The coffee station in the NYCC press room. Seriously.
Even if George Lucas had never sold his empire and Episode VII remained a fantasy, Star Wars costumes would still dominate New York Comic Con this year. But factor in that sequel, a movie none of us ever expected to see only a few years ago, and you have a thermal detonator of excitement. If Disney sticks to its plan to produce a Star Wars film every year, maybe fatigue will inevitably set in. Maybe there will be a Star Wars backlash. Maybe one day poor Kathleen Kennedy will be as divisive a figure as George Lucas was.
But right now, Star Wars is nothing but potential, and they’ve got the best and brightest talent in Hollywood to choose from. (After all, half the directors working today grew up playing with Star Wars action figures.) And so on the eve of Episode VII, we decided to ask the super-fans what made this series unique.
May the Merch Be With You
* NOT FOR LONG
I noticed that you only interviewed men about their enduring love of all things Star Wars. Is Star Wars mostly a male thing? Are women not interested, or are there many fewer women at Comic-Con? Just curious.
Hi mom! You make an interesting point! I feel like the general population of Comic Con almost has gender parity, surprisingly. Maybe it’s still slanted towards the guys, but there were a LOT of women around.
However, I do think the Star Wars cosplayers were mostly men. I don’t think I saw one woman with a lightsaber. The explanation might be as simple as that in the existing films, the heroes are almost all male. I do wish we’d explored that a little, maybe looked harder for a Star Wars lady cosplayer to talk to. Next year!
I loved Star Wars as a kid and I’ve grown less and less infatuated as I’ve gotten older. The world building is still exciting, but in the prequels and the original movies the female characters are lacking. Leia loses a lot of her agency as the series goes on and now she’s mostly remembered for the gold bikini. I still remember going to Target a year or so ago and seeing Star Wars lego figurines on display. The only two women were Padme and Leia and both were in their “sexy” costumes.
There are lady Jedi’s in the prequels but I don’t recall any of them having dialogue or storylines? The one or two who are in the movies are just there to get killed during the Jedi-cide. The six existing movies give the impression that being a Jedi is a thing for dudes only.
Crystal, I hope we won’t have to wait much longer to get a movie with a female Jedi (who has dialogue). Doesn’t seem like Episode VII is the one, though. :(
oooh so salty Mr. Lee! Nice interviews.
Bread and circuses. Got to keep millions of able bodied young men with income away from any political activism, and to focus on toys and fantasy worlds.