Star Wars creator George Lucas has little to complain about these days.
Hes unofficially retired and his signature franchise fattened his wallet to the tune of $4 billion.
Lucas still fought back against those who said his Star Wars saga wasnt woke enough while receiving the Cannes Film Festivals honorary Palme dOr.
They would say, Its all white men Most of the people are aliens! The idea is youre supposed to accept people for what they are, whether theyre big and furry or whether theyre green or whatever. The idea is all people are equal.
He neednt say a syllable.
Star Wars, both the original trilogy and its lesser prequel series, gave us a diverse cast of heroes, universal themes and an underlying message of hope.
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Heck, if a desert planet farmer could free the galaxy from Darth Vader, we all can do something meaningful with our lives.
Thats the point. Its also one thats all but forgotten since Disney handed over that $4 billion check to Lucas in 2012.
Blockbusters come and go, but few sagas have inspired audiences quite like Star Wars. The films spawned a revolution in toy sales, endless pop culture off-shoots and who knows how many filmmakers careers. More than a few have cited Star Wars to this scribe as the spark behind their creative journeys.
The modern Star Wars universe, in sharp contrast, is a culture war battlefield. The stories reek of woke messaging. The cast and crew inject diversity talking points into their media interviews, never missing a chance to proclaim the sagas evolved agenda .
I know for a lot of people its so significant that there are so many women in these films, and I think thats wonderful. If that inspires people that maybe would have said Its not for me or I cant do that and [now] they say I can be that and I can do that, thats even better. You want it to be not a time of change, but a time of inclusion.
Thats Dave Filoni, Lucasfilms Chief Creative Officer.
The not-so-hidden message? The Star Wars franchise you know and love was problematic to the core. And we fixed it.
Except the only recent Star Wars project with a fraction of the fan devotion as the original series remains The Mandalorian. And that show fired one of its most popular stars, Gina Carano, for sharing the wrong views on social media.
Apparently, the former MMA star was too empowering.
We havent had a new Star Wars movie since 2019s The Rise of Skywalker. Since then, project after Star Wars project has been announced and put in dry dock .
Now, Disneys Kathleen Kennedy, president of Lucasfilm, pushes The Force is Female messaging and attacks audiences before new Star Wars titles even air.
Operating within these giant franchises now, with social media and the level of expectation its terrifying I think a lot of the women who step into Star Wars struggle with this a bit more. Because of the fan base being so male dominated, they sometimes get attacked in ways that can be quite personal.
Right on cue, the folks behind The Acolyte, the latest Disney+ Star Wars series, accepts the label that the show is the gayest project yet.
The messaging, both on screen and off, is relentless. So wheres the fun?
The Acolyte features a same-sex couple prominently in the story, highlights an all-female coven of witch-like warriors and demonizes the Jedi Knights, purportedly the heroes of the saga.
No one cared about the background of the original Star Wars creators. Films werent examined and re-examined for representation or diverse points of view. The Han-Leia romance mattered, but love and identity took a back seat to saving the galaxy.
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Lucas had a vision, one that a small army of artists carried out to the last, painstaking detail.
It worked like a charm, if memory serves.
Lucas took sizable heat following the release of the prequel trilogy. He caught more fire for tinkering with the original films, updating special effects and editing out minor moments considered canon by fans.
The 2010 film The People vs. George Lucas by Alexandre O. Philippe captured the mixed feelings fans had for Lucas. They worship his pop culture contributions and have plenty to say about them, too.
He mostly let the work speak for him.
Lucas created his space saga decades before the rise of social media. The modern storytellers arent so fortunate. They still seem intent on mocking critics and fans alike, dubbing those who resist some of the new storytelling tics racist and/or sexist.
Those barbs ricochet around social media, short-circuiting the bond between creator and fan.
The Acolyte showrunner Leslie Headland attacked classic Star Wars tales to The New York Times.
As a fan myself, I know how frustrating some Star Wars storytelling in the past has been. Ive felt it myself.
Shes in the minority. Legions of fans reveled in the original adventures of Han, Luke and Leia. They bought the lunch boxes, slept on Star Wars sheets and never worried about the number of minorities in a given scene.
Lucas tales sparked their imaginations, then and now. Fans wouldnt mind a new generation of storytellers who can stop lecturing and start telling amazing stories from a galaxy far, far away.
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Christian Toto is an award-winning journalist, movie critic and editor ofHollywoodInToto.com. He previously served as associate editor with Breitbart News Big Hollywood. Follow him at@HollywoodInToto.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
