Understanding the Fan Backlash of Star Wars: The Last Jedi in terms of Communication Theory

Abstract

The study began from wanting to understand if communication theory can be applied to interpret the backlash against Star Wars: The Last Jedi. A thematic analysis of 201 negative audience reviews and 5 report articles on the backlash was conducted. This generated two key themes – story reasons, and personal reasons - fans had for why they had a negative reaction towards the movie. Afterwards, three communication theories - priming, confirmation bias, and uses and gratification theory - were used to explain these two themes. Story reasons against the movie include matters such as plot devices not making sense for them, and characters acting in confusing ways. Personal reasons involve expressions that Star Wars and its fans are being disrespectfully treated by its current owners and creators. All of these indicate that these are results from heavy discourse and misunderstanding between media/creator and the audience.