You go to a restaurant. You order a delicious steak medium rare. The waiter brings out the steak, but to your dismay it's well done...like VERY well done. This is not going to fly, so you go ahead and begin verbally abusing the waiter, calling them fat, commenting on how their ethnicity is stupid and incompetent. So...what's wrong with this picture. The waiter didn't make the steak, is not responsible for how the meal came out, yet they were blamed for the result. This is pretty much what happened with Kelly Marie Tran, the actor who portrayed Rose Tico in "Star Wars: The Last Jedi."

For those of you unfamiliar with the situation, it began when the movie came out in December of 2017. The movie was good and a great film, by my standards, but this was not the sentiment shared by half of the Star Wars fan base. Many felt that the movie was not true to the Star Wars universe and was a betrayal by Rian Johnson, the director. One of the biggest things that was criticized was the character of Rose Tico. This character, without many spoilers, was deemed to be pointless and a plot device used by the film to progress a poorly written story line. This is where the issues began to escalate.

Many who did not like the film felt that they were personally attacked and that it was their right to have their voice heard. Now, as a fan of movies myself, voicing one's opinion online is nothing new or inherently dangerous. However, in recent months since the films release, the commentary had gotten toxic. Many began attacking Kelly Marie Tran on her Instagram and other social media accounts. Many were saying how she ruined the Star Wars movies and that she was the reason people hated the movie. But then the attacks became much more personal.

Many "fans" of Star Wars began attacking her appearance, calling her fat, ugly, making racist remarks against her and her Asian ethnicity, and in just generally sexist comments. This was getting so hostile that she began receiving death threats. She ended up deleting her entire Instagram account so that the comments would also be deleted. Members of the cast and crew began defending her and calling out the so called "fans" and their behavior. Johnson came out and said that Star Wars fans are not like this, and the few who are should be ashamed of themselves. Mark Hamill, who portrays Luke Skywalker came out and said how could you hate someone so kind. But this issue shows a bigger issue with online fandoms.

Many people saw what happened here and see angry Star Wars fans, however, I see something a little different, as it has happened in other fandoms. Now there is nothing wrong with being an avid fan of something. I love Star Wars, and all of the weirdness and amazingness that comes with that. What I am not a fan of, is when people don't like something in a fandom and take it as a personal attack on their very being. There is a similar example that shows how this has become a problem.

The show, "Doctor Who," which has been running for 55 long years on the BBC. It's one of my favorite shows and has been for a long time. It's main character, The Doctor can change their appearance every time they are close to death, basically a way of changing actor without it being weird. For the first time in the 55 years of it being on, the 13th Doctor will be played by Jodie Whittaker, making her the first female Doctor. Many people felt deeply offended by this move, claiming that the Doctor must always be a man, The Doctor has been a man for almost half a century, why change it now! It got hostile with people harassing her online and vowing to never watch the show again.

Now whether it's Doctor Who or Star Wars, the issue of fans being angry because the thing they love is changing or not what they thought it should be is absurd. If you are truly a fan, you can critique, but still enjoy it for what it is. A movie, a TV show. No one is attacking you, and you shouldn't be attacking anyone for a thing they had not control of. Don't be angry at an actor because of a bad script or casting you think is bad. Give it a chance, see how it ends, you might just end up liking it more than you ever thought you would, and if you are still gonna be a sexist, racist pig? You don't deserve Star Wars or Doctor Who.