John Boyega is right about Star Wars fans
Certain subsets of the Star Wars fandom are incredibly racist and sexist. This isn’t an opinion, it is a fact. And John Boyega is rightfully calling them out.
Boyega played Finn in the sequel series, starting with The Force Awakens and through Rise of Skywalker. Finn, who was teased as being Force sensitive and played a major part in helping Rey (Daisy Ridley) and Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) with the Resistance. And yet those fans that I spoke about previously were loud and aggressive about Finn. Why? He was simply a Black man in Star Wars.
Now, Boyega is talking about the experience and is right in calling out the fans who reacted to him in such a way. During an interview for the new Apple TV+ documentary Number One on the Call Sheet: Black Leading Men in Hollywood, Boyega shared his upset over how those racist fans reacted to him.
“Lemme tell ya, Star Wars always had the vibe of being in the most whitest, elite space. It’s a franchise that’s so white that a Black person existing in [it] was something,” Boyega said. “You can always tell it’s something when some Star Wars fans try to say, ‘Well, we had Lando Calrissian and had Samuel L. Jackson!’ It’s like telling me how many cookie chips are in the cookie dough. It’s like, they just scattered that in there, bro!”
Boyega went on to explain how the reaction to Finn felt. “They’re okay with us playing the best friend, but once we touch their heroes, once we lead, once we trailblaze, it’s like, ‘Oh my God, it’s just a bit too much! They’re pandering,’” he said but also acknowledged that Star Wars was a “fundamental moment” for him as an actor.
John Boyega is right!
Fans of Star Wars know exactly what Boyega is talking about. We’ve seen it happen to him, Kelly Marie Tran, and Moses Ingram. We watched these “fans” bully so many stars off of social media with their comments. For as loud as many of us are who oppose those so called “fans” who are incredibly racist and hateful to the actors starring in Star Wars, it isn’t enough to stop these “fans.”
They’re fueled by feeling like they have some kind of overall say about this franchise. They do not. These “fans” are not the authority on Star Wars, despite what they think, and seeing actors like Boyega speak out against them is a good thing even though it is upsetting to watch what Boyega and other actors went through.
This is a made-up franchise that was meant to be a fantasy story for children. And yet the “fans” that speak on it as loudly as possible forget that and use their supposed love for the franchise to throw hatred towards others.
I miss Finn. I’d love for Finn to be part of Rey’s story still in the new movie but I also would understand if Boyega never wanted to even talk about Star Wars again.
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