Conservative Talking Head Tells the Far Right to Stop “Being Gay” For Star Wars

We’re barely a week into The Mandalorian and Grogu‘s box office run, and the discourse has already evolved into places beyond our imaginations. And now, the chatter about the movie has made its way to alt-right television news personality (and known conspiracy theorist) Jack Posobiec, thanks to a string of bizarre tweets.

On Tuesday, Posobiec retweeted a post about The Mandalorian and Grogu‘s opening weekend box office with the caption “Lowest EVER. Lower than SOLO. #DumpStarWars.” He then followed it up with a tweet saying: “Mando & Grogu was the lowest Star Wars opening ever. BUT There are still way too many conservatives who took their kids to see it and give money to people who hate them. What will it take for conservatives to stop being gay for Star Wars?”

Let’s start with the biggest offense: referring to a person’s infatuation with something as “being gay for” it. I thought we had, culturally, left the idea of using it derogatorally like Posobiec does behind years ago.

And then there’s Posobiec’s notion that watching a Star Wars movie literally gives “money to people who hate” conservatives. It’s unclear if this is in response to the mere existence of Star Wars: Andor, and the very poignant messaging it uses to critique the Empire and the real-world consequences of fascism. It’s also unclear if this is a response to the “wokeness” of parts of Disney-era Star Wars, whether in the Sequel Trilogy or in the gone-but-never-forgotten Star Wars: The Acolyte. Heck, it wouldn’t be surprising if it’s entirely because of original franchise star Mark Hamill and his outspoken comments against President Trump, which led Posobiec to tweet earlier this month that he doesn’t “allow” Star Wars in his house.

It’s also ironic because, honestly, there is an argument to be made that The Mandalorian and Grogu has some of the weirdest politics we’ve seen in a Star Wars movie yet. The New Empire’s role in the film, and the fact that the story culminates in them literally bombing Nal Hutta out of existence, has already been criticized by some in the context of current events.

Is The Mandalorian and Grogu a Hit at the Box Office?

Even then, Posobiec’s call to arms for “conservatives to stop being gay for Star Wars” most likely isn’t going to have any real impact on the film’s box office. It’s true that The Mandalorian and Grogu only opened to $98 million domestic and $167 million worldwide in its opening weekend. Its budget has been reported at $165 million (which is relatively cheap by the franchise’s standards), but with a massive marketing campaign of at least $100 million. Compared to Solo, which grossed a few millions more in its first opening weekend in 2018 and ultimately capped out at $393 million, those numbers aren’t necessarily encouraging on their own.

We could be here all day listing all of the factors that led the movie to that point, but chief among them seems to be that people’s expectations for Star Wars as a franchise have changed since The Rise of Skywalker debuted back in 2019. The saga’s return to the big screen after seven years of occasional streaming television was always going to have some growing pains, even with something as ubiquitous and meme-able as Baby Yoda at the center of the story.

And either way, box office is not a clear indicator of quality or cultural impact. For every runaway success like Obsession (or, if predictions are to be believed, A24’s Backrooms this weekend), there are still plenty of excellent movies that underperform at the box office, or take a while to find their audience. And in the same vein, there are plenty of movies in the billion-dollar club that aren’t necessarily great movies. Either way, trying to turn a few hours of Grogu and the Anzellans doing side quests into a right wing culture war is a wild choice.

(featured image: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)

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