Kathleen Kennedy to step down from Lucasfilm (after 2021)?

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Re: Kathleen Kennedy to step down from Lucasfilm?

Disney needs to come up with a major change the the SWCU if they want to make room for new armies of Jedi vs. Sith/whatever. I'd rather have a cataclysmic event that sets off a new series post EP9 with an abundance of Force-folks, instead of just grinding out a young, wisecracking Boba Fett/Dengar buddy movie. Actually I'd still probably watch that.

I'd actually rather see more of a focus on regular people than on the superpowered space monks. It's one of the reasons I really liked Rogue One.
 
Re: Kathleen Kennedy to step down from Lucasfilm?

Some the SJW/diversity efforts in the Disney SW movies (not to mention the rest of modern Hollywood) are simply attempts to keep things fresh.

What if Rey had been male when TFA came out? Think about that character. Everyone would have groaned and said "He's just another Anakin/Luke! Like, blatantly! What a total bore." In female form she was just different enough for them to get away with it.

This franchise (and most of Hollywood) has been heavy on the white males in the past. Now they are trying to change things up. That means switching to . . . . . wait for it . . . . not white males.
 
Re: Kathleen Kennedy to step down from Lucasfilm?

Some the SJW/diversity efforts in the Disney SW movies (not to mention the rest of modern Hollywood) are simply attempts to keep things fresh.

What if Rey had been male when TFA came out? Think about that character. Everyone would have groaned and said "He's just another Anakin/Luke! Like, blatantly! What a total bore." In female form she was just different enough for them to get away with it.

This franchise (and most of Hollywood) has been heavy on the white males in the past. Now they are trying to change things up. That means switching to . . . . . wait for it . . . . not white males.

Maybe because in the past white people were the vast majority in the United States;)

Pro current SJW Star Wars people will always try to make this about either racism or sexism to try and demonize the people complaining about the current state of affairs, just face it the current movies are just not very good!

Nobody sane cares about the skin color or gender of the actors playing in these movies, we just want good movies that don't destroy the established characters.
 
Re: Kathleen Kennedy to step down from Lucasfilm?

I hope these rumors are true. I really do. However I think this thread is a perfect display of why KK and Co were bad choices for this, and that is because politics are bad for business. I am among those who dislike TLJ, both for being a bad movie and for the heavy political "undertones", but it is not because of what politics they are, its that modern politics are in SW at all. People might make claims of Lucas being inspired by Vietnam, or Bush, etc. But, especially for the OT, whatever real life influence might have been there are so general or diluted by other stuff that it feels like the story could have been (and had been in a thematic sense) written at any point in histoy. People say we need inclusiveness, and that is fine, do it. Rogue One had it, and they did it in a way, especially in the film that made everybody have flaws and a purpose and that made the movie feel natural. Ditto for the press stuff. TLJ did not have this. They focused on strong female characters and instead made ones devoid of character, and that is from somebody who was excited to see Rey's arc! But she never had her low point, she didnt fail. She was setup well in TFA, they could have done so much with her, but they didnt. She is already the best. She beat Kylo twice. She has nowhere to grow. But that is not just a problem with the women, nobody has anywhere to go, except maybe Poe. Finn had his moment stolen by bad screenwriting, Rose is barely a character, Luke had his whole new arc in one movie, etc. We cant have Kylo have an arc except for him to win, or turn good, neither of which can be done well.

My big thing, however, is that SW needs to be a-political. With politics invading everything else, I think as a whole we need SW to be that time we all can enjoy a thing or discuss it without getting political. Of course it would appeal to some modern sensibilities in terms of casting and character traits, but just make it about a good story, not about politics or anything else. I think that is the overarching want moreso than anything else
 
Re: Kathleen Kennedy to step down from Lucasfilm?

I do not understand what the difference is here. We're supposed to avoid talking about politics, fine. Half of us are blaming politics for what isn't awesome with new Star Wars.
I feel like if I started railing against old Star Wars for being overly white and conservative I'd be getting reported left and right.

That being said, people who aren't white dudes should be represented in the world's best space opera franchise. The world is a big place and it's not all straight white guys.

I'll say I don't disagree. But at the same time, you don't course correct the entire thing in one fell swoop.

I didn't catch it in theaters , but a discussion here made me think back over the TLJ and it seems a bit overt in hindsight. It didn't color my opinion of the movie at all, but that type of thing is present.
 
Re: Kathleen Kennedy to step down from Lucasfilm?

I hope these rumors are true. I really do. However I think this thread is a perfect display of why KK and Co were bad choices for this, and that is because politics are bad for business. I am among those who dislike TLJ, both for being a bad movie and for the heavy political "undertones", but it is not because of what politics they are, its that modern politics are in SW at all. People might make claims of Lucas being inspired by Vietnam, or Bush, etc. But, especially for the OT, whatever real life influence might have been there are so general or diluted by other stuff that it feels like the story could have been (and had been in a thematic sense) written at any point in histoy. People say we need inclusiveness, and that is fine, do it. Rogue One had it, and they did it in a way, especially in the film that made everybody have flaws and a purpose and that made the movie feel natural. Ditto for the press stuff. TLJ did not have this. They focused on strong female characters and instead made ones devoid of character, and that is from somebody who was excited to see Rey's arc! But she never had her low point, she didnt fail. She was setup well in TFA, they could have done so much with her, but they didnt. She is already the best. She beat Kylo twice. She has nowhere to grow. But that is not just a problem with the women, nobody has anywhere to go, except maybe Poe. Finn had his moment stolen by bad screenwriting, Rose is barely a character, Luke had his whole new arc in one movie, etc. We cant have Kylo have an arc except for him to win, or turn good, neither of which can be done well.

My big thing, however, is that SW needs to be a-political. With politics invading everything else, I think as a whole we need SW to be that time we all can enjoy a thing or discuss it without getting political. Of course it would appeal to some modern sensibilities in terms of casting and character traits, but just make it about a good story, not about politics or anything else. I think that is the overarching want moreso than anything else

The empire was always Space Nazis, this hasn't ever been a secret. We know what Nazis are, and they're not apolitical. For that matter, everything is politics to one degree or another, depending on your point of view. So while I get your wish for politics to be out of Star Wars, they've always been there, front and center, if painted over by space fantasy.
 
Re: Kathleen Kennedy to step down from Lucasfilm?

The empire was always Space Nazis, this hasn't ever been a secret. We know what Nazis are, and they're not apolitical. For that matter, everything is politics to one degree or another, depending on your point of view. So while I get your wish for politics to be out of Star Wars, they've always been there, front and center, if painted over by space fantasy.

Yes, they were modeled after the most recent universal evil in history, they werent making a political statement saying nazis are bad, that was already understood by literally everybody. The empire in what they are could be modeled after many empires in history, the look was just inspired by then modern events. Much like Rebel soldiers look like US soldiers in Vietnam
 
Re: Kathleen Kennedy to step down from Lucasfilm?

I'd actually rather see more of a focus on regular people than on the superpowered space monks. It's one of the reasons I really liked Rogue One.
I find this interesting, when people want to see "regular people" in the fantastical kind of stuff. Why? Regular people is the reason why this stuff is created, cause real people are everywhere. There are a TON of movies that feature just "regular people", why see that in the fantasy? To me thats boring, but hey, each their own I guess. I dont get why people play as humans in video games either, when there are a ton of other options but oh well. *shrug*

To me, if you take away the "superpowered space monks" you have Star Trek, or any other type of sci fi.
 
Re: Kathleen Kennedy to step down from Lucasfilm?

I'd actually rather see more of a focus on regular people than on the superpowered space monks.
Interesting. I'm okay saying goodbye to Jedi/Sith space monk plot device, but to me, random people with exceptional powers are the ethos of the SW universe. Leaving them out sounds to me like e.g. setting up a traditional police drama within the Marvel universe and not ever seeing any superheroes. There are already other franchises for regular characters.

It's one of the reasons I really liked Rogue One.
I liked much of Rogue One, but it was in such tight orbit with Episode IV's story and brand equity, would it have stood on its own if it was a similar plot in a different era that didn't involve the Empire or the Rebellion? One could probably make a great movie about Saw Gerrera, but I thought that whole section of the movie was boring as it was presented, and that part had some of the most original story elements in the movie.

If they took Chewbacca and Maul out of Solo and changed Solo's name, that movie could have happened in any universe. I liked Solo, but wished they had just been brave enough to make that a cool non-Star Wars movie.
 
Re: Kathleen Kennedy to step down from Lucasfilm?

And how exactly do you know this for sure? Please cite an article or something where JJ says "I cast X because they are gay."
I would love for somebody who always plays the "just cast the right person" card to tell me exactly how they would know if the prson cast was or wasn't the right person for the job. This is NEVER said when a white dude is cast.

Not remotely hard to do. From: http://www.indiewire.com/2018/02/jj-abrams-star-wars-last-jedi-women-1201929593/

“The filmmaker shared that, in recent meetings targeted around employing crews and filmmakers for projects, he and McGrath have asked their agency CAA for lists of potential collaborators “that represent the makeup of the country” and “that immediately changed the conversation.”

In other words, he's looking for specifically non-white actors and actresses. He's casting based on skin color, not talent.

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I literally cannot respond to this without looking and feeling like I'm personally attacking you, so I'm refraining.

Then maybe you need to reconsider your position if it's so emotional for you. Try being rational. We're trying to have an intellectual discussion here.

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Still haven't seen Solo, so I haven't read this one yet:

Toxic Fans, Angry Trolls Are The Biggest Threat To 'Star Wars'

https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottm...ostbusters-oceans-8-incredibles/#3a963653522a

To some degree maybe, but to a very large degree, at least in my experience, you get people, particularly on the political left, who like to call anyone who disagrees with their position names. Nazis. Trolls. Misogynists. You name it. Instead of actually responding to what is being said and thinking about it intellectually, they are just reacting like children. I'm not saying there aren't bad people on both sides, but only one side seems to be screeching and calling names as a means to avoid having an intellectual conversation.
 
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Re: Kathleen Kennedy to step down from Lucasfilm?

I care about skin color. I rarely fit in at Star Wars cosplay because of it. My skin and hair is too dark to cosplay at Han Solo, but not dark enough to cosplay Lando. It took decades for there to finally be someone I could almost relate to in Cassian Andor, tan skin, dark hair, and a non-minor character. And technically Chirrut (skin tone is still too dark being Filipino) and Baze (I have a much smaller body frame) would count as well. But it's Cassian in Rogue One that I gravitated towards more. With Rose in The Last Jedi, I was ecstatic that there was the first main character in an honest to god numbered episode Star Wars movie that I could identify with on screen.

I care about skin color.
 
Re: Kathleen Kennedy to step down from Lucasfilm?

Not remotely hard to do. From: http://www.indiewire.com/2018/02/jj-abrams-star-wars-last-jedi-women-1201929593/

“The filmmaker shared that, in recent meetings targeted around employing crews and filmmakers for projects, he and McGrath have asked their agency CAA for lists of potential collaborators “that represent the makeup of the country” and “that immediately changed the conversation.”

In other words, he's looking for specifically non-white actors and actresses. He's casting based on skin color, not talent.

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No, that statement means he wanted casting to be representative of everyone and not just white people. He wanted to potential pool to be as diverse as possible. You know, to cast the best person possible.

If you read "everyone" as "everyone but you" you're part of the problem.
 
Re: Kathleen Kennedy to step down from Lucasfilm?

I dont understand the having to "identify" with someone in order to enjoy the character. I always felt that is so weird. When I was a kid, I was fat, and you know what? There arent many superheroes or people in movies that put fat people in a positive light. Unless of course youre talking about Santa Claus. Also being mexican, there werent a lot of brown people. Did I enjoy any of the characters any less? Of course not! Thats why it seems weird to me because its like "oh look now there is such and such person in Star Wars that looks like me, so now I can like it more" baffles me.
 
Re: Kathleen Kennedy to step down from Lucasfilm?

I care about skin color. I rarely fit in at Star Wars cosplay because of it. My skin and hair is too dark to cosplay at Han Solo, but not dark enough to cosplay Lando. It took decades for there to finally be someone I could almost relate to in Cassian Andor, tan skin, dark hair, and a non-minor character. And technically Chirrut (skin tone is still too dark being Filipino) and Baze (I have a much smaller body frame) would count as well. But it's Cassian in Rogue One that I gravitated towards more. With Rose in The Last Jedi, I was ecstatic that there was the first main character in an honest to god numbered episode Star Wars movie that I could identify with on screen.

I care about skin color.

We also can't ignore the fact that Lucas has always been criticized for his whitewashed view of the Galaxy. That really came to a head during the prequels

If they're are exploring "diversity for diversity sake", then that is a course correction, not tokenism.

I firmly believe that the outrage is misguided. People always loved, Leia, Ashoka, and Lando. (Hell, they even liked Jango, just not what they did with him) But these movies aren't very good, and the outraged fans seems to feel that diversity is to blame.

It's not. It's the writers, directors and disney.


And you should care about skin colour
 
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