It was announced today that David Benioff and D.B. Weiss of Game of Thrones fame will be writing and producing a new series of Star Wars movies. To which nearly the entirety of the internet responded “… But why?”
In general, the news is not being met with joy. For starters, these guys are so heavily associated with GoT, I’m sure they’re capable of branching out … probably … but it’s hard to imagine.
Whoa, the first line of the new Benioff/Weiss Star Wars script already leaked. pic.twitter.com/mRjIZIu6cl
— hey its ya boy Pete Haas please like and subscribe (@dimeford) February 6, 2018
Super good news for everyone who wanted the incest plotline to be a lot more fleshed out I guess https://t.co/QYzboCzFV6
— andi zeisler (@andizeisler) February 6, 2018
Obviously, we don’t know much about this new series. As usual, Disney CEO Bob Iger manages to say absolutely nothing in an announcement quote. According to him, “They have an idea for number of films and at some later date I’m sure we’ll disclose to all of you just what those are. They are focused on a point in time in the Star Wars mythology and taking it from there.”
Cool. Useful info, thanks.
Still, just going off our that existing track record (because we’re not here for any of that “give them a shot” nonsense; they’ve had their chance to establish expectations–it’s called eight seasons of mega-blockbuster TV show), there’s some serious baggage these guys bring with them. To start, a lot of people are angry at how this perpetuates the continued lack of diversity behind the scenes in the Star Wars universe.
In the future, every white man will get a star wars
— Dana Schwartz (@DanaSchwartzzz) February 6, 2018
👏 HIRE 👏 A 👏 FEMALE 👏 WRITER 👏
👏 HIRE 👏 A 👏 FEMALE 👏 WRITER 👏
👏 HIRE 👏 A 👏 FEMALE 👏 WRITER 👏
👏 HIRE 👏 A 👏 FEMALE 👏 WRITER 👏
👏 HIRE 👏 A 👏 FEMALE 👏 WRITER 👏Seriously WHERE ARE THE FEMALE WRITERS AND DIRECTORS IN THIS FRANCHISE IT IS SO FRUSTRATING. https://t.co/qkWkRwjoES
— Michelle Buchman (@michelledeidre) February 6, 2018
And amplifying marginalized voices isn’t exactly these guys’ forté.
Under Benioff and Weiss, only four Game of Thrones episodes were written by women. Only one director was a woman. So, sorry, I’m not enthusiastic about this at all. https://t.co/6chCN7NTRA
— Whovian Feminism (@WhovianFeminism) February 6, 2018
Their treatment of women and POC onscreen isn’t great, either.
I am a woman of color. These creators dug their heels in over “Confederacy” and I see how they treat POC & women on GoT. I fell in love with Star Wars because of it’s progress, not it’s history. This just doesn’t feel right to me. https://t.co/FSwHYnjYOz
— Yolanda Machado (@SassyMamainLA) February 6, 2018
If there’s one bright spot in this, it’s that hopefully they won’t have time to move ahead with that terrible-sounding Confederate show where the South won the Civil War and slavery is still legal. Because as unexcited as people seem to be about this, NO ONE wanted that to happen.
I don’t particularly want to see Benioff/Weiss Star Wars movies, but they at least make Confederate that much less likely to ever happen.
— Todd VanDerWerff (@tvoti) February 6, 2018
Silver lining on the Weiss/Benioff/Star Wars news: CONFEDERATE is probably dead.
— Matt Goldberg (@MattGoldberg) February 6, 2018
Of course, that doesn’t change the fact that these guys wanted to make that show. They thought that was a cool idea. What does that say about their judgement?
Obviously STAR WARS isn’t a fundamentally infuriating, inherently problematic idea the way CONFEDERATE is, but the issues people raised about Benioff and Weiss’ exploitativeness and insensitivity still apply, and apply strongly to this franchise at this moment.
— Tasha Robinson (@TashaRobinson) February 6, 2018
What do you all think? Are you interested to see what Benioff and Weiss would bring to the franchise? Would you rather see a new series from a different creative force? Or are you hitting Star Wars fatigue in general?
(image: Lucasfilm)
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