News: J.J. Abrams Calls Out Star Wars: The Last Jedi Trolls




Disney and Lucasfilm have drawn criticism from various fans regarding their increased emphasis on strong female characters and diversity in the new Star Wars films. Some fans and groups are blaming the Star Wars issues on the use of female characters, with an alt-right group going so far as to claiming to have lowered the Rotten Tomatoes score of Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Their reasoning and discord is based on the fact the the franchise “introduces more female characters into the franchise’s universe.” 

 Speaking with IndieWire, Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Star Wars: Episode IX director J.J. Abrams had a response for the internet trolls, saying: 

Star Wars is a big galaxy, and you can sort of find almost anything you want to in Star Wars. If you are someone who feels threatened by women and needs to lash out against them, you can probably find an enemy in Star Wars. You can probably look at the first movie that George Lucas did [Star Wars: A New Hope] and say that Leia was too outspoken, or she was too tough. Anyone who wants to find a problem with anything can find the problem. The internet seems to be made for that.” 

 When asked if the negative criticism would have any affect on his plans for Episode IX, he said: 

“Not in the least. There’s a lot that I would like to say about it, but I feel like it’s a little early to be having the Episode IX conversation … I will say that the story of Rey and Poe and Finn and Kylo Ren — and if you look, there are three men and one woman, to those that are complaining that there are too many women in Star Wars — their story continues in a way that I couldn’t be more excited about and cannot wait for people to see.”