‘Rogue One’: White Supremacists Call for Boycott of ‘Star Wars’ Film Over ‘Anti-White Agenda’
White supremacists are calling for people to boycott “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” accusing the film of promoting an “anti-white agenda.” Per Forward, according to a Reddit post by GenFrancoPepe titled “(((Star Wars))) Is Anti-White Social Engineering,” many are angrily pointing out the casting of women and multicultural actors who rebel against an Empire full of villainous white men.
“Nearly all of the major characters are non-Whites and the main character is an empowered White female,” the post reads. “This film should be boycotted.”
Another user stated that the movie will be a financial failure due to its diverse cast, “The new films are going to flop big league anyway. You can push the female heroes as much as you like, but even most women don’t find it interesting.”
READ MORE: ‘Rogue One’: How Gareth Edwards Made a Gritty ‘Star Wars’ Movie About Diversity
Many white supremacists aren’t all about boycotting the film, rather, some say that they would watch the movie and root for the Empire.
“If you’re annoyed by their allegories then don’t watch it. If you’re like me you’ll pirate it at some point and fantasize about being a stormtrooper,” one user commented.
READ MORE: Felicity Jones Explains Why the ‘Rogue One’ Team Insisted Her Costume Wasn’t Sexualized
Earlier this week, director Gareth Edwards spoke to IndieWire about “Rogue One’s” diversity, macro issues of globalism and terrorism, and how in the past it’s been easy to label it as good guys versus bad guys.
“The goal of a lot of films used to be: If we just eliminate the bad guys, we win,” he stated. “But I think a more modern, realistic viewpoint is that no one’s good, no one’s evil and the only real way we’re going to stop wars is to understand each other better, come together and empathize with them.” Adding, “And this film tried to take away the black and white and make it more gray. You even see the point of view of the bad guys and you start to understand what [the Empire] tried to do.”
READ MORE: ‘Rogue One’ Extended Trailer: Introducing Felicity Jones’ Team of Rebels
This isn’t the first time a “Star Wars” film has been boycotted. Last year, “The Force Awakens” also received backlash from Neo-Nazi groups because the leads were portrayed by John Boyega and Daisy Ridley: a black actor and a woman. The hatred and racist banter didn’t effect the feature, as it went on to make $2.068 billion, becoming the third highest-grossing film of all-time.
“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” will be released in theaters on December 16.
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