That sounds really healthy. Too bad most non-famous people never get the chance to see this perspective due to lack of opportunity, yet it's pervasive everywhere for everyone.

It reminds me of artists formerly having their own methods of handling reviews by critics, some refusing to read them, and some regularly devastated by them...except, now, everyone and every statement is up for review. Just like this, my statement.

Troll culture is part of the ugly underbelly of the PC revolution. What you can't say in public, you spew in private.

It really is sad what has happened to the franchise since Lucas sold it. They're just rehashing the same story because they're lazy and know they'll make money anyway. The vignette "side stories" are the better movies now, at least they're something new.

I remember to this day in the summer of 1977 going to see Star Wars with my dad. I can remember us both saying, "WHOOOOAAAAAA" when that ship first appeared on screen! And they have been going downhill since. When you bring Jar-Jar Binks and the muppets in.... You have a loser!

I really like what he said about social media. I feel the same way. For years I avoided blocking people, thinking that I should be open to everyone. I grew to realize that the lack of consequences with online discourse makes the thrill of cruelty to tempting to many. So now I freely block those who seem consistently mean or combative and generally ignore anything that is passively cruel. I freely welcome dissent but I refuse to engage with trolls. It just feeds their appetite anyway and is counter productive. As for the movie, haven't seen it. I hated what J J Abrams did to Star Trek. Even so I gave the his first Star Wars movie a chance. I found it to be exceptionally shallow with no character development and the main character to be a total Mary Sue. I've avoided his movies ever since. Of course it's a Star Wars movie and while I love them I think they are all primarily pop corn films. But I know some people take them very seriously. I'm a big Star Trek fan so I can't really criticize them.

I must be the only person that likes all 9 films . Each one is good in its own way

I have only seen snippets of some Star war films on TV. I am more of a "Trekkie" and it is interesting that the actors fragile egos have been hurt by criticism. My main problem with the franchise is the "war" bit. It normalises war. A bit like our great leaders talking about "colonising space" ffs have we not done enough colonising here on earth.?

I find it distressing that anyone, even successful people like him, would be upset by the opinions of strangers, on the internet or anywhere else....just sad!

I have very definite feelings about the "fandom" and their criticisms.
I wish I could tell those people precisely where they can stick their opinions
of what other people create.
I don't have a problem with JJ Abrams, at all.
I also liked what he did with the Star Trek reboot.

I go to movies for the enjoyment of them.
Not to dissect them and bitch about what they "should" have been.

I also just realized what I just said makes me a monumental hypocrite, because
I lost my tiny mind over the last season of Game of Thrones.

So go ahead and ignore everything I just said.
I'm going to sit here and own my hypocrisy, and feel like a jerk about it.

Never been a great fan of the Star Wars seemingly endless sagas but getting pissed off at the actors is going way way over the top in my opinion.
Geez Louise, some 'people' really do need to get a bloody life, don't they.

I feel the complete opposite. I thought Abrams set up interesting background stories for Rey & Snoke, and also a cool meet up between Rey and Luke; but Johnson completely shot those down.

I enjoyed The Force Awakens. Yeah, it was pretty much a retelling of Star Wars (A New Hope), but I didn't mind that at all; new generation of characters for a new generation of fans. Plus, it was so much better than the prequels. Immediately after watching The Last Jedi, I turned to my older brother and said, "I didn't like it." So many missed opportunities that Abrams set up and strange decisions taken with the story. But that was it for my criticism.

Star Wars fans are an intense group who sometimes blame the wrong people when things don't go the way they want. Ahmed Best (Jar Jar), Jake Lloyd (young Anakin), Hayden Christensen (adult Anakin), and later John Boyega (Finn) and Kelly Marie Tran (Rose) all got unfair criticisms from fans saying they ruined the Star Wars franchise. Blame shouldn't be put on the actors, but instead the director, producers, and writers. However, this blame shouldn't result in threats or online bullying. Constructive criticism should always be welcomed with art; however a lot of people react emotionally instead of thinking. Social media can definitely be a toxic environment; and some people need to learn some manners and decency when online.

I really liked "Looper" and "The Last Jedi." I hear "Knives Out" is very good.

I generally like JJ also as a kind of Spielberg-lite, with an occasional moment of greatness.

I didn't learn about the effect of "The Phantom Menace" on Ahmed Best and Jake Lloyd until many years later. It's sickening that fans would turn their anger toward the actors, who had little or nothing to do with what went wrong. (Although I think Jake Lloyd may have had some mental health issues unrelated to bullying fan abuse--but I'm sure the abuse didn't make it any better.) Jake also mentioned schoolmates teased him relentlessly over TPM, which may not have been "fans" per se, but children being idiots and adults not safeguarding him by teaching others how to behave.