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A lot of commentary here and elsewhere has focused on how Disney seems to be systematically dismantling the Star Wars fan base and destroying the property they paid so much to acquire. By any measure, the Star Wars brand is losing popularity, and its few recent successes – like The Mandalorian – are being overtly sabotaged by woke SJWs.
Some are portraying this as a “civil war” within Disney, but what if wrecking the franchise was the goal all along?
There is a long-known (and potentially illegal) practice in industrial/technological sectors where an innovator’s patent or design threatens to disrupt the established players so rather than adjusting to it, they simply buy out the developer and bury it.
This is a monopolistic tactic and only a corporation with unquestioned market dominance can pull it off.
Disney is such an organization.
Over the last few years, The Mouse has gone on a rampage, gobbling up various franchises and properties. Not surprisingly, these tend to fare very poorly under Disney’s control.
At the same time, Disney is also using the eternal copyright protection it bought from corrupt legislators to lock up older content it doesn’t like. The advantage of this approach is that it relieves Disney of the tiresome creative process and the risk of box office failure. Why struggle to create compelling stories with deeper meanings when you can just crank out garbage?
Even better, Disney is now in a position eliminate previous great films, either by withdrawing them from circulation or editing them into mediocrity.
The Economic Case for a Conspiracy Theory
We’ve previously discussed George Lucas’ psychological issues and why he felt it necessary to not only butcher his classic films but then follow them up with incoherent prequels that further tarnished the brand. His decision to walk away from the wreckage made sense, and Disney had the resources to make a suitably lucrative payment for it.
When the deal went through, like a lot of fans I expected Disney to immediately recoup much of its investment by immediately releasing restored versions of the original theatrical releases on DVD. This was the most transparently obvious money-making scheme in human history. Fans would have paid well above market prices, especially if archival footage was included as bonus material.
It didn’t happen.
Instead, Disney set to work on a set of prequels that didn’t even have a coherent story line. They also released “branch” films that either trashed beloved characters (Solo) or had zero spin-off potential because all the interesting characters were killed (Rogue One).
One of the most bizarre decisions was to reunite the original cast without bothering to feature them in a scene together. Disney didn’t even take a reunion photo – the one circulating on the internet is a composite (via Steven Wayne Art).
In addition to creating an artistic tragedy, Disney also created a very human one. Everyone in Hollywood knew that Carrie Fisher was emotionally fragile and physically compromised. After all, there was a reason she retired from acting and embraced writing and occasional commentary. She was at best suited for a brief cameo, but instead Disney pushed her into an aggressive exercise regimen and sent her on the talk show circuit.
(On the set of Blues Brothers, she had such an expansive cocaine habit that John Belushi – who would die of an overdose two years later – thought she needed to dial it down.)
Instead of treating her with care, Disney decided to make the most frail member of the original cast the centerpiece of the new films series. As we all know, the renewed glare of publicity proved lethal. Even more tragically, her mother, film legend Debbie Reynolds, died of grief days later.
As the films faltered, Disney doubled down on insulting the audience and invested additional money in creating “woke” spin-offs. The one bright spot was The Mandalorian, but (as I predicted) Disney has already kneecapped the show.
Is Anyone Really That Stupid?
There’s a trope in mystery shows where a highly intelligent suspect is ruled out simply because the crime was so incompetently committed. I’m sure many readers are thinking the same thing, but if we review the case, we see the following:
- Disney paid massive amounts of money for Star Wars without doing the easy and obvious thing to recoup that money by re-issuing the original films.
- Disney made a frail actress the centerpiece of new production and then worked her to death.
- Disney has attempted to subvert every major character in the series, rendering them toxic to fans.
- The parts of Disney’s content that didn’t stink was written with a dead end in mind.
- The remaining Disney content reeks of SJW tropes and was explicitly designed to alienate what remains of the original audience.
These facts are beyond dispute. The only question is whether it was deliberate.
Is it possible that Disney has been completely captured by SJWs so delusional that they assume that current, hated fan base will somehow be replaced with a better, more ethical one?
Can anyone really be that stupid?
Yes, I think they can.
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