Ricky Church on boycotting movies…
Since the release of Star Wars: The Last Jedi in December, Star Wars fandom has been divided to say the least. Some ‘fans’ who hated The Last Jedi have been extremely vocal in their utter hatred of the film, going so far as to demand Lucasfilm and Disney retcon it from continuity, forcing actress Kelly Marie Tran off social media with hateful and racist comments or some ‘fans’ going so far as to attempt to remake the film in their own image.
The hatred of The Last Jedi has resulted in ‘fans’ saying they’ll boycott the franchise going forward, including J.J. Abrams’ upcoming Episode IX. The most recent spin-off, Solo: A Star Wars Story from director Ron Howard, really underperformed at the box office and whether this was due to poor marketing, the behind the scenes drama or the fact it was under six months since The Last Jedi was released or a myriad of reasons is for anyone to discover. One thing, however, is clear: this contingent of The Last Jedi haters boycotted Solo simply out of their dislike of Rian Johnson’s film.
Over Twitter I’ve expressed my befuddlement over some of the arguments that have been made against Lucasfilm. I fully understand and appreciate someone not liking The Last Jedi because they have legitimate criticisms over the story or direction choices, but taking it to the next level to boycott other films in the series is, frankly, ridiculous. Take this for example: what spurred me to write this article was seeing someone tell Ron Howard over Twitter that despite the fact he is an “outstanding person and a great guy almost makes me regret boycotting solo because of the TLJ. Just know that I’ve heard great things about it and we’re all sorry it was your movie that bore the brunt of our ire”.
Where is the logic in this? Boycotting a director you like due to a previous film in a franchise? A film that, aside from being included in said franchise, has nothing to do with the previous film to begin with and in fact harkens back to the original films you love? And you still boycott it despite hearing great things about it?
This kind of thinking is not only backwards, but ridiculous and only harmful to the franchise. We’ve already seen the damage this kind of thinking has the potential of doing as Lucasfilm is rumoured to be dialling back on their Star Wars Story spin-offs in the wake of Solo’s box office disappointment. Boycotting a film doesn’t necessarily mean we’ll get better films in the future, it only means we’ll get films of potentially lesser quality that studios think we want.
Take Justice League for example. After Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice received harsh criticism from fans and critics alike, Warner Bros. altered their plans going forward in what resulted in a Frankenstein of a film with only small pieces of Zack Snyder and Chris Terrio’s original film surrounded by material rewritten and reshot by Geoff Johns, Joss Whedon and others months before release to the point visual effects weren’t fully finished to their best quality. The push they made to go lighter and funnier, much like their Marvel counterparts, was one most fans had a problem with as the film couldn’t decide what kind of tone it wanted or the jokes felt too forced, not to mention it sacrificed story and character building moments for the sake of being lighter.
The thing that can be said the most about Batman v Superman is that Zack Snyder at least tried to make something different from other films in the genre with a deeper meaning that can be picked apart on rewatches. Rian Johnson did something similar with The Last Jedi as he wanted to make a Star Wars film unlike the others in the franchise and deliver something new and fresh to audiences, something I think he delivered rather well.
Threatening to boycott future films in a franchise is only harmful because it threatens the growth of said franchise. A common criticism of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, for example, is that every film feels the same and Marvel just has a cookie-cutter process in their development with only a few films standing out among the bunch. Now Marvel has done remarkably well over their decade of films despite that criticism, but Kevin Feige has still spoken about the ways they look to develop future films and cut off ‘superhero fatigue’ before it sets in. He understands the need for a major franchise to diversify.
Don’t ‘fans’ understand that if they boycott films like The Last Jedi and Solo it will mean we get less diverse films in the franchise? Not only that, but it will be less likely big name directors like Ron Howard will sign on for a Star Wars film? If they have to deal with unruly ‘fans’ who threaten to boycott their work simply because of a previous film in the franchise, despite them saying they’ve enjoyed their previous work, then what is the point to even join the franchise to begin with?
Now I don’t like every Star Wars film. I also don’t like every James Bond, DC or Marvel film, but that doesn’t stop me from supporting the franchise, the next director or even the local theatre chain. Taking risks and making something different is the name of the game in the film and franchise genre. Without Christopher Nolan doing something different with Batman, we never would have gotten his Dark Knight Trilogy. The same can be said for the decision to reboot James Bond with Daniel Craig in Casino Royale, a move that revitalized what was almost a 50-year-old franchise at the time.
As I said, people can dislike The Last Jedi if they want. I have no problem with them disliking it for legitimate reasons. But if their dislike is so much they’re willing to boycott the next film or spin-off, regardless of the connection to the previous film or the filmmaker, then they are doing the franchise they love so much a disservice and these ‘fans’ are not actual fans. Ron Howard, Solo: A Star Wars Story and the whole Star Wars franchise don’t deserve to be boycotted on this level as it only threatens to grow stagnant and boring instead of changing and exciting.
Ricky Church
