Yahoo Finance Ted Cruz blasted the new Star Wars director for once saying she 'likes to make men uncomfortable.' Is the next movie 'destined' to be Disney's biggest flop or is the criticism unfair?
As one of the most iconic franchises owned by Disney, Star Wars can play a crucial role in the company’s financial success. However, not everyone is enthusiastic about the upcoming Star Wars film.
The reason has to do with past comments made by the new Star Wars director, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, a Pakistani-Canadian filmmaker. During a panel discussion moderated by Jon Stewart in 2015, Obaid-Chinoy stated, “I like to make men uncomfortable. I enjoy making men uncomfortable.”
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Clips of Obaid-Chinoy’s comments have resurfaced on social media. Political commentator and media host Matt Walsh shared the clip in a post on X, commenting, “Here’s the feminist director of the next Star Wars film saying that her goal is to ‘make men uncomfortable.’ This movie is destined to be Disney’s biggest flop yet.”
Walsh’s post has since received 10.2 million views, 56,000 likes and 10,000 comments. It even caught the attention of Texas Senator Ted Cruz.
“Um, Disney is announcing they don’t want any men (or boys, presumably) to go to the next Star Wars?? Have they ever actually met a Star Wars fan?” Cruz tweeted in response.
However, concerns over Obaid-Chinoy’s comments — and their potential impact on the next Star Wars movie — might be unwarranted.
Adding some context
Obaid-Chinoy’s controversial take was part of a larger discussion during the Women in the World Summit in New York City in 2015. Joined by Meryl Streep and Ava DuVernay, the panel discussed the marginalization of women.
During the presentation, a clip from Obaid-Chinoy’s TV series "Ho Yaqeen” was shown to the audience. It shed light on the mistreatment of brick kiln workers in the Punjab region of Pakistan.
Minutes later, moderator Jon Stewart asked, “What is the balance of activating a force for change but also trying to permeate that patriarchy, that power structure?”
It was then that Obaid-Chinoy commented, “I like to make men uncomfortable. I enjoy making men uncomfortable… It is important to be able to look into the eyes of a man and say, ‘I am here,’ and recognize that, and recognize that I am working to bring something that makes you uncomfortable, and it should make you uncomfortable because you need to change your attitude.”
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Star Wars: the enduring empire for Disney
Obaid-Chinoy, the first woman to direct a Star Wars movie, has an impressive resume with two Academy Awards and seven Emmy Awards under her belt.
Regarding her involvement in the film, Obaid-Chinoy recently said in an interview with CNN, “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.”
And while some vocal critics are in a tizzy over the prospects of Star Wars’ next installment, it’s worth remembering that reboots and sequels of legendary franchises always face a certain level of criticism.
But since acquiring Lucasfilm in 2012, Disney has found success with Star Wars installments.
Notably, Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017), and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019) rank among the 50 highest-grossing films of all time, with The Force Awakens holding the top spot in the United States and Canada.
Factoring in merchandise sales, Star Wars continues to be a lucrative asset for Disney.
What might be worth noting, though, is how some investors have been reacting to the company lately. For example, South Carolina is pulling its state funds out of Disney. According to State Treasurer Curtis Loftis, the decision to divest has to do with the company’s management abandoning their fiduciary responsibilities.
“The sane, sober, talented, mature people are gone, and now you have the gender studies crowd running Disney,” Loftis told Fox News Digital. “That's why their movies are flops and their market cap, I think, is about half what it used to be. It's a tremendous loss to America, we all grew up on Disney.”
As of this writing, Disney shares are trading at $89.67, a drop of over 50% from their all-time high of $201.91 recorded in March 2021.
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This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
