Star Wars: The Last Jedi hate amplified by Russian Trolls

[Username taken]

There is a direct line between the culture wars, which Star Wars is now a part of, and the election of Donald Trump, a candidate the Russian government supported. By accentuating the idea that former cultural touchstones no longer belong to 'you' (white, male Americans), the Russians are more likely to spur turn out among that demographic. The Russians also supported black, anti-Hillary groups with the intention of suppressing the black vote by accentuating the woman's role in targeting black youths for incarceration.

Well said.

[thwhtGuardian]

So then let's get this straight. You're willing to ignore friends, family, social media and internet forums - just because they dislike TLJ and Disney's Star Wars. On the other hand, when trash Hollywood tabloids produce a report that claims all the TLJ hate is really part of a vast Russian conspiracy you beleive it instantly. That's just not very logical on your part. Even Joseph McCarthy would take a look at this current level of Russian paranoia and think that you're overdoing it.

No, if you read what I said earlier I think the Russian thing is pretty doubtful but that's a side bar to the conversation that there is this huge misconception among some people that makes them believe the film did poorly, or was received poorly by anything even approaching a majority of people. None of that is to say there aren't valid reasons to dislike the film, I'll repeat it once more for those in the back, I didn't like the Force Awakens or The Last Jedi and unless the trailer is really, really good I probably won't see the third one in theaters...that's how down on the current series I am...but my opinion is definitely in the minority when you look at the number of tickets sold and DVD's purchased.

[Username taken]

No, if you read what I said earlier I think the Russian thing is pretty doubtful but that's a side bar to the conversation that there is this huge misconception among some people that makes them believe the film did poorly, or was received poorly by anything even approaching a majority of people. None of that is to say there aren't valid reasons to dislike the film, I'll repeat it once more for those in the back, I didn't like the Force Awakens or The Last Jedi and unless the trailer is really, really good I probably won't see the third one in theaters...that's how down on the current series I am...but my opinion is definitely in the minority when you look at the number of tickets sold and DVD's purchased.

Exactly my point.

I'm not even saying that my opinion represents the majority of people.

My not liking the movie doesn't mean it wasn't a huge success. My personal opinion doesn't translate into the success or otherwise of the film.

[BeastieRunner]

Exactly my point.

I'm not even saying that my opinion represents the majority of people.

My not liking the movie doesn't mean it wasn't a huge success. My personal opinion doesn't translate into the success or otherwise of the film.

That's a better way of putting what I was trying to get at earlier. Well said.

[Moon Ronin]

One, The vast majority of the people who did not like the move was not because of "political" views
Two, The vast majority of the people who did not like the move was not because they are "racists/sexist/bigots"
Three, The vast majority of the people who did not like the movie were not influenced by Russian hackers
Four, Financial success in one thing, actual reaction is another.

You have to see the movie to complain about it. I'm sure the vast super majority of the people that say they don't like the movie actually saw the movie so they contributed to the "success". The move had a lot of Hype so course it sold, same as the live action Alice in Wonder Land that Disney did a few years back ( a financial success but not a good movie) the sequel did not do so great. Some times you can judge a movie not on how it sells but how the next one does. You have to admit that the SOLO movie suffered in some part to the reaction to TFA among other things. Its not over saturation as the Marvel movies are not the exception they just are good movies, when they stop being good people will stop going to see them but, you can bet that the first bad one will still be a financial success.

Five, The vast majority of the people who did not like the move was because it was not a good movie.

I would have to say that majority of people I know did not like this movie and they come from all walks of life and from different places.

[thwhtGuardian]

One, The vast majority of the people who did not like the move was not because of "political" views
Two, The vast majority of the people who did not like the move was not because they are "racists/sexist/bigots"
Three, The vast majority of the people who did not like the movie were not influenced by Russian hackers
Four, Financial success in one thing, actual reaction is another.

You have to see the movie to complain about it. I'm sure the vast super majority of the people that say they don't like the movie actually saw the movie so they contributed to the "success". The move had a lot of Hype so course it sold, same as the live action Alice in Wonder Land that Disney did a few years back ( a financial success but not a good movie) the sequel did not do so great. Some times you can judge a movie not on how it sells but how the next one does. You have to admit that the SOLO movie suffered in some part to the reaction to TFA among other things. Its not over saturation as the Marvel movies are not the exception they just are good movies, when they stop being good people will stop going to see them but, you can bet that the first bad one will still be a financial success.

Five, The vast majority of the people who did not like the move was because it was not a good movie.

I would have to say that majority of people I know did not like this movie and they come from all walks of life and from different places.

So it's selling well on DVD because??

Again, nothing I've said negates the feelings of those who disliked the films, nor am I saying that those feelings are illogical or unfounded...I'm just saying they don't represent the majority, and there's no way to say that they do. When dealing with the huge numbers that are the audience of the Last Jedi one simply cannot use anecdotal evidence to try and paint a picture of the overall consensus.

[Miles To Go]

Who needs to? We have prequel fans. Those movies all made money and delighted a percentage of younger fans...doesn't stop the general consensus they are terrible and don't age well, usually the kids who grew up on the prequels turn on the movies and praise the superior expanded material.

I don't hate Last Jedi, but to diminish/downplay the backlash is absurd.

Just admit the film isn't for everyone, and that it's not as universally loved as you believe. Numbers don't prove that, as for some people they may not have seen it in the theatre, want to see it for the first time, and who can tell what they thought about it afterwards? They may have not liked it, and will go online to vent, thus adding their voice to the many that already exist.

[The Negative Zone]

Who needs to? We have prequel fans. Those movies all made money and delighted a percentage of younger fans...doesn't stop the general consensus they are terrible and don't age well, usually the kids who grew up on the prequels turn on the movies and praise the superior expanded material.

I don't hate Last Jedi, but to diminish/downplay the backlash is absurd.

Just admit the film isn't for everyone, and that it's not as universally loved as you believe. Numbers don't prove that, as for some people they may not have seen it in the theatre, want to see it for the first time, and who can tell what they thought about it afterwards? They may have not liked it, and will go online to vent, thus adding their voice to the many that already exist.

The prequels have their fair share of fans and defenders, however that took time. The fans of the movies had to grow up. This time however, fans who liked and disliked the movie now have the power to argue and analyze right out of the gate. That's my take on the backlash.

[Moon Ronin]

So it's selling well on DVD because??

Again, nothing I've said negates the feelings of those who disliked the films, nor am I saying that those feelings are illogical or unfounded...I'm just saying they don't represent the majority, and there's no way to say that they do. When dealing with the huge numbers that are the audience of the Last Jedi one simply cannot use anecdotal evidence to try and paint a picture of the overall consensus.

I had to look up the DVD/Blu-ray numbers as in the day of on demand viewing I think all physical sells are going in decline so I really don't think to look at them. That being said TFA had over 5.5 million copies Sold and to date though TFA is the highest selling one this year is a little over 2.9 million. That is under Rouge One at over 3 million. Though there are a few months left in the year for it to catch up but for now it is the lowest selling DVD/Blu-ray for the Disney Star War Era (SOLO has not been out long enough to count yet but I'm sure it will become the lowest and that is sad it's a good movie). All being said that is almost a 30% drop between TFA and TLJ

I did notice a trend in the DVD/Blu-ray sells is that most of the ones in the top are either children's movies or part a "universe" such as Marvel, DC, Harry Potter, or Star Wars. I wonder how many of those that bought it (like my self) because it goes with the set though after buying it I've never once watched it.
I'm not sure if a majority did or didn't like the move. I have to go off my interaction with other people that have seen the movie... I do believe (form those interactions) that less people liked this one when compared to the other Disney Star Wars movies and that includes those that have seen SOLO. You have to admit that the majority in "likes it" for Star Wars is in decline and trying to blame it on out side factors such a politics and Russian trolls is not addressing why.

[Anthony W]

Apparently, I'm a Russian bot.

What I can tell from Reddit and Star Wars forums, about fairly evenly split between liking and hating TLJ. Fandom has been fractured more than the Prequels.

And folks at Disney know what. I know several people who work at one of the major trailer vendors who generally like most comic movies who I was rather surprised about how much they absolutely hated TLJ. And they were joking around about it with one of their clients from Disney who was completely aware of not just some fans dislike of TLJ, but how much their friends hated TLJ - enough that it was impacting home video marketing campaigns. Not that that's going to actually change anything since Disney's marketing strategy is targeting kids.

So, call it Russian bots all you want. It's not going to actually change the downward trend Star Wars is in.

That is exactly the kind of thing a robot would say...

[superduperman]

Personally, I just assume that everyone on here is a Russian bot but me!

[Zero Hunter]

Anyone who keeps screaming "well look at how much money it made" as an arguement keep in mine. The Transformers movies that you would be hard pressed to find anyone to say is a good series have all made huge profits. Making big profits does not mean a movie was great. It just means alot of people saw it. I paid to see TLJ in theaters, but I hated the movie. They still got my money.

[WebLurker]

I don't think we need to invoke Russian involvement to explain why the movie has it's critics, nor to disprove the claim that it was a failure that most people hated.

[Gray Lensman]

I don't think we need to invoke Russian involvement to explain why the movie has it's critics, nor to disprove the claim that it was a failure that most people hated.

I agree - my take is that Russian troll farms looks for issues that are already flaring up on their own so they can douse them in kerosene. They typically don't cause the problem, they just do what they can to make it worse.

[Sacred Knight]

Its just a weird insecurity all-around. From both sides.