Having earned Internet affection by attacking one of the best-selling comic book stories of all time, Chronicle and Superman: American Alien writer Max Landis has now earned himself the enmity of the e-masses by attacking one of the highest-grossing films ever.
That’s right: The writer of Victor Frankenstein and American Ultra didn’t like Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and has lots to say about it.
Videos by ComicBook.com
Among other things, he calls protagonist Rey a “Mary Sue” — a term that originated on TV Tropes and essentially is a wish-fulfillment character for the writers who can do no wrong and is unrealistically good at everything. It’s most often applied to female characters (with “Gary Stu” sometimes subbing in for male equivalents, although on the rare occasion I use the phrase I’ll just use “Mary Sue” interchangeably regardless of the character’s gender — as has Landis, he points out repeatedly on Twitter), and its use here prompted many fans and some Internet pundits to call Landis out for sexism.
Landis, in response, has released a video where he doubled down on his claims, insistent that he isn’t a sexist and hoping that somebody will listen to his thinking — although it seems mostly self-indulgent, since he admits up top that “nothing” fans can say in the comments will change his way of thinking and that it’s unlikely his video will change anybody else’s mind.
You can check it out below.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens, directed by J.J. Abrams from a screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan & Abrams, features a cast including actors John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Academy Award winner Lupita Nyong’o, Gwendoline Christie, Crystal Clarke, Pip Andersen, Domhnall Gleeson, and Max von Sydow. They will join the original stars of the saga, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, and Kenny Baker.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens hit theaters December 18, 2015, kicking off a new trilogy of Saga films as Episodes VIII and IX are already scheduled. The film garnered a record $247 million at the domestic box office and $529 million globally in its opening weekend.
