Star Wars star Tran leaves Instagram
Kelly Marie Tran, the actress best known for Star Wars: The Last Jedi, deleted all her posts on Instagram this week, leaving her 192,000 followers to see nothing but a note that says: “Afraid, but doing it anyway.”
The immediate question sparked by Tran’s sudden action: Was she moved to do so because of online harassment?
Tran, the first Asian-American actress to have a leading role in a Star Wars movie, is part of the franchise’s increasing racial and gender diversity.
That shift has sparked particularly intense reactions from fans, both positive and negative.
The Star Wars universe has been political since it landed in theatres in 1977, of course. But Disney/Lucasfilm’s reboot of the franchise in the era of Twitter and Instagram has faced new levels of scrutiny, support and backlash over issues of cultural identity and multiculturalism.
Compare the Star Wars universe to that of Star Trek, which Gene Roddenberry envisioned as a future ideal that reflected the diversity of the United Nations. By contrast, George Lucas’s Flash Gordoninspired space opera — with all its retro influences — was hardly aiming to be so socially progressive.
From out of the gate under new parent Disney, though, Star Wars grew far more diverse.
While The Force Awakens may have stoked debate over its less monochromatic and male-dominant human contingent, The Last Jedi — arriving at the end of Year 1 of U.S. President Donald Trump — became a flash point that mirrored larger culture wars.
Writer-director Rian Johnson gave Last Jedi viewers at least four Resistance characters — including Tran’s Rose — who received featured prominence as fierce female warriors.
Such representation prompted spasms of backlash, including a now-removed alt-right Facebook page titled, “Down with Disney’s Treatment of Franchises and Its Fanboys.”
Since 2015, Tran, the Oscarwinning Lupita Nyong ’o and the Golden Globe-nominated Thandie Newton have all become pioneering women of colour in the Star Wars universe, representing a distinct progression in representation. But Tran and actress Daisy Ridley, who has also left Instagram, have especially been singled out for criticism on social media.
On Instagram, Tran, a 29-yearold Vietnamese-American actress, had offered upbeat and encouraging posts, such as images of her and castmate Ngô Thanh Vân — credited in Last Jedi as Veronica Ngo — wearing traditional Vietnamese clothing in the fall while promoting the film in Vietnam.
“So much of me is because of what my parents experienced in this country,” Tran wrote of Vietnam in an Instagram post. “So much of me is because of the things my parents overcame so that I could have the luxury of having a dream.”
But Tran, who played Resistance mechanic Rose Tico in Last Jedi, faced online trolling and harassment as the divisive film opened in December. Several days after the film’s release, for instance, the fan-run encyclopedia site Wookieepedia was edited to contain racist comments about her, according to multiple outlets.
In noting the change in Tran’s account, the fan site Star Wars Facts pointed to “months of harassment” that Tran had faced over her portrayal of Rose.
Tran’s publicist has not responded to requests for comment. But director Johnson wrote about his larger view of online fans, tweeting: “On social media a few unhealthy people can cast a big shadow on the wall, but over the past 4 years I’ve met lots of real fellow SW fans . ... We’re the vast majority.”