In the category of "News I Wish Wasn't Newsworthy," Star Wars is looking for a female director maybe possibly sometime in the not so distant future. In the spirit of being optimistic about a statement like this, let's dig a little deeper. The people behind Star Wars have realized that they have female fans, and some time in the future might make to cater to them by allowing a female director to bring her unique vision and voice to the franchise. So this really is a teensy silver lining, and it's all coming from the Lucasfilm President and the producer behind The Force Awakens. Kathleen Kennedy told The Guardian that she has her eyes peeled for an opportunity to add a female directorial voice to the franchise, ideally on one of the upcoming standalone films.
There’s nothing we’d like more than to find a female director for Star Wars. There is an assumption made that the people involved should predominantly be men. There are women who are Star Wars fans. That’s what’s so insane.
Mmm-hmmm. "Insane." You took the words right out of my mouth. And it must be even more frustrating for her, as a woman in the thick of the Star Wars universe, having to argue that... there are women in the Star Wars universe. So frustrating. But Kennedy is clearly aware of the discrimination faced by female directors, so she's not letting up or letting naysayers like Colin Trevorrow get away with saying that the reason there aren't more women directors is because they don't want it badly enough.
It’s a lot to do with opportunity and there has to be a concerted effort to create the opportunity. Part of our job is to nurture talent. We need to not go to a filmmaker who’s done one movie and expect them to come in and do something the size of Star Wars without having an opportunity to find other movies they can do along the way.
So, while Kathleen Kennedy saying they want to find a female director sometime in the future is about as noncommittal as it gets, it is at least a tiny step in the right direction. Maybe this statement will be the catalyst that the franchise as a whole needs to start incorporating more women behind the camera — and, let's be real, even more women in the Star Wars universe itself — and we are on the cusp of a turning point here. Maybe Hollywood really is listening to our pleas, and the fact that this is finally being addressed means that some real change will happen.
Or maybe we'll just keep talking about Hollywood needing more female directors without anyone actually making any effort to find us more female directors. At this point, it really is a toss-up, because change of this sort is always the slowest to take effect. Still, I'm bubbling with optimism from this single statement alone, and that will have to be enough for now.
