When I heard Disney was buying the Star Wars franchise, I was hopeful. I understood that the Disney machine would take advantage of their marketing and brainwashing power to slap a star wars logo on even more things than George did. And he was the originator god father. He knew his brand and knew its value. All of the others followed his lead.
I had hoped that Disney would cherish the foundation established by a movie released when I was a young boy. I think they started out that way, but under the “leadership” of Kathleen Kennedy, has taken a serious nose dive and is in severe trouble.
Why? What’s the problem? Well, since I must be considered a 40 something man baby (a white male), according to Kathleen, this is why. Because I am an angry white guy.
There are a few problems from the fan community but let me start at the beginning.
JJ Abrams was hired to direct the first movie and to fans of the new Star Trek movies, that was great! Some said he would sabotage the movies since Star Wars has always eclipsed Star Trek over the years and there has been a “fan war” so to speak, but usually in good fun.
JJ hired other people to help him write the movie. On a side note, why do all of these directors think they are writers? They are DIRECTORS. Anyway, it appeared that JJ set up some plot points, studied past episodes to help with continuity. He had fans asking things like “Who is Snoke?”, “Who are the knights of Ren?”, “Who are Reys parents?”. For the most part, he did a good job of starting this set of trilogies. The final story of the Skywalkers.
So in walks Rian Johnson to write and direct the next movie. Again I ask, why do these directors think they are writers? Rian has gone on record describing just what a bad writer he is. So why not hire him for the most important movie of any trilogy right?
So Rian struts in, writes a bad story, disregarded anything the past movie had setup and flushed it down the toilet and wrote whatever he felt like writing (again, not a writer). He mishandled the foundation of the entire story, overlooks any continuity in storytelling in general and more specifically, what George Lucas has already established. Now this isn’t a Lucas loyalist speaking in this regard. Any movie/franchise would hear the same complaints and they do when something like this happens.
If you see any Mark Hamill interviews leading up to these movies, you see and hear his dismay about how his character was handled. In my opinion, there are 2 people who know Luke Skywalker. George Lucas and Mark Hamill. But anyway, even Mr. Hamill knew how bad they are screwing up. But driven by ego, directors tend to push him aside. I feel so horrible for Mark Hamill. It’s like a living nightmare for him.
So with a poorly written movie, comes the aftermath.
Here is a good start to what’s wrong with it from a storytelling point of view.
Wait, what was wrong with the movie? Well, besides the numerous plot holes, lack of continuity, inserted slapstick (there was always humor in Star Wars, but nothing like overdoing it like in these), new characters just for the sake of new characters and worse yet, the political undertones, virtue signaling and social justice messaging.
This is due to Kathleen Kennedy being a sexist. She had to answer to a man her entire career (apparently), she had to answer to George Lucas and now she is set to “get even”. It’s one thing to even things out with your own personal agenda, but she has made this public. Even to go as far as hiring someone to make sure there are more women at LucasFilm. Forget being qualified, they have to be FEMALE. Shallow yes, but what can you do?
Now I have no problem with women in power. I was raised by women, lived with women, worked FOR women my entire life and it makes no difference to me.
To add to her agenda, she has neutered the foundation characters of Star Wars so they could introduce all female heroes who all save the day while the male characters are bafoons and subservient. For example, you never see Po taken seriously. He is always talked down to….by a female mind you. Not a big deal right? Finn, always a comedian and a coward. Even the new Rose character lectures him and when Finn is going to have his moment of heroism while sacrificing himself, Rose knocks him out of the way (and SHES the hero). Even Roses sister is a hero and we get NO character development with her.
But when Kathleen was hired by Mr. Lucas in 2012, he was always around to pull in the reigns. His company, his vision, he’s the boss.
Do you want more? How about “super Leai” flying through space? In 7 movies, that was established to be not possible in the Star Wars canon. Suddenly it’s possible with no explanation.
I feel I need to reiterate that most fans do NOT have a problem with female leads, heros, villains, etc. For some reason Kathleen Kennedy thinks this is ground breaking when there have been asstons of female heros, villains, etc etc. in history and film. Ripley from the Alien franchise showed us how to survive, Princess Leai has been a strong female lead for 40 years, how about the Resident Evil franchise and Milla Jovavich? I cna go on for hours demonstrating powerful female leads.
For some reason, Kathleen Kennedy thinks there is this war on women in this day and age. Can people be held back? Of coarse, but it’s not just women, men, white men, black men, black women, disabled men and women, Hispanic and so on.
So back to the aftermath. So many fans, who don’t consume something simply because it has the Star Wars name on it voiced their displeasure like any unsatisfied customer would/should do. So what does Kathleen Kennedy do in her infinite wisdom? She shames fans labeling them “angry men” and “man babies” and so on. This is how disconnected she is with the Star Wars community. There are just as many disgruntled female fans but she refuses to see them. Just bash on men, it’s the latest trend today. The very people who helped fight the good fight for all to be treated equal, are now being persecuted. Ironic.
So instead of apologizing for a bad product, maybe saying “we’ll try harder next time” or even “sorry to disappoint you”, Rian Not-A-Writer Johnson and Kathleen Kennedy go on a “male fan” tirade. Welp, 2 can play at that game and the box office for Solo – A Star Wars Story is just the beginning. It was the first movie in the franchise to LOSE money. This is the fallout from Kathleen Kennedys political agenda infused with something it shouldn’t be infused with.
This situation is somewhat similar to the Captain Marvel movie. It tanked. Not because of the female lead, but because the agenda was crammed down our throats and it was poorly written so the fans rejected it.
I must be clear, most do not have a problem with diversity. They DO have a problem with agendas and obvious agendas, virtue signaling, social justice warriors, etc.
The main problem as I see it is this: The people in charge have no passion for Star Wars. George Lucas had a passion for it which is the main reason it succeeded. Disney, Kathleen Kennedy, Johnson, etc. do not have a passion for Star Wars. It’s a means to an end to them. Everybody says “I remember watching them as a kid”. Well that’s about everybody on the planet. They should have found the PERSON that said “I remember watching them as a kid, watching all the movies every day for 8 years straight then writing my own Star Wars movies, filming my own movies with my family on our crappy camcorder, reading the EU comics, playing the video games and creating my own Star Wars characters.”
One of the reasons Marvel is succeeding without Marvel fatigue is because the GUY in charge has a passion for the comics. That makes a world of difference. With the exception of Captin Marvel, they pretty much had a perfect record. Let’s see if that gets flushed down the toilet with the new Star Wars agenda.
So back to the Star Wars failures of Kathleen Kennedy and Rian Johnson.
The new Star Wars trailer has come out and by the looks of it, it pulls a lot of nostalgia to try to reign fans back in. It is my understanding that JJ didnt want to do this last movie. Why would he? Rian absolutely destroyed what was once the most successful franchise in history and Kathleen ok’d it. But if you critique her, or the movie, you are a racist, sexist, bigot, homophobe. So after they gave JJ an offer he couldn’t refuse, he steps in and will hopefully salvage what is left, which isn’t much. He even consulted with George Lucas on ways to work this out since it will be such a challenge after RIan Johnsons lack of thinking. People tried to tell him, but when you are so ego driven, you have all of the answers before the questions.
I hope he can do it. I hope Bob Iger knows well enough to cut his losses and remove the cancer that is Kathleen Kennedy and her political, sexist agenda.
