Looking for a Rey of Sunshine? So are women everywhere.
Conspiracy theory alert.
So, we’ve all seen the new Star Wars, and we all have our mixed reactions. You need not look any further than your facebook feed to find review after review of the movie, the acting, the spoilers, and the theories- but lately we’ve been seeing a few things that are.. let’s say off.
Regardless of how you feel about the movie, I think we can all agree that the main character is the mysterious girl in the sand; Rey, played by newly set for life actress Daisy Ridley.
So here’s the conspiracy: Would you like anything with Kylo Ren on it? Great, you can buy it anywhere!
How about Rey?
Monopoly: Star Wars edition forgot about her.
Virtually no action figures are available portraying her; not a single costume approved by Disney was issued for sale on the US market.
Even the film’s director J.J. Abrams has voiced his upset over the matter,
“It seems preposterous and wrong that the main character of the movie is not well-represented in what is clearly a huge piece of the ‘Star Wars’ world in terms of merchandising,” Abrams said at a Television Critics Association press tour event on Saturday.
“It doesn’t quite make sense why she wouldn’t be there,” he continued, before dishing the biggest understatement in the history of the galaxy. “She’s somewhat important in the story.”
So what’s the big idea? Speculation has run rampant. After Carrie Fisher’s (General Leia Organa) very public admission that she had been forced to cut weight for the role by way of threat and sanction in the movie, people are wondering about the motivation behind underplaying the strongest female characters that Star Wars has.
The other very large piece of speculation revolves around George Lucas himself. Though he “signed off” on The Force Awakens, he hasn’t exactly been behind it 100%, admitting in one interview about Disney’s takeover of the franchise that, “They decided they didn’t want to use sic [my] stories, they decided they were going to do their own thing… They weren’t that keen to have me involved anyway, but if I get in there, I’m just going to cause trouble, because they’re not going to do what I want them to do. And I don’t have the control to do that anymore, and all I would do is muck everything up.”
In the six films produced by Lucas, many female characters were not only very important, but central to the storyline. At those times, equal merchandising credit was given to both male and female characters.
This whole thing is troubling. My biggest fear is that as a conglomerate, Disney is saying that the women portrayed in Star Wars: The Force Awakens are somehow not as valid or important as their male counterparts. Coming from a company whose major female heroines are princesses, and damsels in distress, one can only be concerned about the concept this movement is embodying.
What’s your take?
Citation:
P. (2016, January 10). Retrieved from http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/movies/abrams-calls-lack-rey-merchandise-preposterous-article-1.2491596
D. (2016, January 1). George Lucas Apologizes Over ‘Force Awakens’ Criticisms. Retrieved from http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/news/george-lucas-apologizes-over-force-awakens-criticisms-20160101
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