Fan Reaction To Jar Jar Almost Led An Actor To Suicide

Actors were known to get public abuse for their characters' bad deeds 50 years ago. This isn't new.

But Star Wars is SO BIG and the earth is SO POPULATED with viewers now. If your show has hundreds of millions of fans then that's going to encompass every kind of weird reaction (and person) imaginable. Even the statistically-rare reactions will be happening a lot. And now the internet gives every idiot a platform to scream at others.

It's this last part that, I think, really changed things.

Before the internet, it was all word-of-mouth. An actor might get some flak at a convention, or randomly on the street, but it wasn't relentless or omnipresent. Partially that's due to the internet touching so many aspects of our lives and basically living in the smartphones we keep on us almost constantly, but partially I think it's due to the internet magnifying what would otherwise feel like a weak signal to the people who agree with it. Basically, the internet conditions you to believe that you either aren't in the minority, or that your minority is so big that it must be valid.

Ask yourself if you ever heard of flat-earthers prior to about, oh, 2005 as anything other than a punchline.
 
There is a not insignificant volume of people who seem to have never been taught how to deal with disappointment in a healthy, constructive way, including those who feel the need to heap abuse on actors when their performances don't live up to their ideal for that role (seriosuly, am I the only one who remembers that there were videos of people harassing Jake Lloyd at cons on YouTube back in the day?)

The sense of entitlement for some fans, and the out-of-propotion responses when things don't conform to their wishes, is ridiculous. Even though this latest ****storm may represent a small number, their aggressively vocal insistence on sharing their vitriol gives the entire fanbase a bad name.

Unfortunately, every human pursuit has extremists and Star Wars is no exception. It is exceptional though in that it has a huge following spanning over forty years covering the whole globe so the fact that there are some who take things way too far with whatever issues they may have is to be expected though not necessary. It was probably a small group that harassed Jake Lloyd at those conventions and were probably the same group that attacked Mr Best and have probably continued their behavior to this very day.
 
I'm not sure how I feel about this; at worst, it's possible to see this as a bit exploitive, capitalizing on a moment (that may be pervasive or not), and in turn furthering the negative Star Wars "hysteria".

However - and this is a huge variable - we can't quantify whatsoever what it feels like to be a young man, being given the opportunity to be a part of pop culture royalty, putting in the time to essentially do your job too well, and then be lambasted for it. "Just a character" or not, he likely identified himself by this role for a good amount of time, at least initially; and why not - I'm a main character in a Star Wars movie! This always turns out great! 16 years had passed - it's easy to forget how excited people were for another Star Wars movie. What a wave to ride; so full of promise. An incredible height to fall from.

So...hmmm. I've no doubt of the emotional trauma for him within a certain window of time. It's the same reason it pained me to see some of the criticism of Alden Ehrenreich on here before Solo had even been released; hell, even before a trailer dropped. Actors are just people - people with Internet access - and it just seems like there's a level of responsibility that isn't always adhered to be even some of us "good" fans. Not to be all finger-waggy, but it's easy for all of us to forget that, as we get worked up and presume that a certain insulation exists between us and our subject matter, just because RPF isn't a mainstream outlet like Twitter.

All that said...it's been 20 years. Sometimes being part of the solution means staying on the sidelines and letting a moment play itself out accordingly, instead of fanning the flames; to embrace ones own resilience in silence. That's also a potentially positive message to send.

Totally IMHO. Mr. Best, if you're reading, more power to you, my friend, and thank you for your passionate contribution to Star Wars. I trust that you will use your moment to benefit the greater good, as Jar Jar did. :)
 
Actors were known to get public abuse for their characters' bad deeds 50 years ago. This isn't new.

But Star Wars is SO BIG and the earth is SO POPULATED with viewers now. If your show has hundreds of millions of fans then that's going to encompass every kind of weird reaction (and person) imaginable. Even the statistically-rare reactions will be happening a lot. And now the internet gives every idiot a platform to scream at others.

The huge difference is they were able to escape it - rather easily - 50 years ago. Today, it's virtually impossible - no pun intended. People are hammered relentlessly, personally, on any online account that's know, on websites, news media (not necessarily adding to it, but reporting it),TMZ's lying about it, in public, trying to do normal things. You can't get away from it.

No offense, but how well would that Uncle cope if he people filling his inbox with hate mail daily? Publicly attacking him over it when he went to the store? the gas station? etc? As horrific an experience as it was, he wasn't being attacked for it daily either. There is a difference.

People (fans) need to learn their place, frankly. If you don't like something. Fine. Don't like it, don't buy it. If people ask you about it, give an honest opinion. There's no right or place to go around attacking people personally because you don't like what they did in a role. None. If you feel otherwise, you're part of the problem.
 
Before social media, it would've been difficult for those living under a rock, somewhere in a swamp, to voice their venom at a particular person/subject. But nowadays, everyone is judge and jury. Everyone is a critic (no critical thinking here, move along:behave). They're a lot of people who shouldn't be on social media and who shouldn't have a voice in the first place!
Since they live/thrive in the darkness of total negativity and the pain of others, they have no place in my life. Knowing that they wouldn't have the balls to say it to my face is, also, a victory for me, or for anyone who was attacked/trolled on line! I truly sympathize for Best...
 
Before social media, it would've been difficult for those living under a rock, somewhere in a swamp, to voice their venom at a particular person/subject. But nowadays, everyone is judge and jury. Everyone is a critic (no critical thinking here, move along:behave). They're a lot of people who shouldn't be on social media and who shouldn't have a voice in the first place!
Since they live/thrive in the darkness of total negativity and the pain of others, they have no place in my life. Knowing that they wouldn't have the balls to say it to my face is, also, a victory for me, or for anyone who was attacked/trolled on line! I truly sympathize for Best...

That`s why I`ve never been involved in any form of social media.
 
What, exactly, do you think it is you just posted this message on?

This is a fan forum,one of only two I am a member of and post on. I classify social media as things like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram that have billions of active members worldwide. Of which I am only a member of Twitter and have posted a grand total of 9 tweets in ten years. So yeah, I have no involvement in social media. Clear enough?
 
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Before social media, it would've been difficult for those living under a rock, somewhere in a swamp, to voice their venom at a particular person/subject. But nowadays, everyone is judge and jury. Everyone is a critic (no critical thinking here, move along:behave). They're a lot of people who shouldn't be on social media and who shouldn't have a voice in the first place!
Since they live/thrive in the darkness of total negativity and the pain of others, they have no place in my life. Knowing that they wouldn't have the balls to say it to my face is, also, a victory for me, or for anyone who was attacked/trolled on line! I truly sympathize for Best...

The only way to put a major dent in the hate spewing online, frankly, is some methodology to remove the anonymity. If you had to sign your name, your real name, to everything you wrote, nearly all the stuff would never get posted. Anonymity makes people virtual tough guys with no shred of decency.
 
The only way to put a major dent in the hate spewing online, frankly, is some methodology to remove the anonymity. If you had to sign your name, your real name, to everything you wrote, nearly all the stuff would never get posted. Anonymity makes people virtual tough guys with no shred of decency.
How does that explain the hate and nasty stuff posted on Facebook? Sure, you can create fake accounts with fake names, but many people spew hate through their normal accounts displaying their actual names.

It is simply the fact that you are not face to face that doesn't make people stop themselves.
 
Interesting that he blames the media backlash in his post, and the media turns around and blames the fans.

Bingo. Same as that and other fans blaming fans for forcing Daisy Ridley off social media when it wasnt true, Kelly Marie Tran when it was never confirmed, Jake Lloyd when it seems he had other personal issues and George Lucas when probably a man of a later age with at least 5 billion in the bank and just wanted to enjoy his twilight days. See a pattern here?
 
Not so sure I care....

But I will say this anybody who blames the ACTOR for a bad character needs their heads examined,you need to blame whoever created the abomination or approves it's use in the film so whoever created Jar-Jar or whoever approved him being in the damn movie (I think that's both Uncle George)

If an actor thinks high of a bad character that's more of a personality flaw then anything worth blaming them over.
 
I'd say you can blame the actor, if and only if, they admit to actually giving a crappy performance because they wanted to **** people off or hated the character/material. Then - you can go after them. Short of that, get a life.
 
Many great actors have played roles that ended up being universally hated regardless of their personal contribution. George Clooney felt like he single handedly killed Batman for a long time until Nolan revived it. Of course its wild speculation but if he actually considered killing himself over the backlash to a character he portrayed then it seems like he has problems that have nothing to do with Star Wars.
 
I believe that for Ahmed Best it was not the role characterisation itself but how the role impacted his career that is the big issue.
It was supposed to have been his big break ... and then it was instead a major setback. It was not even neutral, it impacted negatively.

That's kind of how I took it as well.
 
I know this may not be a pleasant topic but I think it's an important one.

Ihttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfNiSkd3HfI


I wish he had talked about his struggles sooner. I know I am hyper critical of lots of things Star Wars. At the end of the day, we can criticize the actors and the roles they played but they are just people doing their job. I really respect Ahmed and feel for what he went through. Same for all the other actors who got mistreated. Jake Lloyd. Hayden Christensen. Kelly Marie Tran. Daisy Ridley.

Let's just remember that ultimately we should hold ourselves accountable for what we say and what we do. Just because we have things like Twitter, or Facebook, or whatever social media or platform we have doesn't mean we need to be inhumane to one another. Do we have the right to say what we want? Sure. Let's not forget though that while we have the anonymity of the internet to hide behind, try to think before you say something cruel because I'm certain most of us wouldn't dare say the things we do if we were face to face with someone.

If it's an idea or belief that you disagree with, then speak up, but remember to always make the distinction that we are better off loving one another than hating one another and it's the idea we disagree with and not always the person themselves.

I know I am guilty of this so I'm not making excuses for myself. I'm just trying to own it and since it's a new year I want to try and be better. Let's not forget we are all human and we should treat each other accordingly. I welcome your thoughts.
 
I can understand where a person wouldn't care for an actor's performance (I have watched some films where I put the "blame" squarely on the actor's ability, generally because they've never seemed good in anything I've seen them in), but I've never wished them ill, or called for public humiliation.

Basically all the actors listed above just got handed horrible rolls that there was no saving. Ahmed Best probably did the best job of saving a bad character. Jar-Jar, as a contained character, was done great. It just wasn't the right kind of character to write into that movie, in that way.
 
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