Kathleen Kennedy has done what I thought was impossible: She ruined the TWO most iconic and beloved film franchises in history.
She has been a one-woman wrecking crew, and has done an unbelievable amount of damage. She truly has made a dog’s breakfast of these two legendary franchises (Star Wars and Indiana Jones). What a nightmare she has been! So what screwed it up so badly?
In a word, DIDACTICISM. See, the truth is that didacticism kills art. Whenever you start to use some medium to “preach” a position, you lose the artistic value of what has been going on. That is not to say the great art and great music does not have a message, but the messages secondary to the great composition.
But in didacticism, the entire edifice exists mainly to teach a lesson. That verse never results in great art. Yeah, maybe there are a few exceptions now and then over the centuries, but in general, no. And even when it works, it is not exactly in your face–it is pretty subtle (see: The Gift of The Magi).
And Kennedy absolutely sacrificed artistic integrity in storytelling to her insufferable wokeism. The result is that the art stunk. It’s really even hard to elevate that to the status of art. And that is a pity.
The films stink because they are not art, they are merely vehicles for Kennedy’s sociopolitical rantings. And that is both tiresome and obnoxious. It is certainly no fun. And the magic of those first films was that they were fun. And Kennedy has replaced that fun with an eat-your-peas scolding schoolmarm-ism. Kennedy has become the embodiment of a despotic and power-mad HOA, and the films cannot help but be colored by that. And it’s a baaaad color!
