ST If there's a female lead... is Disney going after the Hunger Games money/audience?

Of course the unaware misogynist is a Hal fan. Cue defensive, shocked, innocent victimized reaction.

 

If they going after the Hunger Games audience the they are selling the brand short. All they need to do is go for the The New Hope audience and they'll bring their kids and grand kids and the cinema managers will have heart attacks when they see the till receipts. But The Hunger Games and Twicrap prove you can have big blockbusters with female leads.

 

I would say setting Star Wars Episode VII in a Galaxy far Far Away means that Disney is going after the Star Wars audience.
Also if they include R2D2 they may be going after the toaster audience too.

 

I'm not really concerned about being geared towards the "Hunger Games" audience. This is Star Wars, it transcends age and gender. If they do decide to go with a female lead so be it. If they don't I'm OK with that too. You know there is at least going to be one new male main character and one female main character.

 

I'm not going to argue. You're entitled to your views and opinions

Hal is the best

 

Of course. I mean, even if the quote was accurate, its originator probably didn't have anything nefarious in mind. I just think that motives don't really matter if the end product is good. Let's say Lucas intended a male, and it was made female. Let's also say the end product is good and makes tons of money. Sure, whoever made the decision is probably wringing his hands together in money - but why get worked up about it when there's an enjoyable movie to watch?

Oh - not to disparage the man's acting skills at all. He's aces in my book all around. I think he absolutely brings things to the story that no one else could. But when you look at how whitewashed the rest of the movie is (especially considering its setting,) it's obvious that someone leaned that way in casting - not because of affirmative action or anything - but because not having a black guy in there just wouldn't be realistic. In that same vein, it's just not realistic that of all the Jedi we see in the movies, the only ones with speaking parts are men. Are you telling me that not one female Jedi had anything to say that could have impacted any of the events in the movies?

And again, I agree with you here. I have written three novels, and in two of them, genders are interchangeable. My third novel is about a transgendered youth - and in that one, it absolutely makes a difference! If the story necessitates one gender over the other for a good reason - they of course shouldn't change it. But if it doesn't matter either way (and in so many stories it doesn't,) I say it's only fair to give a female lead some spotlight for a change - regardless of original vision. You admit to being biased by what you want to see - everyone is. I'm biased because of my daughters. I have a much better chance of relating to them if they can get excited about something I like. They have a hard time relating to male protagonists. My bias says everyone should have a chance to relate to Star Wars, and so we need a female protagonist. (It's also about time we start to get some more ethnic diversity - especially considering the heavy Japanese influence in the story.)

 

You haven't really given an example of a story. You have simply reiterated the conditions under which you think a story should be written. My point being, even if a female character were pushed on us, we would not even be able to tell the difference. The only reason to worry about commercial influences changing the course of the films is assuming they would harm the quality of the film. Given that we both agree the gender of the main character is unlikely to harm to quality of the film, it seems irrelevant to me whether the decision will be made with commercial or artistic interests in mind.

I'm sorry you feel I twisted your words, but I did not actually do that at all. My statement structured in an "If/Then" format, meaning only if the statement beginning with "If" was actually true would the statement following it also be true. If my "If" statement does not characterize your view, then you can also assume that we agree my second statement does not apply to you, either. The relationship is conditional. However, given the context of this conversation, you should not be surprised if people reading your post do indeed read it that way. We are not discussing Disney's general attitude toward the fans, we are discussing the possibility of a female lead and the reasons why Disney would choose to make such a choice. If you didn't want that read into your statement, I'm not sure why you posted it...

I'm not sure where you are getting the idea that Disney is operating under the assumption that they can do no wrong, anyway. If anything, they seem especially attuned to the wants of the fans and have every intention of avoiding the pitfalls of the prequels. But if you were not talking about this in the context of a female lead, I'm not sure why we are discussing it.

 

Girls drool and guys rule! That is all.

 

Well at least you're efficient with your words.

 

Haha I just thought the thread needed some laughter.

 

Not to play devil's advocate here - but Forrest Gump. Sure, the flashbacks wouldn't change if it was Forrestina, but the man is waiting for the bus so he can go see his old flame so she can tell him he's a dad. That doesn't work with a woman. Conversely, I forget the name of the flick - the one where Natalie Portman gave birth in a Wal-Mart - that one doesn't work with a man. They're few and far between, but they exist.

 

Dem ladiez all be havin' wombs! So as long as our third generation Skywalker hero(ine) doesn't have any reproductive drama, we're cool?

edit: oh hai there, eerily topical discussion point: http://io9.com/the-most-ridiculous-mystical-pregnancies-in-fiction-1444515141

 

For the record, who is Dani and what is GOT?

 

Annoying self-righteous and hypocritical female lead of the Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire TV/book series

 

I purposely didn't give the example you requested because it is not germane to the point I was making. I worded my answer to you the way I did to illustrate that my concern is that we see Lucas' vision translated to the big screen. Period. Regardless of the gender of the protag.

If you want an example of a story were gender matters, just consider BBYD's trans-gendered story, or my little hypothetical story about the mother and son I spoke about with BBYD. If you honestly need someone to literally provide you with examples of stories where gender matters, then I'd say "seek them out yourself." There's an entire world of wonderful literature out there! The examples you seek exist, and I feel to suggest otherwise is silly.

I understand, but you did quote me and then say "If by "no matter what we do with the franchise" we mean "even if we make the main character female..." which can be read as an implication that I am saying "even if we make the main character female..." which is something I never said or implied. I've stated more than once that I am not against the idea of a female protagonist to begin with (just that my greatest interest happens to lie with the potential character of Luke's son, and that if we cannot have dual-protagonists, I would prefer the story revolve more around "Ben," more so than "Jaina," "Jacen," or what have you).

Frankly, if your "if statements" are not aimed at me, but meant as a more general statement, I think it might be best simply not to quote me before sharing them, as again, it's all too easy to read it as something which you may not have intended.

As to what we are and are not discussing, well, in addition to the topic of a female protag, I had also been discussing Disney's general attitudes towards the fans in a more roundabout manner with multiple users, none of whom seem to have been unable to distinguish the difference. Yes, I added something to the conversation, but I did so because the quote I referenced touched upon both the topic of female leads, and what I interpret as Disney's possible larger view of the fan base.

Finally, I took the time to reply here as a matter of politeness, but if it's all the same to you, let's just leave it at this? I feel I'm just spinning my wheels here, simply restating the same opinion different ways (and besides, I'm logging off shortly to get ready for the season premier of the Walking Dead).

 

Wait. Is it confirmed its going to be a female lead? I have not been keeping up with my Ep. VII news.

 

If it was not germane to your point, I do not know why you bothered to include the idea in your post. As far as we can tell, you and OP both felt there were stories that excluded the possibility of a female protagonist. I was merely seeking to challenge this assumption in the form of a question.

My point is not that such stories do not exist. Obviously, they do. But they are few and far between and the Star Wars saga is unlikely to include such plot lines. As such, I think there is little point in worrying about whether a female protagonist could be forced onto the franchise. Either way, the gender of the protagonist is unlikely effect the quality of the film, so any fears about commercial interests inappropriately forcing the writer to create a female main character are unwarranted, in my mind.

Again, I never said or implied this is what you meant. I explicitly positioned the statement to allow you to clarify your position if you cared to, but also allowed me to respond to your comment in a fashion that related to the topic at hand. I quoted you because, either way, my post was a response to yours. We were engaged in a discussion and everything I wrote was in response to ideas you posed, even if not refuting or attacking positions you expressed.

To be clear, I responded merely to clarify the intention behind my previous posts, not to bait you back into this discussion. If you are not interested in discussing it further, I can respect that. I'll probably go watch The Walking Dead, myself I completely forgot it was premiering tonight!

 

I like the concept of a female lead a lot! I think it's time for one! And it looks like SOTJ isn't happeing anymore so now would be a good time. Let's mix things up for a change.

 

Which is a notion so far off the mark, it tells me that, unfortunately, you've missed the boat on what I was saying, entirely. That said, I don't know how else to say it (and I'd imagine nobody else wants to hear it again), so we'll simply have to agree to disagree on the matter (though as an aside, I would caution you to say 'as far as you - as opposed to "we" - can tell,' because, again, nobody else seems to have had any trouble understanding the two distinct (though not entirely unrelated) fronts I was speaking on.

If I were one to play devil's advocate, I would argue that we cannot possibly know this as of yet. The story could go in any number of directions. But I digress.

So you've said. That's fine. I wouldn't expect everybody to share the same feelings on matters of the world. Likewise, I'm certain you understand that not everyone shares your opinion on the manner in which commercial interests can potentially affect an artistic endeavor.

Yes, but as I was speaking plainly enough and carrying on a discourse with folks who, if not fully embraced, at least understood perfectly my position, I did not see the need for further explanation, Thusly, your reply felt more a carefully worded provocation on your part than a plea for clarification. I appreciate that you've twice taken the time now to set me straight on the matter. It would seem that where you may have misinterpreted my stance, I may have been too suspicious of your intentions!

Yes, though I don't mind replying to clear up any misunderstandings, as I said, I don't feel that I'm contributing anything new to the topic at-hand. So, unless there's more you'd like to discuss, I think it's best if I take my leave. I hope you enjoyed W.D.

 

It's not confirmed, and you're right... the thread title could have been misleading. I've changed it a little bit now.

 

Wait, what? I hadn't heard. I was looking forward to the books.

 

Nice to see someone telling it as it is. God I hate her character! Arya FTW!

 

What is SOTJ?

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

 

Sword of the Jedi. What was supposed to be a forthcoming series of books centered around Jaina Solo.

 

Lucas flirted with the idea of having a female lead in the original Star Wars and his original pre-ROTJ plan for the sequel trilogy included the return of the "other", Luke's sister (not Leia) to be co-protagonist with Luke, so it should surprise no one if there is a female protagonist in the new movies and I don't think it will owe a thing to Hunger Games.