Remember when Star Wars was an internationally acclaimed success and not a middling franchise relegated to sub-par streaming service releases? Pepperidge Farm remembers. 

Of course, that was before the reverse Midas touch of Disney got involved. With its acquisition of Lucasfilm came the appointment of Kathleen Kennedy to take things in a new direction, and she did just that by driving Star Wars off a cliff. 

Whatever goodwill still existed after "The Force Awakens" didn't last long, being snuffed out with the releases of "The Last Jedi" and "The Rise of Skywalker." Kennedy had decided that "the force was female," reworking the entire franchise to be one badly written woke lecture after another (aside from "Andor," which was excellent, but quickly buried).

For many, the breaking point was "Kenobi," which managed to turn a series ostensibly about one of the most iconic Star Wars characters ever into a disaster centering on a completely unlikable "strong female" antagonist. The feminization of Star Wars has become a meme at this point, with nearly every beloved male character being emasculated and marginalized in favor of girl power vibes. Even "The Mandalorian," one of the few successes in the Disney Star Wars era, fell victim during its latest season.

The results have been predictable. Ratings for shows like "Ahsoka" were very underwhelming, and Disney Plus continues to shed subscribers with no end to the carnage in sight. Who could have guessed that taking a franchise in a genre that primarily appeals to men and turning it on its head wouldn't lead to a new golden age of popularity? 

But hey, maybe after years of failure, Disney would finally get the message and change course. Surely, they wouldn't continue to double down on a path that has nearly destroyed Star Wars as an entity, right?

Director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy on the upcoming New Jedi Order movie

“I’m very thrilled about the project because I feel what we’re about to create is something very special. And we’re in 2024 now, and it’s about time that we had a woman come forward to shape a story in a galaxy… pic.twitter.com/4vjAGGCyN6

— Star Wars Holocron (@sw_holocron) January 1, 2024

It's "about time that we had a woman come forward to shape a story in a galaxy far, far away?" Really? Did Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy miss the part where Kathleen Kennedy has been in control of Star Wars for the last decade? Maybe I'm confused, but I'm pretty sure she's a woman. 

I'm also pretty sure that before Disney bought and castrated Lucasfilm, "Empire Strikes Back," the best piece of Star Wars property in history, was co-written by a woman. You know what Leigh Brackett, the writer in question, didn't care about? She didn't care about what sex she was as she penned one of the greatest films of all time. She was out to write a good story, and she did just that. I'd say that counts as a woman shaping a story in a galaxy far, far away. 

Disney had a real chance to correct course after running Star Wars into a brick wall over the last several years. They could have come back with a truly original movie that recaptured the hearts and minds of the audience they've mostly lost. Instead, they decided to make another Mary Sue film with one of the least-liked characters in the franchise's history back at the forefront. She's a "strong female" character, though, and that's what really counts. At least, that's what Disney keeps trying to tell me. 

At this point, I'm here to watch it all burn. I was born a couple of years after the original Star Wars trilogy completed its run in theaters, but I have fond memories of watching it over and over on VHS. The spark of creativity so present in those films is gone, though, replaced by a boring corporate wokeness hellbent on insulting its audience. There's nothing to save at this point. Star Wars is dead, and Disney is going to make sure there's no resurrection.