ST Rian Johnson Responds to Fan Backlash...

Here are excerpts from a new interview for Business Insider:

Jason Guerrasio: Like making any "Star Wars" movie, the director can't win. People complained that "The Force Awakens" was too much like the original trilogy. With your movie, the knock is it's nothing like the original trilogy. What are your thoughts when you hear that take?

Rian Johnson: Having been a "Star Wars" fan my whole life, and having spent most of my life on the other side of the curb and in that fandom, it softens the blow a little bit.

I'm aware through my own experience that, first of all, the fans are so passionate, they care so deeply — sometimes they care very violently at me on Twitter. But it's because they care about these things, and it hurts when you're expecting something specific and you don't get it from something that you love. It always hurts, so I don't take it personally if a fan reacts negatively and lashes out on me on Twitter. That's fine. It's my job to be there for that. Like you said, every fan has a list of stuff they want a "Star Wars" movie to be and they don't want a "Star Wars" movie to be. You're going to find very few fans out there whose lists line up.

And I also know the same way the original movies were personal for Lucas. Lucas never made a "Star Wars" movie by sitting down and thinking, "What do the fans want to see?" And I knew if I wrote wondering what the fans would want, as tempting as that is, it wouldn't work, because people would still be shouting at me, "F--- you, you ruined 'Star Wars,'" and I would make a bad movie. And ultimately, that's the one thing nobody wants.

And let me just add that 80-90% of the reaction I've gotten from Twitter has been really lovely. There's been a lot of joy and love from fans. When I talk about the negative stuff, that's not the full picture of the fans at all.




http://www.businessinsider.com/star...view-about-the-last-jedi-fan-backlash-2017-12

 

No real Star Wars fan would ever envision "Space Leia"...

 

was completely expecting him to say "they're just mad because they didn't understand"

 

Interesting that after the way they arrogantly threw **** at Lucas (and the PT) when TFA was released (not Rian I hasten to add but LFL and Disney) they now play the "Lucas made Star Wars for himself" card to try and get themselves off the hook now they are having a bit of trouble with some viewers...

What's that saying... " Never **** on people on the way up because you never know when you'll meet them on the way back down..."

 

But we could envision a Space Slug - with mynocks! - living in an asteroid in outer space (Empire Strikes Back).

 

I don't WANT to hate TLJ, but man... even just as a MOVIE, that was hard to watch. If you slap "Star Wars" on it, then it puts it on another emotional level for A LOT of people.

 

Jason Guerrasio is wrong.

TLJ is very much like Empire Strikes Back.

 

Sometimes they "care very violently" at him on Twitter.

 

Gracefully put by Johnson, as always. People send him death threats and he's like "okay, I understand. It's just because they care". It really does seem like he's a chill guy.

No real Star Wars fan would ever envision Jar Jar Binks as a Senator.

Oh wait, the creator of Star Wars envisioned that. It's almost like people have different opinions or something, and there's no unifying factor among Star Wars fans other than that they love the series.

 

I think he's actually a pretty good sport about it. Before the movie was released I remember someone being pretty nasty to him on Twitter. He didn't get nasty back, or sarcastic. He engaged respectfully even when he wasn't receiving respect. I think that's classy. Especially because, come on now, he's making a killing on this movie that is going to gross at least $1 billion.

He made a movie that intentionally burned down a lot of stuff in a beloved franchise. I think he went into this knowing lots of people wouldn't love it, and he probably just hoped way more than not would appreciate his vision. There's really nothing else he could do.

 

Yes, because that space slug has presumably come from a family of life forms that have spent their lives becoming accustomed to the vacuum of space.... unlike a human being experiencing sudden decompression.

 

two completely different ideas.

One is story structure and the other is characterization. We want the characters and things seen in previous films to stay the same or grow. We dont the same or a very similar story using those characters and things to be told again and again. If they are going to use those things and people from the OT then use them as they were. What this looks like is that Disney was afraid of starting a new story so they dump OT stuff in for brand recognition and that's it.

 

That's about what I expected him to say.

 

I'm sorry, no real Star Wars fan ever envisioned Leia actually actively using the force? Excuse Rian Johnson, and excuse Kathy Kennedy for wanting Leia to finally have her own moment to shine using the force. To many fans, it was a very powerful moment for Leia, and a very proud moment for Leia. It may not exactly have been what most fans were expecting to see. But if you can't appreciate a scene where, finally - it's not Luke showing a powerful display of the force, it's not Anakin, it's not Obi Wan - it's Leia displaying her powerful use of the force, then I just feel sorry for you. Call it Mary Poppins in space, or whatever the flavor-of-the-day insult to the scene is floating around now, but some of us enjoy it.

 

well let’s all just hope IX is a movie for the fans and an apology for VIII

 

But humans can endure the vacuum of space for a very short amount of time without Jedi powers. Space is a great insulator for loss of heat. This was demonstrated in such more scientifically based sci fi movies like 2001: a space odyssey and Sunshine.

 

Rationalize it all you want... It's a ridiculous scene.

 

Good on Rian for being so mature about it. He’s handling it very well. I feel sorry for him for all the **** he’s getting, but as a director, that’s just part of the job. Every film gets hate.

 

Only bcs you’ve been fooled by the movie convention that exposure to space = instant death. Leia wasn’t out there long. In fact less time than we think since the scene was shown in slow motion. As for getting herself back, no issue. She was literally weightless & Force pulled on the ship. Great scene!

I don’t feel sorry for him bcs he’s getting FAR more plaudits from critics & fans than complaints. He made a brilliant film & I’m sure he knows it.

 

It's easy to rationalize reality.

 

I absolutely do not see JJ creating another "safe" Star Wars film, if left to his own devices. He apparently loved RJ's script, to the point of jealousy. I can see him having a bit of healthy competition, and trying to finish out this trilogy with a stamp that doesn't read so loudly as a rehash of anything we've seen in the franchise prior.

Having said that, it all depends on whether Disney-Lucasfilm higher ups are truly as cool with some of the backlash or not. I think they're the ones more likely than not to course correct, not an independent JJ.

 

Ah, the no true Scotsman argument. Very convincing. That's ****ing ridiculous. My only issue with "Space Leia" were some details of execution. I loved the idea. Wanna say I'm not a "real" fan?

 

I think the pushback for some (not all) is because it's Leia.

I honestly, truly think that if Luke, Mace Windu, Yoda, Obi-Wan, any of the Jedi were sucked out that window, and reacted the the same way, that most wouldn't have even thought twice of the Force helping them survive.

I will say this, that I've seen the film with several different people so far. All of them thought it was a super cool scene, two audibly so (the reaction was hilarious). I've seen zero backlash in the real world, just on this forum.