I think most of the points in the article are absolutely 100% valid.  I'm especially angered at the shitty way a certain segment of SW fans have treated Kelly Marie Tran, so poorly in fact that she's taken leave of social media altogether.  When did it become vogue to irrationally hate a thing so much that you take it out on the actors just doing a job in the most racist, misogynistic, sexist ways possible? Instead of berating Marvel and DC, instead of sending hate mail or trolling the websites of creators, instead of demanding a boycott, I just left reading mainstream comics from those two companies once their product didn't align with my enjoyment. 

There's a lot of blame to go around for SOLO, sure.  Bad release date.  Poor marketing.  Overconfidence that this was the movie fans wanted to see.  But there's a very vocal minority of SW fans who make the rest look incredibly bad by doing their best to project their own insecurities onto the franchise writ large.  

Good article. I was introduced to this phenomenon when "Enterprise" was first shown on TV. I was watching the Pilot with a friend and as the opening credits came on, he started to walk out of the room. When I asked him why he didn't want to watch the rest of the show, he stated that Star Trek is not supposed to have words in the opening credits. The blinkered fanboy mentality confuses me.

What I really don't understand is the personal attacks. I am not a fan of John Boyega's character in the STAR WARS films but I would never contemplate going after him online. I saw him in another movie and I thought he did a fine job. Same with Kelly Marie Tran. She was excellent in the latest STAR WARS film. If people didn't like her as an actress, then don't watch her in the future. Bizarre behaviour.

That’s an excellent article - I think he makes very valid points.  It is disturbing to see such hostility towards Kelly Marie Tran and John Boyega, who both did excellent work in the latest movie.  

 

Subjective opinions about the film or the character aside, if some fan wants to complain about a performance or the story that's one thing.  What should not be acceptable on any planet are the personal attacks against a specific actor because they are female and Asian or in the case of John Boyega because he is black.  That kind of reaction should be unacceptable to anyone.  

I'd also posit that the two films they have been in have grossed over $3 billion worldwide.  Contrary to a very vocal minority, they are massive hits both at home and abroad.  Pocketbooks speak louder than racist, misogynistic, sexist internet trolls and hooligans. In that regard, Disney and Lucasfilm have not "messed up" but have given a majority of people around the world the films that they want to see.   Don't believe the vocal minority when they tell you that their "boycott" of SOLO (a boycott hardly anyone has heard about by a small, virtually infinitesimal segment of the audience) had any affect on its box office.  They gave themselves far too much credit and we shouldn't encourage them.