It's so odd... on the one hand I've pretty much given up on #StarWars (since the prequels, the sequels merely failed to re-ignite my interest), on the other hand it bothers me when they "change" "the lore" 😅
And on a third hand, even though it's probably always been that way, and I just failed to notice, I feel like Star Wars "sold out", since being sold to Disney?
Have there always been Darth Vader backpacks and Storm Trooper socks at the mall?
Okey, here's a theory for why Disney is pushing Kylo Ren especially.
They want to establish Star Wars as "Disney Princesses For Boys", but out of the human, young characters Kylo is the only one who's white and male, and because they're still racist, misogynist shitheads that's the character they push on all the boys.
@Tobi i feel like there were always darth vader toys but also i feel like it's not that unusual, for better or for worse, to make merch for the bad guys as well as the good guys; my intuition says that kids understaand the difference between good guys and bad guys even when they play with the bad guy toys?
@Tobi but also yeah it is weird
@shoofle Toys are one thing, but general merchandise... ?
I've seen kids who can't have been older than 10 with Kylo Ren on their t-shirts... and TFA was PG-13... ?
I dunno.
@Tobi I have the impression it's much more aggressive now, and there is a wider range of products, especially from the bad guys. But I might be wrong.
@Tobi i think this is accurate, with an aadditional dose of "he has a striking aesthetic with an unusual lightsaber and mask" that makes it easy to merchandise and design things around him
Also... Darth Vader committed/assisted in at least one genocide and Storm Troopers are often shown murdering civilians... I feel uncomfortable with them being "cool" , "for children" (apparently!), and... a commercial product in general...