A part of me is happy to celebrate the awesomeness of women all around the world and amazed that this recurrence is, at least on the paper, so globally observed. A part of me, however, recognizes that to have 1 day on 365 in which everyone remembers that we even exist may be a tiny bit limiting. But I am here to talk about useless geeky stuff, so.
In the Star Wars OT, a diverse women representation was basically inexistent. Failing tragically the Bechdel test, all the original movies depict just very few female characters. Golden bikinis and Twi'lek dancers did not help either.
Nevertheless, Lucas *did create* a universe where gender was never a reason to question authority. When Leia speaks, people simply listen. And the whole "I am here to save you" trope is more mocked than not.
That said, although Leia was a damn good character and an inspiration for my generation (as Padmé was for the next), I can not be less than profoundly grateful to Kathleen Kennedy for the changes she brought to the franchise.
Dr. Rebecca Harrison conducted an analysis of the female characters' screentime in 10 movies ("Solo" is missing from this list):
51% The Rise of Skywalker
43% Last Jedi
37% Force Awakens
35% Rogue One
23% Return of the Jedi
22% Empire Strikes Back
20% Phantom Menace
18% Attack of the Clones
17% Revenge of the Sith
15% A New Hope
We are talking about doubling the meaningful screentime after Lucasfilm changed its presidency, and the inclusion of women of color and LGBTQA+ women in sequels movies, books, and games. And these, folks, are not pretty figures in a corporate pamphlet, this is what a real achievement looks like. Especially since Mrs. Kennedy did it dodging death and rape threats (!) on every possible media platform.
Sure, we are not at the finish line yet. But we are on the right path. And every time this franchise allows a bunch of whining white males to win (as in the case of Rose Tico), globally, we lose.
So, news flash.
We are here.
[We always have been]
And we plan to stay.
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