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I don't think it's really a question of injecting a female lead character. I think it's more a question of not producing anything good. Even fanboys have their limits.
You've completely missed the point. It's not about simply "injecting a female lead", it's about "splattering feminism over a product that is marketed towards kids, but mostly, male kids." It's like throwing oregano all over a vanilla cake, as a business formula, it simply doesn't make sense.
This is backed up by the data, obviously. Toys sales were very brisk from Episodes 1-3 (the Lucas Prequels). Most fanboys thought of these movies as inferior products to the original trilogy. Even still, merchandise sales actually outpaced the Domestic gross of all movies from "The Phantom Menace" up to "Revenge of the Sith". This would continue as a trend even in Episode 7.
In 2017, toy sales dropped about 47% YOY from 2016. To put that in perspective, in 2016 toy sales for the SW franchise were about $760 million dollars. This is about $100 million dollars more than TLJ's total domestic gross btw, just to put an even more succinct point on how important toy tales are for the franchise and it's "bottom line".
So on the heels of Rogue One (which was actually a decent movie), SW toys only grossed about $380 million dollars. 2018 annual earnings totals just came out, and it was abysmal as well. So much so that Disney made this statement in an attempt to defend it's earnings during an investors conference call.
Quote:
Lower operating income for merchandise licensing primarily reflects strong sales of “Star Wars” and “Cars” merchandise in the first quarter last year. The theatrical success of “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” in Q1 last year was a key driver to licensing results. So, the absence of a comparable franchise title in Q1 this year created a meaningful headwind to our licensing results. These results were partially offset by higher minimum guarantee revenue due to the adoption of the new revenue recognition standards.
Now that all makes sense, but it's an outright lie based on actual data. Sure there wasn't a "franchise movie" out in 2018 (though we did get the side-story "Solo"), but based on how the franchise movies have been grossing domestically...
... that trend doesn't look good for Episode 9 IMO.
So you can try and claim "the movies have been crap since the Ewoks", but the financials of the business didn't go into the tank until Kathleen Kennedy took hold of the franchise and began artificially injecting feminist plot points into the stories.
By my rough estimation, Kathleen Kennedy has cost the company upwards of 3-4 Billion Dollars USD. That's an incredible plummet from a business perspective and I'm honestly surprised she still has a job.
You might ask "How do you keep up with all of this?"
Well, I have a large exposure in Disney via an ETF I am heavily invested into. So it does have an effect on my bottom line.
Truth is that it is rare to know when a successful business changes hands. So, maybe the majority if them do just fine with new owners.
I've seen some pretty epic failures with small businesses, mostly convenience shops and small mom and pop restaurants. Almost always from cheapening up the products. Raising prices doesn't help, but customers might still pay a higher price for a product they like. They won't pay a higher price for a product that has been ruined by cheapening the ingredients.
On these small businesses, the failure seems to come from expense cutting to try to increase profit margins.
My ex ruined a good going fast food place by not being a very clean person. He always expected someone else to clean up after him and just didn't have the mind set to clean up after himself. No one wants to buy lunch in a place where they can see filth on the floors. But I don't think that is a very common cause of small business failure.
Veering a bit off topic, it is almost impossible to buy an excellent small business that is generating excellent profits. Those aren't often for sale. Most of the small businesses for sale are losers, usually over-priced, and it would be very difficult to buy one of those and turn it into a big success, no matter how competent the buyer.
TI've seen some pretty epic failures with small businesses, mostly convenience shops and small mom and pop restaurants. Almost always from cheapening up the products. Raising prices doesn't help, but customers might still pay a higher price for a product they like. They won't pay a higher price for a product that has been ruined by cheapening the ingredients.
On these small businesses, the failure seems to come from expense cutting to try to increase profit margins.
That was a good part of what went wrong with the sandwich place mentioned above. One of the original owner's appealing practices was generous filling - not ridiculous overstuffed or three-inch stacks, but a good hefty sandwich for a fair but not cheap price. The new owner delivered almost pathetically light sandwiches and bumped the prices.
Lost a well-developed and nearly captive trade in a few months.
Watch the show the prophet ..there are more struggling business’s then you can shake a stick at
I like that show and in one episode I have a friend that was a client of one of the struggling businesses. The business was trying to sell specialty ice cream and it was a good product. They told my friend he would have to order a pallet of product at a time, yet most restaurants don't sell enough desserts to move the inventory quick enough and NOBODY has enough freezer space for a pallet of inventory!
Crazy thing with the show is the personal relationships often are the root of the problem, the business is fine but it is the partners/the relatives/the significant others that are wrecking the place.
I sold a sizable business in 3 parts a few years back. One buyer failed in the first year, planned on using subcontract labor. Another buyer is going strong almost 20 years later. Third buyer lost 1/3 of the business that I sold him and is probably losing money but keeps infusing his personal cash to keep the business afloat.
The business was 22 years old, had several long time employees. Don't change anything major and it will run forever.
1. Buyer one went to new labor source which turned out to be substandard.
2. Buyer two had no major changes.
3. Buyer three went to a new scheduling system, changed employees and lost major accounts.
I moved out of the area and restarted the identical business in a new area with higher revenue points. I sold another area about 12 years back and the new owner was full of excuses, lost 1/2 the business in 6 months. He was a capable guy but simply took too much time off for bereavement! He had a super common last name and I swear every time someone with that same name died he claimed it was a relative. The scheme fell apart when he told me his mom died 3 times. First 2 was oh, that was my mom, then that was my step mom...............but a 3rd time?!?!? He was just a weird guy who luckily made a few bucks on a house sale and then bought a business which he drove into the ground.
The business was 22 years old, had several long time employees. Don't change anything major and it will run forever.
Well, OTOH, businesses can reach a certain maturity from which continued success requires change. Beginning with needing to replace charter employees with new ones, without making the mistake of trying to find a plug-in replacement. (For example, losing a 20-year accounting guy might mean the right move is to change to a modern accounting platform and hire someone who's expert on that, rather than scrape up someone who knows the old platform.)
Well, everyone knows better than the person(s) who's been successfully running the business for years.
Same in the corporate world. I have rarely seen a takeover that made things better.
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