Gina Carano canceled herself

A celebrity like Gina Carano should know better than to play with forces she does not understand.

Opinion by Solomon O. Smith, Political News Editor

Gina Carano speaking at the 2015 San Diego Comic Con International for "Deadpool." (Photo by Gage Skidmore/Flickr)

The things people write and say stay with them for a long time living on the internet. Comments can be misunderstood, taken out of context or severely judged. Gina Carano forgot about that and, along with her need to troll the trolls, drove her acting career off a cliff.

A short review. For months now Carano has been playing internet chicken with the public on Twitter and Instagram. First was a request for her to post her pronouns, something many see as a way to support the trans and LGBTQ community. Carano could have ignored the request, or simply said no. She posted “boop/bop/beep" instead. Her response was not well received. Fans viewed it as poking fun at the concept of personal pronouns, and the twitterverse started a campaign called #FireGinaCarano.

She could have ignored it but she chose to poke the bear — then it got worse. After a number of baiting posts on Instagram, she wrote this bit of nonsense, which she later deleted.

"Jews were beaten in the streets, not by Nazi soldiers but by their neighbors” wrote Carano, “... even by children... Because history is edited, most people today don't realize that to get to the point where Nazi soldiers could easily round up thousands of Jews, the government first made their own neighbors hate them simply for being Jews. How is that any different from hating someone for their political views?"

It was stupid and Disney fired her from the hit series, “The Mandolorian,” distancing themselves, and the brand, from Carano with a statement.

"Gina Carano is not currently employed by Lucasfilm and there are no plans for her to be in the future," read a Lucasfilm statement. "Nevertheless, her social media posts denigrating people based on their cultural and religious identities are abhorrent and unacceptable."

The debate now rages, at least from her defenders, about free speech but few are discussing what the real problem was for Carano: she disrespected her fans. Many who hold alt-right wing ideologies (not saying Carano does) confuse being personally unlikeable with opposition to their ideology. People like Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz continuously argue that they are being shut down because their ideas are not mainstream. This is incorrect. They are being shut down because they are trolls. They bait the public with outlandish, odious comments, hoping rabid contrarians will chase them, and when the consequences catch up with them, they whine about it.

Carano trolled herself out of a job. Goading people with outrageous commentary, like her Nazi comments, made her look ignorant and bigoted. She argued with, alienated and disrespected her fan base unnecessarily and losing her job was the result.

The fans made Carano. They pay for her show, they support her endeavors, and what they give they can take away.