The Last Jedi fails in China because its actors are not “beautiful” enough
Star Wars: The Last Jedi bombs in China due to the film’s actors not being “beautiful” enough, apparently.
Hate it or love it, Star Wars: The Last Jedi has taken the domestic Box Office by storm, setting records in the process. Even though it was released for only a handful of days in 2017, the film ousted Beauty and the Beast as the year’s top-grossing domestic film. That is not easy to do, folks.
The Last Jedi has earned over $1 billion in profits, joining the elite company of The Force Awakens, Titanic, Avatar, among others. However, in China, The Last Jedi has not received a warm welcome at all. Thus far, it’s earned roughly $26 million, which doesn’t seem too bad on the surface. But, both The Force Awakens ($52 million) and Rogue One ($30 million) have easily outdone The Last Jedi in China, which makes us wonder why.
We’ve found the answers and if you think fans in the United States are brutal and unforgiving of the film, you have not seen anything yet. According to Chen Tao, the Star Wars expert and liaison, of sorts, in China expressed the reasoning behind why The Last Jedi is failing in China:
"These actors aren’t very beautiful, which may deter a lot of Chinese from seeing the recent films."
Um, we beg to differ. Every single one of the actors in The Last Jedi is incredibly beautiful, diverse, and flawless. Whoever shares this ridiculous opinion needs to get their eyes checked or change the lens in which they see the galaxy.
More from Dork Side of the Force
- The High Republic Adventures (2023) 1 review
- Daniel José Older named a High Republic Adventures character after someone special
- How animation changed Star Wars: Ewoks and Droids
- Kelleran Beq comes to Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes
- The Mandalorian’s Pedro Pascal becomes No. 1 on IMDb’s Starmeter for 2023
If that wasn’t offensive enough, Tao expressed that if Finn were a particular actor, the film would have impressed the Chinese crowd a lot more.
"We fans often joke that if Finn were played by Will Smith, Chinese people might be more inclined to watch it — because he’s very handsome."
John Boyega is a stud, with good looks rivaling Will Smith and any Hollywood elite actor. It’s dumbfounding and reveals a more prominent issue. It’s not surprising, with China’s differing cultural views, but this is way over the top. The beauty of Star Wars is the wide variety of diversity, which The Last Jedi has in spades.
Next: We talk to Ashley Eckstein about Ahsoka and more!
Star Wars: The Last Jedi is a flop in China, but seems to be doing just fine everywhere else, with the rest of us recognizing the “beauty” of the film and its actors.