Kathleen Kennedy may have received a contract extension at The Walt Disney Company for her position as head of Lucasfilm. We’re working on finding out if that’s the case, but it’s looking more and more like that’s actually what has happened. Essentially, she’s possibly been given an undefined additional time on her contract, but without any fanfare whatsoever. You be the judge about why that might be.
So, with Indiana Jones 5 delayed a year after they managed to get Harrison Ford injured for three months, Kathleen Kennedy has plenty of time for interviews. And that’s exactly what she’s doing for the first time in ages.
In an interview mostly about The Color Purple, a film from the eighties, Kennedy went on to discuss criticism she’s received in general throughout her career. Excerpts from the interview provide insight as to how Kennedy approaches negative feedback, as well as what her ambitions continue to be:
“There’s always going to be people when you make something that’s somewhat controversial that are just flat out not going to like what you’re doing. And we didn’t make the movie for them.”
“Ultimately, if that’s their response is to just cut it off and not even try. And, you know, so often, especially, you see it today, criticism like that sometimes comes before people have even seen something.”
“They haven’t even experienced it. It’s just something they might have heard or they’re jumping on the bandwagon of something that they think they might believe. I don’t know what you do about that, ultimately.”
“You try to make movies like this that create the conversation and maybe change a mind or two. And that’s good. And that’s all you can hope for.” — Kathleen Kennedy
And there you have it boiled down. Kennedy wants to make movies that change minds. If you disagree with her about a film, or if you see a film coming out and disagree with its perceived direction… well… it’s not made for you.
That’s a great buffer for criticism. So, remember, if you ever dislike your meal at a restaurant, the server can just reply, “it wasn’t made for you.” Apparently that works even if you bought a ticket, er, meal.
I suppose she could say that if you no longer like Star Wars under Kathleen Kennedy, Star Wars wasn’t made for you.
At least not anymore.