Culture Wars in a Galaxy Very, Very Nearby - Belated Post-mortem
Reality, alas, appears to thwart assumptions, and not in a good way.
Back when I penned that piece on Star Wars for Areo Magazine in 2021, the franchise seemed to be in a precarious position. In spite of being multimedia behemoth, it stumbled through an identity crisis of Disney’s own making, and a faced a heavily divided fandom caught in perpetual culture wars. A part of me wants to believe that things have changed for the better over the past few years, while another’s more cynically inclined to think otherwise. The reality, alas, appears to thwart those assumptions, and not in a good way.
Culture Wars in a Galaxy Very, Very Nearby
Disclaimer: This article was originally posted on Areo Magazine on June 25, 2021. This has been republished in light of the publication shutting down business operations on November 6, 2023. Since the 1977 cinema premiere of A New Hope, the Star Wars
On the face of it, Star Wars looks to be on the up-and-up. Despite not having any theatrical releases since 2019’s Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker, as CNBC writer Sarah Whitten noted on December 30, 2023, the house that George Lucas built continues to dominate the Western pop culture zeitgeist. This has been attributed to a string of high-profile series released by Disney through streaming services, among the most notable being Andor in 2022 (a prequel to the well-received Rogue One) and Ashoka the following year. There’s a sense of self-awareness within the corporation regarding its missteps with the saga and diminishing returns in the box office. As Peter Csathy, founder of advisory firm Creative Media remarks:
“The Mouse House pivoted to a strategy of scarcity for the big screen, while fleshing out the characters and storylines on TV and introducing them — and the entire Star Wars universe — to new generations with new viewing habits, essentially going where the audience was going. This, in turn, builds anticipation and buzz for future main marquee events at a theater near you.”
If this seems too good to be true, it may well be. Amidst the PR and vocal praise, it’s difficult to shake off the sense that the franchise’s fortunes remain as volatile as ever. The idea that Kathleen Kennedy’s handling of Lucasfilm has done more harm than good, as noted by indie magazine Far Out’s Joe Williams on July 30, 2023, has become more openly seen as common knowledge than just opinion. As Disney’s own “Plan for Shareholder Value Creation” for March 2024 would attest, it has seen only a 2.9x return on investment, which while still substantial is neither the House of Mouse’s most profitable IP nor even in the top three (that honor going to Frozen and its 9.9x ROI).
As acknowledged by Stephanie Fried, chief marketing officer for mainstream wiki platform Fandom in the CNBC article:
“I think that creators in these worlds have to find ways to build them and expand the audiences while making sure that it doesn’t skew too much from what the core fans love about it.”
Irrespective of efforts to turn things around, the saga remains mired in, or at least tarnished by, the culture wars in some manner. The cancellation and eventual ostracization of Gina Carano continues to cast a long shadow, especially given her ongoing plans, as revealed in a March 14, 2024 interview with Hollywood Reporter, to sue Lucasfilms and Disney for “discrimination and wrongful termination.” Meanwhile even a cursory glance at social media reveals a heavily polarized landscape. While the “Fandom Menace” remains vocal in opposing what’s seen as a “woke” affront to George Lucas’ work, communities like the Saltierthankrayt subreddit have become similarly loud, albeit more on attacking perceived reactionaries and bigots than defending Star Wars in its current form.
Yet despite claims to the contrary, including from Salon as recently as 2022, the days when negative feedback could be handwaved as coming from a vocal minority have long passed, especially when the discourse around the franchise is just as likely to come from the outrage as it is to involve criticism. Does it have to be this way, though?
While I’d like to say that many of the points raised in the 2021 article remain just as valid now, at the rate things are going, it looks like any serious effort will take much longer than even my best hopes at the time.
As a mild aside, for those wondering why things have been slow lately, I’ve had other commitments, including my day job. At the same time, I’ve been working on a couple of longform pieces that will eventually show up on here once everything’s settled down!
In any case, feel free to stay tuned! And cheers!