‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ Co-Producer Addresses Racial Backlash

Star Wars: The Force Awakens is one of the most highly anticipated films of the year and is rightfully being held to some high expectations, thanks to its legacy, but when one of the earliest and biggest criticisms of the not-yet-released film was based on one of the main character’s skin tones, plenty were shocked and appalled.

John Boyega earned the role of one of the film’s leads, Finn, and instead of focusing on trying to dissect his character, some are more interested in focusing on his race.

In a recent interview with Us Magazine, one the film’s co-producers Kathleen Kennedy admitted that she was “certainly” surprised by the response.

“I think it’s so outrageous that we are in 2015 and something like that has happened,” she continued. “On the other hand, because of the information age and the Internet, we’re also in this strange place now where extremist voices like that get a lot of attention. The great thing is that when it did surface, there were a lot of people who came down on those comments and really shut it down. There was very little we needed to say or do because people were so outraged, as they should have been.”

Star Wars: The Force Awakens heads to theaters December 18, 2015.

Photo Credit: Lucasfilms