Gina Carano, the former Star Wars actress who was ousted from her role in the hit series “The Mandalorian” over a series of controversial social media posts, has once again become the center of attention.
This time, she’s taking aim at Disney while applauding Matt Stone and Trey Parker, the creators of Comedy Central’s long-running show “South Park.” In their latest episode titled “South Park: Joining the Panderverse,” Stone and Parker tackle a broad range of topics, including Disney’s handling of the Star Wars and Marvel franchises and the general discourse surrounding diversity in media.
The episode “South Park: Joining the Panderverse” serves as a not-so-subtle critique of Disney’s management of its most significant IPs—Star Wars and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Stone and Parker pull no punches in examining how the media giant has approached diversity and representation, at times in ways that seem forced or tokenistic. The episode argues that while there should be inclusive narratives and diverse characters, adding people of different races, sexualities, and gender identities doesn’t inherently make a movie or TV show good and shouldn’t excuse it from otherwise justifiable criticism.
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Amidst the release of this provocative episode, Carano took to social media to express her thoughts. She predicted actions from Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy, stating: “This is the part where KK demands any YouTubers get censored off of YouTube for sharing and laughing at this hilarious episode, she’ll have YouTube disable the thumbs down option because of the ratio she’ll receive, then she’ll have her publicist ghouls make sure Variety and Hollywood Reporter run hit pieces about the South Park creators and their families smearing their names through every useful idiot she has under her thumb who would sell their soul to work for Lucasfilm, she’ll activate her online mob to repeat that the South Park creators are racist, bigot, transphobes, and demand the South Park creators publicly apologize by only using words she approves of and finally she’ll demand they subject themselves to a re-education course of 45 people in the lbgtq community zoom call to sit there and listen of how badly they got their feelings hurt all over a little boop of a South Park episode.”
Carano’s predictions are speculative at best but serve as a continuation of her public feud with Kennedy and Disney as a whole. She has previously criticized them for what she perceives as an infringement on her freedom of speech and alleged mistreatment since her firing from “The Mandalorian” in 2021. Since her exit from the franchise, she has continued to take a stand against mainstream Hollywood while aligning herself with far-right media outlets and taking on roles in lower-profile projects.
While Gina Carano is no stranger to controversy and is entirely entitled to her opinion, her comments potentially miss the more nuanced message embedded in the “South Park” episode. The show’s creators suggest that the problem is not merely corporate pandering or forced diversity but also the radicalization on both sides of the debate, which can be detrimental to the art of storytelling. Carano’s criticism seems to bypass this nuance, turning it into a one-sided narrative against Disney and Kathleen Kennedy, which could be seen as counter to the episode’s more balanced critique.
Whether or not Disney will take any cues from this latest “South Park” episode is unknown. However, the episode itself adds another layer to ongoing discussions about the role of diversity in modern storytelling, the power dynamics of giant corporations like Disney, and the volatile mix of entertainment and social discourse. Carano’s latest salvo in her war of words with Disney will surely not be the last we hear on these topics, as the cultural landscape continues to grapple with these complex and often contentious issues.
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