By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
Most Star Wars fans agree that the Sequel Trilogy is one big pile of bantha poodoo, but far too many people end up blaming the wrong person for these films’ failures. From the very beginning, platforms like YouTube have been filled with weirdos who blame Daisy Ridley as if she had any real creative control over her character or the arc of these films. But as director Martin Campbell recently pointed out, Daisy Ridley is a fantastic actor, and his kind words are a reminder that hardcore Rey haters simply don’t know how movies work.
Shut Up, Daisy Ridley Haters
If you don’t already know, Campbell is a veteran action movie director who recently directed Ridley in Cleaner. In a recent interview, the director praised how great her performance was in the film, highlighting a particular scene and noting how “convincing” she was and how “it takes a d*mn good actress to do it.” In reading his kind words about Daisy Ridley, I couldn’t help but ponder how much her haters don’t understand some simple truths: namely, that even the best actors are only as good as the script and the director allow them to be.
What does that mean in the context of the infamous Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, though? Many of the criticisms of Ridley began as criticisms of her Rey character, with annoyed fans claiming that she’s a Mary Sue character who is insanely overpowered and has more plot armor than Jabba the Hutt has back fat. Now, we can argue about whether or not Daisy Ridley’s character was as bad as the haters say, but it’s important to acknowledge something fundamental here: she didn’t write the script.
It’s one thing to hate a character, but it’s another thing to hate the actor who brings that character to life. To appreciate how stupid Daisy Ridley’s biggest haters are, one need look no further than how Mark Hamill’s Luke Skywalker character was portrayed in The Last Jedi. Many fans openly hated that this hero of the Original Trilogy was now a cranky burnout who walked away from saving the galaxy, and even Hamill himself took exception to this new direction for his character.
However, Mark Hamill, unlike Daisy Ridley, didn’t have an army of haters online waiting to pounce on him because of the changes to Luke. That’s because, on the most basic level, fans realized that while Hamill is a great actor, he was limited by the script and direction of Rian Johnson. If Luke Skywalker is written terribly, then nobody, not even Hamill himself, can save this beloved character.
Why, then, do Daisy Ridley’s haters think she somehow ruined the Sequel Trilogy? It’s possible (quite likely, even) that much of this hate was fueled by the misogyny of the idiotic YouTubers whose whole schtick is blaming women for everything they hate about films and television. It’s also possible that this younger generation of film fans has no real idea how movies are made, resulting in them blaming actors who had no creative control over their characters or plots.
If you’re one of Daisy Ridley’s haters, here’s a challenge: go check out her performance in non-Star Wars films like Murder on the Orient Express, The Marsh King’s Daughter, and Cleaner. You’ll likely be pleasantly surprised by how great she performs in films without garbage scripts that were designed, first and foremost, to sell toys. With any luck, Ridley’s career hasn’t been permanently affected, and starring in the Sequel Trilogy isn’t the first step down a dark path that will forever dominate her destiny.
Source: CBR
