‘Star Wars: Episode 7′ Star John Boyega’s Awesome Response to “Black Stormtrooper” Racism
It has been nothing but ‘Star Wars’ mania since the trailer for ‘The Force Awakens’ debuted on Friday. We’ve seen fan-made versions of the trailer, people dissecting every frame of the footage, and general excitement for J.J. Abrams’ first installment in the new trilogy. But, as is expected, there’s also been some negativity out there. While most of us thought it was fantastic that the first face we saw in the trailer belonged to John Boyega, some people have been distasteful, criticizing the film for featuring a black Stormtrooper. That’s OK, though—Boyega isn’t letting those comments get him down, and he has an appropriately awesome response.
We’ve been seeing some criticisms surface online, mostly on Twitter and in YouTube comments, with people complaining that John Boyega’s character can’t be a Stormtrooper because the Stormtroopers were cloned from New Zealand actor Temuera Morrison, who played Jango Fett—never mind the fact that Morrison himself was a non-white actor. This is nitpicking, of course. We aren’t even sure what role Boyega plays in ‘The Force Awakens,’ and the Stormtroopers never removed their helmets, so it’s unclear if they were actual identical, physical clones. In addition, the notion that they were cloned was an idea that was integrated into the prequels. Stormtroopers appeared with various heights and sizes in the original trilogy. And now I’m getting way too involved in this argument.
In any case, other commenters also complained about the trailer featuring both a black actor and a female actor, accusing director J.J. Abrams of being an “SJW,” which stands for “social justice warrior”—a label commonly thrown around in the GamerGate community and applied to those who seek social equality, as if wanting such a thing is terrible.
But John Boyega isn’t letting these commenters kill his optimism. He’s still thrilled about being in ‘The Force Awakens’ and happy to be a part of the ‘Star Wars’ universe, and he has a message for the haters:
We're very excited, too. ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ hits theaters on December 18, 2015.
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