Reflective Critique #2
Question 2:
Negative consequence of democratisation
Gina Carano, known for playing Cara Dune in "The Mandalorian," got into trouble because of some controversial posts on social media. First, she shared tweets against COVID-19 safety measures and said masks were not necessary. Then, she posted memes questioning the fairness of the 2020 election and supporting unproven claims of voter fraud. She also joined right-wing platforms like Parler, which added to the controversy. Her online actions caused a lot of criticism and concern (Sarkisian, 2021, para. 1-3)
Figure 6: [Post], by Gina Carano, 2020, Twitter. https://twitter.com/ginacarano/status/1327806477923323904
In September 2020, people were upset with Gina Carano because it seemed like she made fun of the words some transgender people use to describe themselves. Instead of using the usual "she/her" in her online profile, she chose to use "beep/bop/boop," which made many think she was being disrespectful. Later on, she talked with her co-worker Pedro Pascal, who explained why using the right words is important. However, this incident made more people unhappy with how she acted online (Sarkisian, 2021, para. 11-14).
Figure 7: [Post], by Gina Carano, 2020, Twitter. https://twitter.com/ginacarano/status/1305075373701357568?
As things got more intense, Gina Carano kept making people upset by questioning the rules about staying safe from COVID-19. She also said businesses and churches should open during the pandemic. Many people did not like this because they felt she was not taking the pandemic seriously and comparing it to other situations like the Black Lives Matter protests. People thought it was important to focus on staying safe and not downplay the seriousness of the pandemic (Sarkisian, 2021, para. 17-19).
Figure 8: [Post], by Gina Carano, 2020, Twitter. https://twitter.com/ginacarano/status/1302484284624629760
In February 2021, things took a big turn when Gina Carano shared a picture on Instagram and TikTok, comparing how modern-day Republicans are treated to how Jews were treated during the Holocaust. The post had a strong image and upset many people, causing the hashtag #FireGinaCarano to become popular on social media. The company that makes "The Mandalorian," Disney's Lucasfilm, quickly said she was not going to be on the show anymore because they found her social media posts very wrong and not acceptable (Sarkisian, 2021, para. 41-45)
Figure 8: [Post], by Gina Carano, 2020, Twitter. https://twitter.com/BlueWithToo/status/1359571590825054211
After all this happened, Gina Carano's talent agency, UTA, decided to stop working with her. This shows that there were serious results because of her controversial online actions. Even though she said she would keep using social media, being fired from the show, and losing her agency is a big deal for her. This situation shows how what people say on social media can have a big effect, especially when celebrities share views that make a lot of people upset (Sarkisian, 2021, para. 46-50)
References
Carano, G. (2020). [@ginacarano]. (2020). [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/ginacarano/status/1327806477923323904
Carano, G. (2020). [@ginacarano]. (2020). [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/ginacarano/status/1305075373701357568
Carano, G. (2020). [@ginacarano]. (2020). [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/ginacarano/status/1302484284624629760
Carano, G. (2020). [@ginacarano]. (2020). [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/BlueWithToo/status/1359571590825054211
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Sarkisian, J. (2021, February 11). Gina Carano’s firing from ‘The Mandalorian’ is the culmination of a long line of controversies. Business Insider. https://www.businessinsider.com/gina-carano-fired-the-mandalorian-controversy-timeline-twitter-2021-2
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