When Bigotry Prevails

Riri Williams was going to be controversial from the moment she was first introduced. Not only is she an Iron Man fan, she’s also black. And she’s a genius like Tony Stark. Combine that with many nerds being bigoted, see GamerGate and Comicsgate, and the hate basically wrote itself. One Twitter user even claimed that “melanin and estrogen” were viruses that infected Iron Man simultaneously, ignoring basic biology and hormones. Riri never stood a chance here, essentially.

Now that bigotry’s been extended to Ironheart, an MCU series that’s been well-received critically, but was review-bombed by trolls. You’d think sites like Rotten Tomatoes, which have dealt with this nonsense before, would be prepared, but that doesn’t mean they weren’t attacked. It’s was so bad that many of the reviews were also copy-pastes. It was embarrassing. Why does a black woman bother people?

Rhetorical question aside, this shouldn’t bother me specifically. And normally it wouldn’t, as the internet isn’t reality. However, this has ripple effects. Studio execs take notes of feedback, even when it’s trash, and they respond in kind. So while it shouldn’t matter, in the end it still does. That’s worrying, as I’ve watched Ironheart and think it’s great.

Perhaps the best example of how online trolling has ruined a franchise is Star Wars. Star Wars has a history of caving to fans anyway, but the situation’s gotten worse under Disney. When the first entry in The Sequel Trilogy released, the underlying meta-narrative was about legacies and expectations. Rey and Kylo Ren were fans of the Jedi and Sith respectively, and The First Order was a hollow imitation of The Empire. None of this was subtle, even being called attention to in-movie.

Then the next entry took this meta-narrative to interesting places. If the first movie was “too familiar”, the sequel was “too unconventional”. Minor choices were chastised for bucking expectations, while bigger ones were considered character betrayals. I happened to like the movie, even if I took issue with some parts, but saying that out loud sparked backlash. It felt like the online world was influencing the real one.

This reached a fever pitch with the trilogy’s conclusion, which felt like Disney overcorrecting the meta-narrative. In particular, a key character, Rose, was relegated to the sidelines, making her character buildup be for nothing. Ignoring the hate her actress, Kelly-Marie Tran, received, shafting Rose, not to mention the weird choices the movie made, in order to please a militant-yet-small base was a slap to the face. I say that as someone who enjoyed the movie anyway.

This toxicity resurfaced with The Acolyte, a Star Wars series suggesting that The Jedi suck. This show was review-bombed because it starred a black woman. It got so bad that Acolytes, a property completely-unrelated, was also review-bombed, leading me to wonder if these trolls knew what they were mad about. It didn’t end up mattering, as Disney cancelled its second season, leaving us with a frustrating cliffhanger.

I mention this because Ironheart, at least initially, appeared to be following in the same footsteps. And yes, it’s not 1:1: not only was Ironheart meant to be self-contained, complete with a beginning, middle and end, it ended up having a flood of fans rush to its defence. Yet the hate for Riri Williams was persistent, showing that bigotry doesn’t disappear so easily. Considering that Disney has already cancelled several MCU projects recently, that Riri’s presence could be downplayed or erased is a real fear.

I’m not saying you have to love Ironheart. Every MCU venture has issues that hold it back from perfection. This show, which improves with each episode, is no different. However, if you dislike it, it should be for legitimate reasons. Hating Ironheart for starring a black woman isn’t one of them.

I’m also not an expert on Hollywood. I know they’re a business, and that they care about money, but I can’t claim to understand half of what goes on without sounding pretentious. I only know what I read, nothing more. But I know studio executives listen to feedback from audiences. They don’t always take the right lessons from it, but they listen. That’s why we should be careful.

As a final note, I wouldn’t be as frustrated if our current climate weren’t so hostile. Claims of “DEI hires” have made their way to the highest reaches of office, and they’ve been rubbing off on entertainment. Even Disney, who caved to their shareholders, had a brief period where they were sanitizing their output to not get into trouble, and we’re still seeing some of that. So while it stopped quickly, it can happen again.

The bigotry around Riri Williams and Ironheart is real. It’s real, pervasive and, unfortunately, concerning. And while it shouldn’t matter that much, as movies are about more than review scores, it’s troubling because studio executives take notes. They also often take the wrong lessons from the feedback they receive. That’s the real issue, and that’s why this bugs me so much…even if the trolls bit off more than they could chew here.