Inclusivity is one of the latest buzzwords ruining movies these days, not only story and character, but box office returns. The people in charge of the Star Wars franchise, for example, took their multi-billion-dollar investment and decided that the fanbase the Star Wars name had amassed over the decades were no longer their target audience. Their new target audience would be people who were either never interested in or had never heard of Star Wars. Why? Well, by adding a female Luke, a pansexual Lando, and a patented left-wing non-threatening black guy…their goal was to make the beloved titan of a franchise more “inclusive.” And three movies were all it took to tank Disney’s credibility.
It sounds good to say your movie is “inclusive.” It makes you sound tolerant and understanding, which are all the rage these days. And as we continue to see these people try to make everything “empowering” and “accessible” it becomes clearer why many of these same people hate capitalism so much…because they have no idea how to conduct business.
Inclusivity is the idea that every movie, television show, or video game should be sensitive to the “oppressed” members of our society. But what the Hollywood types don’t want to admit is that inclusivity is the oldest and greatest way to fail in the world of entertainment.
What SJWs hate about various media (comics, movies, etc.) is that, although they may have bullied their way to the top, these industries are still businesses. And, being businesses, they need to create entertaining works that
- Appeal to people.
- Appeal to people who have money
On the surface, this may sound like inclusivity would be an asset. But here’s’ the thing. Everyone may have their own preferences in movies, but huge groups of people like certain movies, and that’s what movie creators are aiming for.
- Horror movies for those who love monsters and serial killers.
- Superheroes movies for people who love to see masked vigilantes take on eccentric villains
- Thrillers for people who like to see badasses take on evil people with explosions and bullets
- Romances for people who want to see two people fall in love and struggle to end up together
Each genre has its own tropes that are specifically made to attract and entertain viewers who love to pay for that kind of entertainment. These people are called the “target audience.” Now, the other side of the coin is, that while those tropes may attract the target the audience, they may repel everyone else. For example, horror lovers may like gore and an ever-present sense of dread, but these same elements might just prove too intolerable for people who prefer comedies or romance stories.
The mistake they’re making with Star Wars, is that they’re trying to get rid of the predominantly male audience and replace them with a female audience. The problem here is, that Star Wars is an action-adventure sci-fi franchise. The target audience for Star Wars has always been men and boys. And that’s what it’s good at, attracting men and boys because men and boys prefer action and violence in movies.
I understand this may be a little difficult to grasp since anything targeted to appeal to men is deemed sexist these days, so let’s flip the script.
Twilight is a romance story filled with drama and emotions. The target audience for Twilight has always been girls and women. Men, generally, find the franchise dull or downright stupid. (I mean sparkly vampires? The only way I’d watch a sparkly vampire is if the sparkles are coming from the fresh blood he’s covered in) Imagine for a moment, that they made more Twilight movies, but the people in charge decided they would make the movie “more inclusive to men.” First, let’s look at the tropes used in Twilight that attract its target audience.
- “Average” Female protagonist who is handed a handsome and mysterious love interest
- Male love interest is strong and powerful
- Male love interest is also dark and damaged, waiting all his life for her
- Female protagonist is the only one who can fix him
- She can actually fix him
- Later, “plain” female protagonist has at least two strong and powerful men fighting for her love
…and these are just a few.
Notice how action and violence are tertiary elements rather than core elements? In other words, what drives the story isn’t the violence, it’s the drama. If you removed the action from Star Wars, the story would fall apart. If you removed the action from Twilight, no one would really notice. So what if Twilight got the Disney “inclusive” makeover and the franchise was re-worked to become more appealing to a male audience.
According to the rules of Social Justice, here’s probably how it might look…
- Female protagonist replaced with average looking male protagonist.
- Male love interests replaced with sexy female ones
- Male protagonist becomes vampire or werewolf and is stronger than anyone else
- Drama and romance are pushed to the side to make way for more vampire vs werewolf action
Imagine the famous battle scene from the Twilight movie that turned out to be a weird vision and didn’t happen…now imagine that stretched out into a new three movies. Of course, the romance plot would still have to be at the center. Do you really think men would go to see these new movies, already knowing what these movies center on? And, do you think the predominantly female audience would stay in full force with the same kind of passion if these changes were made? My guess is…probably not.
It would be a romance trying to be an action movie to appeal to everyone. So, instead of being a cheesy yet effective movie trilogy aimed at women and girls, it would be a cheesy movie that has too much action for female fans and too much romance for male ones.
Genres exist because different people have different tastes. And most people go to see new movies that are listed under genres they like. Some genres are targeted to men. Other genres are targeted to women. Some are targeted to history buffs or war aficionados. That’s how business is done. You find a need or want, and you focus everything on being able to meet that need/want. Unfortunately for the Social Justice Warriors, there is no government mandate that requires people to watch their garbage. And other creators are stepping up to the plate, ready to meet those needs and wants of the fans these people are actively turning away.
Literature Devil 