Co-hosts Robert Meyer Burnett and Mike Bawden talk about the reactions to racist and threatening messages sent to Moses Ingram by a small but vocal minority of toxic Star Wars fans. Both Disney and Obi-Wan Kenobi star, Ewan McGregor, were quick to show their support of Ingram and her work on the show. But Rob and Mike try to take a deeper dive into why some fans feel it’s okay to behave in such a way.
Minority actors often find themselves in the crosshairs of outraged fans.
by Mike Bawden
Is it okay to send messages to public figures via social media and “give them a piece of your mind”? What about criticizing their performance?
Is it still okay to contact them and tell them they should be fired, canceled, or killed … or that the only reason they were selected for the role they play is that they filled some kind of quota (existent or not)?
Of course not. And when Disney pushed back against a vocal minority of racist Star Wars fans, even more fans piled on Disney, calling the company hypocritical. It seems a beloved franchise (in this case, Star Wars) is once again embroiled in a conflict with fans that continues to suck the joy out of the one thing everyone claims to love.
That’s not healthy – for neither the franchise nor its fans.
At what point does fan outrage go too far? Can it? In our discussion today, I think Rob made some very good points about this topic and we had a deep discussion as to why there seems to be so much incivility around these legacy franchises today (more than we can ever remember).
As I said during the podcast, in any fight, there is often blood on both parties’ hands. And that’s certainly the case here, too. But there are limits as to how far people should go in voicing their dissatisfaction with their favorite franchise.
Give the podcast a listen and let us know if you think we made our point. Or not.
In addition to the main topic of today’s conversation, Rob and I spent a good hour going over letters recently received from listeners. They brought up some great subjects and we really appreciate the opportunity to spend some time discussing alternate points of view on many of the issues raised.
Rob and I discussed the letters received a bit more after our call and we both agree that getting more direct input from listeners would help keep the subject matter of the shows fresh and interesting, so we’re asking for your help. Please send us your thoughts and ideas so we can read them and talk about them during Rob’s road trips. We’ll do our best to keep things focused and the conversation lively.
And for the foreseeable future, I think we should be able to read almost every message we receive (provided they don’t get too personal and are intelligible – remember, I’m the guy who has to read them).
So if you’re interested in sending us a message, pay close attention to the information directly below …
What do you think?
Remember, you can always send us a letter. Just click here and then send us a message to let us know how we’re doing and what’s on your mind. We look forward to hearing from you.
Be sure to subscribe to the podcast
I invite you to listen in on my weekday conversations with my friend and business partner, Robert Meyer Burnett, as we talk about the things we love: great movies, inspiring television programming, nostalgic genre entertainment, and pop culture.
This episode was recorded and streamed on June 1, 2022.
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