Making documentaries on serious topics is a good idea. Hiring a documentarian to make a Star Wars movie strikes me as a very bad idea. A colossally bad idea. The skills needed to make a fine drama do not strike me as all that different than those required to make an impactful documentary. Not sure how those translate to a space opera universe inspired by Flash Gordon with battle sequences derived from swashbuckling adventures or WWII dogfights.
Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy has 39 or so credits to her name with most falling into the documentary category. Of the five that are not, two of those are for directing episodes of the Disney+ series Ms. Marvel which was the least watched MCU series at the time. Numbers aside, the show was not good at all and deserved far lower numbers than it got. That is my main issue with her. You do not have the appropriate experience and you were a part of a turd of a show though others are focusing on a quote from a few years ago.
The quote of note that everybody has their panties in a bunch over is “I enjoy making men uncomfortable.” Those on one side say she is trying to alienate a particular portion of the fanbase and make Star Wars into a female focused brand. It does sound like she doesn’t like men or wishes to alienate them from the story under the assumption that women will make up the financial difference. Others say the quote lacks context.
It does lack context. The quote is from an interview a few years back concerning a documentary she was releasing. The documentary was about acid attacks and honor killings. With that little bit of context, it sounds as if she thinks either all men are guilty or capable of such. Blaming a whole for what a few did/do does not make it any better.
I’m more concerned with the CNN interview where she said “I’m very thrilled about the project because I feel what we’re about to create is something very special. We’re in 2024 now, and it’s about time that we had a woman come forward to shape a story in a galaxy far, far away.” Why is it important to do now and what makes her the one to do it? While she may be the first to direct a Star Wars film, other women have been contributing to Star Wars for decades.
Marcia Lucas contributed as much as her ex-husband (with some saying more) to A New Hope which started it all. Kathleen Kennedy has been at the helm of Lucasfilm since Disney bought it. And numerous women have contributed to the content of various episodes of assorted Star Wars shows since Clone Wars at the minimum if not the ABC animated shows of the 80s. Her comment ranks right up there with Jennifer Lawrence’s concerning The Hunger Games series. Divorced from reality and rooted in ego.
Much like Marvel did with The Eternals, Lucasfilm is pulling a Nia DaCosta with the future of Star Wars. And that is what this film will determine. Can Star Wars be a powerhouse at theaters still or is it relegated to streaming for the foreseeable? Did Disney as a whole learn nothing?
The problem is Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy doesn’t quite look like she sees herself as a director or filmmaker. She sees herself as an activist trying to change the world. Is that who you want to tell a story with a big budget? They aren’t trying to tell a compelling story. They’re trying to make a clumsy vehicle for a political message. Activism is fine for documentaries but not for entertainment.
Can anybody name anything beyond Obaid-Chinoy’s work on Ms. Marvel? Was anything she made a global success? Or a surprise success? I’ll take that. And maybe not just in a select area of the world but in multiple countries. Sure she made the first feature-length Pakistani CGI film but before I mentioned that did anybody reading this know that? Probably not.
I don’t mind films having messages. It can make an entertaining movie great. But story needs to come first and based on comments and such Obaid-Chinoy looks to be putting message before story. Good story allows you to have a message that slips pass a person’s psychological defenses. When the credits roll they may get up from their seat or turn off the TV or whatever and realize there was a point to that story.
If you want to do a feminist story or a female empowerment story that’s fine, but if that’s what you lead with rather than telling a good Star Wars story and explaining how it’s going to be a good Star Wars story as Obaid-Chinoy is doing then you’re not doing a Star Wars movie. You’re making a multimillion-dollar lecture.
Right or wrong her statements are causing people to form opinions before anything is even filmed. No image can change that and the only way a finished product can compete with a bias is if someone sees it. But if you already think it will not be for you will you see it? I will because I am a slut for Star Wars, but I am not everybody in that regard.
My expectations are low. I really think based on the totality of what has been said and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s resume that this will not be good. As a lifelong fan, as are many others, we want success but what I see screams failure.
Warren Watched A Movie 
Its like Disney is just hellbent on pissing me off by pissing on my childhood, whether it be Star Wars or the Marvel comics I grew up with in reprints of 1960s classics. I give up. I refuse to care anymore or show any interest.
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It is one thing to try and bring in new demographics but is almost as if they are trying to alienate the core group(s) which made what they are currently doing possible. Like they view them as undesirable.
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