#and like. no bb i’m sorry you don’t have the perspective or context or whatever to appreciate this is discussion of

[jenny-dreadful]

yk when someone confidently slides on their socks into a complex ongoing discourse to be like “um actually. [term] means [thing] 💅” all smug, and expect to be taken seriously, not realizing they completely lack a concept of a specific and contextually-applicable usage which everybody else here already understands. <<<<<<<<<

[unexpectedreylo]

Fandom & The TROS Press Tour

Warning:  common sense incoming.  If you’re looking for the usual millennial/zoomer Tumblr word salads, that’s not what I’m serving.

I get that some fans, particularly fellow Reylo fans, are feeling a little let down by the TROS press tour.  At least they sure are on Twitter.  I for one am not invested in “trio discourse” because I’m predicting it’s going to be largely the first act of the film.  It’s going to be The Goonies or Stranger Things with adults, with Rey as the Eleven and Poe the Steve Harrington and BB-8 a droid version of Erika, etc..  I can buy that after hanging out together for a year in a war situation, the crew would build a strong friendship.  Fine.  I don’t think though it’s going to be all peachy keen because something will draw Rey and Kylo together again.  It’s all there in the trailer and the interviews.

But that also means the Reylo relationship has to stay under wraps, meaning the dreams of lush photo sessions and banter-filled joint interviews are not going to come true.  It sucks but that’s how it is because of the big Will They Or Won’t They way they’re telling this story.  Maybe it’s something Lucasfilm needs to think about when it is going to tell romantic storylines in the future.

What Lucasfilm needs to think about even more is recognizing that fans LOVE seeing their faves all together on these press tours.  It’s important to them.  I believe what’s feeding this disappointment is the knowledge this is the last time the ST cast is appearing together but some of the key favorites are not there.  Adam is spending every other day promoting Marriage Story or The Report, but has only done one TROS appearance.  Ever.  Granted it’s an unusual situation to be promoting three movies at once, one of which is likely to score him an Oscar.  He’s got obligations to three studios and maybe he feels the other films need his attention more than TROS, which will make a crapload of money no matter what and he can’t say very much about the film anyway.  When the first trailer dropped, he was busy doing Burn This.  Now it comes out he won’t be doing the full cast show with Jimmy Fallon next week for some reason (probably needs to promote Marriage Story in Kamchatka).  Nobody can predict if someone’s career is going to explode, but I think going forward, Lucasfilm needs to secure firm commitments from these guys beforehand.

Disappointed fans are now turning their frustrations on John and Daisy.  Whatever John had to say about TLJ, he probably should’ve kept it to himself.  I see that as a result of two years of constant social media haterade.  But let me offer this perspective as a fan who has been through three trilogies.

First off, you must accept that your faves are going to at various points let you down.  They are going to do or say things you won’t like.  Just about everybody in Star Wars in all of the trilogies have annoyed me at one point or another.  There are some (I won’t name names) whom I don’t like even if I love their characters.  It’s okay.  I’ll also point out that just about all of the major players in Star Wars have bitched about it over the years.  Boy is the GFFA alumni association full of complainers!  There’s a reason why I think it should be mandatory that anyone hired to work in a franchise series watch Galaxy Quest.

Actors can be disappointing in a lot of ways.  They are among the most flawed people you’ll ever encounter:  insecure, outer-directed, people pleasing, neurotic, etc..  You’re spending your life hiding behind characters for a reason.  Not to say they're bad people.  But they’re definitely a different breed.

All of that said, these guys are under a tremendous amount of scrutiny.  We’re not scrutinized the same way, not even in an era of social media.  Adam’s a consummate professional and so is Oscar, but both have been in this game for a long time.  Adam is very adept at sidestepping controversy; he never lets anyone hang the baggage associated with people he’s worked with around his neck.  But even he steps in land mines every now and then.  

You also have to remember reporters are not always honest.  I started calling them Darth Media during the prequels era for a reason.  “Journalists” will often twist words, take things out of context, or even make stuff up just for the controversy and clicks.  Making matters worse is ever-shifting goalposts of what’s not “problematic.”  Social media mobs eager to “cancel” and the media lie in wait to see who they can destroy.  It’s a sport for them.  Opening your mouth is precarious in this kind of environment.

Which is what IMO happened to Daisy with The Guardian.  Sorry but that was a trap.  If you saw the author’s tweets (not going to link to them but you can look them up), she was getting pats on the back for the catty jealous Mean Girl b.s. attempt to make Daisy look bad.  Think...here you are, just there to promote your lightsaber swinging epic, and all of a sudden the interviewer starts making personal digs at you, implying you got where you are only because you’re white and your folks weren’t living under a bridge.  Worse yet, the interviewer tries to put a wedge in your close friendship with your co-star.  No wonder the British press has a reputation for being mean-spirited.  And of course you’re going to be caught off your feet which was the goal.  I’m really, really surprised those criticizing Daisy didn’t see through it. 

I’ve been through this all so many times, I’m almost numb to it.  Maybe one day you’ll be too.