Well, a lot of mediocre men have been allowed to go on for years making trash after trash.
On the other hand, I look at people like Kathleen Kennedy and Amy Pascal, and the terrible decisions they've both made (particularly the latter, not simply from a creative POV but in terms of her leaked emails badmouthing various celebs/colleagues, like Angelina Jolie), and I do wonder whether the oft-trotted out line that women rarely get as many chances as men, and women have to work much harder than men to succeed, is genuinely true...
It seems to be that there are assholes and mediocrities across all sexes, races and backgrounds, who are elevated to positions above their own talents. What I think it takes is simply arrogance and a sharp-elbowed sense of entitlement. It's very likely that those traits are generally more frequent among men, and that up until recently, systemic sexism/the patriarchy has made it harder for women, including talented women, to rise, but I certainly don't think that sense of arrogance/entitlement (which others will no doubt describe as 'self-belief and determination') is *exclusive* to men.
Also, to be fair to Kennedy, most of the Star Wars films she has overseen have been BO hits, despite the mixed and dvisive reactions they elicited (and I can't help thinking that some of those divisive culture wars reactions are exactly what KK wants...) Solo, ironically one of the better recent SW films, is the only one that significantly underperformed. However, if Dial of Destiny tanks critically *and* commercially, she may not get many more opportunities.
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maul (1666)
2 years ago
If you look at the BO, there's been a consistent downhill trend since Force Awakens, and fan excitement is at an all-time low. You simply cannot sustain with mediocre products forever, and that's what KK is putting out.
The men we're talking about here usually move onto different projects. A single great film can be enough to build a career, because studios will repeatedly take chances on these directors for a potential next big BO hit or critical/cult smash.
But even a legend like Ridley Scott hasn't been allowed to make another Alien film after Covenant. KK on the other hand has been fully enabled to run Star Wars into the ground, and there's no sign of it stopping.
She never even had some kind of watershed moment that demonstrated her genius like these other creatives - once she was on her own and in control, her decisions have been consistently dogshit. She should have been ousted long ago.
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