Star Wars: Episode IX director J.J. Abrams claps back at fans who feel ‘threatened’ by women

Although J.J. Abrams thinks it’s too early to talk about Episode IX, he did want to clarify how both Star Wars: The Last Jedi and its critics will (or won’t) factor in.

The quality of Star Wars: The Last Jedi will probably be debated for the next 40 years. It will be one of those complex discussions that divide parties until the end of time. But one such group whose hatred cannot be denied is alt-right haters who cannot tolerate seeing more than one woman on screen at a time.

When Indiewire asked J.J. Abrams for his thoughts on “SJW Propaganda,” he gave a really poignant answer:

"“‘Star Wars’ is a big galaxy, and you can sort of find almost anything you want to in ‘Star Wars. 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 [‘Star Wars: A New Hope’] 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.”"

When it comes to Star Wars, finding problems is like a sport. Whether fans question the integrity of the narrative or just cross-check continuity until another planetary weapon is built and subsequently destroyed in some other film, Abrams’ words offer comfort as he reminds us that this isn’t exclusive to The Last Jedi.

In fact, the lack of female characters in the original and prequel trilogy was just one of many problems they both had. To rectify that, the sequel trilogy attempted to make a more balanced story; something that Abrams hopes to see through to the end when he directs Episode IX.

Obviously, Episode IX may only feature one woman in the lead, though: Rey. The two prominent female characters that Rian Johnson did introduce — minor character Rose Tico, and Vice Admiral Holdo, who is just another character we can only mourn now — aren’t the foundation of the story.

As Abrams explained:

"“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.”"

Personally, my belief is that Abrams’ excitement can be taken in good faith. Whereas, our previous sequel director gave rather odd responses to any detractors. The reality of Star Wars has always been, and will always be, that “everyone is going to have their point of view.”

Indiewire also noted that Abrams will be honored with a Leading Man Award from the Athena Film Festival for how he advocates on behalf of women in entertainment. He remains, after all, the man who gave us Rey (among many other amazing female characters, including but not limited to the leads of Felicity, Alias and 10 Cloverfield Lane). More importantly, he understands that the “the end game is equality.”

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At this point, J.J. Abrams’ words have been the best thing to hear since Star Wars: The Last Jedi came out. Furthermore, his candid response should definitely get us more excited for Episode IX.

If only Lucasfilm could get him to talk up Solo, too.