English
21002
Sarah Perez
Josiah Rajgopaul
CCNY
How I selected this online community for this assignment was very simple, I grew up watching star wars. As a child, the stories seemed very cool to me, it was all incredibly surreal. Naturally, the older we get, typically the more observant we become. If any media of entertainment is written well, it will stand the test of time. I say this all because, if we enjoy a franchise as a child, sometimes we will grow out of it, however if we mature and develop, we can come to appreciate the writing to a higher degree, thus enriching our appreciation for this source of entertainment. What I’ve just described was the process I went through, as I began to enjoy Star Wars even more. I understand that I have my own views and internal bias, which would make anything I’d write seem unfair from an observational standpoint. That’s why I tried to adapt via maintaining an open mind and accepting everything I saw. I couldn’t allow my personal feelings get in the way of the observations, as the appropriate time to share my views was in the commentary. To be frank, I’m very active within these communities, and I’m well aware of the trends and mannerisms. It was all decently familiar for me, however a discovery that fascinated me was how strongly some people cared for the characters, even going so far as to create stunning fanart of their characters. Fan art was nothing new, but just seeing the talent blew me away. In terms of outside sources, I used the official star wars twitter, as well an interview with BBC. Naturally, because I had to read, and fix my essay based on peer advice, a CLO that this assignment achieved would be “enhance strategies for reading, drafting, revising, editing, and self-assessment”.
One of the core defining characteristics we all share as human beings is empathy. It’s a real life superpower. We always hear stories in fiction about legendary people and their heroics, the constant struggle between light and dark, and naturally because of empathy and love, we can see ourselves in the shoes of these characters. We naturally wonder, “What if that was me?“, or even “What could I have done differently?”. Such a thought pattern is perfectly natural, and should even be promoted. It allows expansion within the mind because it enables us to do critical thinking, in some instances it can even leave us to break out of our comfort zones and imagine ourselves in scenarios we try to avoid. For some, especially myself this provides a keen sense of humility because I’m able to consider my shortcomings and better myself accordingly. It should be the goal of any self respecting individual to better themself and be surrounded by love and support. I mention this all because Star Wars offers a home to many, a place where they can express love,frustration, be free, and have deep and enriching discourse with others like themselves.
In my observations, it was my goal to play the role of a watcher and analyze trends, and deconstruct the social settings where these fans would be. I’d be analyzing how they would interact, the social norms, including but not limited to any patterns pertaining to communication, the rules and guidelines, I’d be looking into if there were any leadership roles and if so what that would look like. In addition to those factors, it would also be critical to include how inclusive or exclusive this community was, as well as identify an identity they had. Naturally, if there was to be any discourse there would always be some disagreements or conflict, so I would have to touch base on what that would look like within the Star Wars Subreddit. Lastly, to ensure that everything I would observe was as reliable as possible I’d connect my source to other secondary sources.
First things first, I had to scroll through the subreddit to get a feel of the nature of the subreddit. The question that was in my mind at the moment was, what kind of content are they putting out there? At the top of the subreddit was a pinned and highlighted post, for people to have discourse over the latest releases of Star Wars media. Below that, was fanart somebody had drawn of their favorite character. Below that post we can see somebody talk about the lore. From 3 posts alone we can extrapolate a plethora of information, including the social dynamics, among other things. We can see a common trend, that being people being honest, open, and voicing their opinions. At the basis of this forum, as should be the case with any ideal forum, there is discourse among passionate people, that passion being so strong in fact, that people are investing time out of their day to create stunning art, because they feel that these characters have a special impact on them. We can see that people communicate through the comment sections, in an incredibly civil fashion. The method that the subreddit has utilized to achieve this safe and inclusive space is through the use of several rules and regulations, all easily highlighted on the right hand side of the page in desktop mode. If you are confused about a specific rule, you can click on the rule to be provided with a drop down menu, to send you to a portion of the site that further explains the rule in extensive detail. Arguably one of the most important qualities of this subreddit would be the inclusive and loving nature that has been promoted by the rules as well. People are expected to be respectful to one another. The power dynamic is shown through the use of moderators, who regulate discourse and help keep things civil. Due to the fact that Star Wars spans over so many generations and it’s global, that means many people can bring their individual political views and ideas into their opinions on the franchise. Within the subreddit, they have their own rules to help keep things civil when it comes to politics, however outside of the subreddit, where conversation isn’t as moderated, people can be very hateful, and even racist. During the release of the “Kenobi” TV show on Disney Plus, a character named Reva Sevander played by Moses Ingram, was getting a lot of hate for various reasons. Some people disliked it for apparent poor writing, while other people took it upon themselves to personally message the actress racist and hateful messages. Unfortunately, Ahmed Best, another actor of color who plays both Jar Jar Binks and Kelleran Beq also received a large amount of hate. He even revealed in interviews he was contemplating suicide because he felt so largely overwhelmed by the hate. This helps paint a picture for how essential these rules are, because it allows for productive and kind discourse to occur, whilst also condemning those who try to act as gatekeepers and hurt this franchise.
The key reason why I started this observation explaining empathy and its impact is due to the fact that it connects to the nature of the Star Wars subreddit, not only by the fans, but by the creators and actors. The most liked post on the subreddit was from the main actor of “Kenobi”, Ewan McGregor condemning racism and advocating for inclusion on his instagram story. This, in tandem with a tweet from the official Star Wars Twitter, “There are more than 20 million sentient species in the Star Wars galaxy, don’t choose to be a racist”. The reason this all connects is due to the fact that these messages illustrate the true nature of the franchise. The point is to love one another, to educate one another, and to foster a safe environment for everybody. This shouldn’t be an exclusive community just for men, or just for older people. This is for everybody. This provides the members with a sense of belonging and safety because they’re able to project their thoughts and ideas in a safe environment.
