Hey, everyone. Willow here! The title of this post is fairly self-explanatory, so. Yeah.
A month or so ago, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story was released. Citali and I went to watch it together, and came out trembling, emotional, in awe.
What makes Rogue One so great is that not only is it gorgeously written, it's also infinitely more diverse than any Star Wars movie has ever been.
Only one of the protagonists was white. The others-- each with a fleshed-out story arc and excellent characterization-- were all men of color.
Excellent!
But.
The white character was Jyn Erso, only female lead and arguably the main character.
Look. Every time there has been a new Star Wars story, the main female character has been white.
Padmé Amidala. Leia Organa. Rey. And now, Jyn.
Star Wars has a WOC issue. Namely: there are none.
But Willow, you say. What about Steela Gerrera? Or Depa Billaba? Or Korr Sella? Or Breha Organa? Or--
Well, my dear reader, what do all those women have in common? Oh, that's right. They're all minor characters. And they're all dead.
Fine. But what about Sana Starros? Or that one Rebel from Rogue One?
Hmmm. Tell me, if you go up to a hundred random people, how many of them do you think would recognize the name "Sana Starros"?
The galaxy of Star Wars is bigger than just the movies, yes. There are animated TV shows and books and comics galore, but here's the thing. The movies are the most important part. They're the franchise's biggest, most popular branch.
If you want diversity in Star Wars, you need it in the movies. And I'm not saying that Finn and Poe and Chirrut and Baze and Cassian and Bodhi aren't helping, but we need our WOC too.
So give me a Calrissian daughter, or Finn's mother, or Poe's cousin. Give me WOC Jedi and WOC Sith and WOC pilots and stormtroopers and civilians and bounty hunters. Give me queer WOC characters and trans WOC characters and old WOC and young WOC and--
Well. You get my point, no?
Willow
So completely off topic, you'll have to forgive me. But have you read Theach Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman?? I'm guessing you probably have and told me about it last year. But if you haven't checked it out from somewhere. It has everything a good novel needs well mostly. As long as you think good novels need dragons, fae, Victorian England, librarians with magical powers, awesomeness, etc.
ReplyDeleteOoh, I haven't read that, but it sounds awesome!!! I'll definitely check it out! (Sorry I'm replying so late :( )
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