Kathleen Kennedy, CEO of Lucasfilm, recently acknowledged that women in the Star Wars community often experience more harassment compared to men, primarily because the fan base is male-dominated. Online trolls have been known to make misogynistic and racist comments about female actors in the franchise, with Daisy Ridley and Kelly Marie Tran having to leave social media due to the abuse they received. This issue has resurfaced ahead of the release of The Acolyte, a new Star Wars series on Disney+, with some fans referring to it as “The Wokelyte” due to its diverse cast.
The show, created by Leslye Headland, is set in the High Republic era and depicts the emergence of the Dark Side before the events of The Phantom Menace (1999). While speaking to The New York Times, Kennedy revealed that Headland and other women who work in Star Wars sometimes struggle with the level of harassment they receive on social media. She blamed the distress on the disproportionately male fan base and claimed that women are often attacked in personal ways. Despite this, Kennedy believes that storytelling should be inclusive of all people, and the decision to be representative is an easy one for her.
Headland, who has directed Sleeping with Other People and co-created Russian Doll for Netflix, is the first woman to serve as showrunner on a Star Wars series. The Acolyte features a cast of diverse female characters, including Amandla Stenberg, Carrie Ann-Moss, Jodie Turner-Smith, Dafne Keen, and Manny Jacinto. Headland has also been subject to abuse from so-called “fans” of the franchise, although she stated that anyone who engages in bigotry, racism or hate speech cannot be considered fans.
The Acolyte follows the story of respected Jedi Master Sol, played by Lee Jung-jae, who investigates a series of crimes that bring him in contact with the dangerous Mae, played by Amandla Stenberg. Keen stars as Jecki and serves as Sol’s young Padawan. In an interview with NME, Keen noted that “it’s really about the social negotiation of power and identity – and where you fit into that [negotiation]…The way Leslye decided to explore that is through setting it in the High Republic Era [of Star Wars lore] and the premises of Jediism.” Despite the abuse and negativity, Kennedy expressed faith in the future of Star Wars, stating that “the fandom is a wonderful thing, and they are what make the Star Wars experience so unique.
Read the full article on NME here: Read More