At a time when whitewashing and cultural (mis)appropriation in films is frequently thrust into the spotlight, the well-developed multicultural cast of the latest Star Wars film, ‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’ is a refreshing welcome.
However, not everyone is pleased. In fact, white supremacists are calling for its boycott, accusing its filmmakers of promoting an “anti-white” agenda through the movie’s multicultural casting, according to Forward.com (via RawStory).
On the subreddit r/altright, Reddit user GenFrancoPepe posted the message “(((Star Wars))) Is Anti-White Social Engineering,” with an attached gif file that shows the cast from the movie.
The image showed white characters fighting Darth Vader’s Empire while a multicultural cast of characters join in for support.
“So basically star wars was SJW propaganda from the beginning?” wondered user stanicpriest13. “Good now I don’t feel as bad about not watching the new films. The new films are going to flop big league anyway. You can push the female heroes as much as you like, but even most women don’t find it interesting.”
White supremacist site InfoStormer has been trumpeting the calls for boycott as early as August, complaining that the trailer for “Rogue One” “is another Jew masturbation fantasy of anti-white hatred.”
“This film should be boycotted. Episode 7 was bad enough featuring that retarded storm trooper Negro and another empowered White female in the lead roles,” InfoStormer wrote.
“It looks as if the Jew run company of Disney is going to pump out as many of these awful multicultural Star Wars films as possible,” it added.
In response, two Rogue One writers posted tweets addressing the criticism. Screenwriter Chris Weitz wrote, “Please note that the Empire is a white supremacist (human) organization.”
Co-writer Gary Whitta retweeted the post, and then added, “Opposed by a multi-cultural group led by brave women.”
The tweets have since been deleted, but Weitz eventually posted a more subtle tweet that he referred to as a symbol for “solidarity with people who are afraid”:
Star Wars against hate. Spread it. pic.twitter.com/Dtf5uqpxba
— Chris Weitz (@chrisweitz) November 11, 2016
Trump supporters have begun using the hashtag #DumpStarWars, calling the movie an Anti-Trump propaganda:
Hollywood and Disney stop politicizing movies. Why alienate Trump supporters? We won’t watch this Anti Trump propaganda. #DumpStarWars
— Irma Hinojosa 🇺🇸 (@latinaafortrump) December 9, 2016
Stop using your multiculturalism anti-American agenda in a science fiction Disney movie. We just want to enjoy a fun movie. #DumpStarWars
— Baked Alaska™ (@bakedalaska) December 8, 2016
Star Wars writers: Trump is a white supremacist and Rouge One is an anti-Trump film
Us: #DumpStarWars
— Jack Posobiec (@JackPosobiec) December 8, 2016
Boycott Star Wars people! #DumpStarWars
— Malik Obama (@ObamaMalik) December 8, 2016
Others quickly countered the campaign, pointing out the absurdity of such boycott:
These #DumpStarWars folks are gonna be disappointed when they find out virtually every movie they love was written by people who hate Trump.
— Cody Johnston (@drmistercody) December 9, 2016
BREAKING NEWS: Movie series that has always had an antifascism theme criticizes a fascist wannabe. In other news, water is wet #DumpStarWars
— Noah Poling (@Xmosphere) December 9, 2016
If Star Wars — an obvious allegory about Nazism — feels like an attack on your candidate, the problem isn’t with Star Wars… #DumpStarWars
— David Slack (@slack2thefuture) December 9, 2016
White supremacists boycotting Star Wars is a bonus for people who don’t want to be in the same room with white supremacists. #DumpStarWars
— Aღanda (@GrnEyedMandy) December 9, 2016
Feature Image via BagoGames