Star Wars fans have, rightly or wrongly, developed a reputation for racist and petulant behaviour online. Obi-Wan Kenobi‘s Moses Ingram is their latest target.
Star Wars fans, in general, have very strong feelings about their beloved franchise, as well as the rules they perceive govern it. Even the smallest infraction or inconsistency can result in mass boycotts, review bombing and, worst of all, the abuse of the creatives involved with the ‘offending’ material.
Obi-Wan Kenobi, along with the other Star Wars shows on Disney+, has been rather well-received in general. However, when a fandom is as large as the one enjoyed by Star Wars, it’s bound to have a few bad eggs. And unfortunately, those bad eggs have Moses Ingram, the actress who portrays Reva Sevander, in their sights.
Since Rian Johnson’s The Last Jedi, a vocal minority of fans have decided that Disney is ruining their favourite franchise with too much wokeness. Essentially, these complaints boil down to there being too many powerful women and people of colour.
This is a relatively odd complaint considering the obvious diversity of species and presumably genders (already dreading the fallout from a trans character) in the Star Wars universe. In a universe of over “20 million sentient species”, it’s mathematically preposterous that most of the characters will be white, heterosexual men.
There are more than 20 million sentient species in the Star Wars galaxy, don’t choose to be a racist.
— Star Wars (@starwars) May 31, 2022
Nonetheless, a bunch of ridiculous individuals reportedly attacked Moses Ingram’s Instagram with racist bullshit.
The whole situation harks back to the backlash that Daisy Ridley, John Boyega and Kelly Marie Tran received for appearing in the Star Wars sequel trilogy. Thankfully, the official Star Wars Twitter account has been quick to respond and support Moses Ingram (something it didn’t do for the sequel trilogy stars).
Obi-Wan Kenobi star Ewan McGregor was also quick to defend his co-star, stating “I just want to say, as the lead actor in the series, as the executive producer on the series, that we stand with Moses. We love Moses. And if you’re sending her bullying messages, you’re no Star Wars fan in my mind. There’s no place for racism in this world. And I totally stand with Moses.”
A personal message from Ewan McGregor. pic.twitter.com/rJSDmj663K
— Star Wars (@starwars) June 1, 2022
Moses Ingram had the following to say:
“The thing that bothers me is this feeling inside of myself, that no one has told me, but this feeling that I have to shut up and take it, that I have to grin and bear it. And I’m not built like that. So, I wanted to come on and say thank you to the people who show up for me in the comments and the places that I’m not going to put myself. And to the rest of y’all, y’all weird.”
The Star Wars series Obi-Wan Kenobi series is streaming now on Disney+.
