Sarah Myles: “Rey is a brilliant hero, but she remains a woman seen through the male gaze.”
What I loved: It did exactly what it needed to do. Where George Lucas’ poorly acted, CGI-heavy prequels left us cold and empty, The Force Awakens returns us to a universe into which we can fully immerse ourselves. Watching it felt good, in a way that was reflected by Han and Chewbacca, as they burst onto the deck of the Millenium Falcon, and declared, “We’re home.”
But, The Force Awakens also needed to bring new audiences into the fold and, with our beloved heroes returning to the screen to guide a new generation of characters, the film achieved its primary mission – rebooting the franchise by bridging a generational gap.
In particular, while Princess Leia was regarded as progressive in terms of the cinema of 1977, 1980 and 1983 – demonstrating extraordinary leadership, and throttling Jabba The Hut to death – a little more is required in 2015. In no uncertain terms, Rey is the hero we need – strategizing, fighting, piloting and slicing her way through the action.
Indeed, aside from the overall experience, Rey is probably the part of the film that I loved the most – because, as a woman who has been a lifelong Star Wars fan, my heart swelled and soared the moment Rey activated that lightsaber, and brought it to her face in readiness to strike down the Dark Side.
What I loathed: When striving for a sense of familiarity, it is important to avoid simply recycling old ideas and, for me, Star Wars: The Force Awakens sailed very close to the wind on this point.
A rebel hides the MacGuffin in a droid and sends the droid off into the unknown. The droid crosses paths with the would-be hero, and the team grows until they figure out what they need to do to save the galaxy. That’s A New Hope, and also The Force Awakens – and, while the new generation of characters bring enough dimension and intrigue to the story to make it compelling, it was a close enough call to put me on edge.
As I revelled in the deliciousness of the experience of the film, I felt an anxiety – because I wanted it to succeed. I was willing it to avoid what would have been an easy pitfall, to the extent that I had to consciously choose not to yell from my seat, “It’s a trap!”
A second gripe has been gnawing at the edges of my brain since watching the movie, and that is a small, relatively inconsequential scene in which Finn sees Rey in action – fighting off a group of attackers. He stares, mouth agape, in wonder at the sight of a woman looking after herself with relative ease. While that was nice nod to the character of Rey and her capabilities, it is also a clear depiction that, even in a galaxy far, far away, there’s still sexism to be fought against.
It would have been nice to think that, in this fantastical, fictional universe, perhaps we could have seen an environment where sexism just doesn’t exist, and nobody is surprised by a woman instinctively taking care of business. Make no mistake, it’s a marvellous thing to have a female hero lead your movie, but to then have each male character comment in various ways on how remarkable it is to have a woman be so capable – you’re still exhibiting sexism in the most passive aggressive of ways. Rey is brilliant hero, but she remains a woman seen through the male gaze, and this is why we need women writers and directors in the Star Wars franchise.
