Discussion Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy Star Wars Movie - NOT FILMING April 7th, 2024 (Blame Fredrik!)

Literally the more Star Wars content there is the more divided the fandom will be. Even if something comes along that many people like take Rogue One. I wouldn’t say it’s universally liked but I would say like 80% of people at least I talk to like it if not love it. But think about all the division that has come about based on just Kenobi, Mando, Boba, Andor. It’s not going to get better. What’s probably for the best is finding a part of the franchise you like and sticking to it. Still try out the new shows and movies. But you’ll always have the originals or prequels or whatever.

 

I've never heard of this director, who has apparently done great work in non-fiction as well as animation. What capacity does she have to direct a behemoth film in this franchise in this genre? So will this be a film free of "action" and more of an internal character journey? If so, while I personally wouldn't mind that, wow that's a huge risk. Forget that it will be labeled a "woke" bomb by the click bait media. I'm not sure this franchise can succeed in that direction? Who knows. This might be a complete disaster, or a Logan-esque hit.

 

Yeah, it's a weird choice. I'm definitely rooting for her (not sure why any SW fan wouldn't be), but I'd love to know what convinced LucasFilm that she was the right person for the job. Clearly they saw something in her that made them think she should be the one to start this new era of SW, but I wonder what it was. Of course, I wonder the same thing about Irving Kerschner and Richard Marquand, too. Their SW films turned out okay, so I'm hopeful that Sharmeen's will, as well.

 

Probably not the most popular opinion here, but I think one of the best ways to get fans back on board is for creators to scour the internet to find out what most SW fans really want to see in their films. Don't let it be known they are scouring but let it show through the products.

 

From a cynical perspective, I can imagine at least two reasons: Kathy wanted “Academy Award winning female director” in the press release headlines, and she thought Sharmeen would have good chemistry with her in the making-of documentary.

 

She did post a little something on her Instagram way back in (I believe) April or thereabouts. Here's the quote:

"I have always been attracted to the heroes journey and the world definitely needs more heroes! - the blueprints of the heroes we see on screen are rooted in reality - I’ve spent my life meeting real life heroes, who have overcome the most oppressive empires and battled impossible odds and that to me is the heart of Star Wars...which is why I was attracted to the promise of a new Jedi Order …And why I'm particularly excited about being immersed inside a Jedi Academy with a powerful Jedi Master"

 

I always see a lot of people say that we need a "big Star Wars fan" to direct everything, and I understand where that's coming from - but let's be honest, most big Star Wars fans kind of suck too.

 

Didn’t JJ say he was a big Star Wars fan?

Half of all modern directors prob see themselves as big Star Wars fan and credit A New Hope for inspiring them to direct movies

 

I don't take the view either, because the writers are the ones who at least need the greater understanding (whether labeled 'fans' or not). It's just one I've seen a lot in various places across the good ole internet in the "Disney era."

 

That's cool-- it will be interesting to see how she brings her first-hand experience with "real life heroes who have overcome the most oppressive empires" into SW. If done well, it could add some depth and perspective that we couldn't get from another director.

 

Here's an example of a good balance: Fan (Gareth Edwards) with input and tweaks from non-fan (Tony Gilroy)... the result could be something like Rogue One.

 

Pretty sure JJ Abrams did that for Rise of Skywalker

 

Yeah, no, absolutely not. The last thing anyone should do is try and appease people on the internet. Especially since those are not remotely close to representing the audience as a whole. Just tell the story you want to tell. Imagine if Lucas had gone with what everyone else thought was sensible to do, we wouldn't have Star Wars in the first place.

Quite frankly, JJ Abrams and TFA are as close as it gets to trying to go with "what fans want", in that it more or less went out of its way not to offend anybody, while throwing in tons of nostalgia. Hence its great reviews and great early reception from the audience. The less radical your approach is, the less likely you are to offend anybody. And if you don't offend someone, you are more likely to please a large part of the audience. You may not really thrill anyone in the long run, but that's a different matter. Because if you aim to do something that pleases one part of a very large audience, you a very likely to upset another part.

Basically, if you go nuts with something, you have a minor chance of making it big (see the first Star Wars), but also lots of chance for failure. Once you have made a big hit, it gets trickier, because the more your fanbase expands, the harder it gets to please everyone, and the more radicalised some fans will become if they don't get what they want. You can take a save approach (probably works best after some less well-received entries), and if you are lucky you get the reception TFA got. If you are not, everyone lambasts you for offering little more than a rehash. If you push the limits and go for something different, you may be lucky and have lightning strike more than once, or you end up with a TPM-like reception, where a sizeable group of fans just freaks out over it.

No matter what you do, the odds of pleasing everyone sink with every new entry into a franchise, as opinions by default will splinter more and more.

There is no such thing as "getting" a franchise though. Different people see different things and value different parts of a franchise. People who accuse creators of not "getting" something tend to mean "they didn't do what I wanted them to do", which is why any proclamation of that sort is so ridiculous. There are plenty of people who don't like the PT, or the ST. And a ton of people who do like them. Which of them gets to decide what is "correct" and which creative talent "gets" the franchise?
All anyone who says "X doesn't get the franchise" does, is insult other fans, indicating a lack of maturity and inability to think logically..

 

This is a very important point.

My wife is also big Star Wars fan and has been for most of her life, but she's never once shared opinions about Star Wars on the internet before. I would imagine that is the case for a much larger number of people than those who do share opinions.

And the ones who do share opinions have never agreed anyway.

 

A lot of those people who spend every day and night bashing something on the Internet are just seeking attention.

 

Star Wars Facebook group: posts a photo of Darth Vader from Empire Strikes Back

The same 10 people in the comments "MAN THIS IS SO MUCH BETTER THAN THOSE SEQUELS MAN I HATE REY AND THE BLACK FELLA DISNEY SUCKS, THE PREQUELS SUCK THEY HAD JAR JAR AND I HATE EVERYTHING AFTER 1983 AND EVEN ROTJ HAD MANY FLAWS"

 

Yeah, same with my girlfriend. She's a more casual fan who would never go online to post or read SW opinions, but when I tell her what some of loudest critics online say about the recent films, she completely disagrees with them.
Also, I find that when I'm actually in the theater watching the movies, the response is very different from what you would expect by reading comments online. For all three of the ST films, for example, you'd expect angry mobs based on the vitriol you see online, but what I actually experienced each time was a theater full of people who were genuinely enjoying themselves-- cheering and laughing in all the right spots.

 

I understand that trying to appease negative trolls on the internet isn't the way to go, but having an idea of what kinds of things people want or don't want can actually be somewhat helpful. If you leave things TOO open, you can get a big mess. There's a lot of helpful ideas out there that useful people express.