I saw some hilarious shit yesterday about the new Star Wars movie. I’m sure most of you witnessed this massive trolling campaign as well, but I’ll recap it, just in case you didn’t. The thing is, I thought I was too late to talk about it all that much, but thankfully, Salon fixed that for me this morning with one of the craziest headlines I’ve seen in awhile…
It doesn’t gain any more sanity from there, people:
White racists are none too pleased with JJ Abrams’ new “Star Wars” film trilogy. In protest of last evening’s release of the much-anticipated final trailer for this December’s “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” disgruntled members of the White Right began a Twitter hashtag “boycottstarwarsVII.” It was a pathetic effort at getting attention; the hashtag was subsequently made popular by those who saw fit to mock it.It is likely that the white supremacists who are upset by the supposed “anti-white propaganda” and themes of “white genocide” in the new Star Wars films will only have their ire further stoked by Monday night’s trailer that opens with an image of a young woman scavenging a crashed Star Destroyer, a voice over by an alien played by African actress Lupita Nyong’o, then proceeds to focus in on a “black” Stormtrooper turned Resistance leader and hero, and then eventually features a “Latino” X-Wing fighter pilot who valiantly fights against The New Order’s (the next iteration of the evil Empire from the earlier films) improved Tie Fighters.
Oh hey
You been had4Chan wins again#BoycottStarWarsVII pic.twitter.com/f2F9lZSpB4
— The Best Ya Mama Joke Never Told (@FeministaJones) October 19, 2015
#stopgamergate https://t.co/hOfuw1PyhZ 4chan's latest successful trolling op: #BoycottStarWarsVII
— GamerGhazi (@GamerGhazi) October 20, 2015
That whole #BoycottStarWarsVII thing is a 4chan troll, and so many took the bait. #StarWarsTheForceAwakens pic.twitter.com/MrdVXTIfD4
— Shane (@GoodFellaShane) October 20, 2015
https://twitter.com/The_Extrange/status/656225411773300736
https://twitter.com/thewargarurumon/status/656227166368190464
The complexity comes in how science fiction, video games, online communities, and other spaces often attract (white) men and those others whose masculinity does not conform to the “normal” or “ideal” role offered by those systems of “hegemonic white masculinity.” Unfortunately, many of those men who feel embattled as “betas,” “nerds,” or “losers” idealize toxic (white) masculinity as a norm and ideal, replicating the same types of behavior that actually marginalizes and excludes them.