star wars fans who are triggered by reading the word 'gaslight'

[cimorene]

The advice columnist letter from the lady who didn't tell her remote business partner she was having a baby (highly recommend) made it to Tumblr and the notes now include an angry debate about whether the risk of triggering Star Wars fans by discussing gaslighting by comparing the letter to Star Wars is inherently abusive.

Comments

[stranger]

I think the SW connection, either Anakin's children being adopted away separately or Leia hiding baby Ben's existence, would be the "secret baby" trope, with more than a whiff of "lost heir". The eventual revelation about the child or children would be mindfuck-level startling, as it indeed was in Empire Strikes Back. Fans were goggling for *months*.
However, unless there's some extended Orwellian re-writing of events after that ("Weren't you there when we presented Ben to the Council?" when that never happened, say) for either a public or private audience, it's not gaslighting (as defined by the 1944 movie), but rather a Surprise Reveal.

[cimorene]

No, yes, nobody suggested that he did that in canon; they were just joking about what he could have done.