James Mangold mines an important lesson from Star Wars in reminding fans on how to properly express their criticisms online. Rumored to helm the supposed Boba Fett standalone film, Mangold has chimed in on the worsening issue of fans bullying filmmakers online when they do not agree with how their favorite characters and franchises have been handled.
Mostly stemming from the divided reception of Star Wars: The Last Jedi last December, a slew of incidents since then have resulted in public outrage after part of the fan community resorted to online harassment as a way to express their disagreements with director Rian Johnson's creative choices. Some of fans' actions have gotten out of hand, resulting in franchise newbie Kelly Marie Tran deleting her Instagram after suffering months of harassment from those who simply aren't a fan of her new character Rose.
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Taking it to his official Twitter account (via CBR), Mangold sent a message to fans who are attacking filmmakers online, breeding toxicity in fandoms. "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," he tweeted. Particularly citing Johnson and Christopher McQuarrie as those who are not "owned" by huge studios, the filmmaker added that the said two in particular "fight your battles behind the scenes."
"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," he added, empathizing with those who are voicing out their opinions with regard to how they feel about where the current Star Wars trilogy is going narrative-wise. However, the Logan writer/director wrapped up his message by reminding fans to "try to handle our disappointments the way Yoda might, as opposed to Darth [Vader]."
For the record, Mangold isn't discouraging anyone from expressing criticisms when it comes to their favorite films. He's merely reminding everyone to focus on constructive criticism instead of resorting to hurling personal attacks to directors, cast and crew of movies that they didn't necessarily like. And for him to actually use one of the most important lessons from famed space opera is very fitting considering that sadly, at this moment, the Star Wars fan community is in disarray due to the varying opinions about Lucasfilm's plans with regard to the franchise, particularly with the saga movies.
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Source: James Mangold (via CBR)
