A new trailer for "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" debuted during Monday Night Football's halftime break.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGbxmsDFVnE
The film's diverse cast has been news for a while, as it stars black actor John Boyega and Guatemalan-born Oscar Isaac.
The trailer is chock-full of juicy plot possibilities, but one of the biggest story lines has turned out to be a pair of dueling hashtags. One group started #BoycottStarWarsVII, claiming the film is anti-white. The backlash to that hashtag made it all go viral, but it also inspired "Selma" filmmaker Ava DuVernay to start her own hashtag in response: #CelebrateStarWarsVII.
is an African-American novelist/screenwriter and lecturer at UCLA who joined in the Twitter conversation. She is also a mom who posted a picture of her son holding a Finn action figure, the character played by John Boyega.
About to go live on @KPcc href="https://twitter.com/KPCC">@KPcc
About to go live on @KPcc to talk about Star Wars, this photo of my son I tweeted Monday & controversy over casting. pic.twitter.com/TNHSzoxwJF
— Tananarive Due (@TananariveDue) October 20, 2015
"The point is here, for children of color, for boys of color, girls of color, it can be so life changing," said Due. "The way I saw Lt. Uhura in the 1960s when she was on 'Star Trek,' that was hugely meaningful to me. So yes, it's very meaningful to my son to identify with such a strong character in a film."
To listen to the full interview, click on the blue audio player above.