Many moons ago, in a galaxy far far away - a teenage girl named Squid went to see STAR WARS. She was so enthralled that she went to see the film 6 more times before summer's end. That fall, when back in school, she even wrote an essay for an English class assignment on Darth Vader. No kidding.
That same squidly girl would avidly await each of the subsequent 2 sequels. Decades later, as a squidly woman, she would stand in line for tickets to see the three original films - re-released onto the big screen - one more time. However, she did not watch her beloved films with the same eyes as she did as a teenaged girl. As STAR WARS played out before her eyes this time she began to think - wait a minute - how come every humanoid except Princess Leia is a white male? Can't people of color or even women! drive fighter jets? Or, at least, operate the controls back at headquarters? What do you mean, G. Lucas, that your awesome fantastical world is no more enlightened than mine?! I do not remember it so. I was once thrilled by Leia - the very concept of Leia. She was one of the first strong, do-it-yourself type of female characters I had ever seen (sadly) by the time I was a teenager. She was inspiring! She was AWESOME!!!! Now she seems, well, token-like in a sea of white men.
As does black Lando Calrissian, now, of THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK.
Sigh
It's hard to go back onest one eyes have been opened.
As I watched the 3 films of old unfold before my eyes on the big screen, I willfully tried to silence the complaints of my enlightened, feminist mind, to fully engage the film, to recapture myself of old. It only half worked. Maybe. The experience of seeing these films again on the big screen was fun - but the magic was gone.
To his credit - in the face of such complaints from "special interest" groups - Lucas did present a somewhat more "enlightened" view of humanoids in the subsequent 3 installments (parts 1, 2, & 3).
So what's brought on all of this Squidly angst? My child, with light saber at the ready, is currently engaged in combat with evil droids in our living room. As I type this post, its familiar sabery sounds fill the air, conjuring up memories of Obi Wan Kenobi in my mind. Six installments later, G. Lucas' CLONE WARS has now captured the imagination of my child's generation. I asked my child recently - are there any female characters in the CWs? Used to the question by now, said child responded - oh yeah, there are some. Some? mmmmm
I'm so suspicious, jaded even, on the whole subject these days.
In time, said child will no doubt see the original 3 films (parts 4, 5, & 6). Part of me looks forward to introducing my child to a wonderful part of my imaginative past, though part of me hopes the earlier films do not re-inscribe my child with certain narrow views of humankind. It's the same problem with children's books of old . . .
So G. Lucas' wonderful - I mean that sincerely - world of Star Wars lives on in my home. Trying to change with the times, G. Lucas is now capturing the imaginations of another generation of children - I hope - I fervently hope, anyway, that girls are as captured by the mythic world of Lucas' mind as are boys. I HOPE parents do not convey to them that such stuff is just for boys. Though I have my doubts. I actually think the gender coding of toys, movies, etc. has gotten worse, not better. Even my child is aware of it without prompting from me. Another post for another day . . .
So as I depart to go & assess the droid carnage in my living room I will imagine myself as Princess Leia - patiently picking up the pieces of the chaos wrought by men (Luke & Han). She had a great line in STAR WAS as she grabbed a weapon from one of them quipping - "This is some rescue. Either of you have a real plan for getting us out of here?!"
Ha! I will forever have a forgiving feminist heart for Lucas because of that line! Oh so sarcastically delivered by Carrie Fisher.
That same squidly girl would avidly await each of the subsequent 2 sequels. Decades later, as a squidly woman, she would stand in line for tickets to see the three original films - re-released onto the big screen - one more time. However, she did not watch her beloved films with the same eyes as she did as a teenaged girl. As STAR WARS played out before her eyes this time she began to think - wait a minute - how come every humanoid except Princess Leia is a white male? Can't people of color or even women! drive fighter jets? Or, at least, operate the controls back at headquarters? What do you mean, G. Lucas, that your awesome fantastical world is no more enlightened than mine?! I do not remember it so. I was once thrilled by Leia - the very concept of Leia. She was one of the first strong, do-it-yourself type of female characters I had ever seen (sadly) by the time I was a teenager. She was inspiring! She was AWESOME!!!! Now she seems, well, token-like in a sea of white men.
As does black Lando Calrissian, now, of THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK.
Sigh
It's hard to go back onest one eyes have been opened.
As I watched the 3 films of old unfold before my eyes on the big screen, I willfully tried to silence the complaints of my enlightened, feminist mind, to fully engage the film, to recapture myself of old. It only half worked. Maybe. The experience of seeing these films again on the big screen was fun - but the magic was gone.
To his credit - in the face of such complaints from "special interest" groups - Lucas did present a somewhat more "enlightened" view of humanoids in the subsequent 3 installments (parts 1, 2, & 3).
So what's brought on all of this Squidly angst? My child, with light saber at the ready, is currently engaged in combat with evil droids in our living room. As I type this post, its familiar sabery sounds fill the air, conjuring up memories of Obi Wan Kenobi in my mind. Six installments later, G. Lucas' CLONE WARS has now captured the imagination of my child's generation. I asked my child recently - are there any female characters in the CWs? Used to the question by now, said child responded - oh yeah, there are some. Some? mmmmm
I'm so suspicious, jaded even, on the whole subject these days.
In time, said child will no doubt see the original 3 films (parts 4, 5, & 6). Part of me looks forward to introducing my child to a wonderful part of my imaginative past, though part of me hopes the earlier films do not re-inscribe my child with certain narrow views of humankind. It's the same problem with children's books of old . . .
So G. Lucas' wonderful - I mean that sincerely - world of Star Wars lives on in my home. Trying to change with the times, G. Lucas is now capturing the imaginations of another generation of children - I hope - I fervently hope, anyway, that girls are as captured by the mythic world of Lucas' mind as are boys. I HOPE parents do not convey to them that such stuff is just for boys. Though I have my doubts. I actually think the gender coding of toys, movies, etc. has gotten worse, not better. Even my child is aware of it without prompting from me. Another post for another day . . .
So as I depart to go & assess the droid carnage in my living room I will imagine myself as Princess Leia - patiently picking up the pieces of the chaos wrought by men (Luke & Han). She had a great line in STAR WAS as she grabbed a weapon from one of them quipping - "This is some rescue. Either of you have a real plan for getting us out of here?!"
Ha! I will forever have a forgiving feminist heart for Lucas because of that line! Oh so sarcastically delivered by Carrie Fisher.
I was only five when Star Wars hit the screen, so the things that stood out most for me were odd moments: Darth Vader found Admiral Motti's lack of faith disturbing, Chewbacca reacted badly to the sight of handcuffs, something poked its one-eyed head out of the water in the trash compactor... But I will never forget the realization at a much older and wiser age that these movies were ***TERRIBLE***. Lucas is actually a poor screenwriter, a failed director, and a worse editor. I've only seen one of the "new" versions of the original three movies, and I actually stood up and shouted at the screen in the middle of the theater when Lucas ***LEFT IN*** his editing flubs. So for all the fan-boys out there who worship at the feet of Lucas, GET A GRIP!!!
ReplyDeleteWell, Matt, sorry you aren't a fan. To each his own as it were. But, with the aforementioned reservations, I remain a "fan-girl" of the escapist entertainment of SW etc.
ReplyDeleteAs for entertainment with "flubs" - I was watching an old episode of The Honeymooners tonight & marveling at how funny & charming the show was despite the mediocre acting, child-like scripts & patchwork sets that looked like they were held together with scotch tape. A brilliant show nonetheless. Timeless.
When I was young, movies were reserved for the Saturday matinee but only if you had saved up enough of your allowance.
ReplyDeleteI lived in the library; an old building with worn wood floors and the smell of dust and paper. I was a voracious reader and like you Squid, the female role models were pretty lackluster.
My favorite books were the Cherry Ames series. Cherry was a nurse (no crude jokes form the nut gallery)! and each book took her to a new locale with new challenges and, of course, a mystery to solve! Funny that I would grow up to be a nurse.
Amazingly, my mother found one of the books a couple of years ago and sent it to me. I re-read the book and realized how dated and sexist some of the content was but I did enjoy the stroll down memory lane.
Aha - someone with the courage to point out the many levels of badness. If it hadn't been for grand performances by a few of the actors, it would have been just another outrageous science-free science fiction movie.
ReplyDeleteWhat it was was a remake of WW II movies. The weaponry of the 1970's was already more advanced in some cases than what was shown: human piloted antique aircraft that were somehow in interstellar space, making noises like a jet (in a vacuum) banking through turns like an airplane and with weapons aimed by a human in a ball turret like a B-24.
Stunning lack of imagination, it was.
Rocky - I never heard of the Cherry Ames series. Wish I had. I remember in grade school doing a report on Clara Barton - probably the only woman, besides Florence Nightingale, I learned about then. From grades 7-12 I can count on 2 fingers the works of literature I read in school written by women. When I went to college - it wasn't much better. Women driven plots? Protagonists? Few & far between.
ReplyDeleteNow I am the one teaching the literature & it is still an uphill battle with the works textbooks/anthologies choose to include. Times have certainly changed & progress has been made, but I am still forever having to supplement the textbooks - & not just with respect to women writers but with African American writers & others as well.
So, yes, Rocky, we are from the female protagonist-starved generations.
The Cherry Ames books are now in re-print. They spanned the years from the 1940s to the late 1960s. Cherry was independent and had a high level of integrity. She was actually a good female role model at the time as she went to war and overseas and just about everywhere.
ReplyDeleteBut you are correct, these type of positive characters were few and far between.
Writers like Mary Shelley having to hide their identity makes you wonder just how many books from that era were perhaps penned by females.
I also find modern female writers tend to overdo it when trying to project the tough broad image. It comes across as stilted. One female writer I do enjoy is Rita Mae Brown. I gather she is a lesbian and some of her references are a little over the top, but all in all, great fictional work.
You make a really good point, Rocky about some female writers "overdoing" it today with "tough broad images." It's almost as though female characters today are meant to make up for all that hasn't gone before so we end up with "overburdened" female characters. The same in film & tv, I think.
ReplyDeleteI also think there is a tendency to not want to show the "realness" of the female experience for fear that it doesn't measure up to certain notions of feminism. So we have characters, again, bearing the burden of such ideologies to the point where "realness" is compromised.
Not sure I'm making any sense, but you make a very good point & got me to thinking.
I am not familiar with Rita Mae Brown, but it sounds like a name that has been recommended to me before.
If you read nothing else of Brown's, read Southern Discomfort. It is a good showpiece of her work. She wrote a book called Venus Envy that I didn't really like too much, but most of her other stuff is good.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, you're making sense to me at least. But then again, the way my mind works, that may not be the best measure, lol!
Star Trek is far more trailblazing than Star Wars in presenting a futuristic utopia based on ethical conduct. As Fogg points out, Star Wars is basically a comic book action film about conflict between the forces of good and evil, a genre demanding of traditional male roles. In contrast, the heroines of Star Trek are far more numerous, diverse, and endearing compared with Star Wars’ female characters.
ReplyDeleteOne wonders if Google’s mission statement, “Do no harm,” derives from Star Trek’s “Prime Directive” concept.
Unfortunately, the only films octopodes ever get to see are reruns of Captain Nemo and the Little Mermaid, along with occasional prawnography populated not with crustaceans but human characters. Even when conjoined, the human characters don’t amount to more than half an octopus.
Yes, dear Octopus - but that wasn't the point of my post - of course SW is a total comic book. I've never disputed that. In fact that's its appeal to the young such as my son & his light saber who've managed to do battle with every evil droid in our house (who knew so many lurked in so many unsuspecting corners) the wreckage is all over my living room rug. He's totally embraced Lucas' comic book fantasy.
ReplyDeleteBut the point of my post was about looking at the material of our youth with older eyes & through the eyes of our children. When I was a teenage girl in the 1970's - Leia was incredible because - comic book or no - she was unique - a female heroine - something I was sorely starved for.
ST's awesome & incredible Captain Catherine Janeway had not yet come along.
the wreckage is all over my living room rug
ReplyDeleteHardly wreckage, my dear Squid. More like spoils of war (and a childhood well spent).