Kathleen Kennedy: Legitimate Gripes or Blistering Mysogyny?

[Pinsir]

I've been a casual observer of Star Wars salt for many years near, opting for the more cerebral platform of Star Trek, I couldn't help but grin as a mob of fans cried monotonously, "George Lucas r**** our childhood!" Now it seems the fandom has outgrown its loathing of George Lucas and now have a hate boner for Kathleen Kennedy, current president of Lucas Films.

Just type in Kathleen Kennedy in Youtube and you'll hear cries for her to be expelled from Lucas Film and that she is the primary culprit behind Star Wars current quality and now financial decline. Thing is, most of these people are the usual 'gentlemen' that spout buzzwords like EssJayDoubleuu and the like, i.e. loser alt-right babies. But now since Solo I'm seeing her face plastered on the tumbnails of videos from people I don't think are openly misogynistic. You can even seeing progressive voices criticize her for failing to introduce more female and minority directors.

Is the hatred towards Kathleen Kennedy justified or are these people just crybabies?

[KurtW95]

Legitimate. Under her leadership, the Star Wars franchise was hit with a sledge hammer, then run over with a truck repeatedly.

[Username taken]

I've been a casual observer of Star Wars salt for many years near, opting for the more cerebral platform of Star Trek, I couldn't help but grin as a mob of fans cried monotonously, "George Lucas r**** our childhood!" Now it seems the fandom has outgrown its loathing of George Lucas and now have a hate boner for Kathleen Kennedy, current president of Lucas Films.

Just type in Kathleen Kennedy in Youtube and you'll hear cries for her to be expelled from Lucas Film and that she is the primary culprit behind Star Wars current quality and now financial decline. Thing is, most of these people are the usual 'gentlemen' that spout buzzwords like EssJayDoubleuu and the like, i.e. loser alt-right babies. But now since Solo I'm seeing her face plastered on the tumbnails of video from people I don't think are openly misogynistic. You can even seeing progressive voices criticize her for failing to introduce more female and minority directors.

Is the hatred towards Kathleen Kennedy justified or are these people just crybabies?

A lot of the criticisms are undoubtedly misogynistic. There are lots of young "incels" that latch onto the anti-women feelings on YouTube.

That being said, I don't know if Kennedy is solely responsible but I have a problem with the way Star Wars is being handled right now. I hated the Last Jedi because of what was done to Luke and for the movie being severely dull. I also hate the "Star Wars every year" like Marvel strategy, it's a hotly debated topic but I think seeing Star Wars every year strips away it's mystique. Not to mention I've yet to see Lucasfilm truly commit to representation creatively and otherwise beyond putting white women in starring roles (Finn to me was completely rubbished in The Last Jedi, I would prefer to see more Landos and Mace Windu's than comedic black ex-stormtroopers).

[ChrisIII]

Are people aware of her career before Lucasfilm? She was pretty much involved-along with her husband Frank-in co-producing pretty much every Spielberg directed or produced movie starting with "Raiders of the Lost Ark".

I would argue she really helped to make Spielberg a massive hit machine-at that time, although "Close Encounters" and "Jaws" were hits, he was otherwise known for some iffy comedies. But then she comes along and you've got Indy , E.T, Jurassic Park, and the produced Poltergeist, Gremlins, Goonies, Back to the Future etc.

[Carabas]

Nobody is flawless, but a good 90% of the hate seems obvious blistering misogyny. And also very obvious racism because this only started once people of colour started to get big parts in Star Wars movies.

[Username taken]

Nobody is flawless, but a good 90% of the hate seems obvious blistering misogyny. And also very obvious racism because this only started once people of colour started to get big parts in Star Wars movies.

Agreed.

Lots of rampant sexism on YouTube and online as a whole. Not to mention the mere sight of minorities automatically a very small but very vocal contingent of racists.

Unfortunately, legitimate criticism of Disney's Star Wars has been hijacked by these guys.

[The Negative Zone]

It'd be easier to debate every one of these supposed "grievances" and see if they have any merit. Not everyone is going to like the new direction and its a large fandom where everything is going to be divisive. Frankly there's no point in listening to the fans. However, the fact is Star Wars is bigger than ever, as long as it makes money then that's all the higher ups care for.

[mathew101281]

can't it be both? Their is nothing about the two options that make them exclusive.

[Pinsir]

A lot of the criticisms are undoubtedly misogynistic. There are lots of young "incels" that latch onto the anti-women feelings on YouTube.

That being said, I don't know if Kennedy is solely responsible but I have a problem with the way Star Wars is being handled right now. I hated the Last Jedi because of what was done to Luke and for the movie being severely dull. I also hate the "Star Wars every year" like Marvel strategy, it's a hotly debated topic but I think seeing Star Wars every year strips away it's mystique. Not to mention I've yet to see Lucasfilm truly commit to representation creatively and otherwise beyond putting white women in starring roles (Finn to me was completely rubbished in The Last Jedi, I would prefer to see more Landos and Mace Windu's than comedic black ex-stormtroopers).

But how much of the creative direction behind the flaws of The Last Jedi are her fault? Rian Johnson wrote and directed the film, he had an envious amount of control over the property you just don't see in most big tent films. Maybe since she hired him she is at fault by extension? As for Solo I think it was conflict from Kasdan as to how the script should be treated that provoked Lord and Miller to be fired. Though, maybe you shouldn't hire comedy guys to direct a film if you wanted a more serious movie...I guess if you steer the ship you are responsible for all the shortcomings under your watch.

I don't think she's at fault for yearly yearly installments though, that reeks of Disney trying to recoup their 4 billion purchase and place Lucas Film on an assembly line like the Marvel films are. The difference is, I don't think Lucas Film was prepared for that, they really aren't a major production company. Just look at what they were making before the Disney purchase, barely anything.

There was some word a while back that it was a WB exec who ordered the theatrical cuts of BvS and SS and yet, despite the backlash these films get, no one posts an image of this dude whenever they discuss the failings of the DCEU or can even remember his name!

[Darkseid Is]

I honestly never heard of Kathlene Kennedy or Kevin Feige or any of these people until recently. I think Feige has it a little easier since you can change little things here and there to have the characters fit the cinematic universe. Kennedy is working off of a pre existing movie universe so Han better be Han and Luke better be Luke or there will be hell to pay. It must be incredibly difficult to try and please everyone.

[sirmarkus]

I don't really see the quality of Star Wars as slipping either. I've enjoyed all the new Star Wars films(haven't seen Solo yet), and Rebels was really, really good. I think a lot of the complaints stem from people mad that they aren't getting to see what they want on the screen. I mean really, if you want to see Oscar quality stories, Star Wars has never been the place.

[Username taken]

But how much of the creative direction behind the flaws of The Last Jedi are her fault? Rian Johnson wrote and directed the film, he had an envious amount of control over the property you just don't see in most big tent films. Maybe since she hired him she is at fault by extension? As for Solo I think it was conflict from Kasdan as to how the script should be treated that provoked Lord and Miller to be fired. Though, maybe you shouldn't hire comedy guys to direct a film if you wanted a more serious movie...I guess if you steer the ship you are responsible for all the shortcomings under your watch.

I don't think she's at fault for yearly yearly installments though, that reeks of Disney trying to recoup their 4 billion purchase and place Lucas Film on an assembly line like the Marvel films are. The difference is, I don't think Lucas Film was prepared for that, they really aren't a major production company. Just look at what they were making before the Disney purchase, barely anything.

There was some word a while back that it was a WB exec who ordered the theatrical cuts of BvS and SS and yet, despite the backlash these films get, no one posts an image of this dude whenever they discuss the failings of the DCEU or can even remember his name!

Good points.

No one actually outside of Disney/Lucasfilm really know the extent of Kathleen Kennedy’s influence. Rian Johnson basically had free hand to do whatever he wanted in Episode 8 which itself was a mistake because there should have been a rough outline for these new movies. Making up stuff as we go along is definitely not the way to go particularly with the main saga movies. I think she gets some blame for hiring Lord and Miller because they’re comedy guys. It’s like Marvel hiring James Gunn to do GoTG and complaining about the humor when Mr Gunn is known for humor (some of it very crude for that matter). I also think she has enough clout to pump the brakes on the annual movie releases. As it were, a lot of analysts are attributing a lot of Solo’s underperformance to its proximity to the Last Jedi (that’s obviously not the only reason but it’s a part of it).

Star Wars and Marvel are very different beasts and trying to emulate something akin to Marvel’s model would always lead to problems. Particularly when some of these movies are prequels that really add nothing knew to the franchise as a whole. The Force Awakens, Rogue One and The Last Jedi combined have already brought in about $4 billion, Disney have no reason to be pumping out movies every year.

Regarding the Kennedy hatred, it all goes back the anti-female thing we see a lot on YouTube and other male dominated forums. They’ve pretty much turned KK into a pantomime figure of hatred and lots of YouTubers desperate for clicks paste her face on everything. It’s pretty much bullshit because It’s one thing to criticize Lucasfilm/Disney and it’s another to demonize one woman.

[Darkseid Is]

Good points.

No one actually outside of Disney/Lucasfilm really know the extent of Kathleen Kennedy’s influence. Rian Johnson basically had free hand to do whatever he wanted in Episode 8 which itself was a mistake because there should have been a rough outline for these new movies. Making up stuff as we go along is definitely not the way to go particularly with the main saga movies. I think she gets some blame for hiring Lord and Miller because they’re comedy guys. It’s like Marvel hiring James Gunn to do GoTG and complaining about the humor when Mr Gunn is known for humor (some of it very crude for that matter). I also think she has enough clout to pump the brakes on the annual movie releases. As it were, a lot of analysts are attributing a lot of Solo’s underperformance to its proximity to the Last Jedi (that’s obviously not the only reason but it’s a part of it).

Star Wars and Marvel are very different beasts and trying to emulate something akin to Marvel’s model would always lead to problems. Particularly when some of these movies are prequels that really add nothing knew to the franchise as a whole. The Force Awakens, Rogue One and The Last Jedi combined have already brought in about $4 billion, Disney have no reason to be pumping out movies every year.

Regarding the Kennedy hatred, it all goes back the anti-female thing we see a lot on YouTube and other male dominated forums. They’ve pretty much turned KK into a pantomime figure of hatred and lots of YouTubers desperate for clicks paste her face on everything. It’s pretty much bullshit because It’s one thing to criticize Lucasfilm/Disney and it’s another to demonize one woman.

I mean she's out there in charge of Star Wars, right? If people don't like the way it's going they're going to blame her. Force Awakens was the only movie I really liked from all the new stuff but I dislike the others for specific reasons to those movies. I just hope it doesn't turn into one of those things where if you thought the Ghostbusters remake stunk it's because they're women.

[Jokerz79]

I mean she's out there in charge of Star Wars, right? If people don't like the way it's going they're going to blame her. Force Awakens was the only movie I really liked from all the new stuff but I dislike the others for specific reasons to those movies. I just hope it doesn't turn into one of those things where if you thought the Ghostbusters remake stunk it's because they're women.

Is there misogyny in "geek culture" sure it's everywhere and does some misogynist hijack the conversation? Most definitely and they're usually the loudest voices but that doesn't mean all criticism at Kathleen Kennedy is misogynist. She's the head and face of the company and some people are unhappy so of course she's going to get the blame. The closet parallels to her right now with the same situation are straight white males Zack Snyder and Michael Bay Snyder was hated by some fans and blamed for the current state of the DCEU with those unhappy with it and Bay for Transformers. So basically to quote Abe Simpson.

[Darkseid Is]

Y'know I never put it together... People only hated the DC movies because Snyder is a white male