Another female lead! Oh no

I sure do hope she is representative of more than one category or else she will be a waste.

 

I love Leia, but yeah it did seem like she was the one that they struggled to write interesting stuff for the most out of the three. She's the one who doesn't really get a character arc of her own. Instead she's used to further other character's arcs, Luke, Han, and even Lando's in ESB. And she was really underused in ROTJ (and her being Vader's daughter goes nowhere really, in that film). The two don't even get a scene together after she learns that.

 

Yep just remember how popular Mara Jade from EU/ Legends has become through the years. And back in the days, I loved Dark Empire's kick ass Leia...

--- Double Post Merged, Apr 24, 2016, Original Post Date: Apr 24, 2016 ---

Yep. But sadly that is a huge problem on today's movie making/writing...Bad storytelling (direction/script)...

 

i think daisy and felicity jones are perfect for star wars but that "catnis" story was bad. variety is good and a woman character does not have to be strong to succeed, she can be smart instead of acting strong and be a better character. its fair to say we should expect the next star wars films to feature more leading male roles. its just a matter of finding roles that fit well

 

Well I didn't see "Katniss" at all. That feels like a case of "oh this thing is popular right now, so they must be ripping it off." No, I didn't see much THG at all in this trailer, and if you'd kept it exactly the same, but had a male character as the lead, those complaints wouldn't be here guarantee it.

Also this "oh they don't have to be strong to succeed" argument falls apart for me when:

-I very rarely hear those same argument made about male characters. No one says "oh male characters don't have to be strong in order to succeed." It only comes up in these kinds of situations. So blatant double standard right there.

-There have been so few "strong female characters" in genre fiction (especially compared to male ones) and even less so in SW films, that having TWO in what are otherwise still overwhelmingly male casts, is not "pushing an agenda" imo. It's beginning to correct a long-standing imbalance.

-Again, these films have been ridiculous male-centric and they still have overwhelmingly male casts.

-It's 30 seconds of out of context (and don't even agree that it's bad) dialogue. So making any kind of firm assumptions about anything, is premature.

 

I really don't care who they cast. They could be men, they could be women; they could be Caucasian or African, or Asian, or Hispanic, or Extraterrestrials, or cats, or dogs for all I care. As long as they are solid actors and they fit the role that they have been cast in I will fine with whoever they pick and in this case I honestly think that Felicity Jones is a very good actress and will be great in Rogue One.

 

If you find Star Wars offensive due to its gender/racial/whatever imbalances, maybe you shouldn't watch it. Be the voice of opposition; save your $15.00 next December, and the December after next and boycott this franchise of injustice we call "Star Wars." Show 'em who's boss.

 

For me I would say that as long as they are interesting characters and not just eye candy but real lifelike characters, I could care less if many more SW movies have female roles. I mean, why do guys complain so much if SW has tons of interesting female characters that are greatly loved? Who wouldn't love to see Ventress or Shaak Ti on the big screen kicking but and taking names? What about Ahsoka? Here we have a number one character that was hated almost to the same degree as Jar Jar Binks when she came out and now she's an awesome fan fave. Females can't be awesome main characters? Ask Ripley from Aliens to see what she has to say. I love SW and don't mind female leads yet only wish is that Disney does this for the stories sake and not just to follow the Disney Princess line. Seeing more female leads is cool but having to see each and every movie have a female lead just for the girl power factor will really ruin it. With this I don't mean I want to see SW movies without ladys, but having Disney make a Bossk movie and sticking a female lead just to even the sexes is just plain dumb.

 

It is an interesting question. I don't know what is the deal with those guys. I like to think that people who say "another female? what a dumb political agenda being forced down our throats" are just trolls, but who knows how many are.

I think a lot of people can unfortunately only identify with people who superficially look like themselves.

I tend to care more about a characters motivations and mindsets.

 

It's funny they are saying this NOW and not with the night sisters .

 

I'm glad to see more prominent women in the Star Wars universe as I find stories with a relatively gender balanced cast tend to have more interesting group dynamics and feel more realistic. I did get a bit of a "Katniss" vibe from Jyn Erso, but that's probably due to their hairstyle. Another brunette British actor is kinda samey when you consider Rey. Those who are calling this character a Mary Sue need to btfo, considering its just a teaser trailer and we have next to zero idea who this person is or what she's been through. I'm looking forward to the movie, but I'm disappointed about the direction that these anthologies seem to be going in, though I'm certain they'll be financial and critical successes.

Rogue One is about plans to steal the Death Star, the second anthology movie is going to be about a young Han Solo (why??????), and the third will be a movie about either Obi-Wan and Boba Fett. Why are all these movies dwelling on the past instead of showing us new stories and characters? I remember there was a rumor a couple of years ago about a Star Wars film that would be heavily inspired by "Seven Samurai", except that it would be Jedi in the place of the samurai. I'd love to see a movie about seven Jedi ranging from Masters to Padawans tasked with protecting a planet against marauding forces.

 

It's a difficult issue to address. In a way, one that has been exacerbated by LFL/Disney/TPTB themselves and other companies who use identity politics for marketing or financial gain etc.

Much has been made of the decision to make the lead of the ST a woman (and a black guy lead) with KK and others praising the progressive nature of the move but also, and more importantly, how more women/girls will be drawn to Star Wars with a character they can look up to now, a character they can identify with. Does anyone see the problem with this argument?

By implying that women haven't been able to identify with Luke/Anakin/Han/Lando etc. because they are male characters but they can with Rey because she is a female character then naturally we must assume the reverse is true. If we acknowledge that women/girls felt alienated by previous male characters then we must also agree that men/boys will be alienated by these new female characters.

The companies/studios themselves have reinforced this tribal politics.

 

yeah, i'm sorry, this is crap. if your kids need carbon copies of their gender or race to "relate" to, you're not doing your job as a parent.
and i say this as a ethnic minority woman who never had any problem growing up with a predominantly white movie culture.
[gonna go put extra x's and o's on my Mother's Day card now]

 

This. Anybody can relate to anybody else IF they are open to doing so. It's called empathy. If I can feel bad for homeless dogs on the street, then I would sure as heck hope that someone could relate to their own species that just happens to be another gender.

Personally, I love the fact that it has a female lead, not because of feminism or whatever else (though I do think it's great that movies nowadays are showing that women are just as capable as men in these roles), but because it's NOT done nearly enough, so it's different from what we're used to. I've seen movies with male leads and male perspectives, and this is something different. I want different. I want new. But at the same time, I want to see good acting and good casting above all else. If that's not there (not a big fan of the Divergent movies, for one, because of less than stellar casting and acting... a different female lead could have made a huge positive difference in those movies), then checking the boxes won't be enough to save it.

But from what we've seen in the trailer... to almost paraphrase, I've got a good feeling about this.

 

Super agree. Except the bit about Woodly. She's been great in other films. I haven't see any Divergents but I'd be inclined to blame crappy scripts or directors.

I feel like people should identify with people who agree with them. I have more in common with thin, short black female who is a non-religious physicist than I do with another tall, white male who might be a new aged Buddhist.

More to the point, it can be fun learning about different points of view and experiences.

 

You could be right. I haven't seen her in anything else, but wasn't impressed in Divergent. Maybe that's mostly poor casting; it could also be my bias in that I read the books first and imagined someone... I don't know... tougher in that role. Not totally the movies' fault, either, in that I didn't think the books were very well-written to start (the first book was literally a college project).

But yeah. Totally agree about different points of view and experiences.

 

right???

i love Rey in TFA, but even having her as a great female "model", i still identify more with Kylo Ren.

their genders or races are completely irrelevant ~ it's their struggles as human beings that matter.

 

The attitude that more female characters must be created so that little girls will buy Star Wars merchandise is very outdated to me. It assumes little girls lack the ability to empathize with male characters. That's not true, is it?

My older sister had a Luke doll before I outgrew my diapers. I had every Princess Leia action figure except the first one because I thought the all white outfit was boring when I was a kid.

Ultimately it doesn't do our society any good to favor one half over another. I'm hoping we learned that lesson and that there's not a Marketing Department somewhere insidiously working against that notion.

 

this is awesome! and yeah, the white outfit was boring ~ hahaha

my favorite action figure when i was a kid was Boushh, but Darth Vader was still my favorite character.

 

My Grandma took me to a Woolworth's one summer morning and I found the Boushh disguise Leia figure (with removable helmet!!!) and I begged and pleaded and finally made a Tom Sawyer Whitewashing the Fence level deal with her before she finally agreed to fork over a meager $2.59 for that figure (hey she grew up in the Depression so kids even having toys much less spending money on them was odd to her way of thinking). I remember the price exactly. For a long time it was the metric I kept in mind on something being "worth it".

It's still on my shelf at home.