings, and make them fit into our own lives. They have more meaning as we make it our own, and make it personal. They mean something to us. That’s all that matters. Toxic fanbase or not, Star Wars really is fun. It’s entertaining and when you boil it down it’s really just a western movie set in space. 

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