I spoke to Anthony Breznican of Vanity Fair for an article about the PR troubles of Star Wars actress Gina Carano. Here’s an excerpt of that:
When she announced her move to Parler, it was interpreted as a provocation, and critics of her actions began demanding her removal from The Mandalorian. That’s unlikely to happen. Disney/Lucasfilm declined to comment—but, with rare exceptions, major companies are disinclined to fire someone over their political views. Thus far, presumably in the eyes of Lucasfilm at least, Carano’s comments have not risen to the level of the racist tweet that got Roseanne Barr axed from her show in 2018 or the “Trump beheading” photo that cost comedian Kathy Griffin her CNN job in 2017.
But even some conservatives hoping to reclaim the movement from Trumpism aren’t sure this is the way.
“Her posture is not something that I want to defend, and it’s not something that I even feel associated with,” said Stephen Kent, host of the Beltway Banthas podcast, which discusses politics through the lens of Star Wars. He describes himself as a “conservatarian” with long-held conservative and libertarian principles, but he publicly parted ways with the GOP amid frustration with its direction under Trump.
He cites the opening scene of The Force Awakens as a metaphor for both Carano’s social media posts and the evolution of Republicans in recent years. When Max Von Sydow’s character accuses Adam Driver’s Kylo Ren of becoming corrupted by the dark side, Ren lashes out in response: “I'll show you the dark side.” “That, to me, is where the conservative movement has gone since 2016. They’ve just gone into this defensive crouch,” Kent said. “They’ve just doubled down on their worst instincts. That’s where I think Gina Carano’s brand of politics is coming from.”
While her defiance alienated some who previously looked up to her, the scores of supportive replies to Carano’s recent Parler message suggest she has also drawn new admirers from the right side of the political spectrum. “It’s been very strange to watch a person go from being a controversial figure for all the wrong reasons to being controversial for better reasons,” Vineyard observed. Carano’s Parler account, for what its worth, looks nearly identical to her Twitter feed; the actor appears to be double posting the same right-leaning memes.
Right-leaning fans may have been looking for a champion in the Star Wars universe—but Kent still feels uneasy about how Carano rose to that status. “You don’t get mobs of conservative fans coming to your [defense] to help own the libs if you are a polite person and sensitive and kind to other people,” he said. “You’re rewarded for hitting back.”