Gina Carano Talks Kathleen Kennedy and South Park
Gina Carano is reminding everyone how right South Park is. The talk of the entertainment side of Twitter this weekend has been about the new Paramount+ special event South Park: Joining the Panderverse, which satirized the modern movie obsession with pandering via identity politics. The central targets of the special were Disney and Kathleen Kennedy, president of Disney-owned Lucasfilm. Carano, you’ll remember, was infamously fired from her role on The Mandalorian – a role that was going to evolve into the lead of a new Star Wars series, Rangers of the New Republic – after she shared something that was spun as controversial and antisemitic (which, of course, it wasn’t). Now that Disney and Kennedy are in the headlights, Carano is taking the opportunity to shed some more light on what happened to her behind the scenes, retweeting a clip from the special (originally posted by Geeks + Gamers) and commenting on what South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone can expect in response:
https://twitter.com/ginacarano/status/1718115256055267802
Gina Carano has talked about some of this before, like Kennedy trying to force her into being lambasted by activists in a Zoom call (which is nothing more than an exercise in humiliation, and Carano was right not to do it). The rest are things we pretty much assumed, but she was in a position to have known for a fact. And good; after they used the full force of a powerful company to get rid of her, Carano is perfectly justified in piling on now that Disney is on the ropes. The post she shared that supposedly led to her firing was widely seen as an excuse to let her go because she’d expressed what are seen as conservative views in the past, the funniest of which was saying her pronouns were “beep” and “boop;” the actions Disney and Kennedy took against her reinforce that.
But it didn’t take long for defenders to come out of the woodwork to defend Disney and Lucasfilm. A Star Wars talk show called Around the Galaxy tweeted a screencap of her post and said that Carano had “lost her goddamned mind.” Carano responded with a lengthy retort in which she not only defended herself but talked about what a company or leader interested in preserving their franchise could have done differently:
https://twitter.com/ginacarano/status/1718714226532069749
This has always been the divide between the two sides of this argument; one is able to offer suggestions and solutions, while the other just insults. What’s funny is that South Park: Joining the Panderverse ultimately makes a plea for both sides to join together and move forward by acknowledging their mistakes and trying to make the movies and shows better. If you look at real life, one side was willing to do that; the first two seasons of The Mandalorian were pretty well-liked, with the finale of season 2 reinvigorating much of the fandom. There was an opportunity for exactly what South Park suggested. Then, they fired Gina Carano (who was popular with the fans) over what everyone knew was petty politics, and in an instant, it was gone. Some circles think Joining the Panderverse is going to change the conversation on wokeness in entertainment; I’m not sure about that, but I’m pleased to see Gina Carano do her part to help.
