As you may have heard, Star Wars: The Force Awakens has taken in more than a billion dollars worldwide, so far. $1.09 billion, to be exact.
But the folks over on Return of Kings still think that their “boycott” of the film was a HUGE SUCCESS. How’s that, you ask?
Well, as RoK contributor David Garrett figures it, if Return of Kings hadn’t warned the men of the world that The Force Awakens is “SJW propaganda,” the film might have taken in roughly $4.2 million more than it did.
That’s right: it could have made $1,094,200,000 instead of the paltry $1,090,000,000 it’s taken in so far.
IN YOUR FACE, SJWs!
So how exactly does Garrett arrive at that $4.2 million figure? WITH SCIENCE.
Fifty-five percent of respondents to a Return of Kings Twitter poll have said that online reporting of the social justice nature of The Force Awakens influenced their decision whether to see the film. Extended across our readership, with over 900,000 users accessing ROK between November 21 and December 21, this amounts to a potential direct impact of $4,219,456.54 (55% x $8.38 x 915,482) on total revenues. $8.38 is based on the average cinema ticket price in the US, which is now an all-time high.
Well, you can’t argue with that!
And that $4,219,456.54 figure doesn’t even take into account the other right-wing media outlets that warned their readers about the evil SJW agenda behind The Force Awakens. Add that in, Garrett suggests, and the total cost of the right-wing “boycott” is in the “tens of millions of dollars.”
I have done a similar calculation to determine how much of a financial effect my writings about their “boycott” have had on the box office of The Force Awakens.
8.38 (ticket cost in dollars) x 7,390,966,099 (the number of people who might have been influenced by my posts, based on total world population) + 0.47 (amount of change in my pocket) – 7.67 (estimated cost of lunch today) / 2 (number of cats in my apartment)
So that comes to $61,936,295,906 per cat in my apartment. In other words, without my influence, The Force Awakens would have lost $60,846,295,906 at the box office (per cat in my apartment), making it the biggest financial disaster in Hollywood history. (I think. I’m not really that good at math.)
A loss of that magnitude would have had a disastrous effect on the world economy, including my cats. And I have prevented it.
You’re welcome!
Right, but none of that is relevant to why I brought up this example.
The point is that Bryce etc say that Rey couldn’t possibly do all that stuff and that it’s absolutely impossible. But in tons of other cases, they’ve bent over backwards to come up with ridiculous explanations for why every detail of the movies Totally Makes Sense. So the fact that they refuse to do that for Rey just shows that they don’t like Rey.
Does that make sense?
Makes sense to me, and I went back and it made sense further up the page when you brought it up.
Sorry, we just got distracted, I think.
@ Falconer, Katz, Guy
One of the great things about this site is how we get into interesting sidetracks.
Guy, that nerd stuff was great. Seems to be a lot of difference between just watching the films and then the material surrounding them. To me, the Falcon becomes a loveable character because, like the human protagonists it’s an underdog that prevails (it does seem to spend a lot of time breaking down, necessitating nice little last ditch alternative solutions like hiding in the space garbage)
Similar to how the TARDIS started out as an obsolete model stolen from the scrap heap but the Doctor still loves her and she always saves the day in the end.
Land Rover owners have a similar relationship.
Katz, isn’t that just a common thing with film generally though? No one questions Snake Plisken (or any male hero) overcoming all the odds but when a woman does something remotely competent it’s all “But that’s so unrealistic!”
[And I know that technically you can’t have plural protagonists, but what the hey!]
Part of what I missed in the prequels was the Falcon, or a ship like her, and Han, or a scoundrel like him. Part of it is that he’s the skeptic in the first movie, but once the Force has been demonstrated and the audience has bought in, there’s no need for a skeptic.
@ Falconer
Yeah, you need a scoundrel with a heart of gold. Wasn’t Lando introduced because there was doubt whether Harrison Ford would come back for the third film?
Mind you, missing a scoundrel and a rubbish spaceship are the least of the prequels problems.
I don’t think I heard that about Lando. I know Ford was pressing for the carbonite scene to be an execution, instead.
At least he seems to have enjoyed making TFA.
Ford wasn’t sure he wanted to come back for the third movie and asked for the character to be “frozen” in case he decided not to. Lucas decided to make that literal.
Often when a character in a lengthy series winds up in a scenario where they’re going to spend an unspecified length of time away from the main plot, there’s something along those lines going on behind the scenes. If the actor doesn’t come back the character stays gone.
@ Falconer
Well, Lando does end up wearing Han’s clothes (rather weirdly). Would have been interesting to see what happened had Harrison not signed on.
Of course, there was even doubt that he’d come back for the second one; hence his absence in ‘Splinter of the Minds Eye”.
It’s called Put On A Bus on tvtropes. I recall Dodo Chaplet just up and disappears from Doctor Who, I think they gloss it over with some line or other, and then hey-ho! It’s Polly!
The Doctor spends a whole episode of “The Seeds of Death” unconscious on the floor because Patrick Troughton needed a vacation.
@ Falconer
As an aficionado of great British TV you’re no doubt aware of the “Blake’s 7” finale.
Had it gone to a fifth series the lethality of the gunshot wounds would have varied depending on how much the actors were asking for.
Yes, I think I heard that. Haven’t actually watched the series, but I’ve heard of the finale. A little less ambiguous than The Sopranos.
Dalillama:
Thank you. 🙂
Well it is the least-liked of the prequels. Lucas tries to provide an explanation however silly the whole sequence is. It’s stated that Anakin has the highest midichlorian count the Council had seen, he had at least piloted a pod racer many times prior, his other abilities in the following films can be explained by the training on Coruscant.
Luke starts off as a naive adolescent talented at one thing (as a pilot). He can’t fight, gets knocked out by the Sand People, relies on his friends throughout; people die to protect him and the other protagonists. He fails miserably at the first confrontation with Vader and gives in to hatred during the second, nearly fulfilling the Emperor’s plan for a third apprentice.
Anakin is an arrogant douche throughout Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, resulting in an initial defeat at the hands of Count Dooku where he loses an arm. He comes to represent attachment, bitterness, resentment, that which supposedly leads to the Dark Side.
Both are a lot more than wish-fulfillment role-models.
Even the secondary protagonist arcs usually involve a fall/moral failure at some point: Han abandons the Rebels in A New Hope, his loyalty being to his ship; Lando betrays his friends. It doesn’t seem like Rey’s character is allowed to fall and develop that way because the writers are intent on making sure she isn’t portrayed as vulnerable or flawed, lest she seem vulnerable to men.
(FTR I consider it better the first 2 prequels and don’t enjoy trashing things others enjoy)
Rey fails to work a blaster, then must depend on spray-and-pray and Kylo Ren has to block fewer than half of her shots, then gets force-blasted into unconsciousness. She totally gets to fail like the male protagonists.
Well, yes. Luke was raised by his over-protective aunt and uncle and then got put into a situation where he had to grow up fast.
Rey is a street-wise orphan who already knows how to react in a crisis and has picked up a few random skills that are useful in a pinch. So, when disaster strikes, she’s not completely unprepared.
Those are both popular archetypes for an action-adventure story. Are you saying that one is better than the other?
Perhaps her lack of vulnerability is her flaw. If she follows the traditional plotline for street-wise orphans, she needs to learn to trust other people instead of trying to do everything herself. That might be a key plot point in Episode VIII.
On the other hand, there’s no rule that says that an action-adventure hero *needs* to be flawed! They can just have the defining characteristic of being incredibly cool instead. James Bond and Sherlock Holmes and Batman have personality quirks, but they don’t have any fatal flaws, and they hardly ever go through character development arcs. Episode VIII might take that route instead.
All that said, I’m starting to wonder if there’s a market for a re-shot version of “The Force Awakens” with uniformly white male characters. The diversity of the cast really seems to have upset a lot of people and I feel bad that they’re not able to enjoy the movie as much as I did.
@ Chaos Engineer
Mate, you really need to start using sarcasm alerts ?
When you find yourself defending the character development of Anakin Skywalker, you know you’ve made an error in your argument.
Why not do that for all movies? If Malcolm X is just a little too black, why not recast him? No more Denzel Washington. It was too complex a role for him. I’m thinking Robert Pattinson would be just perfect!
@Chaos Engineer and Katz
I’m not one of those jerks who thinks Rey is a Mary Sue. But I do think her amazing skills as a pilot, mechanic, and warrior are inflated for someone who was a scavenger all her life. When I watched the film I thought Rey’s talents would make a lot more sense if she had a military career before the film. That way she would get the training and experience to refine her talents.
It thought it would have been better if Rey’s character were like this: Rey’s family surrenders her to the Order when she is a child. Rey is rigorously trained as a soldier, allowing her intelligence and talents to flourish as a pilot, engineer, and warrior. However, she deals with deep feelings of loneliness and abandonment. Eventually, she deserts the Order, fleeing to a remote planet to live in obscurity as a scavenger to run away from her past. After several years in exile she eventually meets Finn, another deserter, and she is forced to confront her past.
That’s a nice idea but I think it overlaps too much with Finn.
I think the scavenger background is a reasonable one for a character with a variety of skills; it makes sense that she would have basic abilities like defending herself and being persuasive that would make it easier to pick up related force powers later. As opposed to Luke, whose background should make him good at…farming?
The fact is all the Star Wars main protagonists (and indeed, action-adventure heroes as a whole) have abilities way beyond what makes sense, but nobody ever had a problem with it until now. The low point was definitely kid Anakin getting in a spaceship and winning a battle by button-mashing at random; at this point we should be rejoicing that Rey at least hit puberty before becoming a Force-powered expert pilot and mechanic.
“Return of Kings”? Like Ted Cruz was “anointed king” or am I missing something?
“Ted Cruz Just Laid Out The Most Anti-Woman Agenda Yet”
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2015/03/23/3637545/ted-cruz-just-laid-anti-woman-agenda-yet/
Video: “Ted Cruz’ father indicates Ted anointed king” (yeah, really):
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1017152422
Oh, and it might prove useful to know that Libertarian billionaire Peter Thiel is a major donor to the Cruz campaign: http://www.texastribune.org/2012/07/03/ted-cruzs-gay-billionaire-donor-draws-criticism/
This Peter Theil… the one who thinks women voting is the reason robber barons can’t have nicer things:
http://www.cato-unbound.org/2009/04/13/peter-thiel/education-libertarian
Do you all think you might help us get these wingnuts out of public office or is arguing with Tea Party MRAs for years on end doing it for you?
@Katz
It would have overlapped just fine. It would probably strengthen their bond knowing they were both deserters running away from their past.
But don’t get me wrong. I really like Rey. I think she’s a pretty decent character, as is Finn. I really like them both and I want to see their adventures continue. When I watched the movie, Rey and Finn really made my day.
@kfreed
Are you assuming that the people who read/comment on WHTM don’t do other things besides arguing with MRAs? How do you know what they do/don’t do outside this space?
Also, not all the readers here are americans.
I really enjoy how you allow for Luke and Anakin to change over the course of three movies, but you’re bitching about how Rey hasn’t made three movies’ worth of changes in the course of just one.
Your agenda is really, really obvious here.
Rey is really strong in the Force, has clearly piloted before (seriously, how is it not obvious to you that she has spent a lot of time in a cockpit prior to the start of the movie) and has learned fighting skills over the course of a very harsh life. All of this is incredibly well established, not by her just saying “well, I used to fly a little ship back on Jakku and bulls-eyed womp rats” but by the movie actually showing us her knowledge and skills.
All of your complaints are just as applicable to the male protagonists of the last two trilogies. If you’re willing to allow Luke to be an ace pilot without ever seeing him pilot anything prior to the Death Star attack, and him having no reason whatsoever to be one, but aren’t willing to allow the same for Rey even though her piloting skills are established much, much earlier in the film, you’re showing your agenda.
Aaand there it is. Thanks for playing.
@Alan
Hehe, the URL says “Poo.” *mature* But seriously, that looks awesome. Unfortunately, I don’t have a working TV (not by choice, there’s just no signal out here in the boonies), but hopefully it’ll be released on DVD soon so I can check it out. Thanks! ^^;
@kfreed
Please stop spamming the same mess of links in every thread, or at least stop using words like “Nuts”?