Kathleen Kennedy's tenure as the head of Star Wars had its triumphs and failures. In Kennedy's exit interview with Deadline, she discusses how she is proud of the stories she helped herald into the new century under the Disney banner. While some projects have had their controversies, overall, she celebrates the work created during her tenure while looking forward to her future and the future of the franchise.
However, the biggest Star Wars failure during the Disney era has had nothing to do with plot points or casting choices. Instead, the actual biggest problem has been the harassment of actors and creators for Star Wars by a small but loud subsection of fans, sometimes referred to as the Fandom Menace. The intense amount of hate faced by John Boyega, Kelly Marie Tran, Rian Johnson, and others continues to be one of the franchise's darkest aspects. As Dave Filoni and Lynwen Brennan take the reins, they need to do more than just tell victims of this harassment to "develop a thick skin."
George R.R. Martin Names This Award-Snubbed Star Wars Project the ‘Best of the Spinoffs’
Game of Thrones writer George R.R. Martin praises a critically acclaimed Star Wars show, noting it was this year’s highlight.
The Fandom Menace Is Not a New Star Wars Problem
R. A. Salvatore Received Intense Hate Over the Death of Chewbacca
Star Wars has always had a passionate fandom, and there's been a subsection of Star Wars fandom that has taken their entitlement and their anger too far, especially when beloved characters are involved. One major example of a small subsection of fans attacking the author came with Star Wars: New Jedi Order in what is now the Star Wars: Legends continuity. After the first book in the series, The New Jedi Order: Vector Prime was published, author R. A. Salvatore received intense online hate from a small subsection of the fandom due to a key plot point in the novel – the death of Chewbacca – which helped establish the dark tone of the series and the threat of the Yuuzahn Vonge.
An Original Star Wars Story is Available to Play Now, and It's Technically Free
Gamers can play a completely original Star Wars story right now, and it's technically free.
Importantly, it was not Salvatore's decision to kill off Chewbacca. As Salvatore explained in an interview with Del Rey, the death of Chewbacca was a choice decided by Lucasfilm and Del Rey that he was required to include in the novel. Still, while Salvatore did not receive any death threats personally, they were handled by other people. He received many angry emails and became a polarizing figure in the fandom. Salvatore further stated, "It's almost impossible to please everyone in that audience, because many have their own opinion not only about how things should go, but how they HAVE TO go."
Notably, R. A. Salvatore was already an established fantasy author with a strong fandom of his own before he worked on Star Wars, specifically for Forgotten Realms with the creation of Drizzt Do'Urden and his own original The DemonWars Saga. He also worked on video games such as Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. Therefore, the backlash was not as professionally damaging for him as it would be for later targets, but it still was unsettling, especially since he was used as a scapegoat for decisions out of his control.
Ahmed Best Became the Focal Point for Star Wars Prequel Trilogy Hate
In her exit interview, Kathleen Kennedy doesn't even mention one of the worst cases of online harassment in the Star Wars fandom: the treatment of Ahmed Best after the debut of Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999). Ahmed Best's portrayal of Jar Jar Binks was an important moment in cinema history because it was the first time a character was portrayed entirely through motion capture technology. Instead of accolades, Best received scorn and hate while little was done to protect him from the death threats and emotional damage.
In an interview with Brenton Blanchet of People Magazine, Ahmed Best has fond memories of the cast and his work on The Phantom Menace, and he was not expecting the backlash towards the film, nor was he expecting it to be mainly directed at him. He stated, "I just tried to do the best job that I could do. But George [Lucas] is untouchable and everybody was untouchable. Who wasn't untouchable? Me. Everyone came at me." The intense cruelty and constant criticism led Best to even consider taking his own life.
Star Wars Tried To Rehabiliate Best's Image By Making Him a Jedi
The Disney Era of Lucasfilm has tried to right some of these wrongs. In 2020, Ahmed Best first played Jedi Master Kelleran Beq in Star Wars: Jedi Temple Challenge, a game show where kids competed in multiple competitions to attempt the Jedi trials. Best brought warmth and kindness to the role, making Kelleran Beq an ideal Jedi Master for the Padawans of the prequel trilogy era. This casting also coincided with the tide shifting on the prequel trilogy.
Children who had grown up with the prequel trilogy were now adults and still held the same love and nostalgia for the films as the Original trilogy. Best finally became recognized for his work and achievement, receiving a standing ovation at Star Wars Celebration in 2019. Later, Best reprised the role of Kelleran Beq in The Mandalorian Season 3, Episode 4, "The Foundling." Grogu's flashbacks to Order 66 revealed that Beq was the one to save Grogu, whisking him away from Coruscant before he could be slaughtered in the massacre. This casting choice connects the prequel trilogy to the new era of Star Wars while also finally giving Best the acknowledgment he is due.
Star Wars: The Gungan Species, Explained
The species that brought fans Jar Jar Binks has more to it than the franchise's long-standing punching bag.
Still, Best's harassment and struggles are a reminder that harassment has been a problem in Star Wars fandom for decades. Best is more charitable towards Lucasfilm at the time, stating in the interview with People that, "My career began and ended. I didn't know what to do, and unfortunately there was really no one that could help me, because it was such a unique position; it had never happened before in history." However, as Best also points out, "Now there's an entire field of psychology based on it. But at the time, what do I say to a psychologist?" Ahmed Best deserved more support in response to harassment he received from the fans, and his experience shows that Lucasfilm and Star Wars have had decades to learn, grow, and do more to protect the targets of the harassment.
In Star Wars’ Disney Era, the Fandom Menace Has Gotten Worse
Lucasfilm and the Star Wars franchise have not done enough to protect its actors and creators from online hate. Kathleen Kennedy does mention some of the hate in her exit interview with Deadline. She states, "the lows are that you’ve got a very, very small percentage of the fan base that has enormous expectations and basically they want to continue to see pretty much the same thing. And if you’re not going to do that, then you know going in that you’re going to disappoint them." She attributes the hate to only a small segment of the fandom, but admits that this subsection has scared some creatives off from working with Star Wars.
There is no denying that a large portion of the hate that many actors face is racially motivated, and this racism has been present since before Star Wars: Episode 7 — The Force Awakens even hit theaters. In an interview with Jimi Famurewa of GQ, Boyega states:
I’m the only cast member who had their own unique experience of that franchise based on their race. [...] Let’s just leave it like that. It makes you angry with a process like that. It makes you much more militant; it changes you. Because you realise, ‘I got given this opportunity but I’m in an industry that wasn’t even ready for me.’ Nobody else in the cast had people saying they were going to boycott the movie because [they were in it]. Nobody else had the uproar and death threats sent to their Instagram DMs and social media, saying, ‘Black this and black that and you shouldn’t be a Stormtrooper.’ Nobody else had that experience. But yet people are surprised that I’m this way. That’s my frustration.
Boyega has criticized Star Wars for sidelining nonwhite actors, such as himself, Kelly-Marie Tran, Naomi Ackie, and Oscar Isaac and giving in to the racist backlash. In a later interview with NPR, John Boyega reflected on the importance of these race discussions, especially after his comments to GQ prompted Lucasfilm to reach out to meet with him. While these discussions are worthwhile, there is still more that needs to be done.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Failed Because The Fans Were Given Too Much Power
The decision to try and please one small group of fans ended in mass disappointment for everyone else, and was a huge detriment to the overall story.
Kelly-Marie Tran faced even more hate, and the constant toxic fan campaign against her led her to leave social media. Like Boyega, she had her role in Star Wars: Episode 9 – The Rise of Skywalker greatly reduced with flimsy excuses to try to disguise that the move was just to placate the more toxic side of Star Wars fandom. In an interview with Ayomikun Adekaiyero for Business Insider, Tran states that she now can look back on her work in Star Wars. She states, "Going through the therapy and counseling got me to a point where now I get to make art celebrating the parts of myself that I was taught to be ashamed of. That I was persecuted for."
In an interview with Variety, Tran recognizes that the hate she experienced is a part of a larger cultural issue. She explains, "It’s interesting how it seems to be happening pretty consistently to actors of color who find themselves in these spaces. [...] And I think these occurrences are a microcosm for the social climate that we’re living in." Still, Tran expresses hope that continuing to spotlight diverse identities and experiences will help change the culture. She continues, "The hope is that people who are not afforded the ability, maybe, to have access to these communities of queer people or people of color, are able to see through the art that people of color and queer people are also human, and they have hopes and dreams."
Kathleen Kennedy's Comments Show Lucasfilm Is Not Doing Enough to Protect Actors and Creatives
In light of John Boyega, Kelly Marie Tran, and more actors' experiences working on Star Wars during the Disney era, Kathleen Kennedy's comments on the online hate are not enough. It is important to note that Kennedy herself has also been a major target of the backlash, with the blame for every Star Wars failing laid at her feet. The main hate she acknowledges in her exit interview is the hate that Rian Johnson received, mentioning that he got "spooked" away from working on Star Wars more. She downplays the hate while still acknowledging that some people are scared to work on Star Wars precisely because of that hate. She explains to Deadline:
I’m honest, especially with the women that come into this space because they unfairly get targeted. I don’t try to sugarcoat it. And I emphasize that it’s a very small group of people, with loud megaphones. I truly do not believe that it’s the majority of the fans. [...] You have to develop a tough skin. That is exactly right. That’s what you have to do. You can’t make it go away.
Disneyland Making Huge Changes to Star Wars Galaxy's Edge and I'm Very Excited
Disneyland is making a significant change to Star Wars Galaxy's Edge that is sure to excite fans of the earlier, George Lucas films.
This advice comes across as victim-blaming rather than support. The issue is not that Ahmed Best, John Boyega, Kelly-Marie Tran and others did not have a "thick enough skin." The issue is that they faced unprecedented amounts of personal attacks, racism and hate that no person should ever have to face. Rather than just telling the targets to "toughen up," Lucasfilm instead needs to be more proactive in combatting personal attacks against actors and creators by a subsection of fandom that has been employing these techniques for decades.
Dave Filoni and Lynwen Brennan Need to Do More to Protect Star Wars’ Actors and Creators
With Kathleen Kennedy leaving Lucasfilm, she is turning over the reins to Dave Filoni and Lynwen Brennan. In her interview with Deadline, she explains that Lynwen Brennan has been running the franchise alongside her as the general manager, and Dave Filoni has been a key figure in the development of the Star Wars franchise since Star Wars: The Clone Wars and into the current Disney era. As Brennan and Filoni shape the future of Star Wars, they need to do more to protect any actors or creators coming into the franchise from any hate and personal attacks they may receive.
They need to be more proactive in defending actors and creators against backlash and not allow specific actors or writers to become scapegoats for fans' dissatisfaction with production choices. Lucasfilm and Disney need to provide more therapy and psychological support for actors from the beginning of the projects to help brace them for any potential backlash they may face, allowing them to already have a strong support system and tools to survive anything that the Fandom Menace can throw at them.
