The “we could have been amazing together but Heteronormativity is real” squad

think before you speak/type or the chokehold fairy will get you   

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Not all....

Leia Organa + appearances

Visual explainer via USA Today:

Report: Trevorrow’s ego torpedoed his shot at Star Wars

Vulture reports on why Colin Trevorrow left Episode IX – per “speculation from a ranking Hollywood movie insider with direct knowledge of the productions on both The Book of Henry and Jurassic World” – that the director’s ego might have gotten in the way. Basically – do not mess with Kathleen Kennedy.

Previous reports claimed script issues were at the source of the split.

Something that’s fascinated me about the whole “why can’t Kathleen Kennedy keep a man [director]???” discourse is how few people seem to realize that Kennedy’s behavior is, in fact, something we should see more of, not less. Because what she is reacting to is a widespread problem that has, until now, gone unchecked: the problem of asshole directors.

Kennedy is in an unprecedented position in Hollywood for a woman. She is in control of the entirety of the Star Wars franchise—what movies are made, what stories are told, what merchandise is sold—and she is the final authority. Disney will no doubt replace her the minute the franchise stumbles, but the past two movies have gotten good reviews and staggering box office numbers and The Last Jedi looks to be just as successful, so she is, for now, in one of the safest spots in Hollywood. The last female executive with that kind of power was probably Lucille Ball.

Which means that if you are part of the franchise, you answer to Kennedy and moreover you have to play by her rules. The stories have to get her buy-in, the actors have to get her approval, and the directors have to behave the way she expects them to. And it’s very apparent that Gareth Edwards, Josh, Trank, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, and now Colin Treverrow have all fallen short of those expectations in one way or another. (You may say to yourself “wait a minute, Gareth Edwards wasn’t fired!” To which I will reply, “lol.”)

Now, nothing hugely out of the ordinary has been reported in re: Edwards or Trank or Lord & Miller or Trevorrow’s antics — mostly it’s been stuff like “ego” or unprofessional behavior or whatnot. But that’s exactly my point: white male directors are, for the first time, being fired over things that they should have been getting fired for years ago.

Hollywood is far too enamored of the genius auteur trope (and Kennedy is no exception, hence why she hired these dudes in the first place) and indulges the most horrifying behavior from the men it deems “visionary.” Woody Allen, Roman Polanski, Mel Gibson, Sean Penn, Johnny Depp, David O. Russell: men with long and ugly histories are venerated without a second thought, so much so that the ones who are merely outrageous don’t even ping the radar. Rupert Sanders has an affair with Kristen Stewart and gets her booted out of the sequel to “Snow White” (when Stewart played the title character); Jennifer Lawrence tears her diaphragm hyperventilating while filming Darren Aronofsky’s latest whatever-the-fuck thing “mother” is gonna turn out to be; Lars Von Trier…continues to be himself. None of it raises an eyebrow (with the exception of the Sanders/Stewart fling, but that’s because people blamed Stewart, who was 21, for seducing Sanders, who was 40) and all of those men have very successful careers. Being an asshole is perfectly acceptable — everywhere else but Star Wars.

On Star Wars, Kennedy is holding the directors she hires to a very basic standard of professionalism and none of them are able to handle it; and for the first time in their lives, they’re actually suffering the consequences. Bad scripts are thrown out and writers replaced; bad dailies and reports of cast unhappiness get directors the boot. It’s astonishing — but it shouldn’t be. There’s no indication that Kennedy is too demanding or that her standards are too high; but there’s every indication that these dudes have been getting away with absolute murder on their other sets. 

The real question then, the one that nobody’s asked yet and probably never will, isn’t “why is Kathleen Kennedy firing these guys,” but rather, “Why do any of these guys have a career in the first place?”

Plus, here’s the thing: This is motherfucking Star Wars.

That invisible line of people of people standing behind you waiting to do your job if you don’t want to say “how high” when your boss says “jump” that the rest of the planet’s been threatened with for its entire working life a) is present for the first time in a decade for some of these guys and b) includes literally the entire film industry.

A lot of them have been getting away with their bullshit for so long at least partially because they’d gotten to the point where if they walk, there very well may be no movie, or the movie may suffer dramatically for them having walked.  There’s no one standing behind Luc Besson just aching to direct a weird bubble-gum scifi movie about military accountability and environmental rejuvenation.  There was no one really standing behind Edgar Wright just dying to direct Ant-Man.

But this is Star Wars.  Half the film industry would sell their souls in a pact with Satan to get your spot on the project, and the other half already has and their demon agents are desperately working on delivering.  It’s the sort of property that’s universally beloved.  People grew up loving it and want a chance to put their mark on it.  People know half the planet will show up twice to see it in theaters.  It can make people rich and famous beyond their previous dreams.  If you’ve got a name to make or a message to send or you want your slice of the pie, this is the closest thing to a guaranteed ticket to that outcome.

Disney could be publicly wiping their asses with the last director’s dailies, and there would still be a line that would make ComicCon blush to fill their shoes.  The real shocker* is that, having watched the number of directors getting let go ahead of them for failing to meet baseline standards of behavior or understanding that this is a franchise film and they can’t just do whatever the fuck they want, they’re still not moderating their own behavior on the project in an attempt to avoid the same fate.

*

Let’s not forget that Kennedy is in the enviable position of being in charge and the unenviable position of being a WOMAN in charge. I absolutely think some of the turnover is asshole directors expecting a woman to roll over for them (wording intended), and a fair amount of the conflict we hear about is arrogant men being challenged for the first time by a woman who outranks them.

IME there are very few men who can handle a situation like that without an escalation of their volatile and abusive behaviour.

Atomic Blonde, 2017 dir. David Leitch

Poster Posse’s tribute to “Wonder Woman”

Artwork By: Alan Brooks, Orlando Arocena, Doaly, Berkay Daglar, Daniel Nash, Chris Malbon, Ben Mcleod, Simon Delart, Mike Mahle, and Nicolas Bannister

Colors | ( by Gab Scanu )

Good thread on the Toronto Police/Black Lives Matter/Pride Toronto by @purplechrain

Was watching the Thor: Ragnarok trailer for the fiftieth time and I thought: you know who else would react like that? Kara Danvers. 

(Please don’t repost!)

Supergirl promoting her friend, Wonder Woman.

Absolutely adore this promo.

Go see it! June 2nd!

Video: ‘Will & Grace’ is Back This Fall

CHANDLER BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINGGGGGGG