John Boyega: Star Wars shipping conflicts are “the most stupid thing in the world”
We’re seven days away from the theatrical debut of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, and star John Boyeyga (Finn) has been vocal regarding his feelings about The Ladt Jedi. In fact, he’s been vocal in general. Speaking to Variety, he also talked a bit about the inter-Star Wars fan conflict that can crop up when people talk about their favorite characters, or their favorite ships.
“I think it’s the most stupid thing in the world,” he said. “This is Star Wars. It’s a big universe. Someone can be a Reylo and then you know, someone can like the fact that you know, Finn and Poe are together.”
"Someone can like, you know, Poe and Rey together, whoever. It’s Star Wars, you know? Let’s all have fun! The conflict is when I’m like, all right, “Let’s all calm down.” [laughs] This is Star Wars, not “Tribal Wars”!"
Look, it’s no secret that Star Wars fans can get very passionate about their favorite franchise, especially following the divisive The Last Jedi. Boyega has gotten philosophical about it:
"Being in this position, you just understand the masses, how the masses think, you know. Through social media, we get to engage, we get to have fun. But at the same time, for those who are not mentally strong, you are weak to believe in every single thing that you read. That’s, you know, it is what it is. I don’t know, for me anyway, when I see that [backlash], I’m like, well, that’s actually not true. But no, it is actually not true. So it’s kind of like [shrugs] it is what it is. But to engage, to connect with the fans who otherwise wouldn’t get a day to day experience, especially during things like the press tour, and behind the scenes stuff, is always good."
Of course, those aforementioned angry Star Wars fans latched onto that part about some people being “weak” and took it to mean Boyega was attacking his co-star Kelly Marie Tran (Rose Tico), who was harassed online following the release of The Last Jedi to the point where she swore off social media. Boyega quickly amended himself:
In no way was I referring to Kelly when I made my comments although the interviewer mentioned her given the topic. I was really speaking from my own perspective throughout this franchise. Sometimes I’ve felt strong and sometimes I’ve felt weak. Badly worded though. I apologize.
— John Boyega (@JohnBoyega) December 12, 2019
My comments on Kelly specifically and online harassment remains the same via a tweet I put out a few years ago.
— John Boyega (@JohnBoyega) December 12, 2019
What tweet from “a few years ago” was he referring to. We think it’s this one, even though it was only tweeted in 2018:
If you don’t like Star Wars or the characters understand that there are decisions makers and harassing the actors/ actresses will do nothing. You’re not entitled to politeness when your approach is rude. Even if you paid for a ticket! 🤷🏾♂️
— John Boyega (@JohnBoyega) June 12, 2018
Following Tran’s harassment, she wrote an essay where she talked about about dealing with the bullying, noting that it “wasn’t their words, it’s that I started to believe them.” She also discussed the idea of being “brainwashed into believing that my existence was limited to the boundaries of another person’s approval.”
I wonder if Disney is thinking about having another talk with Boyega right about now, its first since his Rise of Skywalker script ended up on eBay.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker hits theaters on December 20.
Next. Where (and when) is Adrian Veidt in new photo from Watchmen finale?. dark
To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and sign up for our exclusive newsletter.
Watch Game of Thrones for FREE with a no-risk, 7-day free trial of Amazon Channels