John Boyega as Finn in “Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens”
By Howard Smith II
As most of you have heard, the trailer for “Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens” premiered on the internet and its ubiquitous fanbase reacted with jubilation and glee. But as anyone on the internet knows, trolls grow hungry when people are full of joy. Shortly after the trailer premiered, either out of fragility or boredom, the hashtag #BoycottStarWarsEpisodeVII popped up on twitter calling for a boycott of the movie under the claim that the film promotes “white genocide”.
Let me start by saying that If you truly do believe Star Wars promotes “white genocide” 1. Please do not reproduce, ever. 2. Admit that the reason you feel this way is because the main protagonist of this film, Finn, is being played by John Boyega; and the idea of seeing a strong black man lead a film where he’s not a gross stereotype makes you uncomfortable. To be honest, I’m shocked this didn’t come up later with the Black Panther Trailer (TBA), but between this and Fox News complaining that the current Captain America is fighting a militia of xenophobic bigots, it’s not too shocking that someone rode the wave. To be honest, as a black nerd, this all feels like walking on land tilled by racist man-children.
Seriously, ask any black nerd of any age about facing racism in relation to their nerdom, and you might want to make a pot of coffee and grab a chair. For one, EVERY black nerd has faced the microaggression of being told they’re not “really black” because apparently any black person who doesn’t build their identity inside a box of stereotypes negates any ties to our culture. But beyond that, we all are all too familiar with watching white nerds and their ever fragile egos crack under the seeming low mass of OCCASIONALLY seeing a black person be the lead instead of another white guy. From Sam Wilson taking over as Captain America, to Samuel L. Jackson playing Nick Fury, to Miles Morales taking over as Spider-Man, to the new character Finn in Star Wars, the idea that Marvel, and in turn, Disney would be okay with letting black people have a turn at bat after several white guys have 2 or 3 swings makes many a white racist nerd uncomfortable. Why? because white nerds have troves of material that strokes their ego and lets them live vicariously through many a persona, but the racist white nerd cannot live without constant and exclusive stimulation due to their self-loathing and narcissism. And this is how we arrive at the “boycott” of this film. I call on nerds of all backgrounds to come together and enjoy a tentpole event for us. And quench our thirst as we view it with the tears of these racist trolls.
This was printed in the November 1, 2015 – November 14, 2015 edition.
