‘Star Wars’ Backlash: Daisy Ridley Asks ‘Where’s the Love Gone?’

Ever since Disney took over Star Wars, the franchise has been more polarizing than ever. Some fans appreciate the sequel trilogy’s mix of deviations from and homages to the Star Wars canon. Other fans feel the Disney Star Wars films lack the soul of George Lucas’ original trilogy.

The current crop of Star Wars actors is very willing to discuss the franchise’s critics. Daisy Ridley went on Nina West’s podcast DragCast, where she discussed the backlash to Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. She had some mixed feelings about fan reactions to the film.

Daisy Ridley asks ‘Where’s the love gone?’

The entire Disney era of Star Wars has been polarizing. However, The Rise of Skywalker was especially divisive. Although some fans enjoyed the film, others felt it didn’t satisfactorily tie up the loose ends from the previous two episodes of the Skywalker saga. A number of audiences felt it was too derivative of previous films in the franchise, particularly Revenge of the Sith and Return of the Jedi.

Surprisingly, Ridley said 98% of the feedback she’d gotten from the films was positive. However, Ridley noticed that many fans preferred The Force Awakens to The Rise of Skywalker. “[Reaction has] changed film by film honestly, like 98% it’s so amazing, this last film it was really tricky…It was weird, I felt like all of this love that we’d sort of been shown the first time around [with The Force Awakens], I was like, ‘Where’s the love gone?’”

Daisy Ridley discusses ‘Star Wars’ backlash on social media

Ridley focused on the topic of love. She said she watched a documentary on the Star Wars films, The Skywalker Legacy, and noticed how the Star Wars films were made with “love.” She found it odd how some people dislike a film which was made with love. Ridley added that everyone is allowed to dislike things but social media has slightly changed how people react to things they dislike.

Ridley said she’d never tweet about a film she disliked. She understands that there’s always been critical discussions of films, it’s just those discussions are more public now thanks to the internet. She said that, back in January when the film was new, she’d try to avoid headlines about The Rise of Skywalker. “[H]onestly trying to scroll through my news feed in January and trying not to see Star Wars stuff, I’d see headlines and be like ‘Oh my god this is so upsetting.’” Who can blame her for trying to stay away from upsetting headlines?

Ridley said she finds dealing with social media has been somewhat hard. However, she said she’s ultimately proud of her involvement with the Skywalker saga. She said she’s going to have to get used to the new reality of negative commentary on social media.

The Rise of Skywalker polarized audiences like few films do. Ridley found some of the backlash upsetting. However, she did acknowledge that people have a right to express their opinions online.

Also see: ‘Star Wars’: Why George Lucas Decided Not to Make Darth Maul Female