“Star Wars” as hardcore fans know it might be dead.
The unassuming science fiction masterpiece of 1977 has spawned dozens of films, animated series, video games, and billions of dollars in revenue.
But the latest film in the saga performed disastrously at the box office, and fans are blaming this Hollywood bigwig’s liberal politics for the downfall.
“Solo,” the origin story of the iconic Han Solo, brought in $103 million over the four-day holiday weekend, far below the projected $170 million.
That should be a frightening number for Disney, but the company doesn’t seem to be learning its lesson.
When George Lucas sold the Star Wars rights to Disney for $4 billon, fans rejoiced because it meant they were getting more content from such a rich universe.
Some fans were also relieved because Lucas was no longer in creative control; Lucas took a lot of flak for mishandling the prequel trilogy and recutting the original trilogy (and putting a moratorium on the uncut versions fans fell in love with).
Fans had reason to put their faith in Disney. Both Marvel and Pixar have a near flawless resume under the mouse house.
But the stewardship transition from George Lucas to Disney executive and mega-producer Kathleen Kennedy has been a disaster, so much so that fans have discovered a new appreciation for the terribly flawed prequel trilogy.
“The Force Awakens” soared to box office records and rave reviews under the guidance of Kennedy and director J.J. Abrams, but the seeds of destruction were planted.
Aside from the staid repackaging of the Episode IV template, “The Force Awakens” began the Star Wars commitment to social justice and the politics of the left.
“The Force Awakens” introduced audiences to the main character Rey, pejoratively labeled a Mary Sue.
Mary Sue is the name given for female characters that are so perfect in every regard, it comes off as pandering.
In “The Force Awakens,” Rey is a skilled fighter who never needs help from anyone (especially a man), a skilled pilot who seemingly knows the Millennium Falcon better than Han Solo and Chewbacca, and powerful user of the force despite zero training.
Rey even defeats main villain Kylo Ren in one-on-one combat despite his years of tutelage under Luke Skywalker and a powerful Sith Lord.
Many fans rolled their eyes at the Mary Sue antics of Rey, but gave Disney the benefit of the doubt going into “Episode VIII: The Last Jedi.”
Kennedy and Disney doubled down on the social justice and turned Poe (a roguish pilot played by Oscar Isaac) into a mutinous stooge, introduced a storyline about income inequality, clumsily jammed in a thread about war profiteering, and completely neutered beloved character Luke Skywalker and the mysticism of the force itself.
The movie also introduced Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo – female general who spends the entire movie emasculating the male characters – who the fans gave the derisive nickname “Vice Admiral Gender Studies.”
Finally, the Last Jedi enraged fans by including a scene in a casino where the characters lectured the audience about the supposed evils of income inequality created by capitalism.
Critics, many of whom curry favor with Disney by providing positive reviews, gave the film glowing marks, but the fan reaction was far worse.
On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, critics gave “The Last Jedi” a score of 91%, but fans gave it a score of 46%.
That stark contrast was written off as “far-right” internet trolls and bots rigging Rotten Tomatoes to make the pro-social justice film look bad, but an executive for the site quickly threw water on that senseless claim.
The pathetic scapegoating of right-wingers cost Disney much of the goodwill it had going into “The Last Jedi,” which resulted in “Solo” tanking hard.
One would think Kathleen Kennedy and Disney would have learned their lesson after the negative backlash against “The Last Jedi” and the dismal performance “Solo,” but appears they haven’t.
Several mainstream media articles have blamed the box office dud on Star Wars fatigue, an absurd claim considering Marvel has released 19 smash hit films within a decade, the last two being the most successful comic book films of all time that were released a mere three months apart.
The media also laughably posited that films starring white males are no longer financially viable.
The problem is very clear. Leftism destroys everything it touches. Fans no longer have faith in the franchise because they’re wary of walking into a two-hour gender studies lecture.
That’s not to say the films shouldn’t have strong female characters, or aren’t allowed to weave in social commentary, but the films certainly need a defter touch.
Great storytelling is nearly impossible when an agenda is driving the story, and it appears Kathleen Kennedy has a very clear agenda:
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