In response to a quick and unpredictable wave of racist reactions from Star Wars fans, frightened by the idea that black people exist in space, Disney issued a statement in support of Obi-Wan actor Kenobi Moses Ingram.
Although the first two episodes of Obi-Wan Kenobi premiered only last week, it was all the time it took for Star Wars obsessions to focus on Ingram hero Reva Sevander, one of the Inquisitors of the Galactic Empire tasked with Destroy the Jedi from the galaxy. On Monday after this year’s Star Wars Celebration event, Ingram logged into her personal Instagram account to share a selection of “hundreds” of anti-black, misogynistic messages she received portraying a fictional villain who does evil deeds. Ingram said that while she was grateful to fans who needed to know that actors are not the characters who play on television, she also admitted that she was somewhat depressed, “because no one can do anything about it.” .
“No one can do anything to stop this hatred, so I doubt what my purpose is even to be here in front of you, saying this is happening,” Ingram said. “I think the thing that worries me is something like that feeling I had inside me – that no one told me – but that feeling like ‘I just have to shut up and accept it,’ you know?”
Hours after Ingram’s post, the official Star Wars Twitter account shared a message confirming that Ingram’s hero Reva Sevander is part of the franchise, no matter what all the racist trolls have to say.
There are more than 20 million intelligent species in the Star Wars galaxy, don’t choose to be a racist.
– Star Wars (@starwars) May 31, 2022
There are always a number of reasons – like racism – why people who seem to love genre fiction like Star Wars or Percy Jackson’s novels feel compelled to show their asses that way. But Ingram’s response is at least partly inspired by Obi-Wan Kenobi’s own text. During the short time Reva (also known as the Third Sister) was part of the Star Wars franchise, Obi-Wan found that while her work killed the Jedi and instilled fear of the Empire in her subordinates, her hunt for Obi-Wan is somewhat personal.
Instead of simply being fed up with the dark side of the Force, Reva is portrayed as one of the few living Jedi recruited by the Empire to destroy their species as part of Order 66, the Empire’s plan to destroy the Jedi permanently. Reva proved to be an effective inquisitor who was committed to his mission. But her past is a major point of contention for other villains in the Empire, such as the Grand Inquisitor (Rupert Friend) and the Fifth Brother (Sung Kang) – both see Reva’s stubborn depravity as a double-edged sword that could harm the Empire’s cause.
Many of the reports directed at Ingram seem to contradict how unexpectedly Reva often appears in Obi-Wan, a character trait that is easy to recognize as a deliberate part of the story the show is trying to tell. Unlike the Grand Inquisitor and the Fifth Brother, who both take more reserved approaches to terrorizing civilians, Reva is much quicker to a level of violence bordering on insanity, and Obi-Wan has repeatedly stressed that Reva’s temperament is likely will lead to its downfall.
The fifth brother tells the Third Sister to retire. Image: Disney Plus / Lucasfilm
Clearly, telegraphed narrative intent has never been enough to stop racist Star Wars trolls from shutting their mouths to spit out complete nonsense. John Boyega was known for years of continuing racist hostility after his election as Finn, as was Kelly Marie Tran, after joining a franchise as Rose Tico in Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi.
In the end, both Boyega and Tran were forced to spend too much of their time in the spotlight of Star Wars, dealing with the arrested development of a franchise they didn’t deserve. Although it seems that Ingram may suffer the same fate as Obi-Wan continues, the actor finished his video on Instagram, informing everyone that he does not intend to go quietly into the night.
“I’m not built that way, so I really just wanted to come and thank the people who show up for me in the comments and the places I’m going to put myself now,” Ingram said. “And for everyone else: you’re all weird.”
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