Rey the “Role Model”

On By R

Link and my commentary below the cut because they both have SPOILERS for The Force Awakens.

http://mikeadamick.com/2015/12/rey-is-not-a-role-model-for-little-girls-major-spoilers-ahead/

So I didn’t enjoy the author’s writing style but I think they make some excellent points and it’s worth reading for those:

  • I really like the way it starts out by centering the experiences of girls.
  • We don’t need more female protagonists because girls can’t relate to male ones, we need more female protagonists so that boys develop their ability to relate to female role models.  Girls are already habituated to relating to male protagonists, because they kinda have to. This essay doesn’t cite the research to that effect and frames it anecdotally, but there is research behind this.
  • WTF about not making toys of the fucking hero because she’s a girl.
  • Like the author, I also spent much of the movie hoping it was going the direction I thought it was but being scared to get excited because I thought it would be taken away.

I also spent a lot of time thinking as I was watching the first 6 building up to it about how deeply distressing it was to me that being a jedi is only for boys. I know that there’s a lot of awesome in Leia and Padme, but it feels to me like the fantasy being offered is having them, not being them — because the fantasy of Star Wars is being a Jedi. I announced several times in my living room that I was going to be pissed if no ladies got to use lightsabers1 in the new movies, and on some level I didn’t really believe it was something that was going to happen.

I honestly have to wonder how much of the deemphasizing Rey’s badassery/centrality in the trailers was “let’s keep who the Jedi is a surprise” and how much was “let’s be careful not to make boys not want to see the movie”. These folks know the research.

I have more to say about gender in the movie but that’s a longer post.

  1. Yes I know there are lady Jedi who exist in the prequel trilogy, but the one most frequently on screen is known in my circle as “the one who gets shot in the back”. I know she’s the one who is most frequent because my friend pointed out every time a lady Jedi was partially in frame…and it didn’t come up that often. ↩

Leave a comment