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Star Wars is set to head into the next chapter with Oscar winner Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy becoming the first woman and person of colour to direct a feature film for the franchise.
However, the upcoming project is already facing backlash from conservative fans as they discovered the director sharing some poignant declarations during a panel alongside Meryl Streep and Jon Stewart.
When asked by Jon whether “permeating the patriarchy” is a goal in her work and what the reaction to it is, the Pakistan-Canadian filmmaker said: “Absolutely, I like to make men uncomfortable. I enjoy making men uncomfortable.”
The live audience chuckled and applauded her answer while the consensus online has been far less kind to the 45-year-old.
American author Matt Walsh shared the unearthed clip on X, formerly known as Twitter, declaring: “This movie is destined to be Disney’s biggest flop yet.”
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In the comments many agreed with Matt’s prediction, adding: “Star Wars has historically had a mostly male audience. This is studio suicide.”
A second argued: “Come on Matt, Star Wars has sucked since Disney took over, this is just continuing that trend.”
A number of fans accused the studio of prioritizing “woke” politics over the franchise’s best interests while one claimed the company simply “despises their audience”.
One disgruntled viewer questioned: “Why does everything have to be a political statement nowadays?” with X CEO Elon Musk also weighing in on the debate with a simple: “Wow.”
During the panel, which took place at the Women In World Summit in 2015, Sharmeen expanded on her answer adding: “It is important to be able to look into the eyes of a man and say; ‘I am here and recognise that. Recognise that I am working to bring something that makes you uncomfortable and it should make you uncomfortable because you need to change your attitude.’
“It’s only when you’re uncomfortable, when you’re shifty, when you have to have difficult conversations that you will perhaps look in the mirror and not like the reflection.”
Speaking to CNN on New Year’s Eve, Sharmeen eagerly gushed over the project saying: “We’re in 2024 now, and it’s about time that we had a woman come forward to shape a story in a galaxy far, far away.”
This comment has been similarly picked apart by critics who claim the director “isn’t respecting the history” of the franchise as they confused female-fronted and female-led by referring to the sequel trilogy, which was fronted by Hollywood star Daisy Ridley but directed by JJ Abrams and Rian Johnson.
Sharmeen’s new feature, Star Wars: New Jedi Order, follows 2019’s The Rise of Skywalker and will see the return of Rey (Daisy Ridley).
While a release date has not been confirmed, it is expected around December 2025, according to Screenrant.
