Disney learned the very hard way what conservatives have been warning us for years.
The Mouse House’s horrendous 2023 is finally over, but an attempt to revitalize its prized IP already has a whiff of woke to it.
It comes courtesy of “Star Wars: New Jedi Order” director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy.
The film saga has been in dry dock over the past five years. One potential film after another drew big headlines before getting shut down.
Patty Jenkins and Kevin Feige’s ‘STAR WARS’ films have been shelved.
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) March 7, 2023
(Source: https://t.co/uMWgnnYY6s) pic.twitter.com/X5a2CZfwtJ
The series has been in trouble for some time.
“Rise” earned dramatically less than the first “Star Wars” film from the Disney production line. Plus, “Solo: A Star Wars Story” proved a financial disappointment.
That leads to “New Jedi Order,” which follows actress Daisy Ridley’s Rey character into a story untethered to the Skywalker saga.
Obaid-Chinoy of “Ms. Marvel” fame just suggested the first “Star Wars” film since 2019’s “Rise of Skywalker” may actually start production soon. “Soon” is subjective, of course. As of November, Ridley had yet to read a finished script of the film, to be penned by “Peaky Blinders” alum Stephen Knight.
The director teased the project during a New Year’s Eve interview on the far-Left CNN.
“I’m very thrilled about the project because I feel what we’re about to create is something very special. And we’re in 2024 now, and it’s about time that we had a woman come forward to shape a story in a galaxy far, far away.”
CNN did its part to push the director’s Identity Politics bona fides, describing Obaid-Chinoy as the first woman and first person of color to direct a “Star Wars” film.
That’s CNN being CNN, which ignored female directors like Bryce Dallas Howard and Deborah Chow. Both have directed episodes of small-screen “Star Wars” projects.
Still, Obaid-Chinoy is reading from the dog-eared playbook that has sent Disney’s fortunes into a tailspin.
She’s also flat-out wrong.
Carrie Fisher’s Princess Leia played an outsized role in the first three “Star Wars” films. More recently, actress Felicity Jones headlined “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” and small-screen “Star Wars” projects include “Ahsoka,” led by Rosario Dawson, and other strong female heroes (Gina Carano’s Cara Dune).
The director’s quote recalls Jennifer Lawrence lamenting the dearth of female action heroes while ignoring pioneers like Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), Princess Leia and Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton).
Sigourney Weaver Thanks Jennifer Lawrence For Paving The Way For Female Action Heroes https://t.co/nIeO9QGfBj
— The Babylon Bee (@TheBabylonBee) December 8, 2022
The bigger issue is clear.
Once again, a “Star Wars” project may be defined by its woke bona fides, not the power of the story or premise. Ridley’s Rey is already working at a disadvantage. The character never became a beloved part of the “Star Wars” franchise like the key figures from the original trilogy.
She’s often dismissed as a “Mary Sue,” a near-perfect figure who doesn’t even work hard to achieve her Jedi powers.
We don’t even know if “New Jedi Order” will even make it into production given Disney’s recent “Star Wars” woes.
One thing remains clear.
New year, same woke messaging from a member of the Mouse House.
