Here's the main quote from the post I replied to: "why doesn't Lego sell to girls? Why doesn't Barbie have more realistic features? Why don't car manufacturers offer an electric vehicle? Why doesn't McDonalds sell salads instead of fries? Why do record labels offer such crappy music?"
It references gender once and movie tie-ins not at all.
I actually think movie tie-ins are pretty reasonable especially from one of the best movies ever made (Star Wars, not the pre-quels) as well as some of the best animated story-telling and characters ever made (Pixar).
I play Lego star wars the game, and obviously I now want all the characters in real Lego.
Doing movie/character tie ins, gives customers what they want.
I was pretty excited to see http://www.legosuperheroes.com/ (Lego are making a new superhero range in January).
And for people who don't want the movie tie ins, there are still tons of generic building sets you can buy.