While many love the new Star Wars trilogy, the films haven't been without their detractors. Star Wars: The Last Jedi especially had to deal with its share of angry fans, but Star Wars star Oscar Isaac isn't shocked at all by the backlash. Though he seems to feel that the hate was somewhat overblown, he admits that, at the end of the day, dislike is always a possibility when it comes to the audiences response. According to Isaac...
People had very strong feelings, but there wasn't as much of an organized way to speak out about it. People that run blogs and websites need content. So it's like, 'There's some content!' Five people on Twitter. Hundreds. Whatever it is. Then you make it into a story. ... You make a movie and people are supposed to like, or not like it, or not care about it. Those are the only three options. So it's not shocking that one of those things happened.
Both of the new Star Wars movies have received some degree of backlash from fans. Star Wars: The Force Awakens was criticised by many for being too similar to the original Star Wars: A New Hope. However, it was the reaction to Star Wars: The Last Jedi, which many felt did not treat Luke Skywalker's character properly, among other things, that really seemed to blow up.
Oscar Isaac seems to question just how big the angry audience was, and it's a question that's been asked before. The internet has the ability to amplify the voice of a small minority and make it seem lareger than it is. There were clearly a lot of angry fans, but how many there were is hard to say.
In the end, as Isaac tells Indiewire, people not liking a movie is one of only three possible reactions, so it's just likely to be something that happens from time to time. The actor doesn't take it personally. While the audience is more vocal because we're talking about Star Wars, it's not the first time, and won't be the last, that people don't care for a movie he's in.
It's certainly true that to some extent it's not surprising that some people don't like a particular Star Wars movie. At some point that's bound to happen. While the original trilogy was largely embraced, the prequel trilogy was largely, well, not. The new trilogy has fallen somewhere in between, with some fans clearly loving it, and others absolutely not.
It will be interesting to see how the different reactions will impact the upcoming film. Star Wars Episode IX is being directed by a returning J.J. Abrams, which may not sit well with those who didn't care for The Force Awakens but might be very good news for those hoping for something different from Star Wars: The Last Jedi. We don't have a clue what we're getting at this point, but we're just over a year away from finding out.
