Does 'The Mandalorian's Moff Gideon Prove 'Star Wars' Fans Are Not Actually Racist?
After Lucasfilm accused Star Wars fans of racism following the 'Obi-Wan Kenobi' hatestorm involving Moses Ingram's Reva, many fans feel like the scandal is being blown out of proportion. Perhaps the problem lies in poor character development rather than racial prejudice?
'Obi-Wan Kenobi ' premiered to generally favorable reviews from fans and critics alike; almost everyone was happy to see Ewan McGregor return to his beloved Jedi role. However, in spite of the huge viewership numbers, one big problem suddenly arose – a big portion of fans hated the Inquisitor Reva, played by Moses Ingram. Her character was portrayed as a stern and self-assured young woman desperately trying to prove her worth to Darth Vader himself, which certainly contributed to Lucasfilm's accusations of fandom being racist and sexist.
But fans certainly weren't happy about the accusations of bigotry, blaming, in turn, 'Obi-Wan Kenobi' creators for the terrible character development, rather flat Reva's personality and unfortunate costume design. And they do have something to back up their claims that Reva's almost universal hatred is not racism. As one fan noted on Twitter, it's almost impossible to find a 'Star Wars ' aficionado who doesn't like Moff Gideon, played by Giancarlo Esposito.
"No one’s calling The Mandalorian fans racist when Moff Gideon was in it.
This is because The Mandalorian is actually good." – @BrookIT2.
And the list goes on – another Twitter user made a whole list of 'Star Wars' characters beloved by almost everyone in the fandom because both their presentation and character writing were top notch and not just passable.
"Nobody hates Mace Windu.
Nobody hates Vader (James Earl Jones).
Nobody hates Lando.
Nobody hates Ashoka (Rosario Dawnson).
Nobody hates Moff Gideon.
And plenty other characters.
Only Reva and Finn.
Are there some racists? Sure. But that’s not why most fans don’t like them." – @AvatarMMA.
However, some people are still unwilling to give the accused 'Star Wars' fandom the benefit of the doubt, arguing that it is possible to be racist toward almost any group, citing some substantial evidence for their claims.