Ted Cruz Defends Gina Carano, Gets Everything Wrong About Star Wars
by Simon Delott at February 12, 2021 11:47 am . Updated at February 12, 2021 12:03 pm .
There are a lot of things that Ted Cruz doesn't understand: right and wrong, the Constitution, how much soup a human buys at a time.
We can now confidently add Star Wars to the list.
This week, Lucasfilm confirmed that notorious bigot Gina Carano was fired from The Mandalorian and all future Star Wars projects, calling her behavior "abhorrent."
The Texas Senator spoke up to defend her ... but, as usual, only proved his own ignorance.
On Wednesday, February 10, Lucasfilm not only shared that Gina Carano was not returning to Star Wars, they publicly disavowed her actions.
Gina had -- as The Mandalorian fans on social media had pointed out for months -- dedicated much of her social media activity to, well, being awkward.
From racist dogwhistles to ridiculing the trans community to spreading anti-mask nonsense and "voter fraud" conspiracy theories, Gina did it all. And then came this:
Gina compared social accountability that conservatives may face to, and we wish that we were joking, violence faced by the Jewish community during and leading up to the Holocaust.
There's a good guideline for Holocaust comparisons: you probably shouldn't make them.
After the justified moral outcry over yet another abhorrent post, Lucasfilm and Disney stepped in.
Reports say that Gina was being prepared for her own spinoff series on Disney+ that would have followed her as Cara Dune on further adventures.
PR experts familiar with the entertainment industry speculate that, for the press release to call her statements "abhorrent," Gina's firing was only partially to prevent a boycott.
It is speculated that there was righteous anger among upper management for PR to take such a firm, unsubtle stance.
With the exception of a handful of YouTube grifters who film rage-bait vlogs, most people mustered little to no sympathy for a woman who sabotaged her own career by being awful.
But Texas Senator and unsuccessful human-impersonator Ted Cruz, of course, rushed to Gina's defense.
(Where was that energy after disgraced former president Donald Trump insulted Ted's wife, we wonder)
"Texan Gina Carano broke barriers in the Star Wars universe: not a princess, not a victim, not some emotionally tortured Jedi," Ted claimed incorrectly in a tweet.
"She played a woman who kicked ass & who girls looked up to," he wrote.
"She was instrumental in making Star Wars fun again," Ted mischaracterized. "Of course Disney canceled her."
Obviously, Ted is doing what's called malice signaling -- reminding everyone that he's a bad person by voicing his unwavering support for fellow bad people.
There is an undercurrent within American conservatism that rejects any calls for accountability.
These "persecution" allegations are, from Ted Cruz and from Gina Carano, always false. You post dumb things about the Holocaust in 2021, you don't get your own Disney show. That's life.
But we just have to emphasize how thoroughly and totally wrong Ted Cruz is about Star Wars, also.
I'm not suggesting that anyone engage him in a Twitter debate over it -- just as I also wouldn't try to argue with Casey Anthony over The Elder Scrolls lore.
It's simply important to note that Ted is, as is his habit, almost comically incorrect.
Leia Organa was a princess before she was a Galactic Senator, a New Republic Senator, or a Resistance General.
To say that she was a victim because she was arrested, detained, and captured during the original Star Wars trilogy is a mischaracterization.
In fact, the late great Carrie Fisher noted with pride at the time that the films premiered that Leia was such a strong, independent character who did not fit the "damsel" profile.
It is likely that Cruz's jab about an "emotionally tortured Jedi" was a jab at a frequent target of ridicule by awful men, Rey Palpatine.
For all of the flaws of the Sequel films -- if not too many to count, certainly too many to deliniate here -- Rey was a standout character.
In his short-sightedness and ignorance, he clearly forgot about the Prequel trilogy.
Padme Amidala was never a princess, was rarely a "victim," and was certainly not a Jedi.
Padme -- elected Queen of Naboo at just 14 and swiftly moving on to a position within the Galactic Senate -- was a shrewd and passionate politian.
She would regularly put herself in harm's way to see justice done, on the Senate floor, on the streets of Coruscant, or on distant worlds on the Outer Rim.
Rogue One also gave us a heroine who met Cruz's description: Jyn Erso.
But we have to remember that he was speaking in bad faith.
Like virtually all of Gina Carano's fans, he likely only cared about Cara Dune at all after learning that her actress was a diehard conservative.
Let's be honest -- most Star Wars fans know that the best content within canon isn't found in any of the nine films of the Skywalker Saga, and not even in the one-off movies.
If Ted Cruz were actually interested in the women of Star Wars, he would be talking about Hera Syndulla or Ahsoka Tano.
Or Sabine Wren or Asajj Ventress or Sister Merrin or Doctor Aphra or Bo Katan Kryze or Mother Talzin or maybe even Halle Burtoni.
There are too many amazing women in Star Wars to name ... but again, Cruz's point was to show solidarity with a famous bigot. Betraying his ignorance about Star Wars was just a side effect.
Tags: Gina Carano, Ted Cruz, Star Wars, The Mandalorian
Gina Carano Biography
Gina Carano is a Mixed Martial Arts competitor. Now, she's mostly known as "Crush" on the new American Gladiators. The athlete was born... More »
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