Kelly Marie Tran Speaks Out Against Online Harrassment

Kelly Marie Tran broke her silence today with an Op-Ed piece in the New York Times where she opens up about her decision to leave social media amidst online harassment. Tran, who of course played Rose Tico in Rian Johnson's The Last Jedi and will reprise the role in J.J. Abrams Episode IX, faced the wrath of some of the Star Wars community earlier this year who felt her character was less than adequate. This critique of her character also brought with it a more bullish vitriol from some dark corners of the internet using race and sex as reasons for their dislike of Tran and her character Rose.

As we know Kelly ended up deleting her online accounts and leaving social media all together in the wake of the abuse. Many colleagues and fans expressed their support for her and the issue has been fodder for many essays on the growing divide within the Star Wars community and social media discord. She has been quiet on the issue publicly, choosing to say silent and go about her life, but that changed today with the release of this thoughtful and sometimes meditative article.

Here's an excerpt...

"I had been brainwashed into believing that my existence was limited to the boundaries of another person’s approval. I had been tricked into thinking that my body was not my own, that I was beautiful only if someone else believed it, regardless of my own opinion. I had been told and retold this by everyone: by the media, by Hollywood, by companies that profited from my insecurities, manipulating me so that I would buy their clothes, their makeup, their shoes, in order to fill a void that was perpetuated by them in the first place.

Yes, I have been lied to. We all have.

And it was in this realization that I felt a different shame — not a shame for who I was, but a shame for the world I grew up in. And a shame for how that world treats anyone who is different."

To read the full New York Times article, click HERE.


Till next time...MTFBWY.

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