Billie Dee Williams’ Lando Calrissian, who appeared in “The Empire Strikes Back” and “Return of the Jedi,” was a smooth-talking smuggler who referred to himself as a “galactic entrepreneur.” Though Williams’ undeniable screen charisma has made Lando a fan favorite, the supporting character veers into jive stereotype territory, and no one would ever confuse Lando with having the strength of a Jedi.įinn, on the other hand, is a reluctant hero who undergoes a classic journey in the manner explained by Joseph Campbell in his influential 1949 work “The Hero With a Thousand Faces.” Campbell’s book inspired Lucas as he wrote Luke and Leia’s story in the original “Star Wars” as it has countless directors of epic films, including the Wachowski siblings and James Cameron.Watch Online. Strict Bechdelists may disagree, but for me it passes, because the female characters are talking about the Force.)īoyega’s portrayal of Finn, meanwhile, is a gigantic leap for a nonwhite character in this universe. (Though that scene with Maz is open to interpretation - it includes a mention of Luke Skywalker but is not about Luke Skywalker. The new film passes for the brief scene with Rey and Leia as well as a long, mostly expository scene between Rey and Maz Kanata. Two of the “Star Wars” prequels pass the test, for exchanges Natalie Portman’s politician Padmé Amidala has with some of her handmaidens. A movie passes if at least two women talk to each other about something other than a man. Unlike the first three “Star Wars” movies, “The Force Awakens” passes the Bechdel test, a useful if imperfect indicator (named after cartoonist Alison Bechdel) of the active presence of women in a work of fiction. It also might have helped if Leia had had some girlfriends. Nevertheless, Leia, for all of her pioneering action scenes, never got to wield a lightsaber, nor did she have access to the power of the Force the way her brother, Luke Skywalker, did. That she is often best remembered for the slave bikini scene in “Return of the Jedi” is unfortunate, as it reduces a character who was ahead of her time to a poster on a 14-year-old’s wall. Carrie Fisher’s Princess Leia is now General Leia, who brings a warmth and steadfastness to her command, and she shares a brief but meaningful scene with Rey.įor a generation of women and girls, Princess Leia was groundbreaking in her power. The film’s original feminist icon has evolved too. In a world where fathers are watching with pride as their daughters take on new roles, the exchange feels especially current. When an impressed Han offers Rey a job, the frisson between older man and younger woman comes from mutual respect, not sexual tension - a theme that also pops up in Nancy Meyers’ “The Intern” between characters played by Robert De Niro and Anne Hathaway. Some of the movie’s most satisfying scenes center on the growing friendship between Harrison Ford’s Han Solo and Ridley’s Rey, who share a knack for the mechanical. As someone who has long wondered where women in space go to get great blowdries, I’m relieved to see a science fiction world where men finally enjoy such a service too. Typical gender roles are inverted in this “Star Wars” - in the one moment in the film when a character shakes silky tresses out of a helmet, it is long-haired “Girls” star Adam Driver as the mysteriously angry villain Kylo Ren. Women and people of color are well represented in background roles too - as pilots, medics and politicians who flash on-screen for glimpses but together paint a portrait of a world where those kinds of jobs are accessible to diverse groups of people.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |