Did we ever find out whose flange/gasket-thingie came off on Tatooine? And what was it for?
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I assumed it fell of R2 when 3PO kicked him. >shrug<
As for the Acolyte and Kennedy's statements...sigh....as usual, I think this issue (including her statements) is a lot more nuanced than either side is letting on (or at least than comes thru in an out-of-context quote from her).
I think a lot of crap gets conflated in this discussion, and there are some people in the fan community who operate in bad faith and from a position of bigotry. That's not unique to Star Wars, either. It's true across the board with franchises that, at one time, were pretty male dominated in terms of the fandom, and now hold a broader appeal.
I think it'd be absurd to claim that there aren't truly toxic fans out there who say and do some really hateful crap. And I think that has an impact on the people who make this stuff. Both Daisy Ridley and Kelly Marie Tran basically left social media in the face of this. I expect it also applies to other women who become the targets of jackasses. That's all real. That really happens.
That said, that's not the full explanation for why some fans dislike the direction that various franchises have taken, nor why some films or shows perform more poorly than others. Recently, I'd say that at least part of the "poor performance" issue actually has waaaaay less to do with the audiences and waaaaay more to do with the budgeting and production approach. The more recent Captain Marvel film (which I still haven't seen) did poorly because it cost $200M to make or whatever, and comic book films are no longer locks for +$400M performances at the box office, let alone consistent $1B performances. Dumping $200M into a film and engaging in slapdash production is gonna bite you in the ass when the tally comes in, especially given that people just...aren't going to the movies as much anymore.
It's not because of "woke" or whatever other dumbass crap some dude with a Youtube channel wants you to believe. It's because going to the movies is EXPENSIVE and the experience on the whole is rarely worth it anymore.
Some fans dislike the new direction of Star Wars because it's "woke," which basically boils down to "has ladies and brown people." But some Star Wars fans hate it because they just don't like the stories, their focus, etc., the same way they didn't like the PT. That it was made by or starring women or people of color is irrelevant to them. I mean, sure, great, go ahead and do that, but I know for some fans, even if that's a positive in a general sense, it's not enough to offset their dislike for the stories.
All that said, I think Kennedy isn't wrong to note that representation matters both in front of and behind the camera. It's important, and there's nothing wrong with seeking out women, actors of color, and basically people with perspectives other than white dudes to make your entertainment. That's all to the good. It's also not sufficient by itself to make a story good.
Now, personally, I've generally enjoyed most of the Star Wars content I've consumed since the Disney buyout, TFA and ROTS notwithstanding. The rest has actually been...pretty entertaining for me. But I'm also not approaching Star Wars the same way I used to.
Back in the day, when Star Wars felt like a "once in a generation" thing, when the PT sucked...that was just...it. You were stuck with it and that meant you were stuck with crappy Star Wars from there on out (since Lucas shifted his focus to the PT at the expense of the OT era). With the Disney purchase, though, the sheer volume of Star Wars, for me, makes each individual piece just far less...I dunno...important. If it sucks or doesn't live up to what I want...eh...whatever. I don't actually care a ton. I mean, I rail against JJ's Star Wars films, but at the end of the day, I kinda...just don't care a ton. There's other stuff I enjoy. And if the whole franchise just dove off a cliff for me, and I stopped liking any of it...that's ok too. I've got my memories and the stuff I enjoy, and actually quite a bit of it.
Same thing with comic book films. For the most part, I've enjoyed Marvel's stuff. Some of it has been uneven lately, and it hasn't felt like it's building towards anything in particular (at least, not that clearly), but...eh, whatever. I'm enjoying it mostly. Not everything needs to be The Greatest Thing Ever. It's enough to be enough, ya know? It doesn't all have to be amazing.
Maybe it's just the modern era of how franchises are operated. The desire for grand continuity across films and such, the push to make it all part of some huge story or shared universe or whatever, I mean, that's fun when it works, but at the end of the day...like....I just don't care if each successive Mad Max film kinda doesn't fit with what came before, ya know? I'm just enjoying them as they come.
And with comic book and Star Wars stuff, hell, those are like busses. This one's full or smells weird or whatever? No worries. There's another one coming soon.