Russians may have egged on the 'Last Jedi' fan backlash against Kelly Marie Tran

Some movie-goers were upset that a white male was not a central heroic figure in 'The Last Jedi.'

ASAM NEWS

THE SUPPOSED fan backlash that chased Kelly Marie Tran from social media may have been the work of Russian trolls and non-human bots in support of right wing and racist agendas, concluded a study from the University of Southern California.
Salon reports the study by researcher Morten Bay analyzed tweets aimed at ridiculing Kelly Marie Tran, the first women of color to be cast in a lead role in theStar Wars franchise.

“The study finds evidence of deliberate, organized political influence measures disguised as fan arguments,” Bay writes. “ The likely objective of these measures is increasing media coverage of the fandom conflict, thereby adding to and further propagating a narrative of widespread discord and dysfunction in American society.”

According to the South China Morning Post more than half of the tweets analyzed came from non-human bots with a number being Russian trolls. Some 960 twitter accounts were analyzed by Bay.

Bay concluded only about 10 percent of the tweets he analyzed came from legitimate Twitter accounts.

In December 2017, AsAmNews reported a fan page was taken over by racists who posted bigoted messages about Tran.

The Russian cyberwarfare campaign that used some fans' criticism of The Last Jedi as a launching pad for more insidious motives. The online vitriol had a common thread with Russia’s earlier Facebook disinformation campaigns, initiated during the 2016 U.S. presidential election. 

“Some [trolls] were less focused on politics of party or specific issues and more on identity politics, posting anti-feminist or anti-homosexuality messages, and tweets of a racist nature were also frequent among the accounts in this category,” the study explains in order to sow discord among Americans.

The Last Jedi’s director, Rian Johnson, retweeted the paper, writing “what the top-line describes is consistent with my experience online”.

He added: “And just to be totally clear: this is not about fans liking or not liking the movie – I’ve had tons of great talks with great fans online and off who liked and disliked stuff. That’s what fandom is all about. This is specifically about a virulent strain of online harassment.”

The best answer to fan criticism, Russian or otherwise, is to produce a sequel starring Kelly Marie Tran. She'll be back in the Star Wars: Episode IX when it hits theaters on December 20, 2019.

Views From the Edge contributed to this report.

Star Wars actress Kelly Marie Tran deletes Instagram posts to shed online bullies

SCREEN CAPTURE

Kelly Marie Tran left Instagram because of the harassment by sexist and racist fans of Star Wars.

DAYS AFTER Kelly Marie Tran deleted all her Instagram posts in response to never-ending online harassment, her fans and supporters have come to her side to denounce the bullying by insecure fanboys who don't like movies with starring women and actors of color.
What is it with this small group of fanboys that they feel they have to attack an actress playing a fictional character by asserting their toxic masculinity and/or racism, on any attempt to reflect the diversity of our country?

Kelly Marie Tran, the first woman of color to have a significant role in  any of the Star War movies, was the latest victim of the small, but virtually vocal group of internet bullies. Tran had been the target of ongoing harassment and abuse ever since she became the first woman of color in a major role in the Star Wars franchise.

RELATED: Kelly Marie Tran in tears at 'The Last Jedi' premiere

Her Instagram account with 212,000 followers, is now empty except with this phrase: "Afraid, but doing it anyway." Tran, a 29-year-old Vietnamese-American born in California, has no Twitter or Facebook accounts.

In December, AsAmNews ran a story headlined Resistance Defeats Racists in a galaxy Not Far Away that reported hateful messages berating Tran's appearance had inundated social media and that someone even hacked into her Wookiepedia fan page to edit her biography and change her name to Ching Chong Wing Tong and her hometown to Ching Chong China.

Alt-right internet personality Paul Ray Ramsey in December tweeted harassing comments about Tran's appearance, with his post being retweeted 103 times and earning 442 likes.

Rian Johnson, who directed Tran in The Last Jedi, took to Twitter on Tuesday to call out the trolls who have hounded Tran.

That Tweet prompted a response from the Jedi master himself, costar Mark Hamil:

Johnson wasn't done. Clearly, he was angry at the way one of his stars was treated. He went off on one of responders:

Many in the entertainment community are showing support for actress Kelly Marie Tran, the "Star Wars" franchise's first woman of color in a major role, after she deleted all her Instagram posts following months of abusive trolling about her.

It's not the first time these trollers have made their displeasure known. They attacked John Boyega, a black man, for his leading presence on The Force Awakens and derisively called Daisy Ridley a Mary Sue because she was the central character in the same movie.

They believe the "social justice warriors" have soften the franchise in the efforts to diversify the cast. I mean, they can accept Huts, Wookies, Ortolons or any of the other 50 alien races inhabiting the Star Wars galaxy, but they can't stand it if a man of color or a woman has a prominent role in one of the Star War stories?

I would not be surprised if a lot of Tran's harassers are of the same ilk who like to carry around tiki torches, make Nazi salutes to teach other or parade around in white robes and a pointed hood.

Although they claim to be Star Wars fans, they evidently haven't learned the lessons . espoused in the movies - that tolerance matters, respect matters, decency matters. Or, quoting Rose Tico, the character played by Tran: "That's how we win. Not fighting what we hate, (but by) saving what we love." (The trollers hated that line. Too soft.)

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Kelly Marie Tran in tears at premiere of 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi'

Vietnamese proud! Kelly Marie Tran's red carpet gown was designed by a Vietnamese fashion designer.

FOR MANY Asian American fans of the Star Wars franchise, it was a historical moment, assuring that there is a future for them in a galaxy far, far away and maybe, even in the tight-knit universe of Hollywood.

For Kelly Marie Tran, the premiere of Star Wars: The Last Jedi last Saturday (Dec. 9) in Los Angeles was a moment she'll never forget as she enters into a universe of glamor, fame with a role of a lifetime cemented into the lore and legend of one of entertainment's most famous movie franchises.

A year ago, people were saying, "Kelly Marie ... who?"as fans tried to determine what role the daughter of Vietnamese immigrants would play. 

And after the premiere of the latest episode of Star Wars, people are saying that she is the "breakout star" of the The Last Jedi, the third act of a three-movie arc in the nine movies depicting the war between the Empire and the The Resistance.

The moment was not lost on Tran, who was resplendent on the red carpet in her red gown designed by Vietnamese designer Thai Nguyen Atelier. Besides being her big break for her acting career, she knows the role her character plays in movie history of Asian Americans and in the American culture in a franchise that began in 1977's first Star Wars, directed by George Lucas, without any people of color to the racially diverse universe being depicted nine movies and 40 years later.

The moment almost got to be too big for newcomer Kelly Marie Tran as she is comforted by costar Daisy Ridley, whose own life was forever changed when she was cast as Rey, the central character in this third Star Wars trilogy, two years ago.

Before she was cast she was just doing odd jobs in L.A. Her biggest claim to fame was a series of Youtube videos for CollegeHumor. Tran says that she was always thought that her big break would come if she was cast as somebody's best friend in a supporting role.

Her role in the Asian/American pop culture continuum was not lost on her when she was asked by Rolling Stone what it meant to be the first Asian/American woman cast in a pivotal role in Star Wars.

"I wish it was just a nice little bonus, because it kind of feels like a lot of pressure in ways, I would love to live in a world where no one person has to represent a very large group of people just purely because of the fact that there's not many of those types of people in movies or TV – or writing or producing or directing. I would like to live in a world where there are a bunch of different types of people doing those things. But obviously we don't, and it's something I think about a lot. I don't take it lightly at all. I think from the moment I got this part - and it was also because this is a Star Wars movie - I just wanted to do the whole thing justice.

"And on a representation standpoint, I wanted to do that justice too. Me and John (Boyega) talked about that: Just the idea that we are people of color, that's something we always address in interviews. We actually had this one moment on set that I still hold really close to my heart. This one day we were shooting this scene and I remember John stopping and saying, "Kelly, we're making history right now" ... and we were. Because not only are we making a Star Wars movie, we have scenes where it's just John and myself."

Rose (Kelly Marie Tran) and Finn (John Boyega) are key protagonists in 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi.'

"Growing up I watched a lot of pop culture] and didn’t really get to see a lot of people that looked like me," she told Entertainment Weekly. "I think that I’m really lucky to be this person, and I get to be part of this franchise. I hope that it is a move in a better direction." 

When she heard she got the role in The Last Jedi she was working as a business assistant. Immediately, she had to act like the life-changing moment had never happened.

“But after I got the role, I had to work for another week!," she told Elle. "Then I told my job, my family, and my friends I was moving to Canada for an indie. I had to Google pictures of Canada to send them! It was so stressful.”

Nevertheless, Tran was quick to put her stamp on the notoriously top-secret saga. “Kelly has an infectious energy and creative spirit that actually ended up influencing her character,” says director Rian Johnson. Rose “may not be glorified in the Resistance the way Rey (Daisy Ridley) and Finn (John Boyega) are,” Tran says, “but has an important story to tell. She can and will make a difference.”After the emotional evening, Tran posted on Instagram:

Kelly Marie Tran broke down again as she  thanks director Rian Johnson.

“My parents are both refugees from Vietnam, and they spent their whole lives working towards a reality where my sisters and I would have choice,” Tran told the outlet. “That was purely it. My parents never had the luxury of having a dream.”

After the emotional evening, Tran posted on Instagram:

“Last night was one of the best nights of my life, and honestly, I truly think it’s because I let myself feel ALL the feelings,” she wrote in an Instagram post following the event. “YOU GUYS. I cried my way through the ENTIRE red carpet! I was basically a ball of emotion — from pure excitement to overwhelming joy.” 

Star Wars: The Last Jedi will be released in theaters across the country Dec. 15.

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