Kathleen Kennedy Discusses Challenges Women Face with Toxic Male Fandom in Star Wars: “It’s Terrifying”

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It’s no secret that the Star Wars fandom is going through some social issues. Recently, the franchise has focused more on female leads and representation in its live-action projects. Some fans think this is great, while others criticize this direction.

The reasons for the criticism vary. Some fans are genuinely misogynistic, but many feel that the female and minority representation seems forced and ends up feeling flat and bland, just being included for the sake of it, which they believe makes the overall product worse.

Kathleen Kennedy and the female leads of Star Wars shows and movies often face attacks. The most recent example is ‘Star Wars: The Acolyte,’ which has been heavily criticized and boycotted online even though it hasn’t aired a single episode yet.

During the promotion for the show, which premieres on June 4th, Kennedy tried to explain why women in Star Wars are generally treated worse than in other franchises. Speaking to the New York Times, Kennedy pointed out the toxic male fandom and described how terrifying it is to be a woman in Star Wars right now.

I think a lot of the women who step into Star Wars struggle with [toxic fandom attacks] a bit more. […] Because of the fan base being so male dominated, they sometimes get attacked in ways that can be quite personal… Operating within these giant franchises now, with social media and the level of expectation — it’s terrifying.

While I agree that personal attacks are wrong and should stop, I understand why many male Star Wars fans feel like their franchise is being taken over and ruined—but it’s not because of female representation.

In recent years, the quality of writing has dropped significantly across all Disney projects, leading to worse shows and movies. Both Bob Iger and MCU’s Kevin Feige have admitted this.

Instead of forcing virtue signaling into everything, maybe they should focus on creating great stories again. That’s what made them famous in the first place.

What are your thoughts? Share them in the comments below!

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