who doesnt love star wars our celebration emcee whooped from the stage this weekend to an uproarious cheer from the cosplayclad audience the atmosphere was absolutely electric and in every panel hall and discussion the overwhelming adoration for the galaxy far far away was palpable but for many the dark side of the fandom has cast a shadow over their love for the universe george lucas built and so many after him have expanded that goes for everyday fans media professionals and cast members alike just look at the bile aimed at ahmed best and hayden christensen back in the noughties to the completely unfair criticism hurled at lucasfilm president kathleen kennedy today in fact the toxic side of star wars is so prominent that it has a name the fandom menace a play on the phantom menace today debates over the disney era particularly the last jedi are fiercely polarized obiwan kenobi star moses ingram was the recipient of vile racist abuse as was john boyega kelly marie tran walked away from an online presence thanks to hatred from certain star wars fans at star wars celebration though the sheer joy and enthusiasm from everyone in attendance made it easy to forget that some people are so determined to make the galaxy a rigidly gatekept and unwelcoming space emcee dj elliot regularly reminded everyone that this was a place to make lifelong friends sharing that he met his wife thanks to star wars i was in the audience for a lot of panels which meant i heard him urge people to turn to strangers and shake their hand or chat to them multiple times over the long weekend when one fan called up on stage expressed his fear that hed be made fun of for his spot on general hux impression dj elliot reminded him that he was among friendsimage credit getty images for disneythen in the actual panels themselves every announcement and reveal was met with cheers so loud that it was enough to make your ears ring ahmed best who played jar jar binks in the prequels and has been open about the awful abuse he suffered as a result has just recently debuted in the mandalorian season 3 episode 4 as his jedi character kelleran beq who saved grogu from order 66 when jon favreau and dave filoni talked about this moment the crowd went wild welcoming best back to star wars with open arms the prequel renaissance is nothing particularly new kicking into hyperdrive at last years star wars celebration when the first two episodes of obiwan kenobi premiered for the audience but the crowd was no less joyful this year at the shows retrospective panel christensen received such excitement that he flashed the audience a smile and a thumbs up later on the live stage the crowds reaction left him wiping a tear from his eye for his part ewan mcgregor is no less happy to have returned the star wars