Star Wars: The Force Awakens has shattered the box offices and continues to be a major blockbuster hit. Easily one of the most successful movies of the year, the reboot engages fans new and old and promises sequels that are just as exciting.
Just as spectacular as the movie itself is the movie’s leading protagonist—Rey. In a world in which women are continuously fighting for equal representation within the media. Rey is the embodiment of what a female character should be in popular film, and undoubtedly sets the bar high for other female characters in films to come.
What is it about Rey that makes her the ultimate action heroine? To start, she is a woman who is the main character of a major and intensely possible action film. To have a woman take the center stage in a movie franchise as huge as Star Wars is an immense step for women in the film industry. In a genre in which women are most typically portrayed as being either romantic interests or unimportant side characters, Rey is revolutionary.
Although women are represented within the action genre, they are very rarely represented as three-dimensional people. They are other shown to be stoic, tough, and unwilling to accept help from any man (although the leading man ends up saving them at least once in the movie). If they are not shown in that light, then they take on the traditional role as a damsel in distress, only existing to be saved and as a love interest.
Male characters in action movies are characterized as being three-dimensional. They are strong, but they are also funny, brilliant, and at times, emotional. They are allowed moments of weakness and moments of strength, demonstrating to the audiences that they are real people. Female characters either have only moments of strength or only moments of weakness, but no grey area exists.
Rey defies this continuum. She is strong and capable of taking care of herself and those around. She is emotional and has weaknesses that she must battle throughout the movie. She can take care of herself, but also needs help from those around her.
Another pressing issue with women in action films is that, a majority of the time, they are overly sexualized. Consider the vast array of women whose uniforms are overly and unnecessarily revealing, and completely impractical. Female sexuality is a something that, in films, should be handled in such a way that a woman leaving the theatre feel empowered and not objectified.
Rey is a female character who is not sexualized in any sense. When people consider the women in past Star Wars films, many will think immediately of Slave Leia in her cooper bikini. Although Leia herself is a great female character, her sexualization is not one that any of the male characters were subject to. Reyis clothed in an outfit that is both practical and feminine, a perfect balance for a woman character.
Rey, as a character, is a multitude of things. She is a survivor and a scavenger. She is a mechanic and a pilot. She is a warrior. She is resourceful and brilliant, patience and kind, desperate and stubborn.
But most of all, she is also a girl.
Having a female character who is no less than a perfect model of how female characters should be created does not immediately combat all sexism in movies, but it is certainly a bright start.