Thoughts and Opinions on the firing of Gina Carano from Star Wars
This morning as I woke up and prepared for work, I read some surprising news: Gina Carano had been fired from her role as Cara Dune in The Mandalorian due to “abhorrent posts on social media.” Having read the posts that got her that pink slip, I am now ready to share some thoughts regarding this occurrence.
First, let me get this out of the way: Disney firing Carano had NOTHING to do with whatever politics they follow, and EVERYTHING to do with protecting their company image. They don’t care about Gina Carano comparing being a conservative to being Jewish during the Holocaust, they only care that this could hurt their bottom line. Hollywood is like that: you can be a racist, a pedophile, a conspiracy theorist, ANYTHING you want to be so long as you don’t hurt the bottom line. Gina Carano got fired because she was attracting negative attention that could hurt the bottom line.
With that out of the way, let’s look at the infamous post that got Ms Carano canned. In a post that’s sadly no longer available, Gina Carano wrote: “Jews were beaten in the streets, not by Nazi soldiers but by their neighbours … even by children … Because history is edited, most people today don’t realise that to get to the point where Nazi soldiers could easily round up thousands of Jews, the government first made their own neighbours hate them simply for being Jews. How is that any different from hating someone for their political views.”
OK, let’s apply some critical thinking to this post, sentence by sentence. “Jews were beaten in the streets, not by Nazi soldiers but by their neighbours … even by children…” There is some truth to this. Europe has a long, storied history of anti-Semitism which helps inform why the populace at large was so unconcerned with the notion that the Jewish people were being bullied and beaten. I once had a History professor who summarized it more eloquently than I had ever heard: “The road to Auschwitz was paved in one part by hate, and in two parts by indifference and apathy.”
On to the second sentence: “Because history is edited, most people today don’t realise that to get to the point where Nazi soldiers could easily round up thousands of Jews, the government first made their own neighbours hate them simply for being Jews.” Again, there’s truth to this. It is undeniable that the Nazi party unleashed one hell of a propaganda campaign against the Jewish people. It was some nasty stuff that I’d rather not get too into.
This all leads to the point Gina Carano wanted to make, which she does by way of what she thinks is a thought provoking question: “How is that any different from hating someone for their political views.” Indeed, how is that any different? Well, that’s where historical context and critical thinking come into play.
First off, Gina Carano has overlooked and oversimplified the realities of anti-Semitism in Europe that led to the Holocaust. As that’s far too deep and complex a history to get into in this essay, I’ll give you the abridged version of the short version of it: anti-Semitism had been systematic in Europe for CENTURIES before Adolph Hitler was even born. There were laws that expressly prohibited Jews and Christians to marry, papal decrees that pretty much made Jews non-people in Europe, and coordinated and state-approved massacres of Jewish villages that had long been tradition by the time Hitler was in diapers. Anti-semitism wasn’t invented by the Nazis; they just weaponized it.
Now why would Gina Carano make this comparison? It has to do with a concept known as Persecution Complex. The Persecution Complex, to put it simply, is the idea that other people hate you and are conspiring to hurt you for seemingly no reason.
Why would Miss Carano feel persecuted? Well, for starters, this is not the first time her “political views” have brought her under fire. We recall the infamous moment where Gina Carano wrote “beep/boop/bop” on her Twitter profile, seemingly mocking trans people’s placing their preferred pronouns on their biographies.
Regardless of her intentions, this action did not sit well with the Trans community and their allies. She was heavily criticized for this, and even her costar, Pedro Pascal, personally explained to her why her action was deemed hurtful. I’m not one to say someone is Xphobic for their small posts or whatnot, but it’s telling that instead of going “maybe I should be more careful with what I post online”, Gina went “I’m being persecuted!”
Another instance of Gina Carano typing before thinking was when she spread some anti-mask propaganda during the early days of the pandemic. History and science, of course, have proven her wrong. In this case, we hold Carano responsible for her words because they could have gotten someone KILLED.
Ahh, that’s the key phrase there: holding someone responsible for their words. To be responsible for something means that, if something bad happens, it’s because of you. Allow me a metaphor to better illustrate: if I go out driving while drunk, it’s MY responsibility if I run someone over, no my car’s. When I do something stupid and ridiculous that can hurt someone, that’s on me. Likewise, when I say something stupid or ridiculous that can hurt someone, that’s on me.
“But words don’t hurt!” I hear the Right-wingers and the Centrists cry out. “You are what you react to! Disney proved her RIGHT!”
Did they, though? Well, this is where historical context comes in. Gina Carano has not been the first person involved in Star Wars to be unceremoniously fired following unbecoming behavior online. The author of the Aftermath series, Chuck Wendig, was also fired from his position following a rather serious altercation on social media that ended with him calling for Trump supporters to be murdered. Disney fired Wendig soon after, to the applause of the people who today are decrying Carano’s firing.
Parenthesis for a pro-tip: Don’t fucking threaten to kill people. That’s the shit that can cost you your job AND any chances you’ll get of finding a new one.
Which of course brings up an interesting comparison: the outwardly Liberal Chuck Wendig needed to stoop to death threats to be fired from his position, yet Gina Carano gets fired for making a comparison. On the surface, this seems unjust. But, what if we looked deeper?
What was it like to be Jewish in Nazi Germany? Basically, it’s like Gina Carano herself so eloquently described: you were hated, you were targeted for violence for what you were born as, and you were killed. You were looked down on for being born different, for allegedly bringing the country down, and for being the reason “good Germans” were living in misery. People hated you for what you were born into.
But how does this compare to being a pro-Trump, Right Wing celebrity in 2020? IT DOESN’T! A pro-Trump Right winger doesn’t have to worry about getting beaten up by a police officer, getting their house invaded in the middle of the night to get carried off to a death camp, and they certainly don’t have to worry about being KILLED by their neighbors OR the authorities! A pro-Trump Right Winger can even storm the Capitol Building consequence free AND be defended by the common populace saying “technically it was a peaceful protest!” If one of them gets arrested, they can complain about NOT GETTING ORGANIC MEALS in prison! The WORST that can happen to Right Wingers is that they can lose their jobs or get arrested, and the threshold needed for that to happen is VAST!
These Right Wingers complain about being persecuted for their beliefs, but if you take a step back and look around, you’ll realize they have SO MANY PRIVILEGES that the historically persecuted would have KILLED for! Right now, you can go on Twitter or YouTube and you’ll find hundreds upon THOUSANDS of people DEFENDING Gina Carano! And honestly, if you think about it, you’ll realize that Carano had been given PLENTY of chances before!
She posted on Twitter something that could be construed as transphobic, and all she got was a personal talking to by Pedro Pascal. Not even Human Resources, her blasted COSTAR! She posted anti-mask conspiracies during a pandemic, which could have gotten someone killed; she got to keep her job! She shared conspiracy theories regarding the alleged voter fraud during the 2020 elections; no consequences! If anything, Gina Carano had been digging her own grave for the whole year, and it’s FINALLY blown up in her face!
It is grossly insensitive to compare the unjust persecution of the Jewish people (and the LGBT community, the Roma, and everyone else) at the hands of the Nazis, to what amounts to celebrities being held responsible for their actions and words. Because that IS what this is all about: celebrities being put to task for what they say and do. It’s called “consequences,” and it’s a hard concept for those who’ve been coddled all their lives to swallow. You say dumb shit, you get hit.
Gina Carano dug her own grave. She had been told dozens of times to watch what she wrote, and she didn’t. She did something stupid, and now she’s being held responsible for it. And this isn’t like with Claira Janover or Chuck Wendig, who got fired on their first offenses; this was the final straw. She had been given plenty of chances, and she squandered them.
I’d like to leave out one last message to my readers: Freedom means responsibility. Your speech is only as free as you can responsibly use it. ALL speech has consequences. And if you post it on the Internet, it WILL be seen and shared, and it’ll never go away. So be careful about what you write on the Internet, for your own sake. And whatever you write, whatever you believe in, own up to it and take responsibility.
