It does, actually. Boycotting movies works to the extent that millions of actors, artists, costume designers, composers, and writers don’t get paid for years of time and work. 2015 was the go-to year for movies that essentially bombed in theaters, which says a lot about mob mentality and gives credence to social media’s ability to spread false information instantly everywhere.

Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of cases where concern is warranted. The film industry isn’t always honest; however, to really understand what’s going on, it’s better to do the research than to take it as gospel from a stranger on Twitter, or Facebook, or Snapchat, or whatever.

My favorite example would have to be Pan, and all the negative attention that it contracted via Tumblr. I was personally offended after having read some of the commentary and then having gone to actually see the film, which was visually stunning to say the least. All this controversy began with the simple complaint that Rattpac studios was “white-washing” the film by casting award-winning actress and philanthropist Rooney Mara as the Native American princess, Tiger Lily.

White-washing is a big deal. I can understand why, on face value, big movie connoisseurs and civil rights activists like myself would be worried. But, and there is a huge but, after viewing the movie, deeming it completely appropriate, loving it to pieces, and fully appreciating the artistic appeal it had, I was thoroughly confused about all the hullabaloo.
So, I did some research. Mara evidently did not believe she was fit for the role, either. As a white actress, she did not think it would be appropriate to be cast as a character of color, an opinion to which all of her haters related. However, according to Cinemablend.com, she changed her mind when she heard what director Joe Wright had to say on the matter. Wright wanted to redefine the character, as there had been plenty of misinterpretations before, all stemming from a single illustration in J.M. Barrie’s book by Oliver Herford done in 1907 that depicted her as a Native American princess. J.M. Barrie’s description originally was of an Indian princess, which literally would’ve meant she appeared to look like she was from the country, India.

Wright was actively trying to avoid controversy in casting Mara, ironically. As a result of all of the miscommunication since the book was written, he didn’t want to take any chances in that arena. Also, to those Tumblr supporters of the boycott, the Neverlandees were not in fact white-washed. Wright intentionally populated the entire tribe with representatives of every known culture around the world. The only white person in the tribe was literally Tiger Lily.

Ignorance isn’t bliss, people. Tiger Lily’s actress wasn’t cast as a slap in the face to the the civil rights community, it was a move to avoid that. Unfortunately, it failed, and a good movie lost more than $100 million in the box office, world wide.