Actress Amandla Stenberg, who plays both Mae and Osha in Star Wars: The Acolyte, recently declared that “white people crying was the goal.”
Mae (Amandla Stenberg) in Lucasfilm’s THE ACOLYTE, exclusively on Disney+. ©.
During an appearance on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah from 2018 while she was promoting her film The Hate U Give, Noah asked Stenberg, “When people watch The Hate U Give, what do you want them to walk away with because I know everyone has a slightly different feeling.”
She responded, “Well, I mean, white people crying actually was the goal.” After Noah burst into laughter, Stenberg added, “was the goal.”
Earlier in the interview while discussing the film, Stenberg said, “So It’s based on this book by Angie Thomas, which is incredible and I highly suggest that you read it if you haven’t. But it’s supposed to be a tool of empathy so oftentimes we see these events portrayed on the news and in media, but usually they’re misconstrued or there at least postulated so that they don’t fully humanize the people of color who are killed and affected by these events.”
“So that’s what this is supposed to be a tool to do, is supposed to ground it in a personal narrative and hopefully people will have a sense of empathy because of that. And so far it’s been really successful. We have a lot of white people crying, which is great. I’ve never seen so many white people crying before. It’s amazing,” she added.
After declaring that white people crying was the goal of the film, she would also elaborate, “We wanted to make sure that, you know, those who, you know, have been affected by the way in which the media misconstrues these events actually have a real sense of empathy and are able to place themselves into the shoes of our communities and understand that these are not just news events. These are happening to real people. They affect us in really deep and pervasive ways.”
She continued, “And then in terms of how it affects people of color, we wanted this to be a space within which we could be ourselves and see ourselves represented and feel validated by that and maybe process some feelings that we don’t ever have the opportunity to move through.”
Mae (Amandla Stenberg) in Lucasfilm’s THE ACOLYTE, exclusively on Disney+. ©.
READ: Leslye Headland’s ‘The Acolyte’ Gets Destroyed By Viewers
It’s not surprising that Lucasfilm would hire someone who makes comments like these. Leslye Headland recently told The New York Times that if Star Wars fans oppose identity-based culture they were not fans in her opinion.
She said, “As a fan myself, I know how frustrating some ‘Star Wars’ storytelling in the past has been. I’ve felt it myself.”
(L-R): Director Leslye Headland and Lee Jung-jae on the set of Lucasfilm’s THE ACOLYTE, exclusively on Disney+. ©2024 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.
Kathleen Kennedy also informed the outlet, “My belief is that storytelling does need to be representative of all people. That’s an easy decision for me.”
She continued, “Operating within these giant franchises now, with social media and the level of expectation — it’s terrifying. I think Leslye has struggled a little bit with it. I think a lot of the women who step into ‘Star Wars’ struggle with this a bit more. Because of the fan base being so male dominated, they sometimes get attacked in ways that can be quite personal.”
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – MAY 23: Kathleen Kennedy, President, Lucasfilm attends the launch event for Lucasfilm’s new Star Wars series The Acolyte at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, California on May 23, 2024. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney)
READ: Leslye Headland Declares People Opposed To Race-Based Casting Are Not Star Wars Fans
The official Star Wars account defended Lucasfilm employee Krystina Arielle after she disparaged all white people in 2020 saying “White people [expletive] stop it. Your racism won’t save you. Your ignorance is not an excuse.” In June 2020, she also called out white women specifically.
Krystina Arielle on X
Lucasfilm defended these comments and implicitly endorsed race-based discrimination. The company’s official account on X posted in January 2021, “Our Star Wars community is one of hope and inclusivity. We do not stand for bullying and racism. We support Krystina Arielle.”
Star Wars on X
READ: Leslye Headland Confirms ‘The Acolyte’ Is The “Gayest Star Wars,” And Claims That R2-D2 Is A Lesbian
Not only did the company implicitly endorse this idea, but they’ve legally positioned themselves as supporting numerous other discriminatory movementswhile firing Gina Carano for her political beliefs while keeping her fellow The Mandalorian actor Pedro Pascal employed after he’s issued numerous posts on social media in support of these movements.
One such post was done in June 2020 where he shared a cartoon of Bert and Ernie waving a flag while the other holding political signs,.
View this post on Instagram
Carano’s lawyers noted this in their rebuttal to The Walt Disney Company’s Motion to Dismiss her lawsuit, “Today’s ‘Disney values’ may well embrace Pedro Pascal and Mark Hamill comparing supports of former President Trump to the N*zis while opposing the comments made by Carano. And no one disputes Defendants’ ability to express their agreement with the former and their disagreement with the latter.”
The Black Lives Matter organization explicitly advocates “to dismantle cisgender privilege” and to “disrupt the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure requirement by supporting each other as extended families and ‘villages’ that collectively care for one another, especially our children, to the degree that mothers, parents, and children are comfortable.”
Lucasfilm also attempted to accuse its fans of being discrimination while promoting its Obi-Wan Kenobi series back in 2022. Following the release of the first two episodes of the show to Disney+ the company used actress Moses Ingram to accuse Star Wars fans of discriminatory behavior.
Actor Ewan McGregor recorded himself with a car video at the time saying, “It seems that some of the fanbase, from this influential fanbase, have decided to attack Moses Ingram online and send her the most horrendous, racist DMs, and I heard some of them this morning and it just broke my heart.”
“Moses is a brilliant actor, she’s a brilliant woman, and she’s absolutely amazing in this series,” McGregor continued. “She brings so much to this series, she brings so much to this franchise, and it just sickened me to my stomach to hear this had been happening.”
He then declared, “I just want to say, as the leading actor in the series, as the EP on the series, that we stand with Moses. We love Moses. And if you’re sending her bullying messages, you’re no Star Wars fan in my mind.”
“There’s no place for racism in this world,” he concluded. “And I totally stand with Moses.”
A personal message from Ewan McGregor. pic.twitter.com/rJSDmj663K
— Star Wars (@starwars) June 1, 2022
Like Obi-Wan Kenobi this strategy of attacking its own fans will not work and viewership for the show will likely be some of the worst in Disney Star Wars history.
What do you make of Stenberg claiming the goal is to make white people cry?
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Can not decide. Is it a case of them just clumsily trying to cover up a failure with a culture war card like the last Doctor Who, or when they’re trying to justify a failure that was actually caused by a clumsy attempt to engage in a culture war like She-Hulk?
Wait…but this project exists because of two white women and is an extension of a property created by a white man. Either someone is clumsily lying to protect themselves from criticism, or we have another case of Hollywood whites deliberately attacking white audiences for some reason.
I’d say it’s a joke via bad intentions.
No it wasn’t
That’s why I said it was a bad joke and in a bad way. No one reads.
The Hate U Give was a movie that caused me to lose respect for Matthew Buck(aka Film Brain), because he thought a movie that promotes hateful propaganda, was excellent, when the movie was just disgusting.
The only ones going to cry from that movie are the soy white liberals. Anything makes them cry
only in the 2020’s could you openly smile and enjoy being racist towards white people on national TV, Marxist scumbags really are the gift that keeps on giving when it comes to destroying a so called “free” society, where, when you are part of the approved victim class you can basically say and do whatever you want to whoever you want without any fear of being held accountable for your actions.