Star Wars with occasional sarcasm
AICN’s Harry Knowles, after taking a trip down Star Wars nostalgia lane yesterday, is back this morning with what he claims is the working title to Episode VII. Ready? It’s The Ancient Fear.
Granted, as possible movie titles go, it’s the most plausible yet, echoing both The Phantom Menace and (in opposite land) A New Hope. It even has it’s own initials! But… Harry Knowles. We know you remember the prequel era… (Wasn’t it The Creeping Fear then? It was!)
Will Episode VII utilize 3D printing? UPDATE: Whereas the first version of this post linked to a tweet from Harry Knowles, he now has a whole (rambling) entry up on Star Wars and (eventually) things he’s heard about Episode VII. He’s not revealing anything huge (though he hints that they’ve heard a “evocative title”) aside from the 3D printing thing. But it’s Harry Knowles, so take it with giant chunks of salt.
We know Peter Mayhew is in, and that is a very good, dare I say, screen-ready Chewbacca… Though it was Alan Horn, not Bob Iger, that we know for sure would be in London around this time. But if this was a (new?) theme park Chewie, wouldn’t they have someone in it? And why would they post it on the official Star Wars Instagram instead of a Parks one? So yes, it’s not too much of a stretch to believe this is the Episode VII Chewbacca costume!
Noteworthy: StarWars.com’s Matt Martin says “The image was supplied to is without much context. No idea where/when it was taken.” And the official (well, verified) @StarWarsUK account says it is from Episode VII, but Matt says it was only speculation on their part. Curious.
Director J.J. Abrams and writer Lawrence Kasdan send greetings from London.
Some quick links: The 5 dumbest arguments against gender diversity and Mike Stackpole on why diversity makes good story sense. Yes, I will have more (and less ‘controversial’) thoughts on the cast list later today or early tomorrow.
The Order of the Jedi is the title of Episode VII, says Moviepilot. Okay, sure. UPDATE: Now with plot ‘details!’ Some more plausible than others, but mostly not.
How Abrams kept his Episode VII cast secret. A little insider baseball from The Hollywood Reporter.
J.J. Abrams and company get the Tip of the Hat, Wag of the Finger treatment.
Finally, indeed. Also, apparently he tweeted that at 3 a.m. London time; Closing down the pub? In any case, this is probably the biggest tweet day I’ve seen since Disney bought Lucasfilm. How far we’ve come.
Continue reading “#StarWars Tweets Special Edition: The #StarWarsVII cast announcement”
Today’s casting announcement was indeed very welcome. Finally, we have a confirmed cast, or at least the biggest part of one. We have a group of familiar faces and new actors who come with glowing recommendations, and they’re not all white guys. (Just mostly.)
But there was one bit of fallout that we have mixed feelings about.
Where are the women?
I’m not the only one who noticed this, or remembered the casting call for two new female roles. And may still be? Though two out of eight isn’t much better, depending on the size of both roles. Three female characters is still only hitting the bare minimum. In addition to the virtual stream of comments on Twitter and Facebook and Tumblr, we have pieces from Annalee Newitz, Amy Ratcliffe, Gavia Baker-Whitelaw, Devin Faraci, Eliza Thompson, Julie Hammerle, Bonnie Burton, Rainbow Rowell and Tricia Barr. And, from back in February, Laura Hudson’s Leia is not enough.
But, you know, “be patient.”
We’ve had two trilogies with exactly one woman each taking the lead. We had the prequel trilogy, where, finally, there were enough women that they actually talked to each other sometimes. When their scenes weren’t cut, anyway. (Sorry, Padme’s mom and sister. Sorry, Mon Mothma.) Still, Padme talked to her handmaidens, to Shmi Skywalker, to Queen Jamillia, to Beru Whitesun. And remember: The Bechdal test is (again) the bare minimum, not any sort of ultimate measure.
Outside of the movies, we’ve embraced the addition of characters like Mara Jade, Jaina Solo, Ahsoka Tano and even newcomers Hera Syndulla and Sabine Wren, whose show hasn’t even aired yet. Two women in the Rebels cast? We were enthusiastic, even if there are still some bumps in the road.
“Be patient,” they say.
They don’t seem to realize that we have been patient. We’re here. We’re fans. We’re ready. We’ve been patient for 30 years. It’s just that now, there’s enough of us visible that you can’t ignore us when we speak up.
“Be patient?”
No.
Here’s a real question for you: Why do we keep asking? It’s not because we enjoy this outrage, I’ll tell you that much. It’s because of decades of being ignored, disrespected, and of our contributions being constantly downplayed, our concerns brushed to the side. And if we don’t ask, if we go back to being “patient?” That’ll just give them more reason to go back to the status quo, no matter how many Katnisses there are.
I’m sorry this casting announcement, this moment we’ve all been waiting nearly two years for, has been clouded by complaints. But I’m not sorry for speaking up as to why. I just wish we didn’t have to.