Bad Faith Reviews Plague Star Wars Fans

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I’ve noticed a trend in the Star Wars fandom lately. Any criticism of anything from Star Wars is believed to be in bad faith and is therefore dismissed as that of a “hater”. As a fandom, this is not a place we want to be. We must leave room for nuance.

I have been a part of the Star Wars fandom for most of my life. Since I was born in the ’80s, I clearly missed being able to see the original trilogy in theaters, but I grew up with VHS tapes and eagerly consumed more cinematic content as it went. ‘he became available. Whether it was seeing the new movies on opening night or staying up late to watch new episodes of shows as they were released on Disney +, I was extremely excited to discover new stories in this universe that I love so much.

I haven’t always liked everything about Star Wars. Jar Jar has always bothered me. I will defend Han Shot First until my last breath. Also, I think Attack of the Clones is quite boring. Sorry. I just didn’t dig. But I’m still a Star Wars fan. Always have been and always will be. A few details about the franchise aren’t enough to distract me.

At one point the only criticism I got was from angry dudebros who thought Lucas couldn’t hurt. It was the Guardians who poisoned things twenty years ago and made the fandom miserable at the time. After years of their nonsense, I learned to push them away. The guards are poisonous and not worth our time.

But things have changed in the Star Wars fandom. A lot of these dudes hate everything Star Wars now, and they’re ready to take a harsh review and throw it on YouTube within minutes of brand new release. They hate stories, characters, diversity. They hate Disney and they hate Kathleen Kennedy, apparently just because she’s a woman in charge of Star Wars. Nothing works for them anymore, but they still linger in the fandom spreading the toxicity.

It looks like the Star Wars fandom has fundamentally reversed, and the people who were against all criticism are literally doing nothing BUT criticizing the franchise. It is clear that their reviews are in bad faith, and I can spend a few minutes laughing at their unfounded rage, but I can usually push them away. My pleasure does not depend on their opinions and they do not matter to me. They seem to thrive on hate and that’s their problem. Not mine.

However, the unfortunate response to these bad faith arguments is the immediate cessation of all criticism of Star Wars. Extreme tribalism has formed in the Star Wars fandom that leaves no room for good faith criticism. It is now assumed that if you challenge something in Star Wars, you are part of that group. If you have a problem with something in Star Wars, you are a misogynistic enemy of Kathleen Kennedy who hates anything “awake”.

This is obviously not true, but this is how fandom has evolved over the years. We were divided between the “love him” camp and the “hate him” camp with no place in between.

This extreme division in the Star Wars fandom became incredibly evident after the most recent episode of The Book of Boba Fett. The episode featured a biker gang who teamed up with Boba Fett. The conception of the gang bothered me greatly. Their hair and clothes were remarkably earth-like. Their bikes looked like modified Vespas instead of vehicles from the Star Wars universe. And the chase sequence felt like a reworked scene from Back to the Future, using trope after trope after trope.

Nothing in this photo, other than maybe his arm, looks like something from Star Wars to me

Quite simply, I hated this scene. And I tweeted my displeasure accordingly.

Anyone who has paid attention to my Twitter account knows that I really like this show. My biggest criticism so far was that the first episode seemed too short. In all fairness, it’s just me who want more Star Wars content ASAP. It was kind of a selfish criticism, really.

The show comes with episode two and I think the two fit together incredibly well. I absolutely adore everything about Tusken and have a huge crush on Fennec Shand. If they’re on screen, I’m having a good time. So that’s the first problem I have with showing any substance, really.

Although I received no direct reluctance for my criticisms, I have seen people pass general judgments on anyone who opposes the motorcycle gang.

There’s an innuendo that if you think they’re too colorful, you clearly haven’t been paying attention to other Star Wars content. I was certainly careful, but I don’t think this comparison is the same at all. However, any argument I put forward to distinguish them is likely to be presumed to be in bad faith.

We’re told that since there are other ridiculous things in Star Wars, we should just “shut the fuck up” with our reviews. Apparently you can’t find some ridiculously endearing things and some ridiculous things that break the immersion. All the ridiculous things are the same I guess.

These are just two examples, but the criticism is quite widespread. And it comes from the people who are on “my side”, so to speak. It comes from people who love Star Wars and hate the Guardians. This reaction comes from people who are fed up with the enemies of YouTube. It comes from people who just want to enjoy their Star Wars in peace. So I have a knee-jerk reaction to publish general statements on all criticisms. In fact, I have probably already done that too. It is a defensive response to a constant barrage of hatred. I understand!

But we shouldn’t be doing this. We absolutely shouldn’t.

There is room for good faith criticism in the Star Wars fandom. Not everyone who has a problem with a plot point or an aesthetic decision is enemies. If we start to think Star Wars can’t hurt, we’re no better than Lucas’ dudebros who now think Star Wars can’t do right. We must leave room for nuance.

Quite simply, the Star Wars fandom must recognize this defensive response and realize that there is a difference between good faith and bad faith arguments. We fail at this miserably, and it doesn’t help with the toxicity issues. Let’s do better.

Author: Angel Wilson

Angel is the administrator of The Geekiary and a commentator on geek culture. They graduated with a BA in Film and Digital Media from UC Santa Cruz. They have contributed to various podcasts and webcasts, including An Englishman in San Diego, Free to Be Radio, and Genre TV for All. They also wrote for Friends of Comic Con and won the 2019 Hugo Award for their contribution to fanfic on AO3. They identify as queer.

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