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Before
proceeding further, this post contains spoilers. If you do not want
any aspect of the latest Star Wars film spoiled for you stop reading
now. I plan on discussing major elements of the film, so read at
your own risk.
After three long years, "The Force Awakens" finally premiered, grossing over $500 million in the first weekend
alone. I'm not here to to talk about records or the public reaction
to the film. Instead, I'd like to take a closer look at the film from
a critical standpoint. As a student of literature and a feminist, my
thoughts on the film should stray from the beaten path ever so
slightly.
For less informed readers, Wabash College has been
an all male institution since its founding in 1832. Despite this, my
most surprising realization in my first year at Wabash was the fact
that I am a feminist. The most obvious source of this realization
would be my professors. The women who educated me in my first year
are some of the most intelligent individuals I have ever met;
however, I was a feminist long before that – I just never knew what
to call it.
Growing up with my sister, I never had to be told that girls could do anything just as a well as boys. She actively reminded me of that fact nearly everyday. After leaving the theater for the first time this weekend (I saw the film twice), I realized that the Force Awakens was the film we needed a decade ago. Padame and Princess Leah were strong enough characters, but they were never the characters we needed. Both of them knew their way around a blaster, but still fell into the damsel in distress role. The latest leading lady of the franchise, Rey (Daisy Ridley), does no such thing.
Rey
is more or less kicking ass when she steps on the screen. She is not
running from the villains like Leah, nor is she dolled up for the
public eye like Padame. Rey is out in the desert, scavenging the
ruins of a Star Destroyer for parts, fending for herself. While it's
not exactly action packed, the audience immediately knows that Rey is
a strong character. The film takes greater care in introducing her
than they do with the other new characters. It becomes that Rey is
the one we're supposed to pay attention to.
I was initially
skeptical of her role in the film. Shortly after she meets Finn
(played by John Boyega), it seemed that she might slip into the same
helpless role as her predecessors, as the TIE fighters begin to bomb
the deserts of Jakku. Thankfully, no such things happened. Finn takes
her hand as they begin to run off, but Rey pulls away. She is the
first major female character in Star Wars who does not need saving.
In fact, she is quite the opposite. Finn grabs her hand several times
as the scene progresses, showing that he needs her more than she
needs him.
As the film goes on, Rey continues to establish
herself as a strong feminist figure. She is the one who pilots the
Falcon to safety. She is the one who fixes it in the middle of their
escape, and she is the one who is constantly saving Finn from danger.
Rey is a character who does not need a man in her life, but the film
does it in a way that is not obnoxious. Unlike so many strong female
characters in Hollywood, Rey does not slip into militant feminism.
Rey is constantly proving her abilities throughout the film, but she
is doing it for herself, not the men in the story. She is confident
in herself, but does not scoff at the advice given to her by Finn or
Han Solo. Rey is not a character who is proving that she is better
than the men in her story, rather, she is proving that she is their
equal.
After
seeing the film for the second time with my family, my sister said
that she could see Rey becoming the next Catniss in the next year. It
is almost certain that Rey will be one of the most popular costumes
worn by young girls next Halloween, and I find this absolutely
exciting for a number of reasons. First and foremost, the entire film
will usher in a new generation of Star Wars fans, and Rey stands to
attract more girls to the franchise than the previous female leads
ever did. As a character, Rey was clearly conceived to draw young
girls into the franchise, yet her characterization goes above and
beyond what was needed.
With each of the previous Star Wars
films, countless little sisters were forced to play as Princess Leah
or Padame. Entire generations of girls never received the
lightsabers they deserved because the films never showed that this
was possible. The exciting thing about the Force Awakens is the
prospect young girls everywhere will be picking up lightsabers with
confidence. They will not have to prove that they can handle a one.
Rey will have already done that for them.
As I said earlier, The
Force Awakens is a film we needed a decade ago. I fondly remember
training my sister in the Jedi ways with plastic lightsabers in our
back yard. My recollection of the lightsaber shaped welts is not as
fond. I was among the minority of young boys who welcomed their
sisters into the galactic struggle against good and evil. A decade
ago, Star Wars was still very much a boys' club. Most girls had never
so much as touched a lightsaber, even fewer could use one
effectively. This was precisely the notion my sister's classmate,
Ken, had assumed when he invited her over to play one afternoon. That
play-date would live in infamy.
Bridgette and Ken were in the
same kindergarten class. They would walk home together most
afternoons, and were relatively good friends prior to the infamous
play-date. Bridgette went over to Ken's one afternoon, wearing a pink
dress and a bow in her hair. She could not have looked more girly.
Nevertheless, she managed to beat Ken in every race and every game he
challenged her to. Bridgette had beaten Ken and his brother in every
event imaginable, except of course, for lightsaber battling.
Legend
has it, that Ken threw her a red lightsaber while he and his brother
kept the blue and green ones. Ken assumed that the two of them
together could take down this bow-wearing girl, and restore order to
the universe of their backyard. They assumed wrong. Bridgette hit Ken
in the wrist and his brother behind the knees. She disarmed them both
with one stroke each. They were never able to take a swing at her.
Bridgette tossed the lightsaber at the feet of the crying boys and
went inside. Ken never invited her over to play again.
If
the Force Awakens had been released a year ago, Ken probably would
not have underestimated my sister's skills with a lightsaber. Even if
he did, there would have been a little less shame in his defeat. I
say this because the Force Awakens changes part of the underlying
narrative of the Star Wars saga. Boys everywhere will soon know that
any girl in their lives can kick as much ass as Rey does, and girls
everywhere will soon realize that they can kick ass like Rey, too.
For the first time, girls are being welcomed into the Star Wars
universe with blasters and lightsabers instead of frilly dresses and
funky hair-dos. I for one find that exciting.
The Force
Awakens is a film that the feminist movement has desperately needed.
It shows the merit of feminism in a franchise that was heavily
patriarchal in its previous iterations, but it does so in a way that
the audience does not feels indoctrinated. The Force Awakens shows
the audience that women have a place in that Galaxy far far away.
That place is the co-pilot seat of the Millennium Falcon, or a spot
in the new Jedi order. The Force Awakens is preparing a new
generation fans to inherit the galaxy, but for the first time girls
will be picking up their lightsabers with the boys. Boys everywhere
will begin losing lightsaber duels to girls, but there will be no
shame in losing. Rey has shown them all exactly what a girl can do.
