James Gunn thinks movie fans need to learn to "chill out".
The ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ filmmaker has made the plea to fans after Jar Jar Binks star Ahmed Best admitted that the backlash he received for his role in the ‘Star Wars’ franchise left him feeling suicidal.
Responding to the original story on his Twitter account, James simply wrote: "People need to chill out."
Later, he added: "People responding to this post saying, "Yeah, it wasn’t the actor’s fault! It was the writer’s!" are missing the point. Critique it. Don’t like it. But spewing hate and bile at individuals just doing their best to tell a story, even if the story sucks, is lame. Don’t watch it!
"Star Wars (or any movie) may be important to you, but it doesn’t belong to you. If your self-esteem depends on how good you think the current Star Wars is, or your childhood is ruined because you don’t like something in a movie, GO TO THERAPY. (sic)"
Earlier this week, Ahmed – whose on-screen ‘Star Wars’ character has been widely ridiculed over the years – admitted he contemplated suicide almost "20 years ago" after he was targeted by vicious trolls for his portrayal of Jar Jar Binks.
The actor revealed that fans of the original trilogy bombarded him with death threats because they felt his goofy character was out of place.
Taking to his Instagram account, Ahmed uploaded a photograph of him and his young son, and he wrote: "20 years next year I faced a media backlash that still affects my career today. This was the place I almost ended my life. It’s still hard to talk about. I survived and now this little guy is my gift for survival. Would this be a good story for my solo show? Lemme know. (sic)"
James Gunn: Movie fans need to chill out
