A few days have passed since the Rogue One: A Star Wars Story trailer was released. Seeing it was wonderful and exciting but while we were all celebrating, one thing definitely stood out. Like The Force Awakens before it, the main character was female… which was great, but that meant there was to be another disturbance in the force. I couldn’t hold in my excitement but, as I was reveling in seeing another kickass woman join the galaxy far, far away, I knew it was only a matter of time before the inevitable happened. I knew it would be a matter of minutes until the first comments about the trailer would start pouring in and I knew that the gender of this story’s hero would be the issue.
This brings up a topic that never seems to stop being discussed: diversity in geek culture. Diversity is sorely needed in a lot of things that are under the geek culture umbrella; TV, movies, games. There is a market for it because, surprise surprise, there are people out there who don’t see themselves being represented out there. People who spend money on merchandise, movie tickets, Blu-Rays and cosplays to show their investment in these things, only to be brushed aside time and time again when it comes to casting choices in movies – I’d give an example, but it’s most pop culture since pop culture has been a thing.
I get it, though: the default for anything geeky seems to be ‘cis white male’, and people are used to that default. I would say there is nothing wrong with it, but the reaction it causes when there is a little change in the norm points towards a deeply rooted issue. This issue is one that most people who are self-proclaimed ‘geeks’ have experienced and that is exclusion. That feeling of not fitting in anywhere can leave scars, it can be soul destroying and I definitely understand that. However, what I do not understand is why the same person who felt like they didn’t belong anywhere would deny that place they call a ‘community’ to someone else.
The big question remains: Why is casting a woman as a lead character such a big problem? What is the big freaking deal? As you can tell, this is a truly vexxing subject for me and people who identify as female. Geeky women are not unicorns, they exist but they are consistently overlooked. I would honestly like to know why having a woman as a lead character in a franchise that has had more than its fair share of lead male characters is so insulting to some fans? Are women not worthy of the right to be lead characters? Why are people who should understand what it’s like to be left out making the community a place where many people of different genders, races and creeds are made to feel unwelcome?
Seeing more and more women getting roles in movies like this creates a sense of hope for me. That one day, this kind of outrage over casting a lead female character will not happen. Boycotts will not be called for casting people of colour and sexist comments would not be made at the mere sight of a woman on the screen.
These comments are just a tiny fraction of the ones made under the official trailer. Isn’t it exhausting to be so salty all the time? Like really? Who said that all things nerdy belong to a specific demographic and that all leads must be white and male lest they upset the overlords?
I’m sure you’re probably as tired of things like this coming up as I am, but it will only stop being an issue when everyone is treated as equal and that is the be all and end all. It’s stale having women on the screen as lesser characters and love interests. Sometimes women just want to mess stuff up and save the galaxy just like any other Tom, Dick and Harry. Women, believe or not, do make up a large amount of those who go to midnight screenings, buy collectables and have superhero jammies. Women have always been here, watching, collecting, investing and discussing, just like everyone else, and I’m getting tired of having to remind people of that everytime we get an inch more representation in our favorite things.
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I think that whatever happens, there will always be racist, sexist or homophobic people. There will always be someone that still believes men are superior to women and thanks to the Internet, those people will have a voice. But the thing is, we don’t have to listen to it. You shouldn’t have to change the sex, race or sexual preference of a character to pander to these people. And if you were to do so, you’d piss off the people who thought you shouldn’t have pandered to them. The racist, sexist and homophobic people are the minority. And that’s not going to change.
Plus, you know they’re going to see the movie anyway. It ‘s Star Wars.