Gina Carano, better known as Cara Dune on The Mandalorian, was fired from her position after publishing controversial posts on Twitter and Instagram. On Feb. 9, she shared a post that compared modern-day people with conservative viewpoints with Jewish people living in Nazi Germany. Fans of the show made #FireGinaCarano go viral and tagged the official accounts of Disney and Star Wars.
Kenzie Acheson, a third-year St. Thomas University student, said Carano was their inspiration for several years. The actress was one of the main reasons why they started kickboxing in high school. But after witnessing Carano’s attitudes, Acheson said they were hurt because they consider it appalling making the comparisons.
“I am really disappointed in her,” said Acheson. “For a very long time, probably since Deadpool came out, I was a huge fan of her.”
Acheson said Lucasfilm, the production company, did the right thing. They said they don’t think Lucasfilm had any other option at that point.
For several years, cases of abuse towards famous actors have been present in Hollywood. Some of these include on-set meltdowns, verbal abuse, sexual harassment, or racist behaviour, most of them unnoticed by the audience. An example is globally-recognized actress Marilyn Monroe, who endured sexual harassment, psychotherapy, betrayal by her third husband and hereditary madness.
Acheson said that some directors mistreated their actors and didn’t care about their well-being, especially in previous years.
One of the more famous examples was director Stanley Kubrick’s treatment of Shelley Duvall on the set of The Shining. Kubrick, who is famous for films like The Shining and Full Metal Jacket, constantly yelled at her, isolated her on set for days and forced her to do 127 takes for one scene.
Nowadays, some directors and studios are taking the mental health of everyone on set more into consideration, Acheson said.
“People are more encouraged especially in the last few years, to speak about these injustices and things that happen against them or that they know of happening somewhere in Hollywood,” said Acheson.
Sev Earle, a second-year STU student, said she wasn’t surprised Carano got fired. She said it’s farfetched to say Carano’s posts were opinions when they are dehumanizing a person’s existence.
Earle said a lot of celebrities don’t voice their opinions, which makes it hard for the audience to know what they believe and what they want to post. She said she also considers that choosing what is appropriate to say is the actor’s public relations agent’s job. They have to keep their people likable and hireable by choosing the right things to say and the most admirable ways to act.
Both Acheson and Earle agree that people in Hollywood have to be more careful with their actions and words because they hold a public platform with a widespread following, especially if they are in a franchise that has a young audience like Lucasfilm.
“We need to hammer home how much influence celebrities have on their following,” said Earle.
