The most recent Disney movies from Marvel and Star Wars have not performed well. Now, a higher up at Disney has revealed why they think the movies are flopping. And it's not because they've "gone woke".
Disney is not making bad movies. At least that is what an anonymous executive told Puck News. There are other factors that have made the movies flop at the box office and according to this unnamed executive, the viewers are at fault.
Instead of looking at what might have been wrong with the films themselves, this anonymous executive goes on to say that it is the fault of misogynistic men who don't want to see strong female leads.
"They Find Female Empowerment Distasteful" Says Disney Executive
More and more Disney, Marvel and Star Wars movies and shows have had a female lead cast. Just last year, The Marvels hit the big screen to sub-par ratings from critics and fans, while Star Wars has also had a heavier focus on female protagonists, and has also been on the downtrend.
Now, one anonymous Disney executive stated that the film flops are because of regressive gender stereotypes.
Our audience (or the segment of the audience that has been politicized) equate the perceived messaging in a film as a quality issue. They won't say they find female empowerment distasteful in The Marvels or Star Wars.
They went on to explain that a lot of the audience will want Disney to "make better movies" which is basically synonymous with "make movies that conform to regressive gender stereotypes".
These statements got me thinking, because I do not think I'm a misogynist and yet the most recent Marvel releases have not caught my attention... at all. The problem I see is that the characters chosen are simply uninteresting and bore audiences. There are of course some great female characters, but they waited until Marvel was already beginning to bore audiences to feature these heroines.
For example, when Marvel was at its height, a Black Widow movie could easily have outdone any Iron Man or Captain America film, thanks to the popularity of the character – yes, there is a Black Widow movie from 2021, but that came years too late.
Another issue I see is that there is just a surplus of Super Hero movies which saturates the market and makes the films feel less memorable... but that's just my personal opinion.
Whatever the cause for their recent lack of success, Disney is looking to make some changes with new-old top boss Bob Iger back in charge. It seems like he wants to reduce the amount of shows and movies, while also creating more traditional content. The former is good, while the latter seems like a step back, because strong female leads are important in television in film. Representation matters, after all.