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Yes, Star Wars should hire a woman director. But here's the thing: if there's one thing we've learned, it's that a woman IS directing SW.
A little history: around 70 years ago, a bunch of French academics started lionizing the director as the "auteur" of a given movie.
But before that, the first credit you'd see -- the studio logo -- was the main assertion of authorship. And that made a lot of sense.
(With hundred of employees on a movie, including creatives such as writers, actors and producers, why DOES the director get so much credit?)
Kathleen Kennedy has gone back to this old-school model where the studio, and the studio mogul, is the real auteur of a motion picture.
The director is an important member of the crew, and has creative input, but s/he is still just that -- a creative member of the crew.
Trank, Miller & Lord, Ron Howard, Trevorrow, JJ Abrams -- all talented guys. But look at the ease with which they were swapped in and out.
I understand why the director is given so much weight on Star Wars -- because under George Lucas, it really WAS an auteur-driven franchise.
But under Kathleen Kennedy, the auteur of Star Wars is now... Star Wars. The franchise as a whole takes precedence over the individuals.
And the franchise buck stops with Kathleen Kennedy. So while JJ may direct a Star Wars movie (or two!)... she's directing Star Wars. /end
