Rogue One: A Star Wars Story hasn’t even premiered yet, but the film’s already getting it from all sides. Earlier this week, reports surfaced that white supremacists intended to boycott the movie because they simply couldn’t bear the strain of seeing someone who doesn’t look like them up on the big screen (no idea what that feels like). And even if that Reddit-born initiative flails, there’s a new hope for the intolerant, as Mashable reports that Donald Trump supporters are calling for a separate boycott over claims that the reshoots were done to shoehorn some anti-Trump scenes. This is complete bullshit, of course, but misinformation or a lack of information never stopped the president-elect, so why would it give his supporters any pause?
The latest boycott began with some tweets from Jack Posobiac, the self-described “special projects director” of a Citizens For Trump Twitter account (organization, maybe?). Posobiac got all hot under the collar after learning about Rogue One writer Chris Weitz’s tweets that described the film as being against hate. Weitz also called the Empire a “white supremacist organization” in a now-deleted tweet. (Come to think of it, we can see how Posobiac could get confused).
This and other tweets like the one below led to a call to #DumpStarWars over supposed reshoots that include anti-Trump scenes.
Trump supporters have caught on and begun tweeting similar messages in earnest, even though there’s no evidence that this happened. Reshoots on Rogue One happened, as they have with every Star Wars film (and probably most every movie). But apparently Weitz tweeting out that safety pin image was enough to make people suspicious of him. So the screenwriter has responded to these claims on Twitter, with an almost audible sigh.
A thought for the end of the day: @jackprosobiec is a liar. But then you know that, Jack.
— Chris Weitz (@chrisweitz) December 9, 2016
Chances are, Trump supporters and maybe even the president-elect himself will find a way to interpret Star Wars’ long-established anti-fascism themes as an affront. And if they do decide to stay home, your chances of picking up tickets to the screening of your choice just increased.