The launch of a new trailer for upcoming Star Wars spinoff movie Rogue One sparked excitement internationally this week (as anything Star Wars is prone to do) particularly following the resurge in popularity for the franchise with the stellar success of new sequel film Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Old and new fans alike were thrilled to get a glimpse of new lead Felicity Jones in her role as a rebel fighter on a mission to steal the plans for the Death Star. Of course, not everyone was happy, and once again complaints surfaced from male Star Wars fans who are enraged at – shock horror – another female lead ruining their beloved franchise.
The man-tears of (admittedly a minority of) male Star Wars fans are nothing new. Complaints about Rey (portrayed by Daisy Ridley), the brilliant female lead of The Force Awakens, were vociferous in the run up to the release of the movie, accusing this decision of ‘ruining’ Star Wars. The film also had strong representation of people of colour, with John Boyega and Lupita Nyong’o, among others, starring in major roles, sparking more complaints that Star Wars was being turned into ‘SJW propaganda’. These complaints proved nonsensical, with The Force Awakens breaking box office records and making history, as well as receiving universal acclaim from critics and fans alike. Nevertheless, apparently the idea of having 2 female leads and strong representation in this franchise is just too much for some male fans.
Star Wars is no stranger to strong and nuanced female characters. In the original trilogy, Princess Leia was a refreshingly independent and powerful figure (despite some seeds of objectification – after all, can’t let the powerful woman overshadow the men). The prequel trilogy saw one of the biggest injustices done to the character of Natalie Portman’s Padme Amidala, who had the potential for so much more, and proved herself to be one of the most politically astute characters in the entire franchise. The portrayal of Rey in The Force Awakens was skilfully done and received widespread praise from critics, fans, and largely from parents delighted that their daughters had a character like Rey to look up to.
The marketing team behind The Force Awakens, as it turns out, weren’t expecting this rapturous response to Rey (perhaps because of the criticism from male fans before the movie was released). Rey was left out of a lot of the merchandise despite being the main character in the film. Hopefully, a similar mistake won’t be made with Felicity Jones’ character in Rogue One.
The complaints of male fans that female leads are ‘ruining’ the franchise are ridiculous. ‘Another female lead – when will this madness end?” they rage, conveniently ignoring the fact that women have suffered through years of male leads and male-only ensemble casts in many movies – both big-budget productions such as Star Wars, and otherwise. Uproar about the all-female Ghostbusters remake can be subjected to the same analysis – men may complain that there is no all-male remake of anything on the cards, ignorant of the fact that there is no major production of the same ilk as Ghostbusters with an all-female cast which can be remade.
These complaints will almost certainly not affect the success of Rogue One. It has received far more praise than criticism, yet the presence and type of criticism it has received shows that sexism is still alive and well in our society and in the arts, particularly among entitled male science fiction fans who are so used to seeing themselves represented that they cannot stand the fact that women might just want to see themselves in sci-fi too. It’s not news that representation is important – women, people of colour and other minorities who don’t see themselves on television and in movies in a variety of roles and characters have long complained about this injustice. Rogue One looks to be a success on a par with The Force Awakens, both in terms of representation and the all-important box office figures. With movies like this, along with other big box office successes such as Mad Max: Fury Road, proving that female-led films can still be majorly successful, perhaps this marks the death of the classic straight white male movie protagonist, and the start of a more diverse range of characters taking the lead in Hollywood.
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