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In the latest in a series of science fiction fandom witch burnings, we have this article in Forbes magazine:
Kathleen Kennedy Is Still The Best Person To Make 'Star Wars' Movies
The reason I post this apologia to the Disney gods is the virulent language in it. It reads like a comment at Vile 666 or floppy cameltron. Or maybe Jezebel. Emphasis and colours mine.
Rumors surfaced this week that Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy might step down from company leadership in the aftermath of Solo: A Star Wars Story's box office failure. This comes amid rampaging racism, sexism, and other extreme toxic behavior from a segment of mostly male (and mostly white) fans who've taken to harassing female actors and artists for existing. This is all part of a larger bigoted backlash of complaints against Star Wars for incorporating people of color and other types of diversity into the previously predominantly white male storytelling.
That's the first three sentences. Yes, you read that right, Solo, or Soylo as they are saying over at Ace of Spades, is tanking -hard- at the box office, and the reason is... the audience is a bunch of toxic racist fanbros. Yep. Movie tanks, blame the -audience-. Oh, and shut up!, because ain't nobody got time for none of your "extreme toxic behavior."
Amazing in Forbes magazine, right? But wait, there's more! The next three paragraphs:
Mindless screams of "keep your politics out of my entertainment" abound from that corner of fandom ignorant of the most basic facts about what the films say and represent (the Empire's designs and titles were heavily influenced by fascism and Nazi imagery, the Ewok uprising was a veiled commentary about the Vietnam War, and the entire concept is about rebelling against authoritarianism and fighting back against oppression and slavery).
This is the same group of fans, remember, whose entire rant is rooted in their own personal politics and a desire to see their personal preferences projected onto the screen while nobody else is entitled to the same right or representation. That enraged reactionaries want to deny everybody else equal representation while demanding their own right to be heard and obeyed is hardly new or shocking, of course. These types of vulgar fans always existed, because fandom is just a portion of the population as a whole, and the population always includes angry self-entitled bigots.
In other words, it's fine to ignore them and to not care what they want or what they say, and to deny them the myopic whitewashed world they demand. They don't deserve representation of their ideas, since their ideas are backward, hateful, and devoid of merit in the first place. If you scream in anger about seeing other people represented, if you harass and insult and threaten marginalized people for daring to exist and to appear in movies, then you and your beliefs have no place in modern storytelling or modern society (except as villains to be defeated and cast aside forever).
Yeah! De-platform those assholes! No place in modern storytelling! Wait, wut?
I work as a screenwriter for film and TV. In a former life I was a media specialist & campaign ad writer.
I think he left out a word. He meant to say DEMOCRAT campaign ad writer.
Thing is, I've seen this reaction before. Remember Fantastic Four? We were all nerd-racists for saying that was going to suck, right? Then when Marvel Comics was tanking hard in April last year? That was nerd-racism then, too. The four years of the Sad Puppies Campaign, super-duper nerd-racism. Kicking nerd-racist Conservative authors out of Guest-of-Honor spots at conventions, totally consistent with the narrative.
Prediction: If she doesn't get fired over the failure of Solo, Kathleen Kennedy will double down on the SJW themes for the next Star Wars. There will be gay droids and trans Jedi, disabled POC heros and the whole quilt-bag full of progressive agenda goodness. The movie will suck, the box-office will bomb harder than a B-52 squadron, and Ms. KK will be violently defended by Mark Hughes. Right before they fire her.
Dear Disney, save yourself the money and fire her now. Your shareholders will thank you.
The Phantom NerdRacist.
Update: reposted at According to Hoyt, with extra-spicy commentary by Sarah! Welcome Hoyt-Horde!
Update: reposted at According to Hoyt, with extra-spicy commentary by Sarah! Welcome Hoyt-Horde!
7 comments:
Maybe it's just me, but, "You guys all suck. The Star Wars audience is just a bunch of racist, sexist homophobes," might not be the best marketing strategy if you want to get an audience for your Star Wars movie.
I mean, I'm sure that there are a few masochists who will say, "Yes, that's what I've been wanting to hear! My nerdy pleasure is now all about telling me that I'm a horrible human being! Please, Kathleen Kennedy, beat me some more!" I'm just saying I don't know if it's the best way if you want wide appeal.
At this point, the entire Skywalker era is tainted. They should wash their hands and walk away from it entirely.
Then get Larry Correia to write an Old Republic era script, and stick to it religiously.
They'd probably shatter every box office record ever set.
AS much as I like Larry Correia, I'd love to see Christopher Nolan and his brother tackle a Star Wars Trilogy.
I can only imagine how awesome (and coherent and well plotted) and faithful it would be. That would be a move that would potentially (and instantly) win countless fans back because of his track record.
Greetings, all.
The thing is, Star Wars started out as a story, waaaaay back in the mists of time when dinosaurs ruled the earth, and TV was still black and white. Lucas wrote a story, filmed it, put in some special effects that were really quite amazing, and the rest is history.
Pretty derivative story, but that's what makes it good. Hero's Journey, in space. Nice, clean, simple.
But what is it now? Now, 2018, it is a forty-year-old sales vehicle for merch and propaganda. No story can survive being whored out to commercial and political interests like that.
If they fired everybody and stuck Lucas in a room with any decent fan writer, they'd come up with something better than The Last Jedi. If they stuck Lucas in there with Larry Correia, or the Nolans, or how about Jim Butcher? they'd have something amazing.
Like the fist Star Wars, but without the bad dialogue and plot holes.
They will -never- do that, of course. They think we'll shut up and take what's served forever. Why expend effort when "good enough" makes a billion bucks?
Heh, I would have suggested Jim Butcher myself, but I'd prefer him to spend his time writing the next Dresden Files book!
I do agree he'd be great for the job though!
Sadly, the four billion dollar investment Disney made in Star Wars is a line item compared to their acquisition of 20th Century Fox.
Fandom has no say at this point, except to say no.
I admire and enjoy the Nolan brothers' work, but honestly, I don't think they're the men to do a STAR WARS movie. Brilliant and fascinatingly layered as their plots are, the Nolans have always struck me as just too serious and weighty in their approach; STAR WARS has to have a level of pulpy *fun* to it that I have just never seen either of the Nolans bring to anything.
Butcher and Correia would be great authors for a STAR WARS story, but I'd want them to work with an experienced screenwriter; skill at writing novels doesn't always equal skill in screenplays. (See Stephen King.)
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