The Force may have been a bit too strong.
Multiple “Star Wars” fans have reported suffering from seizures after watching the latest franchise installment, “The Rise of Skywalker.”
Emily Suzanne Jones, a 19-year-old retail employee in New Orleans who suffers from epilepsy said strobing from the film was so bad it forced her to leave the movie in the first 30 minutes and she suffered a seizure in the hallway just outside the showing at AMC Elmwood Palace 20.
She called a friend who worked at the theater who arrived to assist just as the seizure began.
“It lasted from 30 seconds to a minute,” Jones told The Post, adding that EMS were called but she didn’t end up requiring any additional treatment. Jones said she likely averted something much worse by taking a quick dose of her anti-seizure medication Keppra right as she felt it coming on.
“I recently watched the original trilogy and it didn’t remotely bother me, but this last one is particularly flashy,” she said. “I wish they had been a little smarter about it. There is so much special-effects technology to have that effect you wanted but being a little more conscious and safe about it.”
Megan Wharry, a 23-year-old office assistant in Stockton, Calif., who also has epilepsy, said she managed to sit through the flick — even though it triggered both a migraine and a pre-seizure episode medically termed an “aura.”
“I thought about [leaving the theater] but then I toughed it out. … I did get up and go to the bathroom to feel better,” she told The Post. Wharry, who had a seizure shortly before the film, knew it might be a bad idea going in, but did so because she was a superfan. “Do I wish I listened to my body? Yes, but I liked the movie.”
Jones and Wharry are far from alone. While there is no way to know exactly how many people suffered seizures as a result of “Star Wars,” at least three other people on Twitter reported having them as a result of the film. At least two Twitter users said they witnessed people having seizures in the theater they were in — others still were forced to take emergency preventative measures.
“Loved the new Star Wars!! But my son couldn’t watch the parts he was most excited for because of the effects. He closed his eyes and I whispered what was happening,” Darcy Mahaffey a “Star Wars” fan said on Twitter, before asking both Disney and director J.J. Abrams whether “the DVD could be edited in a way people susceptible to seizures can watch?”
Roughly 3.4 million Americans have epilepsy according to the Epilepsy foundation. The seizures reports will likely come as no surprise to Disney, which knew about the strobe risk — and actively worked with the foundation to warn epileptic fans about the risks posed by the film.
Disney also sent a letter to theater and movie chains worldwide urging them to warn customers.
“Out of an abundance of caution, we recommend that you provide at your venue box office and online, and at other appropriate places where your customers will see it, a notice containing the following information: ‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’ contains several sequences with imagery and sustained flashing lights that may affect those who are susceptible to photosensitive epilepsy or have other photosensitivities,” it read.
It’s far from the first time people with epilepsy have run into trouble with popular culture. In 2018 Disney’s “Incredibles 2” also contained seizure-inducing strobing, which led to warnings posted at some theaters. A 1997 episode of “Pokémon” in Japan featured a lengthy strobe light which resulted in hundreds of seizures among unsuspecting viewers.
It’s unclear why Disney kept the strobing despite being aware of the risks to epileptic “Star Wars” fans. A rep for the company did not respond to a request for comment from The Post. The decision is doubly strange given Abrams’ public advocacy on behalf of people with epilepsy.
“Someone you already know has probably already had a seizure, a friend, a coworker, family member but they haven’t told you because they’re afraid of what you might think,” he said in a 2016 video for the Epilepsy Foundation. “There is nothing to be ashamed of. That’s why it’s so important that we talk about it.”
“Star Wars” actor Greg Grunberg, who plays Snap Wexley in the new film, has a son with epilepsy and launched a website called “TalkAboutIt” entirely dedicated to epilepsy awareness.
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December 29, 2019 at 05:20AM
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'Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker' is giving people seizures - New York Post
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