With the exception of character names and brief descriptions, this is a spoiler-free article.
I grew up in a Star Wars-loving household. My father owns all six movies on DVD, and, if not for the blessed intervention of my mother, I would have been named Leia. Saturday mornings, I would often wake up to the sound of lightsaber duels and the “Imperial March,” and run out and sit with my dad on the couch to watch. But the older I got, the more I realized that Star Wars seemed to be for boys only. All the villains were boys, all of the troopers were boys, and all of the lightsaber-wielding Jedi Knights with decent screen time were as well. There weren’t Star Wars toys marketed to girls like there were to boys, and if a girl showed the slightest interest in the films, she was accused of “faking it” for the attention of a boy. Eventually, little me accepted that Star Wars was “Dad’s Thing,” and I wrote it off as such for the next ten years. Why should I watch or care about a franchise that doesn’t seem to care about me or want my support?
But seeing the trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens changed everything. The original trilogy as well as the prequel trilogies had “trios” whose stories were followed, and the first installation of the sequel trilogy promised a new trio – but one that is a far cry from the mostly-white-male trios of the older movies. Rey, played by newcomer Daisy Ridley, is the franchise’s first female protagonist and is well on her way to becoming a Jedi. She is not needlessly sexualized the way Leia Organa was (metal slave bikini, anyone?) or introduced mainly as a love interest the way Padmé Amidala was. Rey is a fierce, kickass scavenger who is well-developed, relatable, and has no time for unnecessary love subplots. Rey is here for Rey, and no one else.
Rounding out the new trio is Poe Dameron, a Resistance pilot played by Golden Globe winner Oscar Issac, and Finn, an ex-Stormtrooper played by breakthrough actor John Boyega. This new trio is still primarily male, yes, but is not the white-washed grouping of past movies. Isaac was born in Guatemala and grew up in Miami, Florida. Boyega hails from London, but is proudly of Nigerian descent. Racist backlash claimed it wasn’t possible to have a black Stormtrooper, but Finn has quickly become one of the most beloved new characters, both for the diversity he brings to the screen as well as his (disputed, yet unconfirmed) sexuality.
Upon seeing the movie, fans flocked to the Internet to analyze everything about it – one scene, a little more than others. At the risk of spoiling more than character names and descriptions, I won’t describe it, but it resulted in legions of Star Wars fans shipping Finn and Poe – that is, wishing they were in a relationship – and going so far as to dub the pairing “Stormpilot.” Isaac even admitted to “playing romance” in a recent Ellen interview. Wishes of the Internet may not sound much like LGBTQA+ representation, but Disney recently announced that the next movie’s release date will be pushed back seven months. The script is apparently being rewritten based on audience reactions, so it’s very possible that the first LGBTQA+ character (or characters) could be introduced to the Star Wars universe.
Growing up, Star Wars was something for the boys and men, sometimes almost exclusively. But with the birth of a new generation, one with much more progressive and accepting ideals, comes the birth of a new Star Wars era. The beautiful diversity of our generation is now reflected for millions of viewers to see – the effects of which will surely be felt in media for years to come. The Force is with us all.
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