Lucasfilm says a Mandalorian movie is in production, and the tentative title puts the Mandalorian and his little green partner right there in the name. How cute is that? I don’t know if that’s the real title or a working title. I think we’re just going to go with working title at this point.
The director’s been announced, they’re kind of getting together what the thing is, and I’m sure he’ll probably do some writing duties too. There’s been a lot of question about it, because the man running Ahsoka was supposed to be doing a live-action movie, and a lot of people thought this was going to be that one. I myself always thought his movie was going to be the culmination of the whole Ahsoka story.
Ahsoka Season 2, Announced in One Sentence
Funny enough, they didn’t formally announce that there was an Ahsoka Season 2. It was a sentence in a paragraph of the story. The story comes out, and meanwhile, oh, he’s busy working on Ahsoka Season 2. One sentence. Literally one sentence. I’m like, what do you mean? Star Wars did finally put the word out itself later, but I thought it was so funny. Oh really, guys? Wow. Okay.
So there’s more Ahsoka coming, and by the way, I loved Ahsoka. My co-host and I reviewed it together, and you can go back and check out those reviews yourself. I’m excited for what they’re doing, especially with the man behind it being the new Chief Creative Officer. I believe that’s a huge win.
The Rey Movie, and the Quote
Then some problematic news came out, and I need everyone to understand something before I get into any of it. I’m a hardcore Star Wars fan. I’m in the bag for all these things. Did I love the prequel trilogy? No. Upon rewatch, though, I find value in it, and I love elements of it. Revenge of the Sith has been watched in my house ad nauseam, so much so that Baby Know-It-All can quote parts of that last stretch. “You’re breaking my heart.” She does it, and I’m just like, y’all are killing me.
We’ve all heard there’s going to be a Rey Skywalker movie, and it’s about her starting the new Jedi Order. The director is a documentarian and a journalist, she’s done some really good work, and her getting the job isn’t an issue for me. None whatsoever. In one particular interview she goes into a brief thing about how it’s about time Star Wars had a woman directing the story.
Obviously a whole bunch of people online got real nasty about it. I’m not trying to get nasty about it. But I tweeted this out when it happened: why take this stance? Why feed the fanboys out there who don’t need any help getting inflamed and upset about nonsense? Why make it a gender stance?
I don’t care whether you’re a man, a woman, trans, or you identify as anything you want. Those things don’t bother me. Make me a good freaking Star Wars movie. You make me a good Star Wars movie and I couldn’t care less about any of that nonsense. So don’t sit there and tell me it’s about time a woman did this or that. Go make me a good Star Wars movie. That’s what I want to see.
Because right now the entire franchise is looking super weak in a lot of corners. Like I just said, I liked Ahsoka. The numbers don’t bear out for the Obi-Wan series and some of the others. Book of Boba Fett was met with lackluster at best. The Mandalorian was really good and then all of a sudden has kind of had some waves. So just make a good thing.
What My Co-Host Said
I’m a card-carrying feminist myself, but I wanted to hear it from a feminist and a woman, so I asked my co-host what she thought of the quote and the position the director took.
Upon further review of the play, she said, the comment was really pointed at the fact that there hasn’t been a female director of a Star Wars movie. Plenty of women have directed things for Star Wars. Nobody’s directed one of the films. Okay. That’s fair.
Her one concern, her only concern, was the résumé. This director is very well known for her documentary work and her journalism. She’s won tons of awards. She’s got an Emmy and Oscars for it. She’s very talented. Going from that to “we’re going to do a Star Wars movie now” didn’t sit real well with her.
I hear that. Come to find out, though, she did direct two episodes of Ms. Marvel. So she’s touched this kind of thing before.
Where the two of us kept landing is the same place: give me a good Star Wars story. The ones that got named at our table were Andor and Rogue One, the stories sitting outside of everything else. Those are really, really good, and there’s so much more story to tell in Andor before we ever get to the buildup of Rogue One.
Rey, and the Mary Sue Argument
That matters especially here, because of what Rey was given. My co-host put it plainly: she wasn’t fulfilled. There was nothing there to bite into.
Part of that is the argument about the hero’s journey, the Mary Sue argument. I do not subscribe to the Mary Sue concept. I do think a lot of things came easy for her, but I feel like there are places and ways you can explain certain things, and I think you’re getting good storytelling overall.
It’s funny, I liked the sequel trilogy one movie at a time. I liked The Force Awakens as its own thing. I liked the second one, the one Rian Johnson did, as its own thing, meaning not connected to the first and definitely not connected to the last. The last one, I wish I could’ve seen whatever it was a continuation of, because it wasn’t the continuation of the first two movies. Each one by itself, as a standalone, was good. As a whole it really suffered.
Success Is the Revenge
Somebody watching made a really good observation about the director: I’m not suffering from the same kind of prejudice women are. That’s true. I do believe that. I also think there’s been a lot more of a turn, culturally speaking, on that kind of thing.
Part of my issue has always been the throw-it-in-your-face-ness of it. I hate the phrase social justice, forgive me, but I’m talking about that whole idea of “I am less than.” I feel like sometimes people want to shout too loud. For something to be accepted as normal, it needs to just be normal. In the effort to normalize, you can end up standing too far in front of people’s faces.
It’s like the short guy with the short guy complex who wants to get in front of every big guy’s face. Trust me, I know something about short guys wanting to get in my face. What’s going on with you? What’s going on with you? And I’m like, whoa, hey, it’s all good.
Same thing here. She may make the best Star Wars movie ever. So why pigeonhole yourself out of the gate? You make a successful Star Wars movie and that’s all you need to do to show people. It’s what I taught my daughter, and it’s what I tell people all the time: your actions are always going to speak louder than your words. You know what gets revenge? Success. Seriously. I think it’s a huge missed opportunity not to realize that your success is your greatest shot at, quote unquote, revenge.
Why I’m Hopeful Anyway
Having said all that, my co-host made the case for her, and it’s a good one. That journalism background is super valuable for a movie about Rey and the next Jedi Order. A lot of her documentary work is about the trials women go through, horrors against women, and my co-host thinks that will definitely translate. She’s really hopeful this director can get Rey to feel what she captured in those documentaries.
I’m hoping that’s exactly why they hired her. I’m positive we’re going to get a strong character.
And by the way, I’m in the bag for these things. I’m still going to watch it.
So there you go. Now you know, and if knowing is half the battle, you’re halfway to being a know-it-all yourself.
Your turn. Tell me what you think of the Star Wars news that’s dropped, whether it’s the Mandalorian movie, the director’s quote, or just how excited you are for the Rey movie. We try to keep these things positive, because at the end of the day we’re all fans of stuff and there’s no reason to get mad at each other. Things change, it ebbs and flows, and I’m down for it. The conversation lives in the comments on the video above.
