ST Diversity in the Sequel Trilogy (see warning on page 11)

@Darth Chiznuk "You're asking me to be rational. I know that is something I cannot do."

 

KK has also made sketchy statements regarding whether any women directors have the "experience" needed to handle a huge project like Star Wars, despite the fact that TLJ was Rian's first big budget gig, so I think we're long past giving Lucasfilm the benefit of the doubt on this issue.

 

Perhaps but we can’t use quotes to discuss the state of LFL in which there seems to be a high proportion of white male directors who are freely given not just one, but a bunch of movies to direct for unknown reasons (did they even have a pitch?) when the same company is trying to promote diversity, in the Diversity Thread? I think it’s a fair argument to have here.

 

(Did they even have a pitch?)

Yes. Yes they did.

Edited to add; come on, you can’t say “unknown reasons” when you’re talking about people with track records of making well regarded movies/TV. That’s a separate discussion from diversity, and pretending that the people hired aren’t eminently qualified for the job doesn’t make the point very well

 

Hollywood Reporter

 

Ava Duvernay liked this tweet and others about this situation of Lucasfilm

 

Imagine we followed this logic to determine the foods we could choose from in restaurants. Imagine only choosing from bangers & mash, fish & chips and yorkshire pudding or some closely resembled variant. Can't trust cuisines from other regions because they just aren't as good (completely based on merit of course).

 

To expand on your metaphor, Star Wars will also hopefully end up with an unofficial national dish of Chicken Tikka Masala once they invite a bit of variety into their production...

 

I find the idea that a company that has a female president, female general manager and female head of the Star Wars story group to somehow be against hiring women patently absurd. How about people actually wait and see who will be involved in the making all these new movies, before they start complaining about women not getting any chances from a female-led company?

There has been no word on who will write or direct the second and third movie of Johnson's trilogy, there has been no word on who will direct the various movies that get written by the GoT-makers, there has been no word on whether there are additional anthology movies in development, or who will be in charge of the various new tv-shows that are in development. 99% of the jobs have not even been announced yet, yet some people act like they are definately all going to be filled with nothing but white men. How about actually waiting until there is something to judge, before throwing around accusations that (so far) have no basis in reality?

It's not like you can't complain about a lack of females - or people of colour, or whatever other group of people you can think of - when it is clear whether that is actually the case. Doing so now is nothing but premature.

 

I wouldn’t go quite as far as “absurd”, but it does seem a bit OTT.
It seems that when it comes to diversity and progressiveness, organisations, people, and companies that are going in the right direction get more criticism for not going further and faster, than others do for not giving a **** at all.
Yes, there are female directors who are qualified to direct Star Wars, and I hope they do, and they should do, but while they are so rare in number as to be able to be the same 2-3 names that keep coming up, it does seem reasonable to give KK the BOTD that it’s just that it hasn’t worked out for whatsoever reason yet.
As with every aspect of diversity, it seems weird to zero in to one franchise rather than movies as a whole. I want more diverse movies, and I want Star Wars to keep up with the world. But Star Wars by itself can’t do all of it, and it seems simlpistic (and playing into the hands of the alt right) to automatically roll eyes when a white male is recruited.

 

Star Wars has been around for 41 years. Out of 24 people only one has woman ever been part of the writing process and that's way back in 1980.

TFA + TLJ + IX + Rogue One +Solo= 5 movies. All made by white men.

RJ has a trilogy.

Benioff and Weiss has a series of movies.

Yet, the same ole "why don't you wait" excuse is being pulled?

As for the idea that the pool of female directors/producers is so rare that the same 2-3 people are named... the articles I posted listed 10 women who can do the job.

People will list the more popular women of the moment but there are far more female directors and writers than one can think. They just don't get the same opportunities as a guy who directed a couple of indies and Breaking Bad episodes.

 

I would also like that, but I can’t get on board with the idea that a failure to hire her would be a failure, or that recruitment of others can be seen as an exclusion of her

 

This excuse always show up. Yes, let's wait



‘Star Wars’: 96% of Its Film Universe Writers and Directors Are White Men
http://variety.com/2018/film/column...ones-weiss-benioff-white-creators-1202689891/

 

I think that’s a bit of a misrepresentation - I’m absolutely not saying “wait, do nothing, and eventually this stuff sorts itself out”; there absolutely is a problem with representation in movies, and calling for change is what will bring it about.
But that that shouldn’t result in eye rolling when proven directors who seem potentially a good fit for Star Wars are hired who don’t fit the diversity requirements we all want.

 

I think “qualified” is the wrong word here; if we’re just talking about hiring directors who are eminently qualified for the job, then yes, of course there’s absolutely no reason not to have a moratorium on white straight males for a few years while representation takes priority. But surely the issue is slightly more complex than that, in that within such a narrow thing as a singular franchise, it’s not just about who is qualified for the job, it’s about who has the combination of factors that make that person right for a specific film, at a specific time (including their own availability and willingness to take it on)

I think there was a missed opportunity with IX before Trevorrow was hired - that hiring was a mistake, but I think JJ Abrams was possibly the only choice e he was sacked. I don’t think Solo was a film should be happening, and certainly there, something very different would have been welcomed. But I just don’t see that an announcement of D&D is cause for consternation, especially since we don’t yet know who will direct the films they write.

 

The problem with the "just be patient" is that it's so nebulous (what qualifies as "being patient" to you), and some people seem to want us to give them unlimited time to finally get around to this. It's like with Marvel, it's a decade since it's started and 20+ films and STILL not one has had a solo female director. But if you dare to point that out, it's either "well they should choose the best person for the job," which ONLY seems to come up in order to justify not hiring female/POC filmmakers, or "well be patient," (it's been ten years and 20 films, I'd argue that people have been remarkably patient already).

If they want to keep pumping these films out so quickly as well, well then the issue becomes even more noticeable (and them having to fire several of their previous choices doesn't help their case either). Meaningless "well we'll get to it eventually" platitudes only go so far, why can you not do it sooner? I mean what is the big deal, why is finding such filmmakers so hard for you?

 

Personally, I would say that if the next person announced to direct isn’t something other than a white straight man, that will be disappointing.

 

Also no one starts out "qualified" to direct films on this scale. You find out if they are or not, by giving them the opportunity. That's how all of the big directors got started. So arguing that directors "aren't qualified" isn't particularly convincing imo, we cannot know that for sure because they've not been given that shot yet.

 

I think you’re arguing with someone else, because I didn’t say that there aren’t other directors qualified.

 

In 2014: "JJ Abrams is great, let's hope the new movie will be directed/written by a poc... Maybe a woman of color!" "Daisy is great but the next protagonist will be a woc? Let's see"

In 2015: "So RO was directed and written by men too and the protagonist is other white british brunette... But let's see what will be the next solo movie and the directors of it and VIII!"

In 2016, 2017 and now: