Opening an app. Typing a question. Tapping “send.”

  It’s an everyday occurrence for many high school students, one that often isn’t given a second thought – but what if that question had the power to start a fan culture movement?

   This is exactly what happened to junior Addie Achterberg on January 12, when she received a direct message on Twitter from one of the most famous icons of the science fiction genre: actor Mark Hamill, perhaps better known as Luke Skywalker from the Star Wars franchise.

  After posing a question to Hamill as to whether or not his fictional counterpart was bisexual, Achterberg was shocked to see that he had replied – and that his answer was a thoughtful and open-minded one.

  Stating that the character’s “sexuality is never directly addressed in the films” and that “you can decide for yourself,” Hamill’s remark, once released publicly, made waves throughout the ever-growing Star Wars fan base and beyond.

  Achterberg recalls that although the message was originally meant to be kept private, Hamill, by liking another one of her tweets, seemed to grant her his blessing and allowed the massive response to ensue.

  “I sent it to my friend via Twitter…[and other people] retweeted it, and then everybody got really excited…,” said Achterberg. “…A lot of people were saying how much it meant to them because they’re [in] the LGBT community and…Luke Skywalker is such an iconic character from…sci-fi, and the actor said that you can picture him as being bi, gay, or whatever you want…”

  Now with over 700 retweets and countless repostings on different social media platforms, the direct message has made its way into the realm of online news, something that sophomore Jordan Osborne says she witnessed after seeing the message on Snapchat.

  “I looked [Addie] up and there are articles on her, and there are even some in Spanish,” Osborne said.

  Certainly something like this couldn’t have happened twenty or even ten years ago, when celebrities were divided from their audiences by what seemed like an impenetrable brick wall – but, as sophomore Kaleb Fair attests to, this wall has recently been turned to glass.

  “The amount of different types of technology that we have…it makes it possible for anyone to speak to anyone,” said Fair. “The Mark Hamill had…conversations with my friend who’s an eleventh-grader at Susquehannock High School, a small high school in southern Pennsylvania, which to me was pretty significant, especially because several news articles were written on it.”

  Osborne agrees, stating that fan culture, in particular, has been expanded by social media, exemplified by Achterberg’s question and the public’s response.

  “…Everyone’s trying to fight for equality and different social issues, and…I think that that fight is worth it because it’s starting to integrate into…major franchises and fandoms,” Obsorne said. “…When fans get their own ideas about these franchises and big things that everyone [is] interested in, then it helps develop the thing itself. It gives it more depth, and while that might not be what the creators intended, it makes it more interesting, and it’s more fulfilling of an experience…”

  Achterberg, who says that she asked the question because she believes that the younger Skywalker is bisexual, notes that an audience’s original ideas are what drive popular culture.

 “…Media is meant to be for the consumers, and so they should be able to picture it however they want because it belongs to them,” said Achterberg.

  Indeed – and if the recent online field day concerning the Susky junior’s question is anything to go by, the media is already moving in an ever-more progressive direction, driven by the fans like her who feel so passionately about diversity in the things that they love.