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i suspected this was always the case but nice to see it empirically confirmed that Russia generated at least 50% of the RiJo/TLJ hate online

Posted by: bedbug eddie (a.k.a mickpix) on Dec 26, 11:07

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/24/opinion/star-wars-rise-of-skywalker.html

And a recent study by Morten Bay, a University of Southern California digital media researcher, revealed that over 50 percent of the venom directed on Twitter at Rian Johnson, director of “The Last Jedi,” came from the same sources as Russian election meddling.

Using the analytical tools that other technologists deployed to uncover Russian influence during the 2016 election, Mr. Bay found that “bots, trolls/sock puppets or political activists” were using the “Star Wars” debate “to propagate political messages supporting extreme right-wing causes and the discrimination of gender, race or sexuality” and that “a number of these users appear to be Russian trolls.” So it seems that it was political operatives, not fans, who were denigrating the movie and fomenting some of the virulent racism and misogyny against its cast.

Using “Star Wars” as the vehicle was a canny move by the trolls. Fans, like the American electorate, are polarized and angry. Online and in real life, they scream at one another about how Luke Skywalker would really behave decades after finding out that his dad was Darth Vader.

Often these fights begin with someone asserting that the latest “Star Wars” movie ruined their childhood. That’s not wrong. An attack on “Star Wars” is an attack on what many adults of George Lucas’s generation were taught as children: that the most important good guys are generally white men, and the biggest threat on earth is a superweapon.

i suspected this was always the case but nice to see it empirically confirmed that Russia generated at least 50% of the RiJo/TLJ hate online bedbug eddie Dec 26, 11:07

I posted this study last year when it was released. You're right its nice to see the facts but the manbabies are gonna keep crying {nm} Moviesnob Dec 26, 11:27

ROTFLMO. News? Hahaha. shipwreckedcrew Dec 26, 11:33

Think of it like this - what would the debate over Star Wars would look like without external influence? RogerMore Dec 26, 15:26

SW in general, or RTJ in particular? shipwreckedcrew Dec 26, 16:32

SW since TFA. There has been plenty of messing with SW lore, bad characters and missed opportunities in these movies too RogerMore Dec 26, 17:14

External to what? Has Star Wars never been shown in Russia? {nm} DTravel Dec 26, 17:03

People who have a political or social agenda beyond whether they like or dislike a movie, especially if they don’t care about the movie in RogerMore Dec 26, 17:31

That hasn't been the case with movies ever. Reactions to them have always been colored by the current social hot buttons. DTravel Dec 26, 20:09

I think there’s a distinction between people who want to discuss their reactions to the movie and people who want to blow things out o RogerMore Dec 26, 20:42

No -- the reaction is TOWARDS the agenda reflected in the movie shipwreckedcrew Dec 26, 23:27

Just saw online that Rose Tico had 1 min. 16 sec. screen time in STAR9 shipwreckedcrew Dec 26, 23:59

short response inside RogerMore Dec 27, 10:28