There’s one thing on the mind of the Internet today: Star Wars. More Star Wars than you could possibly imagine. But it’s not just the new trailer that people are talking about—a particular social media tag demanding an alleged boycott of the film for its diverse cast has generated more laughs than it has any right to.
At this point, you’ve probably heard of “#BoycottStarWarsVII”. The tag was supposedly coined by racist Star Wars fans who forgot that the totalitarian bigoted Galactic Empire were meant to be the bad guys rather than a lifestyle guide, but it’s allegedly a 4chan prank aimed at drumming up outrage. In either case, it exploded over social media yesterday evening, as fans waited for the Force Awakens trailer to hit Monday Night Football.
As you’d expect, it started off foul enough. But #BoycottStarWarsVII didn’t become the hottest trending topic on Twitter and Facebook because there’s a monstrously huge audience of people out there who think the world might end because of a Black Stormtrooper (thankfully)—rather, it trended because people who disagreed with this sentiment took to the hashtag to vent their disgust… or to take the piss out of it.
https://twitter.com/embed/status/656094402998210560
It’s the Internet. It’s pretty much entirely made out of outrage and piss-taking. Naturally, this led to some pretty great jokes:
https://twitter.com/embed/status/656161993770995713
https://twitter.com/embed/status/656171948175728640
If you're serious about #BoycottStarWarsVII then this is the version of the film you should be forced to watch pic.twitter.com/VsE5tWPnLv
— Dan Entwistle garciansmith.bsky.social (@Garcian_Smith) October 19, 2015
#boycottstarwarsvii because it shamelessly violates canon. R2D2 looks NOTHING like this pic.twitter.com/IewRLd5RIx
— Virgil Texas (@virgiltexas) October 19, 2015
https://twitter.com/embed/status/656171884883656704
https://twitter.com/embed/status/656152762284154880
https://twitter.com/embed/status/656222293828509696
(And even a bit of cross-franchise fun, too!)
My final thought on the #BoycottStarWarsVII trend, and then I am declaring it a troll-free day. Ta. pic.twitter.com/uKMX43xOyW
— Heather Archuletta (@Pillownaut) October 20, 2015
It lead to some pretty great response articles too. A lot of of sites covered the hashtag and the outrage of it, but some chose to instead run with the joke—Alexandra Petri’s “Better Reasons To Boycott Star Wars” for The Washington Post is a particular favorite of ours.
But as delightful as it is to make a mockery of such stupidity, it’s not exactly stirring to see a toxic hashtag (whatever its origins) trending. So director Ava DuVernay, after expressing her own dismay, charged fans to co-opt another tag, #CelebrateStarWarsVII:
https://twitter.com/embed/status/656204959453569024
They did, and it ended up being filled with positive expressions of why people continue to love this franchise today.
This right here. (My son.) #CelebrateStarWarsVII
(Thanks again, @LisaBolekaja) @AVAETC pic.twitter.com/67bwccOh48— Tananarive Due – The Reformatory (@TananariveDue) October 19, 2015
I #CelebrateStarWarsVII because it's giving us new, diverse voices and stories from a galaxy far, far away. #StarWars
— timothy huneycutt (@timothuney) October 19, 2015
My little bro who is OBSESSED w/ Star Wars now gets to see a more diverse cast on screen. #CelebrateStarWarsVII pic.twitter.com/kEHRwUF0BA
— c. (@afroeccentrix) October 19, 2015
Because it's ok to take your six-year old to the movie and have identical looks of wonder on your faces. #CelebrateStarWarsVII
— Dashie (@DMDash71) October 20, 2015
Chiming in with @AVAETC with #CelebrateStarWarsVII because I'll be there opening day with my lightsaber! pic.twitter.com/tmbmfXzbVc
— Black Girl Nerds (@BlackGirlNerds) October 19, 2015
Star Wars is for everyone!!! #CelebrateStarWarsVII
— Will (@WillSpannComedy) October 20, 2015
I #CelebrateStarWarsVII because, hello, Star Wars VII!!!! Bring on The Force baby! pic.twitter.com/BVyFrwzQoz
— Acey Deecey 🚀🚀 (@mcgarrygirl78) October 19, 2015
https://twitter.com/embed/status/656498254348075008
Take something dumb and toxic, and turn it into something wonderful and funny. That’s also what the internet is about.
