A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, there were aliens of all sizes and colors, sentient droids and even mystical lightsaber fighters. Now, to some person what there are people with a skin color other than white it squeaked them a bit. Racist attacks online have already happened with Kelly Marie Tran and John Boyega, and at Lucasfilm they know that it is a problem of society and, more specifically, of their fan base. That is why they wanted to prepare Moses Ingram for what is probably going to happen to him after the premiere of ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’, unless a certain part of society has evolved.
“We are in 2022, you know?”
In the new Disney+ series, Moses Ingram will play Reva, an inquisitor searching for Jedi Trainer Obi-Wan to capture him. The actress has commented in The Independent that Lucasfilm wanted to speak with her to make sure that everything was going well: “They told me ‘This is something that, sadly and probably, will happen. But we are here to help you; tell us when it happens.
Although Ingram claims don’t be afraid to hit the block button in social networks, the truth is that he does not walk with half measures either: his words seem destined to piss off a type of public that ‘Star wars’ neither wants nor needs.
‘Obi-Wan’ is going to bring the most diversity we’ve seen so far in the galaxy. For me, he’s long overdue. If you have talking droids and aliens, but no people of color, he doesn’t make any sense. We are in 2022, you know? So we are right at the beginning of that change. But I think starting that change is better than never starting it.
It is possible that it was the unfairly vilified Tran who best defined what happens with some fans of the saga and how their words hurt more than the blows: “What they said confirmed what growing up as a woman and a person of color taught me: that I was ‘other,’ that I belonged on the margins, only valid as a minor character in their lives and stories“.
This Friday the 27th premieres ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ on Disney+ and We’ll see if Lucasfilm’s worst omens come true Or, conversely, the fanbase learned something from the unwarranted bullying of Tran and Boyega.
