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It's important while living and breathing in an echo chamber (in a fannish sense) to take time to step out of it.
Rian Johnson made a Star Wars movie that I didn't enjoy. I can point to ways that I think it was a disservice to various characters, and how it performs an illusion of subversiveness while ending up in the same place as before; but ultimately Johnson's film delivered for Disney. They hired him; they knew his record of focusing on white male villains. He gave them a critically praised movie that earned a decent profit.
Do I think it deserved that critical praise? Hell, no. But so what? So if Disney goes through with its plan to have Johnson write a trilogy of Star Wars films (this remains to be seen), I don't know if I'll watch them. I don't like his writing for women (who all got stuck "teaching important lessons" to the men in TLJ, and who basically don't exist in his previous works), for characters of color (ditto what I said about women in his writing), or even for those white male villains he likes so much, for the most part. Kylo's narrative didn't interest me, but it also didn't leave me feeling enraged. But again: so what? Disney ain't gonna go broke if I stop watching their Star Wars movies.
As for The Rise of Skywalker, nothing in the brief teaser trailer or the promotional material makes me believe that JJ Abrams is somehow going to retcon all of The Last Jedi. We already know that he's using footage of Carrie Fisher as Leia from Episode VII, so Rey's costume--similar to what she wore in that film--is probably meant to match, and not some refutation of everything Johnson wrote. Abrams is a crowd-pleasing filmmaker; crowds were, for the most part, okay with The Last Jedi. Why would Abrams go to the trouble of making something that explicitly contradicts Johnson's vision of Star Wars, especially when it would be easier to just move forward? He can always ignore the bits from Johnson that he doesn't want to use, in much the same way Johnson did with episode VII.
Anyway. Back to the echo chamber: ( just because I find fandom enclave trends interesting )
As for the ongoing talk of how Johnson's film "broke" Star Wars: I think that fits in the category of "we'll know someday... but not yet". Solo's spectacular underperformance was in large part due to its own failings: a bad reputation due to directorial misdirections and changes; a decision to keep the original release date, which led to a lack of promotional material in the months leading up to that release date. The number of people who stay away from the ninth film in the trilogy will probably be smaller than the vitriolic fans want to believe, and Disney does not care if some people are hate-watching; the money spends just the same.
The real test will be Johnson's own trilogy, in my opinion. The television shows coming out will probably stand on their own merits since they're not closely tied into the Skywalker heritage, and Rian Johnson isn't attached to those works. Plus, it appears there's going to be a break of unknown length before we get any new Star Wars films. Fans who were enraged by TLJ may feel more forgiving if Abrams wraps up the trilogy on a decently positive note; also, the hiatus effect will kick in, and desperation for new content may lead to provisional 'forgiveness' of LucasFilm.
Edited to add: disappointed reylo fans* after episode IX will probably not impact LucasFilm's profit margins either.
*Anyone who wants Rey and Kylo to interact in IX will probably be happy! Anyone who wants them to live happily ever after and make more Skywalker babies will probably not be happy. And if that does actually happen, I'll kondo-ize that story right out of my life, so it won't matter to me, either! (After I complain about it, of course. THAT'S WHAT I HAVE AN ONLINE BLOG FOR, OKAY?)
Rian Johnson made a Star Wars movie that I didn't enjoy. I can point to ways that I think it was a disservice to various characters, and how it performs an illusion of subversiveness while ending up in the same place as before; but ultimately Johnson's film delivered for Disney. They hired him; they knew his record of focusing on white male villains. He gave them a critically praised movie that earned a decent profit.
Do I think it deserved that critical praise? Hell, no. But so what? So if Disney goes through with its plan to have Johnson write a trilogy of Star Wars films (this remains to be seen), I don't know if I'll watch them. I don't like his writing for women (who all got stuck "teaching important lessons" to the men in TLJ, and who basically don't exist in his previous works), for characters of color (ditto what I said about women in his writing), or even for those white male villains he likes so much, for the most part. Kylo's narrative didn't interest me, but it also didn't leave me feeling enraged. But again: so what? Disney ain't gonna go broke if I stop watching their Star Wars movies.
As for The Rise of Skywalker, nothing in the brief teaser trailer or the promotional material makes me believe that JJ Abrams is somehow going to retcon all of The Last Jedi. We already know that he's using footage of Carrie Fisher as Leia from Episode VII, so Rey's costume--similar to what she wore in that film--is probably meant to match, and not some refutation of everything Johnson wrote. Abrams is a crowd-pleasing filmmaker; crowds were, for the most part, okay with The Last Jedi. Why would Abrams go to the trouble of making something that explicitly contradicts Johnson's vision of Star Wars, especially when it would be easier to just move forward? He can always ignore the bits from Johnson that he doesn't want to use, in much the same way Johnson did with episode VII.
Anyway. Back to the echo chamber: ( just because I find fandom enclave trends interesting )
As for the ongoing talk of how Johnson's film "broke" Star Wars: I think that fits in the category of "we'll know someday... but not yet". Solo's spectacular underperformance was in large part due to its own failings: a bad reputation due to directorial misdirections and changes; a decision to keep the original release date, which led to a lack of promotional material in the months leading up to that release date. The number of people who stay away from the ninth film in the trilogy will probably be smaller than the vitriolic fans want to believe, and Disney does not care if some people are hate-watching; the money spends just the same.
The real test will be Johnson's own trilogy, in my opinion. The television shows coming out will probably stand on their own merits since they're not closely tied into the Skywalker heritage, and Rian Johnson isn't attached to those works. Plus, it appears there's going to be a break of unknown length before we get any new Star Wars films. Fans who were enraged by TLJ may feel more forgiving if Abrams wraps up the trilogy on a decently positive note; also, the hiatus effect will kick in, and desperation for new content may lead to provisional 'forgiveness' of LucasFilm.
Edited to add: disappointed reylo fans* after episode IX will probably not impact LucasFilm's profit margins either.
*Anyone who wants Rey and Kylo to interact in IX will probably be happy! Anyone who wants them to live happily ever after and make more Skywalker babies will probably not be happy. And if that does actually happen, I'll kondo-ize that story right out of my life, so it won't matter to me, either! (After I complain about it, of course. THAT'S WHAT I HAVE AN ONLINE BLOG FOR, OKAY?)
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