It’s been seven months since the release of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and director Rian Johnson is still facing an onslaught of internet nerd rage from butthurt fanboys. Now, Logan director James Mangold has spoken out in defense of Johnson and against the threat of such fan rage. While we’ve discussed the toxic rage of Star Wars fandom, these tweets shed some light on the director’s perspective and the larger ramifications of these campaigns of rage and harassment.
At the point when work writing & directing big franchises has become the emotionally loaded equivalent of writing a new chapter of The Bible (w/ the probable danger of being stoned & called a blasphemer), then a lot of bolder minds r gonna leave these films 2 hacks & corp boards.
— Mangold (@mang0ld) July 5, 2018
If you feel that is the case, if u feel the film makers are just corporate tools and powerless, then why bitch at us? In the case of @rianjohnson and @chrismcquarrie, i assure you these cats are not “owned”. They actually fight your battles behind the scenes.
— Mangold (@mang0ld) July 5, 2018
The fervor of some attacks has an evangelical ferocity. Now, I get it cause for many folk, including me, the SW saga holds tremendous spiritual power, similar to a religious text. But we must remember to try to handle our disappointments the way Yoda might, as opposed to Darth.
— Mangold (@mang0ld) July 5, 2018
Mangold is referring to a tweet from Johnson, where The Last Jedi director recommends that anyone interested in learning about screenwriting should follow Christopher McQuarrie on Twitter. McQuarrie, who won an Oscar for writing The Usual Suspects, directed Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation as well as the upcoming Mission: Impossible – Fallout. In response, angry fans flooded both directors’ mentions, causing McQuarrie to tweet that his dream of directing a Star Wars film has been ruined.
My friend, After five minutes of this, I don’t know why you’re still on Twitter.
I would have loved to make a Star Wars film someday. I’m cured.
— Christopher McQuarrie (@chrismcquarrie) June 29, 2018
Now, I can’t feel too sorry for Johnson and McQuarrie: they’re both rich, talented A-list filmmakers who have made massively successful blockbusters, and who will have zero problems getting work in the future. What concerns me is that this amount of vitriol is targeted at straight white men with nerd cred. What’s going to happen if/when the studio hires a director who is female or queer or a person of color (or an intersection of all three)? After seeing the rage directed at Daisy Ridley and Kelly Marie Tran, both of whom have deleted their social media accounts, it’s easy to predict that a diverse director will trigger a tidal wave of racism and misogyny.
This backlash is yet another road block for diverse directors seeking these jobs, and this relentless online drama discourages studios from hiring them. In an industry that is already unwilling to take risks or hire creators who aren’t white, straight and male, toxic fan outrage has the ability to squash creativity and original perspectives. It’s sad that these rabid fans would rather sink their own ship instead of charting a course for new waters.
(via SlashFilm, image: JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP/Getty Images)
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