J.J. Abrams on Why “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” Received Such Backlash

J.J. Abrams. Photo by Rob Latour/REX/Shutterstock (9176182cs)

Star Wars: The Last Jedi, the latest installment in the Star Wars saga, wasn’t the hit Disney expected it to be. Although the critics absolutely loved it, and the movie earned more than $1.3 billion, there were some fans that ended up being disappointed with The Last Jedi.

J.J. Abrams, who directed the movie’s predecessor The Force Awakens, believes that the reason for hate towards the movie is the fact that some Star Wars fans are “threatened by women”.

“Star Wars is a big galaxy, and you can sort of find almost anything you want to in Star Wars.” Abrams said in a recent interview with IndieWire. “If you are someone who feels threatened by women and needs to lash out against them, you can probably find an enemy in Star Wars. You can probably look at the first movie that George (Lucas) did and say that Leia was too outspoken, or she was too tough. Anyone who wants to find a problem with anything can find the problem. The internet seems to be made for that.”

Since Abrams will come back to the franchise again and serve as a director for Star Wars: The Last Jedi sequel, he was also asked whether the current disapproval of The Last Jedi will affect his vision and have an effect on the movie.

“Not in the least.” he responded. “There’s a lot that I would like to say about it, but I feel like it’s a little early to be having the Episode IX conversation… I will say that the story of Rey and Poe and Finn and Kylo Ren – and if you look, there are three men and one woman, to those that are complaining that there are too many women in Star Wars – their story continues in a way that I couldn’t be more excited about and cannot wait for people to see.”

There you have it. If you thought The Last Jedi was good, there is more of the same coming. If not, well, there isn’t much you can do.