E7 Closer Look PT III: The Women of Star Wars: Episode 7

Female Characters

When the April 29th casting announcement was Officially dropped to the world many Bloggers and media outlets alike pounced on the opportunity to air grievances that Star Wars was somehow “sexist” for NOT casting more females. Just days later, in his May The Fourth address to the fans, JJ Abrams revealed that, “Casting announcements continue.” Ooops, looks like the over-reactionaries jumped-the-gun a bit. Roughly two months later we’ll take a look at how the cast is shaping-up, specifically the female cast members, after the jump . . .

 

I won’t lie, when I was a kid Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) was the first woman I loved who wasn’t my mom, and, of course, you always hold a special place in your heart for your first. All these years later Carrie comes back to the franchise to become an official Disney Princess. Unlike her first stint in Star Wars, where she was one of three significant female characters, if Aunt Beru and Mon Mothma can be considered “significant,” she will be joined by a large ensemble of actors, many of them women.

 

Monmothma

Of the fourteen actors officially identified as being in Episode VII, five of them are female. That might not sound like a lot, but consider that at least four of them figure to play prominent roles, if not in Episode VII, in the rest of the Sequel Trilogy. Five is definitely a step-up from the Original Trilogy, as I already mentioned, just having three significant female characters and a couple minor background extras, that is, unless you count Oolah and Sy Snoodles as something more than extras.

 

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Five is also a step-up from the Prequel Trilogy which, again, had one major female lead in Natalie Portman’s Padme Amidala. At least in the PT there were alot more females involved if even they were minor background extras, such as international stars Keira Knightley and Rose Byrne who played Padme’s decoy and hand maiden, in The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones, respectively. The PT also gave us more female extras since there were so many Jedi during this era, as well as the fittingly strong statement that females could be kick-ass Jedi just like the men. The PT gave us such characters as Shak-Ti, Aayla Secura, Luminara Unduli, and Barris Ofee, many of whom went on to become fan favorites, despite their short movie attention, through The Clone Wars animated series. In fact, also through TCW we got to see two of the very few female villains fleshed-out in the forms of Asajj Ventress and Aura Singg. Many will no doubt nit-pick that Ventress and Anakin’s padawan, Ahsoka Tano, don’t count since they were merely animated and never had live-action treatment. But “sexism” is “sexism” and having strong female characters in any form, for any franchise, is always welcomed no matter what form.

 

It’s particularly funny, in the ironic sense, that those who quickly singled Star Wars out as “sexist” have been beyond slow in pointing the same accusatory finger at other HUGE franchises such as Marvel or DC. In The Avengers, for instance, we saw just two significant females and one, Colbie Smulders, was really just a bit role. In every other Marvel franchise — Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk, Thor, Spider-Man — the females are largely “damsels in distress.” At least in Star Wars, when we have females they are every bit as lethal as the males. No one, not even Han or Chewie bossed Leia around and she saved their necks as much as they saved hers.

 

At any rate, the purpose of this article isn’t to debate “sexism” in today’s movies. Rather it’s a closer look at, and a celebration of, these talented women, both known and unknown, who will be carrying the iconic Star Wars mantle for years to come. So, in case you were hiding in a cave, or abducted by aliens and off the planet for the last several months, here’s a review of how the cast is developing under Kathleen Kennedy and JJ Abrams.

 

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Carrie Fisher. Of course Carrie is — thankfully — back in action. The role Leia will be holding, aside from matriarch, is unknown. However, it was hinted in Return of the Jedi that she is every bit as strong in the Force as Luke, since she is, after all, and despite their innocent smooching (ahem), brother and sister. Will Leia be a Jedi tonight? I doubt it. I think her role is more of the leader, the politician, and I would fully expect to see her in this capacity either as a Senator (again) or perhaps even as some sort of Supreme Chancellor title. Would it not be fitting that Leia fill the role of Mother to the New Republic as well as mother to the new generation of Jedi? I, for one, think it would be apropos. And, perhaps, a Jedi mind trick or three will help her in her Political career?

 

Daisy Ridley Star Wars Episode VII Wallpaper

 

Daisy Ridley. This lovely unknown actress from the UK screams Solo, even before her father’s strong hints. Likely she will be playing Han and Leia’s daughter [Jaina] Solo. Also likely Daisy will be playing a Jedi padawan, if not a full Jedi. She is the granddaughter of the galaxy’s most powerful Jedi ever, after all. Daisy, apparently, has been training long hours for a specific reason, and I tend to doubt it’s just to fire a blaster:

 

“They train from morning till night learning all the things they do […] She’s managing very well but she’s very tired.”

 

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Lupita Nyong’o. Back in the early part of June it was Officially announced that this lovely Oscar winner was cast in Episode VII. However, we had actually been suspecting it for at least a month beforehand as it was rumored she was already signed. Not only that, but the initial rumors we received stated that Lupita would be playing Asajj Ventress as I detailed in a special article. BUT could I have been wrong? Of course! At the time, this writer was NOT spoiled by the knowledge that Ventress actually turns back to the light side of the Force, in Season Six of The Clone Wars, which suggests her playing Ventress as a villain as somewhat of a long-shot. While the prospects of having a female villain, and possibly a Sith at that, are VERY exciting there is no doubt that Lupita brings great acting and a strong presence to whatever role she fills. Everything is conjecture until actual movie clips are revealed or an official character list. But if Lupita isn’t playing Ventress then who? Could she still be playing a Sith, perhaps, in the form of one DARTH TALON????

 

Darth_Talon_001

 

George Lucas wanted to use Darth Talon, seen above, in the since cancelled Darth Maul video game, which was set around the time of The Clone Wars:

 

George Lucas himself shifted the direction of Damage drastically, with the story involving Darth Krayt and Darth Talon, known within Star Wars’ Dark Horse Comics canon.

 

Hmmm . . . We all know by now that George wrote the treatments for the Sequel Trilogy, so perhaps these unused characters somehow make their way into the movies??? Ventress, Talon, either way we WIN!!! By the way, Ms Nyong’o, should you read this I have to warn you that IF you thought winning the Oscar made your life crazy just buckle-your-seat-belt!

 

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Gwendoline Christie. If you’re like me then you know Ms Christie from her fan-favorite role as Brienne of Tarth on the smash-hit TV show Game of Thrones. Gwendoline deftly plays a very sympathetic knight, balancing honor and duty and action. This doesn’t necessarily mean she’s automatically slated as a Jedi or a Sith, although I could easily see either. Some rumors have suggested Gwendoline to be playing a rogue Stormtrooper, which would be a really imaginative and intriguing character and way to go for Star Wars in general. OR, perhaps, Ms Christie would be well-suited to play a Dathomiri Nightsister named Mother Talzin??? I could easily see a combo of Lupita and Gwendoline wreaking havoc on the galaxy far, far away, with the caveat being that Ventress is back on the dark side. Again, like Lupita, whatever her role she brings a lot of talent to it and we, the fans, win in any capacity.

 

Unknown pair land Star Wars roles

 

Crystal Clarke. This American, and one of the newly announced cast-members, is an acting student in Oxford who is about to have a very BIG 2015 as two of her films premiere. We have little to go on with regards to her character, but welcome aboard, Crystal, your life is about to become a whirlwind!

 

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The Healer Twins. Thea and Liana Shengelaya are a couple of singers in their band “The Healer Twins” as well as Abu Dhabi residents who spent three days filming in Abu Dhabi. It would seem they probably have very minor roles or featured as extras similar to the Tonnika Twins from A New Hope.

 

And then there are a few wild cards left in the mix. These actresses haven’t been named Officially, but we’ve been hearing and speculating for a few months now about them. Should they be added to the cast we would see as many as eight female characters going forward, although the extent of the characters, obviously, remains to be seen. They include:

 

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Billie Lourde. “And we’ll never be royals (royals). It don’t run in our blood . . .” Oh, wait. Not that Lorde. This beautiful, new Lourde in town has Star Wars royalty in her blood in spades! News that Carrie Fisher’s daughter would be making an appearance in Episode VII first broke back on June 24th when Abe Gurko, Carrie’s assistant Tweeted out:

 

Loving my #StarWarsEpisodeVII girls: @carrieffisher, @ridley_daisy, #BillieLourd, #MaisieRichardsonSellers — Abe Gurko (@imeanwhat) June 23, 2014

 

Billie doesn’t seem to have any acting experience according to IMDB. However, there were rumors that Billie is playing Leia’s daughter. Could it be that both Daisy and Billie are playing Solo daughters? Could Billie’s character be Leia’s daughter but somehow NOT Han’s? Does this mean there will be no Solo son? (Actually, I strongly doubt that there will be no Solo son, but that’s a whole different can of worms.) Billie’s presence opens up all kinds of questions and possibilities.

 

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Maisie Richardson-Sellers. The Abe Gurko Tweet also mentioned Richardson-Sellers who has been long-rumored but NEVER OFFICIALLY CONFIRMED. Since her appearance appears to be a secret, it’s really hard to speculate about her role, but we have to presume, “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire,” as Mr. Gurko’s Tweet named both Maisie and Billie specifically.

 

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Mara Jade. As I speculated on June 12th, Mara Jade seems like a very real possibility based on Karen Gillan’s wig alone. IF Mara does appear, and it seems highly probable, then they are purposely keeping her a secret and we may never have a confirmation until December 19th, 2015. To those of you who will inevitably deny this by saying, “NO EU!” I reply, “But, The Hair! The Hair!”

 

The “Take Away” for this article is that there has been a very concerted effort to include more diversity, especially of the female variety, in the Star Wars universe. It should also be noted that the alleged “sexism” was never purposely created, but more a media-hyped creation. The saga is the saga and, ultimately, you can’t have a million characters all given equal screen time. However, all these cast members lend a lot of support to my theory that Episode IX will NOT be the last of the current series, since, as I just stated, there won’t be time enough to flesh-out all these characters otherwise.

 

Men, women, old, or young, it matters not, really. Disney, LFL, Kathleen Kennedy, and JJ Abrams have been doing a fantastic job with this crown jewel of a franchise, especially in searching dilligently to find the best, young, un or little known talent this planet has to offer. There can be no doubt, arguing, or gnashing of teeth, that these fine women, who happen to be talented actors as well by the way, will do an outstanding job of care-taking our galaxy and, in the process, steal our hearts as they join Carrie Fisher on the pedestal of beloved fan-favorites.

 

 

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398 thoughts on “E7 Closer Look PT III: The Women of Star Wars: Episode 7

  • July 12, 2014 at 9:12 pm
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    This is so ridiculous it hurts my brain to think about..
    “many Bloggers and media outlets alike pounced on the opportunity to air grievances that Star Wars was somehow “sexist” for NOT casting more females.”
    Yes. The casting anouncement had 2 women to 8 males… Just Carrie and Daisy. Hence a problem. Arguably there were 11 males if you count Peter, Kenny, and Anthony.. That’s clearly an issue whether you personally want to accept it or not. Half the world is men, half the world is women. If you aren’t going to accurately display that, then it should at least be a minimum of 35% to 65%, but the females were just at 25%, or as I say, if you count all 11 males, then it would be just 18%.. That’s pathetic. People were well within their rights to bring this issue up.

    “Just days later, in his May The Fourth address to the fans, JJ Abrams revealed that, “Casting announcements continue.” Ooops, looks like the over-reactionaries jumped-the-gun a bit.”
    Wtf? How was it jumping the gun? You just said it yourself it took days (It took 5 days to be precise.) for them to announce the casting announcement was not completed. That was 5 days for people to notice an issue and bring it up without this added information. That is not jumping the gun to a conclusion if that’s the only conclusion you can come to at that time. As I say, it took 5 days for JJ to announce that there would be more casting. I mean, since then, they have also announced more casting with Crystal and pip, did you also know what was going to happen and we all still jumped the gun and all our opinions on the cast were invalid? No. Give me a break. As it stands the casting is at 40% female so that pasts the test, but don’t act like it was clear that this was the case from the beginning because it clearly was not.

    “It’s particularly funny, in the ironic sense, that those who quickly singled Star Wars out as “sexist” have been beyond slow in pointing the same accusatory finger at other HUGE franchises such as Marvel or DC. In The Avengers, for instance, we saw just two significant females and one, Colbie Smulders, was really just a bit role.”
    Oh so there we have it. Sexism can be allowed in one franchise, because another franchise also has sexism. You would be absolutely fuming if if the cast announcement had 8 females and 2 men. It is no different whatsoever, and if you think it IS different, then that is sexist because you are basing your opinion on sex, when there is no difference. Discrimination is discrimination.

    • July 12, 2014 at 11:32 pm
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      Anonymous July 12, 2014 at 21:12 PM

      I agree.

    • July 13, 2014 at 2:36 am
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      These are deeply stupid and selfish arguments.

      It makes the erroneous assumption that you are entitled to the direction of a story that you aren’t telling.

      You are not, nor should you be.

      There are no such rights for anyone to be well within.

      Otherwise, how much control would you be willing to give to me in a story you might be telling? Hum?

      The entire argument that since there are 50% women in the world, there should be 50% women in Star Wars is equally stupid, and more parroted academic nonsense.

      First, the Star Wars story isn’t about the whole world, or in this case the whole galaxy. It’s about wars. Star Wars. Who fights wars? Predominately men. Now, there are women who do fight in wars, although they are a small minority. But they certainly don’t look anything like these heavily moisturized beauty queens.

      Second, the whole world isn’t a fan of Star Wars. Like it or not, the Star Wars fan base is predominately male, so that’s who it should appeal to.

      Just because a film doesn’t have a perfect equal number of male and female roles, doesn’t make it sexist. Some stories are just predominately about males, while others are just predominately about females. Wars happen to be about predominately males, because that’s who generally fights them. That’s just the way it is.

      That’s why the original trilogy has such staying power, 30+ years after its release, and even after a lackluster prequel trilogy. Because of its believability, rather than its adherence to the arbitrary politically correct fashions of the day.

      If you want to see sexy cosplay girls twirling lightsabers around in costume, go to a convention.

      Besides, where does all of this leave the hermaphrodites and transgendered?

      • July 13, 2014 at 2:39 am
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        ^Actually, you are dead wrong. The original Star Wars trilogy lasted not becasue it played it safe and followed the rules but because it BROKE all rules and did stuff no other movie did before. Now, it looks like JJ is going to do the same thing with the ST, as far as gender representation goes.

        • July 13, 2014 at 4:46 am
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          Actually, you’re not speaking from knowledge or experience. You’re just stupidly making things up off the top of your head.

          Star Wars was groundbreaking for its sense of realism. This hadn’t been done before in a science fiction film. Before Star Wars visions of space and the future were depicted as shiny and new. Star Wars introduced what became known as a “used universe.” A large part of this, was its realistic and semi gritty take on the old 30s and 40s sci=fi serials that George Lucas grew up watching.

          • July 13, 2014 at 5:01 am
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            You’re entire argument is just convoluted excuses. It’s a made up story.. It can go in any way shape or form. This is set in a galaxy far far away. Who says they are restrained by the laws set here on earth? Who says women can’t be in wars? The entire film is not a war film anyway. It’s a fantasy and fantasies feature women. It’s a farytale of CONTEMPORARY TIMES. It takes what we have, yes including women whether you like it or not, and shakes up the rules and includes many different fantasy elements to coincide with that. Aliens don’t fight on earth. Nor do fuzzy bears called ewoks. But so what? It’s a fucking film. The fact that you are acting like it’s the end of the world if a character is a female in a film that happens to feature war is inane and just shows your lack of understanding of the entire subject. You’re trying to convolute excuses in a situation where there are no excuses because it’s entirely made up scenarios.

      • July 13, 2014 at 3:30 am
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        Your assumption that men fight the wars assumes that the same is true for the Star Wars galaxy (and all its species therein). You assume that men and women in that galaxy were raised in the same sort of social environment as they are here. There is nothing to indicate a history of sexism or racism in the galaxy, with the only real prejudices showcased being toward alien species and droids.

        One could easily swap the gender of just about any Star Wars character and have the story still make sense and carry the same weight. It’s not “Band of Brothers” or something which needs to adhere to some manner of historical accuracy regarding gender participation.

        There were female starship pilots in Return of the Jedi, but they were removed from the film before release. Clone Wars is canon and we see more female roles there as well, with them taking on roles of bounty hunters, pilots, soldiers, and more. Rebels will be somewhat similar, with a female pilot and female demolitionist as part of the core cast.

        Just because it’s more popular with males (citation needed? how -much- more popular?) doesn’t mean it needs to be written or cast with a male bias. Why not encourage more females to enjoy the Star Wars universe? Why not give actresses the opportunity to be a part of a sci-fi/fantasy epic instead of shutting out their participation in these genres as some sort of “boys only” club?

        Characters like Ellen Ripley, Kara “Starbuck” Thrace, and Zoe Washburne have shown that female characters can exist in traditionally-male sci-fi/action roles without it being “unbelievable”.

        • July 13, 2014 at 5:01 pm
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          @Anonymous July 13, 2014 at 03:30 AM

          You’re arguing against points that I’m not making.

          I’m not at all suggesting that female characters can’t exist in traditionally-male sci-fi/action roles without being “unbelievable.” Rather, what I am saying instead, is that these particular women won’t be believable in combat scenarios.

          I’ve made this point many times before, but feminists seem to ignore it in favor of continuing to pursue their ornery crusade.

          You mention Ellen Ripley, who I have mentioned before in addition to Sarah Conner. These women were believable in their roles, because they had a sense of ruggedness about them. They are just the type of women one might see as a trucker, or fighting in the U.S. Marine corp. Zoe Washburne would also fill that role because she has the physical stature to back up being a soldier.

          Kara “Thrace” Starbuck however is another matter. This particular actress tried a bit too hard to show everyone that a woman can be every bit of a man as men can be, and so the performance came off as more comical than believable. It’s was eye-rolling incredulous stuff because men don’t really act that way. Rather, it was a woman’s interpretation of how men act, and it was painfully obvious. The female pilot in Rebels is intriguing so far, so it’s unfortunate that there hasn’t been more focus on her character, rather than the teenage demolitionist Sabine, a deeply stupid character who is multi-layerd with dumb. Here’s why:

          Clearly the Sabine character was designed in a Disney executive committee, and is meant to pander to teenage girls. Unfortunately, it’s obvious that no real thought was given to her creation. She’s merely the product of politically correct idiocy.

          Layer 1: A 16 year old “explosives expert supreme, and a master of advanced weapons.”

          Dumb.

          How can a 16 year old be an expert supreme or master of anything? To be a master or expert at something, anything, it requires years and decades of training and experience. Not just a quick read of a few WikiPedia articles and girl power. When did Sabine begin her training? When she was 4? Give me a break. There are kids who engage in warfare in other countries but they sure aren’t experts or masters, supreme or otherwise.

          Layer 2: Bright pink cosplay costume with colorful paint splatters.

          Dumb.

          Wearing bright pink is a great way to facilitate the target practice of your enemies. Sabine may as well have a “please shoot here” sign posted on her back. This is hardly the kind of muted color or camouflage one generally sees those who fight a guerrilla rebellion wearing, for obvious reasons.

          Layer 3: She’s a graffiti artist who expresses her art through her explosions and tagging.

          Dumb.

          What a great way to help your enemy track your movements. If you’re trying to fight a guerrilla rebellion, the very last thing you’d want anywhere near you is an “impulsive” teenager that’s constantly trying to draw attention to herself.

          Layer 4: If they have to explain to you how awesome, interesting, and compelling she is, then they know she’s not.

          Looking at all the words used to describe her in the press release for her diary, the publicist uses the following plethora of adjectives: funny, creative, impulsive, awesome, compelling, interesting, crazy, strong, bold, confident, cool. I guess she’s everything. Is there anything that she isn’t? I think they forgot one other word:

          Dumb.

          Layer 5: She’s this, and she’s that! And she’s this and she’s that! And this and that too!

          Dumb.

          They’re trying to cram too much into one character in an effort to make her an empowered teenage feminist’s wet dream. But it didn’t need to be this way. They could have picked up Sabine as a teenager, as a naive teenage graffiti artist. Much in the same way they picked up Luke as a naive farm boy. Then had her grow into an explosives expert throughout the run of the show as part of her character arc. Just as Luke eventually became a Jedi Knight in the Original Trilogy. It could have been interesting to see the character’s frustration at having to suppress her self expression due to having to keep cover while fighting a guerrilla rebellion. Or the eventual joy of being able to engage in her art once they become victorious over the Empire. Unfortunately in the committee’s rush to make her a super dynamic “girls can be everything” role model, they robbed Sabine of any such potentially interesting character arc.

          Layer 6: She’s a 16 year old having fun wreaking havoc on the Imperial Armies.

          Dumb.

          While there are children who engage in warfare, they’re not doing it with a carefree spunky, feisty, and/or sassy smirk on their faces. War is hell. Having this character play hop-scotch on the heads of Stormtroopers almost satirizes the very serious nature of warfare, particularly when children are involved.

          Realism occurs when you model fiction after reality, which is what the Original Trilogy did so well. So thought to more than a character’s genetalia and the intellectual inversion of political correctness has to be given when creating them.

          A point of correction here; the female pilots in Return of the Jedi are actually still in the final cut of the film. They were not removed entirely, but rather had their voices dubbed over with male voices. This is because in 1983 the notion of female fighter pilots was largely laughable. There weren’t any until some time in the 90s. The reason they were able to do the dubbing however, was because the women they cast in those roles had battle hardened faces, and would have been realistic in those roles. So much so, that I’d support restoring the original sound of their voices in any future special editions of the original trilogy.

          This holds true for male characters as well. It’s why Mark Hamill would never have been convincing as Han Solo. He simply wouldn’t have had the physical presence necessary to portray a convincing cutthroat smuggler. And vice versa. Harrison Ford wouldn’t have been believable as a naive farm boy. That’s what I’m arguing here. Not against women, but in favor of realism.

          Women have fought in every war in history. It’s in the historical records. But they don’t look as though they’ve spent the day shopping at the local mall. Their faces are hardened with age and experience from being out in the elements and performing hard labor and persevering hardships. Those are the Ellen Ripleys and the Sarah Connors and the Zoe Washburns. Rather than worry about the percentages of women in the world, more focus should be placed on what percentage of the armed forces and guerrilla revolutionaries are comprised of women, and reflect that reality instead.

          So I’m not at all saying that Star Wars is a “boys club” or ought to be. What I am saying instead, is that if we’re going to have female characters, let’s put a little forethought into them and have them realistically reflect women who actually engage in battle, rather than snicker inducing midriff baring cosplay girls. Otherwise, they may as well cast Lindsey Lohan and Tara Reid or even Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Models, which is pretty close to what they’ve done by all appearances. Feminists ought to be arguing in favor of this too, so that female portrayals in these scenarios can be taken seriously, instead of laughed at as they are in films such as Slave Girls From Beyond Infinity.

          http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVDPbLu6BS0

          • July 13, 2014 at 7:22 pm
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            “This is because in 1983 the notion of female fighter pilots was largely laughable.”

            The Buck Rogers TV series had one as a main character in 1979.

            “Rather, what I am saying instead, is that these particular women won’t be believable in combat scenarios.”

            Two words: Jek Porkins

            You keep using feminist as a pejorative, which speaks a lot about the point you’re actually trying to make: that women are inferior to men, especially at tasks that you consider “manly”.

            You make plenty of ungrounded assumptions such as that Sabine was created by Disney feminists (or something?) when there’s nothing indicating it’s true. Disney has been largely hands-off for the Star Wars productions. And they had no influence on Clone Wars (same creators as Rebels), which also had a large cast of strong female characters. Did you ever stop to think that these characters were part of the creators’ vision or is it that any female character, in your mind, is suddenly part of some PC, feminist conspiracy?

          • July 13, 2014 at 9:04 pm
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            Yes, the 70s version of Buck Rogers did indeed have Colonel Deering as a fighter pilot. I remember it well. Erin Gray’s derrière looked positively exquisite in skin-tight metallic spandex. But the role was largely campy, not something taken seriously. Star Wars was not shooting for camp.

            “Rather, what I am saying instead, is that these particular women won’t be believable in combat scenarios.”

            What about Jek Porkins? He’s not a frail model type that I’m aware of.

            I’ve never said that Sabine was created by Disney feminists. Rather, what I did say instead, was that it’s clearly the creation of a PC executive committee meeting. It’s just such a standard formulaic character that it’s pretty blatant.

            How can Disney be hands-off when they own the property? That doesn’t really make any sense.

            They had no influence on Clone Wars? What are you talking about? They’re the primary reason that the show was canceled.

            You’re apparently not reading, or just choosing to ignore, the parts where I specifically call for female parts to be cast in the same manner that Ellen Ripley or Sarah Conner were.

            That’s why I use feminist as a pejorative. Because most feminists can’t seem to see outside a male vs. female argument. I’m not even making that argument at all and here you are still arguing against it. How can I not use the word feminist as a pejorative, when they’re constantly arguing against imaginary points that I never make?

        • July 14, 2014 at 5:25 pm
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          You will find your requested citation below:

          “Anonymous July 14, 2014 at 14:48 PM

          You’ll find that most of us are men.”

      • July 16, 2014 at 1:04 am
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        It’s a medium unlike any other to reach millions of people and make an impact on them, yet you think it’s selfish to include women because it’s selfish for the audience to have a say in the film instead of a director? I’m going to boil your face. The fact that men fight wars has no substance as an argument as that’s a socially constructed rule. Star wars is a fantasy. It should represent life, but it can bend the rules. It includes aliens for crying out loud. But what those aliens, men, and women can or can’t do can be made up as it’s not bound by following the rules of earth, but the audience is still earth so it should represent the audience as people. As I say, the rules that the audience follow can be made up as it’s a fantasy. It’s YOU who is selfish to say that the republic shouldn’t include women. You’re acting like women are social constructions like how men predominantly fight wars. No, women are a part of life and a huge chunk of the audience and need to be represented. The rules in which the women have to follow in the film can be made up you fool. The fact you cannot see basic knowledge is worrying.

    • July 13, 2014 at 5:29 pm
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      Well, should most of the cast be non-white simply because most of the world’s population is non-white? Should about a tenth of the characters be gay? Shouldn’t more of the male characters be bald? If you are going to presume SW should present a gender representation closer to the actual numbers that exist in our world, in our society, why stop there? Let’s do that across the board.

      Or…we can allow the filmmakers to make the film they envision. If we don’t like it we can always make our voices heard by not supporting the product. But to go around demanding that more females should be in the film was ridiculous. And by the way why did I never hear that complaint in regards to the Star Trek movies? Each of JJ’s ST movies had like two only females of note.

    • January 11, 2015 at 10:53 pm
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      Tired of these stupid libtard news site bashing everything that doesn’t fit to their perfect politically correct world! I grew up watching Star Wars,Terminator and Alien series and never once did I have a problem as a child thinking it was bad that there was a woman lead hero! I loved the Ripley character and was upset when they killed her off just like they did to Padme in the prequels. You could do everything in the world to appease these people and they’ll still find something to bitch about! That’s why I live in a world of common sense and mile in honey!

  • July 12, 2014 at 9:23 pm
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    Viral Hilde, why are you still allowing this guy to write for this blog? From the overuse of ellipses, the use of multiple exclamation points at the end of sentences, the it was incredibly obvious to me that this was an Echo-07 even before getting to such bizarre proclamations as Mara Jade’s appearance being “highly probable”.

    • July 13, 2014 at 4:19 am
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      But the wig!!….

    • July 13, 2014 at 5:25 am
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      Did you look at the previous speculative article that Echo-07 wrote? He made a damn-well convincing argument for Mara Jade’s inclusion, improbable though it may be.

  • July 12, 2014 at 9:44 pm
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    If you have to write paragraphs to try and justify something via the use of incorrect and/or twisted facts and also bring in issues from elsewhere to try and make the main issue sound like it’s not an issue at all, then I think it’s safe to say there was a fucking issue whether you want to bury your head in the sand or convolute excuses or not.

    • July 13, 2014 at 5:16 pm
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      That sentence doesn’t make much sense.

      • July 16, 2014 at 12:37 am
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        Actually it makes perfect sense and is bang on the mark. But of course, I don’t expect the people who would disagree with the statement could therefore have the brain power to understand the statement in the first place, as you’ve possibly already proven..

    • July 13, 2014 at 7:11 pm
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      Too much for you to read?

  • July 12, 2014 at 9:47 pm
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    Thanks for this profile. As a life-long and female fan of the franchise, I appreciated it!

    • July 13, 2014 at 5:14 am
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      Ca. 1982: A famous film-maker is tragically seduced by the dark forces …

      GEORGE: I pledge myself to your teachings!

      KENNER TOYS REPRESENTATIVE: Good! Goooood!

      GEORGE: Just tell me how to conclude the Star Wars saga. I can’t live without it!

      KENNER TOYS REPRESENTATIVE (KTR): The power of merchandising is strooooong with you. A powerful merchandiser you will become!

      GEORGE: Teach me, master! I guess we will be selling more action figures?

      KTR: Not just any action figures, George! Consider the demographic. In 1977, the first movie was a big hit among boys of about seven. What will be happening to those kids by 1983?

      GEORGE: Ehr … will anything happen?

      KTR: Yesss, George! Their hormones will be stirring! And what does that mean?

      GEORGE (confused): Does it mean anything?

      KTR: Think, George! It means that in the third movie, Carrie Fisher needs to take off her clothes!

      GEORGE: B-but I was so proud of the Leia character … you know, we had written this strong, feisty heroine who really sets the whole story in motion, back in the original movie.

      KTR: Nonsense, George! A girl in a science fiction movie needs no story. None! She is only there to be cute and sexy and as scantily clad as possible, so that the fanboys can slobber all over her.

      GEORGE: B-but … Leia?!

      KTR: I can see her dressed in chains and very little else, preferably enslaved to some kind of crime lord, so that we can have a nice subtext of SM and domination. Then we will of course be selling all sorts of action figures and figurines depicting Slave Leia in a humilated, helpless and above all practically NAKED state.

      GEORGE (sobbing): W-what have I done …?

      KTR: You are fulfilling your destiny, George! An entire generation of adolescents will imprint on Carrie Fisher’s boobs. They will buy the action figure to serve as their inspiration for some, ehr, solitary action of their own.

      GEORGE: B-but then the third movie will be some kind of dirty, slutty …

      KTR (interrupting): In order to avoid that impression, you will also write in a number of scenes that are distinctly juvenile and silly. In that way, despite the soft porn with Carrie Fisher, no one will be able to claim that this is anything else than a children’s movie. In particular, the heroes should encounter a tribe of reinvented teddy-bears that must turn out to be absolutely vital to the plot.

      GEORGE: [Stunned silence.]

      KTR: Once more, the merchandisers will ruuuule the market …and we shall be …. rich!

      • July 13, 2014 at 7:22 am
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        I wish the “Like” button worked, man…

      • July 13, 2014 at 12:01 pm
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        For some reason when i was reading this, it was Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin voice as the Kenner toys representative.

      • July 13, 2014 at 1:41 pm
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        Sweet storie but think about it The Rancor keeper made it to the kenner toy line and Slave Leia din’t.

        (okay Slave Leia is flashing more leg but the keeper is flashing his boobs (so please can the sexism talk.)

        • July 13, 2014 at 7:36 pm
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          Yoyo is right. There are Slave Leia figures now, but they weren’t any Slave Leia figures included in the Kenner ROTJ line.

  • July 12, 2014 at 10:21 pm
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    you all need to get a grip.

    • July 12, 2014 at 10:38 pm
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      Yes how dare people be passionate and express views about the cast of a film on a website specificlly based around that film

      • July 13, 2014 at 7:15 pm
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        Get a grip.

        • July 15, 2014 at 11:12 pm
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          Get a brain

  • July 12, 2014 at 10:58 pm
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    butthurt feminists everywhere

    • July 12, 2014 at 11:20 pm
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      If by feminism you mean the perfectly moral realisation that men and female are equal, then what’s your point ?

      • July 13, 2014 at 2:03 am
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        Men and women aren’t equal. Period.

        You’re merely parroting academic fantasy making.

        The very fact that men and women have differing physiologies precludes any possibility of perfect equality.

        THAT is reality.

        • July 13, 2014 at 2:11 am
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          Yes both males and females are equal. Yes we look different but we are equal.

          People of different races look different, but they are equal.

          Some people can have blue, some green, some brown eyes, but they are equal.

          And you are sexist. And sad fact is that there is still a large percentage of sexist among male population. And you are part of that percentage.

          • July 13, 2014 at 2:45 am
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            Believe it or not, but saying that people are complaining about an issue does not mean the issue doesn’t exist. You know, hence why people are complaining in the first place, because there is an issue.. What the fuck is a “non-issue”? Saying an issue isn’t there when it clearly is is just showing that you are ignorant.

          • July 13, 2014 at 2:51 am
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            A non-issue is an issue that doesn’t exist.

            In other words, it’s inside of your head, and no where in reality.

          • July 13, 2014 at 3:10 am
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            I’ll say it again, simply claiming that an issue is not there when it very clearly is just shows that you are ignorant.

          • July 13, 2014 at 4:51 am
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            Say it as many times as you like.

            Repetition won’t make your issues any less imaginary.

          • July 13, 2014 at 11:38 pm
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            Say it as many times as you like, claiming something is imaginary doesn’t actually eradicate it’s existence.

          • July 14, 2014 at 1:15 am
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            As they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

          • July 13, 2014 at 2:46 am
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            It isn’t sexist if it’s true.

            Men and women aren’t equal. Period.

            Women menstruate and because of this issue pheromones that can be detected by an enemy downwind. That’s one of the reasons many soldiers don’t want them on the front lines.

            There are exceptions, but men have greater physical strength on average.

            If men and women were truly equal, then there wouldn’t be different physical standards for men and women in the armed forces, police, or fire brigades.

            Additionally, races are not perfectly equal. Some races are more predisposed to certain diseases than others. For instance I believe Caucasians are prone to heart disease while those of African descent can contract sickle cell anemia.

            People with blue eyes are more sensitive to bright light than people with brown eyes. Additionally, there were recent findings that showed some women’s eyes are mutating to include an additional cone that can see into the ultraviolet spectrum.

            In addition, people have different talents, interests, abilities, skills, experiences, strengths and weaknesses.

            So this whole notion of perfect equality is pure academic fantasy making. Nothing more.

            That doesn’t make me a sexist. Rather, it makes me a realist.

          • July 13, 2014 at 2:56 am
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            um, when people say men and women are equal, they don’t mean it literally in every sense of the word. I mean, yes, women get periods. People know all of that. People are referring to ‘equal’ as in they are both equally human beings so should be treated as such..

          • July 13, 2014 at 4:05 pm
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            It’s difficult to take statements that begin with “um” with any degree of seriousness.

          • July 13, 2014 at 6:39 pm
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            Yes well two whole letters would confuse your small brain wouldn’t it?

        • July 13, 2014 at 2:42 am
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          WHOA. Women aren’t equal to men? Let me guess, women by nature are more emotional and men are more cognitive? If that’s what you are trying to say, than HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!

          • July 13, 2014 at 2:47 am
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            Being unequal doesn’t instantly mean inferior.

            That too is an academic fantasy.

    • July 13, 2014 at 2:35 am
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      Neckbearded man-children everywhere.

      • July 14, 2014 at 5:29 pm
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        Heh, I thought they were women.

  • July 12, 2014 at 11:07 pm
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    I wonder, is there a reason why you do not mention Shim Skywalker in your summary of PT female characters, Viral Hilde? I mean, she is quite possible one of the most important characters in the entire SW saga, having both given birth to the supposedly immaculately conceived Anakin Skywalker, while also being involuntarily instrumental in his transformation into Darth Vader?

    Was this an oversight?

    • July 13, 2014 at 2:50 am
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      Yes there is a reason he didn’t mention her. He DIDN’T write the article.

      • July 13, 2014 at 1:42 pm
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        Sorry, my bad.

  • July 12, 2014 at 11:43 pm
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    PT trilogy had more females.

    1. Padme Amidala

    2. Shmi Skywalker ( Mother of Anakin )

    3. Beru Whitesun ( Aunt of Luke )

    4. Dorme ( handmaiden of Padme )

    5. Zam Wesell ( bounty hunter and partner of Jango Fett, who is given the task of assassinating Padmé, she is actually a shapeshifter )

    6. Queen Jamillia of Naboo ect..

  • July 12, 2014 at 11:43 pm
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    The Wig!!!

  • July 12, 2014 at 11:43 pm
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    Next you are offended that there are too few females in the next Rambo…

    • July 13, 2014 at 12:21 am
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      Your point…

    • July 13, 2014 at 2:06 am
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      Why wasn’t there more male representation in Sucker Punch?

      • July 13, 2014 at 2:44 am
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        …because there is a whole onslaught of graphic novels/comic book movies catering to men. That’s why, fool.

        • July 13, 2014 at 2:53 am
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          BUT EQUAL REPRESENTATION!!!

          ROOOAAAAARR!!!!!!!

  • July 12, 2014 at 11:50 pm
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    Seriously, I do not understand all the uproar about too few female actors. If the story does not demand more, why force it. Think back to ANH, where would you have put more female roles? The DS commanders? Stormtroopers? X-Wing Pilots? If this is seriously a problem for so many, I bet that by the time EPIX comes around we will have complains that there are too few homosexual roles cast and there also should be some handicapped actors involved…

    • July 12, 2014 at 11:59 pm
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      “If the story does not demand more, why force it.”
      LOL. Are you serious? If the story does not demand people with vaginas then how does the story demand people with penis’s then? It’s like saying “They should shave their eyebrows because having eyebrows doesn’t effect the story so they don’t need them”. Well so what if it doesn’t effect the story. It will still effect the context and the audience’s view of the film. Take Mon Mothma for instance. Did that character need to be female? No. But they made it female because females exist. So what? Does that pull down the film’s story? No. Yet is it good because it gives diversity to the characters? Yes.

    • July 13, 2014 at 12:19 am
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      Really!?

      Almost all roles can be played by both females and males.

      So story does not demand any particular gender.

      We live in the world that have more females than males. And in movies there is 10 times more males.

    • July 13, 2014 at 12:29 am
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      As Star Wars has never concerned itself with sex and sexuality, homosexual or otherwise, your mocking (and quite possibly sexist) remarks does not really apply. Star Wars simply is not that kind of show! However, that a cultural phenomenon of this caliber has in the past chosen to depict a near single-gender and single-race setting, is cause for concern regarding where Star Wars is heading in the future. Is it appropriate that Star Wars 7-9 appeal only to WASP males? – and if so WHY? – or should Star Wars be a multi-cultural, multi-gender, and multi-ethnical phenomenon that applies to young and old, male and female, universally? The answer is OBVIOUSLY that Star Wars is for everyone, and it is therefore the public’s role to demand this. (And for the record, the PT did a fair job with this, considering Hollywood’s record on gender and race equality, and the ST looks like it really strives for universalism).

    • July 13, 2014 at 2:10 am
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      Because today’s children are being taught by elderly hippies, that everyone needs to be in everything all the time.

      Unless it’s a film about women. Then the topic of equal representation never comes up.

      • July 13, 2014 at 2:48 am
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        ‘Hippies’ is just a word that morons use to call others who value things they don’t understand. Oh my god! children are being taught about equal opportunities! THE HORROR!! ..

        • July 13, 2014 at 5:24 pm
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          No.

          Hippies were adolescents from the flatulent 1960s who dreamt up modern progressive thought through the use of LSD and other mind altering substances.

        • July 13, 2014 at 6:47 pm
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          Children aren’t being taught about equal opportunities.

          Rather, they’re being taught about Equality of Outcome, a Leninist tenet that many immigrants came to America to escape from.

    • July 13, 2014 at 9:01 am
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      “Think back to ANH, where would you have put more female roles? The DS commanders? Stormtroopers? X-Wing Pilots?”

      Yes? Why not?

      Even among main characters, Chewbacca could have been female, wouldn’t have changed anything. Leia could have been the one raised on Tatooine, with Prince Luke raised by the Organas on Alderaan.

      Even in the PT, Qui-Gon could have been a female character and you wouldn’t have had to change a line of dialogue other than pronouns. Dooku could have been a woman.

      • July 13, 2014 at 12:36 pm
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        Chewbacca as a female would make me think of Han Solo differently. Plus Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker was a father son motif. So no you can’t just change a character’s sex.

        • July 13, 2014 at 2:58 pm
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          LOL. Yes, Darth Vader and Luke skywalker are the only characters in star wars right?

          I love what he said at the end- “Even in the PT, Qui-Gon could have been a female character and you wouldn’t have had to change a line of dialogue other than pronouns.”

          You simply cannot argue with that you moronic fool. Most of the cast are not tied up with story elements about being in a father/son relationship like vader and Luke you inane monkey.

          • July 13, 2014 at 3:11 pm
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            You start off your troll rant with “LOL” call me a “moronic fool” and an “inane monkey”. You are nothing more than a keyboard slapping idiot troll monger and this is the last bit of attention you will get from me.

          • July 13, 2014 at 5:14 pm
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            Would you care to actually look at the point I make? Oh of course not, you don’t have a brain. I eagerly await your comment to which you still won’t address the situation. Answer me this, is the majority of the cast tied up with story elements about being in a specific family relationship such as the father/son relationship like vader and Luke had? Also, what’s stopping the story suffering if it were mother/daughter. Or mother/son? Or Father/daughter? And like the other person suggested, take qui-gon jin for example. How would his dialogue and general role in the film be effected if he had a vagina instead of a penis?

      • July 13, 2014 at 5:28 pm
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        If changing the character’s sex wouldn’t change anything, then why are the shrieking harridans in an uproar over the lack of cosplay girls in Episode VII?

        • July 13, 2014 at 6:18 pm
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          Because having females does not pull down the story, yet it does create a diversity to the cast and the relationships within the cast, and also give representation to women. Having a diverse range of personalities, sexes, and ages is what creates an interesting cast. No, it does not effect the story, so there is no problem. But it does effect the context of the characters which is good. If there is an opportunity to enhance the film with no drawbacks to the story, then I am all for it. If you are against it because- oh no! it involves females!- you are sexist. Simple as.

          • July 13, 2014 at 7:47 pm
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            So changing a character’s sex does in fact change things.

          • July 13, 2014 at 10:32 pm
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            Of course it does. It doesn’t change the story so has it no negative impact. But it changes the characters in a way where it creates a different vibe and diversity to it which is only a positive.

          • July 13, 2014 at 11:15 pm
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            So why would someone say that changing a character’s sex wouldn’t change anything when it clearly does?

          • July 13, 2014 at 11:28 pm
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            It doesn’t effect the STORY. It doesn’t effect the film in a negative way. It doesn’t pull down the story for a character to have a penis. It doesn’t pull down the story for a character to have a vagina. But, it DOES effect the cast. Ages, race, sex, personalities, it all creates a diverse cast full of different layers, which is good, without effecting the story.

          • July 13, 2014 at 11:48 pm
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            The change to the story is minimal, like changing certain names and pronouns. As long as the characters are still written and portrayed respectfully, the quality will remain.

            The vast majority of the characters in Star Wars could easily be female without the story being affected.

          • July 14, 2014 at 1:02 am
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            So are you saying that if Darth Vader were a woman, the change to the story would be minimal?

          • July 14, 2014 at 3:19 pm
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            Are you saying Mon Mothma being a woman dragged down the story? Should Leia have also been a man then?

          • July 14, 2014 at 5:37 pm
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            double post.

          • July 14, 2014 at 4:06 pm
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            I’ve never made the point that women drag down a story. So I’m not sure who you’re responding to.

          • July 14, 2014 at 5:20 pm
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            I’m responding to the fact you have no argument to be against creating a diverse and layered cast if there is no negative impact on the story.

          • July 14, 2014 at 5:39 pm
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            What you’re responding to then, is a purely imaginary point that I never made.

            Not once did I ever say that creating a diverse and layered cast has a negative impact on the story.

            Not anywhere.

            Rather the point that I have been repeatedly making, that doesn’t seem to be able to penetrate the pea-brained feminists in this comment section who can’t let go of their myopic male vs. female paradigm, is that the cosplay girls they’ve cast for Episode VII thusfar will be laughably silly if they engage in portrayals of combat situations. That I’d prefer the casting of female types that more accurately reflect the females who actually engage in warfare.

            What is blocking you from processing this information?

            Why do you keep responding to things that were never written?

          • July 14, 2014 at 6:53 pm
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            What’s with the paranoid statements?
            “What you’re responding to then, is a purely imaginary point that I never made.”
            I’m stating a fact to prove a point. So are you saying that I can’t make statements if you haven’t made them before me?..

            “Not once did I ever say that creating a diverse and layered cast has a negative impact on the story.”
            When did I say you said that? I’m making a point. And YOU’RE the one saying I’M being imaginary..

            “Rather the point that I have been repeatedly making, that doesn’t seem to be able to penetrate the pea-brained feminists in this comment section who can’t let go of their myopic male vs. female paradigm, is that the cosplay girls they’ve cast for Episode VII thusfar will be laughably silly if they engage in portrayals of combat situations. That I’d prefer the casting of female types that more accurately reflect the females who actually engage in warfare.
            What is blocking you from processing this information?”

            Really? Still? When did I block this information? I shall repeat what I said on another post- “Whether you subjectively convolute some idea that the new women are only there for cheap cosplay effect is your problem and your problem alone.”

          • July 15, 2014 at 12:27 am
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            Okay, so you’re stating a fact to prove a point that I’m not arguing against.

            What does that do for you?

          • July 15, 2014 at 1:47 am
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            Oh really? A point you aren’t making? AREN’T making? So you’re telling me you didn’t say the following-

            “Rather the point that I have been repeatedly making, that doesn’t seem to be able to penetrate the pea-brained feminists in this comment section who can’t let go of their myopic male vs. female paradigm, is that the cosplay girls they’ve cast for Episode VII thusfar will be laughably silly if they engage in portrayals of combat situations. That I’d prefer the casting of female types that more accurately reflect the females who actually engage in warfare.”

            So my point about your point (about cosplay females) does not have anything to do with your point? .. wow. That makes sense. Do I have to repeat myself for the third time? Your opinion that the new women would be ‘laughable’ in combat is your own subjective opinion. I mean should the film be written for you? It’s not an objective statement to say that you think females would look ‘cosplay’ or ‘silly’ or ‘laughable’ or not ‘accurate’ in combat. Like I said, if I stupidly thought that black plastic was ‘laughable’ or ‘silly’, then should darth vader not be in the film because I don’t think he is ‘accurate’ for combat? No. Because my weird opinion with no objective substance is not a proper argument as to why the context of the character would therefore be supposedly bad or silly or inaccurate if it were something else that is supposedly what you subjectively think as less silly or cosplay or accurate.

          • July 15, 2014 at 3:21 pm
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            It’s almost as though you have no idea how language works. You must be a product of public schooling.

            Either that, or you’re a troll.

          • July 15, 2014 at 4:19 pm
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            As you have said, it’s your lack of understanding that’s your problem. The fact you are blaming me for your lack of understanding is almost comical. The fact that you cannot argue back my points any further as it’s actually too difficult for you to understand the reasoning for why you are wrong, clearly shows you are in the wrong.

      • July 14, 2014 at 2:39 am
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        Except that it would have been hilarious watching Qui-Gon as a cosplay girl fighting Darth Maul.

        • July 14, 2014 at 11:31 am
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          The fact that you immediately think of women as “cosplay girls” and “shrieking harridans” says a lot about you.

          • July 14, 2014 at 4:12 pm
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            Except that I don’t immediately think of women as “cosplay girls” or “shrieking harridans.”

            I’ve only referred to the feminists wringing their hands over the non-issue of equal representation as “shrieking harridans,” because of their shreiking harridan behavior.

            And I’ve only referred to the new women we’ve seen cast in Episode VII thusfar as “cosplay girls,” because that’s the image that their appearance evokes.

            So what does that say about me?

          • July 14, 2014 at 5:21 pm
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            It says you’re not only judging by sex, but now by appearance. That says a lot.

          • July 14, 2014 at 5:42 pm
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            Huh. I thought it said that I’m judging by behavior and appearance.

            What lot does it say?

  • July 12, 2014 at 11:56 pm
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    I bet they all play Hong Kong phooui with afro

  • July 13, 2014 at 12:21 am
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    There is still 2 times more males than females in this movie.

    • July 13, 2014 at 12:58 am
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      And you’re still a douche.

      • July 13, 2014 at 1:25 am
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        That’s it everyone. Call it off. The sexist pigs now think stating facts make you a ‘douche’. Flea for your lives and abandon all logic while you still can before they melt your brain with their stupidity.

        • July 13, 2014 at 2:12 am
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          Since when did feminists become capable of stating facts?

          All they seem to do is hyperventilate and flap their arms over non-issues.

          • July 13, 2014 at 2:20 am
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            It is faar from non-issue.

            Why not make all cast females. So in your logic, you would be just fine with that?… not.

            I think that you would be the first to complain about that.

            Put yourself on female position. It is not fair for one gender to dominates. We are all equal. And there is more females than males on planet Earth.

            And you are sexist.

          • July 13, 2014 at 12:42 pm
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            The world is not “fair”, life is not “fair”. If you all were from “other” select countries you would not even be having these conversations in more ways than one.

          • July 13, 2014 at 5:34 pm
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            Yes. It’s perfectly okay to have casts of all females. In fact, one can find lists online of all female casts films.

            Adhering to some arbitrary genetalia quota would eliminate all those films.

          • July 13, 2014 at 4:17 pm
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            Sexist….

  • July 13, 2014 at 12:23 am
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    I hope the female characters are less like Joss Wheden’s women and more like Ripley from Aliens. I’m not convinced by glamor ninjas showing off their perfectly toned upper arms!

    • July 13, 2014 at 2:18 am
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      This was exactly my point.

      Ripley in Alien and Sarah Conner in Terminator were believable warriors because they had a ruggedness about them.

      These girls, appear to have just walked off a Vogue cover shoot.

      It’ll end up being little more than cosplay girls twirling lightsabers in front of bare midriffs.

      Then the feminists will get all huffy when people rightly snicker with derisive mockery.

  • July 13, 2014 at 12:41 am
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    I wonder sometimes if people realize the specific difference between sexes defined by evolution. Clearly you cant simply put both sexes side to side.
    Now in history of humankind 99.9% of every explorer or large size agression (call it penetration) had been comitted by male man. Female are simply boring. But instead of taking this as a offence everyone should be proud of the distinctive role of each sexes. Of course not how hollywood and every other media handles it. But please dont lie the difference

    • July 13, 2014 at 1:22 am
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      The Buddha, you are not! Female are simply boring, but no offence? Hilarious!

    • July 13, 2014 at 1:26 am
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      Females boring?…. so you are gay?

    • July 13, 2014 at 2:52 am
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      …except Norse and Vikings often employed women as warriors (there are many other ancient civilizations that did this too, as I recall from my history books.) To say that women are “boring” and have their place only indicates that you are unsatisfied till every woman is confined to the kitchen or bedroom.

      And by the way, most of civilization being male-driven has to do with culture, not biology. Western culture just so happens to be developed by men. IF women had gained more power early in history, the situation would be far different and more diverse today. Proof: today’s political system has more women than ever. According to you, this could only be attributed to the hypothesis that women’s genetic makeup is slowly becoming masculinized, which of course is utter nonsense.

      • July 13, 2014 at 7:52 pm
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        Of course, the reason that women hadn’t gained more power earlier in history is because they’re the physically weaker sex, and are more easily dominated.

  • July 13, 2014 at 12:44 am
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    If the story doesn’t call for an equal amount of one sex or the other, it should be shoehorned in? That’s a great way to jack up any movie. Yes, the species is roughly 50/50, however, in most of our lives, that ratio isn’t quite as even. When I was a kid, I hung out with 100% boys. Should we have been forced to find an equal amount of girls to play with?

    • July 13, 2014 at 12:56 am
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      Wow. Genius. You know what, why stop there? They should all not wear shoes. Shoes are not called for the story, so why should they be shoehorned in? Also, they shouldn’t be aloud to blink. Blinking is not part of the story, so they shouldn’t do that either. What else man, what else?

    • July 13, 2014 at 12:59 am
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      Oh, so if the story doesn’t demand characters be a certain sex, then why not have the entire cast be female then? I mean why shoehorn men in?

      • July 13, 2014 at 2:20 am
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        That movie was called Sucker Punch.

    • July 13, 2014 at 1:19 am
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      Oh, very logical………not.

      Story doesn’t call for an unequal amount of one sex or the other either.

      So your point is?

  • July 13, 2014 at 1:17 am
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    Nobody Ever mentions Zam Wessell. Pretty important side character from PT

    • July 13, 2014 at 1:24 am
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      True, and she is the first female villain in SW movies.

  • July 13, 2014 at 1:23 am
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    Nobody ever mentions that some of the ewoks were women…

  • July 13, 2014 at 1:37 am
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    Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!

  • July 13, 2014 at 1:45 am
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    I’m amazed articles are still be written about EU characters being in EP7. Did anyone ever consider the red wig may have been for the male red head actor? Maybe it is for an Extra? Maybe the wig is a bunch of BS.

    • July 13, 2014 at 2:08 am
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      It is probably just for the Extra.

  • July 13, 2014 at 1:48 am
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    The reason Star Wars is drawing such a passionate debate about the lack or not of females roles is that unlike Marvel or DC franchises, Star wars has real cultural significance.
    Regarding what characters the actresses already announced are portraying is an interesting topic of discussion. Nyong’o is a likely candidate for Asajj Ventress; but she should be oldish in SW7 which could mean an introductory part so that a spin-off movie can be made about a young Ventress. Crystal Gayle could be playing a daughter of Ventress in SW7 and further sequels. Gwendoline Christie would be a perfect fit for a military commander in the mould of Grand Admiral Thrawn. Daisy Ridley is most likely to be who everybody expects her to be; Han and Leia’s daughter. All the others probably have small roles or cameos.
    However, I believe we still don’t have our female villain yet. But we may not know if that’s the case until Dec 2015.

    • July 13, 2014 at 12:56 pm
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      A Asajj Ventress spin of movie? I would bang my head into my wood desk until i died. Gwendoline Christie as a Grand Admiral Thrawn archetype? That would be amazing.

    • July 13, 2014 at 5:37 pm
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      Define cultural significance.

    • July 13, 2014 at 2:55 am
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      ^this video shows exactly why many men on this forum don’t get it. I say the word “women” and this is the stereotype that comes to mind. Thank Episode VI Slave Leia for sexing up your viewpoint towards half the population.

      • July 13, 2014 at 4:06 am
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        That video shows the nature of the Episode VII female casting.

        • July 13, 2014 at 9:32 am
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          Frankly, my dear, that’s horseshit.

          • July 13, 2014 at 5:40 pm
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            How so?

  • July 13, 2014 at 3:42 am
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    This isn’t related to the article, but I just got back from watching Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes, and if Andy Serkis gives at least half the performance in Star Wars VII that he did in that movie, we will be in for a real treat.

  • July 13, 2014 at 4:13 am
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    Why did I bother to look at the comment section? Why did I foolishly believe it wouldn’t have degraded down into a sexist vs realistic debate?

    Shame on me for wanting to discuss the actresses who landed a role instead.

    Anyways best of luck Carrie, Daisy, Lupita, Gwendoline, Crystal… and maybe Billie, The Healer twins, Maisie, and red-head wig (may your auction after the movie make tons of money, or be given to some lucky female fan suffering from cancer)

    Signed – a male fan who doesn’t just want females in the movie as damsels or in skimpy outfits but with serious roles.

  • July 13, 2014 at 6:09 am
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    Why does everything have to be analyzed and made to be politically correct? F**k that. Political correctness will ruin the sequel trilogy. Just watch the damn movie and stfu. Whiners.

    • July 13, 2014 at 6:05 pm
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      .. Why are you whining then? I guess the whole cast should be females then as political correctness towards, say, men, will ruin the film.

      • July 13, 2014 at 6:17 pm
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        The only ones whining are the ones wringing their hands over the non-issue of equal representation.

        • July 13, 2014 at 6:54 pm
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          Oh, so 2 females as opposed to 8 males is a non issue of equal representation? .. I suppose you’d also say that 8 males to 2 females is also a non issue of equal representation too right?

          • July 13, 2014 at 7:57 pm
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            Yes. Both in fact are total and complete non-issues.

            Get over it, and move on with your life.

            If we lived in a word where every film had perfect equal representation, then we’d live in a world with really boring drab movies.

            I like to see films that are predominately about sexes and races that I am not, because it exposes me to experiences that I otherwise might not have.

          • July 13, 2014 at 11:19 pm
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            “I like to see films that are predominately about sexes and races that I am not”
            So then the cast doesn’t have to be predominantly male..

          • July 13, 2014 at 11:23 pm
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            Only if we want something to snicker at.

          • July 14, 2014 at 8:39 pm
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            It was a non-issue because, despite what the alarmists believe, nothing about the INITIAL casting announcement said “FINAL CASTING ANNOUNCEMENT.”

            This should have been the end of the story. Period.

          • July 14, 2014 at 11:47 pm
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            HAHA nobody ever announces information with ‘final’ at the beginning.. Tell me, did the casting announcement say anything like “INITIAL casting announcement”? Did the Pip and Crystal casting announcement say it was the final announcement? No.

  • July 13, 2014 at 6:14 am
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    I’m excited to read your latest article, Echo-07, but I don’t appreciate you using it as an opportunity to rip into people who are tired of seeing an overwhelming number of white men in Star Wars’ cast.

    Most of us easily knew that more names were going to be released later on, but the cast reveal was presented in such a way as to suggest that this was it for the MAIN cast.

    Especially when you consider Star Wars’ troubling history of under-representing women in its films, Disney was foolish to think they could give us that cast release without getting a backlash in return.

    I, for one, am grateful that people finally spoke out loud and clear in response and made it known that this sort of thing would no longer be tolerated. Just as important, the backlash against the backlash brings to the surface the latent sexist and racist views so commonly held by fanboys across the Internet.

    To be clear, not everyone who criticizes us hold these views, but many do.

    • July 13, 2014 at 5:49 pm
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      You make a deeply racist and misandrous statement.

      Who taught you that bigotry against white males is acceptable?

      • July 13, 2014 at 6:01 pm
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        Not catering and centering all the attention on white people is not racist against white people. Idiot.

        • July 13, 2014 at 6:15 pm
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          So, are you suggesting that it’s not racist if I were to say that films like Red Tails should not cater and center all the attention on black people?

          • July 13, 2014 at 6:34 pm
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            That’s not racist because that’s the context of the film. How the fuck are they supposed to cast african american characters with white cast members? Star wars is a completely different animal as the story is not about race or age or gender, so it may as well seize the clear opportunity as an advantage to create a diverse cast. They can create an impression on young people. I mean it won’t effect the story so it isn’t bad to do it, yet it’s clearly good to do it. Red tails is a historic account on african american pilots. Star wars is a made-up fantasy about fighting together to defeat evil. They even include aliens to illustrate this point. The fact you can’t understand basic logic is rather worrying.

          • July 13, 2014 at 8:00 pm
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            If it’s not about age or race or gender, then why are we having this argument at all?

          • July 13, 2014 at 10:42 pm
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            “If it’s not about age or race or gender, then why are we having this argument at all?”

            Do we really have to go in circles? I’ll repeat what I said before- Having a diverse range of personalities, sexes, and ages is in part of what creates an interesting cast. It doesn’t have any impact on the story, so there is no problem. Yet it does effect the context of the cast which is good. If there is an opportunity to enhance the film with more layers and it has no negative impact on the story, then it’s clear you take that opportunity.

          • July 13, 2014 at 11:20 pm
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            So it is about age, race, and gender then.

          • July 13, 2014 at 11:32 pm
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            It’s about the cast. People. Human beings. They come in many different ways which is interesting to explore. Is this really a difficult concept?

          • July 14, 2014 at 1:06 am
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            No, but that’s not really what the original point was.

          • July 16, 2014 at 12:58 am
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            It’s exactly on point you’re just being too dense to see

          • July 13, 2014 at 8:02 pm
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            So, are you suggesting that it’s not racist if I were to say that films like Meteor Man or Pluto Nash should not cater and center all the attention on black people, because they’re fantasies?

          • July 14, 2014 at 10:30 pm
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            Um, what? The whole fantasy argument is about gender recognition. People are saying that just because it’s a war film, then there can only be men as wars are predominantly fought by men on earth, but this is a flawed statement as star wars is a fantasy so the rules are made up. The writers can easily agree on their own rules as to whether the republic allows women to fight in wars or not because they are not doing a documented film that needs to be historically accurate to what we do on earth. For example, red tails is supposed to be a historically accurate story, which means the rules of earth have to be there, and the story is about black pilots, so the cast needs to be predominantly black. Therefore including white people doesn’t matter and bending the rules of earth would be historically inaccurate. Star wars has not got these rules of having the whole cast be white/black/men/women as it’s not a story based on that like red tails, nor a story of earthly historical accuracy like red tails, so they should use this opportunity to mix it up and enhance the cast. I have not seen or ever heard of Meteor Man or Pluto Nash so I cannot comment on that I’m afraid.

      • July 13, 2014 at 6:16 pm
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        I don’t believe Ms Androus would appreciate you involving her in this argument!

  • July 13, 2014 at 6:19 am
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    There’s real anger on this issue with some people. Count me bemused. Why would feminist expectations be high for a Star Wars film? My guess is that it actually will have kick-ass female characters, but they will, of course, be improbably fit and feisty., representative of precisely no-one and as much there to make men drool as satisfy the bechdel test. That said, isn’t it a bit early to be commenting on the film’s representation of women? We know nothing about the plot or characters and quantity counts for nothing. Porn films have plenty of women in…

  • July 13, 2014 at 6:26 am
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    I totally appreciate hearing a woman’s perspective on Star Wars. It fails the Bechdel Test, like 90% of other hollywood films.

    I honestly don’t know why men just don’t stop and listen, rather than arguing.

    What I find offensive is how ignorant men are with regards to these ratios of men to woman. Why couldn’t it be 60% female cast to 40% male?

    We know that would never happen because of where the culture is, and how women are stereotyped and used as appendages to their male counterparts.

    This new trilogy will definitely be better than the OT. It certainly couldn’t be worse in regards to the roles for women. But I am interested to see if they play it safe, which I a gusting they might. We will see.

    …and any man who starts complaining about arguments about having this be a feminist debate are clueless and sexist themselves. If there were more women than men in this forum it wouldn’t be a “debate’, it would be a conversation. The people that enflame the conversation, are the ones resisting listening to their experience.

      • July 13, 2014 at 2:50 pm
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        J July 13, 2014 at 06:26 AM

        +1000. Thank you for posting a comment with logical sense.

    • July 13, 2014 at 6:12 pm
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      Forget the Bechdel Test. Familiarize yourself with John Berger’s Ways Of Seeing. These cosplay girls were cast for men to look at.

      http://youtu.be/0pDE4VX_9Kk

    • July 13, 2014 at 8:15 pm
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      We are listening. It’s just that what you’re saying is emotionally irrational.

      The Sequel Trilogy may be better in than the Original Trilogy in terms of it’s comedy factor, since it seems that we’ll be getting burlesque cosplay girls twirling light sabers. So hopefully I’ll get a chance to chuckle at it at the drive-in theater.

      The reason that it would be comical if it were 60% female to a 40% male cast, is because that’s not the demographic that generally fights wars. That’s why Episode VII is likely to be as humorous as Mars Needs Women.

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grbv-zBRK1A

      You should really pay attention to what you’re writing though. You complain about men arguing and resisting. It’s almost as though you feel they should simply be silent and accept whatever you wish to dish out to them. This of course is a fascist sentiment.

      • July 13, 2014 at 9:53 pm
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        You mean you’re telling me wars aren’t predominately fought with huge robot camels either? You’re telling me they don’t feature huge space stations that blow up planets called the death star? My life has been a lie. Thankfully there isn’t a vagina in sight though. That really sets the illusion of what society looks like doesn’t it?

        • July 13, 2014 at 10:05 pm
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          Your preoccupation with female genetalia blinds you to the fact that you’re arguing against points that I’m not making.

          You’ll have to remove yourself from your myopic male vs. female paradigm if you’re going to be able to process what I’ve actually written.

          • July 13, 2014 at 10:39 pm
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            You’re talking utter bollocks I’m afraid. Two words – gender representation. You’re points that try to invalid the importance of that are flawed and have no substance whatsoever, yet you are unable to see that.

          • July 14, 2014 at 1:13 am
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            What about gender representation?

            Why are my points flawed and have no substance whatsoever?

          • July 14, 2014 at 3:11 pm
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            I’ve already debunked it elsewhere.

          • July 14, 2014 at 4:18 pm
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            Where?

          • July 14, 2014 at 5:44 pm
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            I’m saying gender representation is important in films, but even if it’s not morally important, it’s still good for the cast from a creative standpoint. It creates a deeper context and more layers to the cast. Even if gender representation is defined by copying what society does here on earth (which is not what it means), despite star wars being a fantasy anyway so it doesn’t need to accurately display social strutures, and therfore the war somehow scenes have to feature all men, then that still doesn’t preclude any chance of female characters as part of the narrative or who have dialogue and plot elements such as Leia and Monthma. Leia was a princess and senator, and Mon Mothma was a leader. They didn’t have to be male, so they went with that and made them female. There is nothing wrong with that just because the film also feautures war. It’s a good thing. Star wars is not full of warriors, and like I say, it doesn’t matter as it’s a great opportunity from a creative standpoint to include female soldiers and female jedi. Again, it creates layers and creates new context and experiences that doesn’t pull down the story. You’re mixing gender representation with social representation and social rules, which doesn’t particularly matter anyway as it’s a fantasy, yet gender representation is important as star wars is a character driven story.

    • July 14, 2014 at 8:59 pm
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      The irony in your statement that men are complaining is hilarious, when you are the one who continues to complain about the non-issue of gender representation and arguments that hardly no one makes.

      It was a non-issue because, despite what the alarmists believe, nothing about the INITIAL casting announcement said “FINAL CASTING ANNOUNCEMENT.” Everyone lost their shit prematurely, most if not all on these boards applaud the diversity we see in this cast, and yet we cannot get past this issue because of people like YOU.

      And yet making a simple point like I have will bring down various insults about being a sexist pig because that is the only way you can continue this ongoing “debate” with yourself.

      • July 15, 2014 at 11:18 pm
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        I’m afraid you don’t actually grasp the situation if that’s what you really think the situation is.

  • July 13, 2014 at 6:27 am
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    I tolerated it. So did a lot of people. As a matter of fact, people stood in line 2,3,4, 20 times to TOLERATE it. It was tolerated all the way to one of the most successful film franchises of all time. Your points are moot. ALL YOUR SEXY I’M RACISTS ARE BELONG TO US! What’s wrong with white men? Your comment is all racists yo!

  • July 13, 2014 at 6:30 am
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    It seems most of the females in the PT were only there to replace Padme one way or another. Her decoys, handmaidens, Naboo’s Queen in II.

  • July 13, 2014 at 6:35 am
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    Dude. You’re kind of being a prick with your tone, Echo.

  • July 13, 2014 at 6:38 am
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    I for one can’t wait to hear Leia and Han kick it back and forth all ebonics style, and for Luke to reveal his gay lover. I wanna see Chewie bang a transvestite Ewok while throwing gang signs! When r2d2 pours some oil to tha curb for Tupac I’m gonna lose my junx and cheer like a mug!

    • July 13, 2014 at 8:18 pm
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      Give it time.

  • July 13, 2014 at 6:43 am
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    Marvel and DC do deserve criticism for their portrayal and/or overall lack of women. However, the reason why Star Wars get more criticism than them is because it’s more popular and because Lucasfilm can easily create as many brand new female characters as they want.

    Marvel and DC, for the most part, are restricted by their source material, so I cut them some slack.

    • July 13, 2014 at 10:17 pm
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      Marvel and DC originally published that source material.

      • July 14, 2014 at 12:51 am
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        Yes, during a time when we were much less likely to see a bunch of strong female characters who weren’t mostly eye candy for boys.

        • July 14, 2014 at 4:56 am
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          We still are living in that time. Not complaining, just saying…

  • July 13, 2014 at 7:33 am
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    Who gives a FUCK about this? As long as it’s good I don’t care about ratio of gender and/or minorities.

    • July 13, 2014 at 8:43 am
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      Anon @ 7:33 AM – Calm down.

      Are you okay now? Ready to behave like an adult? Goodness.

      Whenever this issue comes up, there’s always people like you who get all emotional with your fanboy rage saying the same things you’re saying now. We get it. Not everyone cares about this issue. Cool.

      But just because you don’t doesn’t mean everyone else feels the same way, especially if we don’t have the luxury of having more people who look like us star in movies.

      • July 13, 2014 at 8:21 pm
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        Who cares if everyone else doesn’t feel the same way?

    • July 13, 2014 at 2:54 pm
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      “Who gives a FUCK about this?”

      Um, people who like equal representation? SUCH MADNESS RIGHT !?..

      • July 13, 2014 at 8:23 pm
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        Um, ummmmmmm, um, ahhh, ummmmmmmmmmm, uh, yeah.

        • July 13, 2014 at 9:26 pm
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          If by repeating the word ‘um’ in variable lengths, you think that somehow negates the point, you are very much wrong. It just shows that you don’t have anything constructive left to say, hence being defeated in the actual debate. Nice one. Want to dig yourself a deeper hole or not?

          • July 13, 2014 at 9:48 pm
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            Ummm, uhhhh, ummmmmm, ahhh, errrr, ohhhhh, ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, fa, so, la, ti, do, ummmmmmm…

          • July 13, 2014 at 10:22 pm
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            Thought so.

          • July 14, 2014 at 1:23 am
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            Ummmmmmmm, yeah.

    • July 13, 2014 at 3:12 pm
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      “As long as it’s good I don’t care about ratio of gender and/or minorities.”

      Why are you moaning then. If you don’t care, then hey why not have the whole cast be female. Because you know, as long as it’s good, who cares about gender?

      • July 13, 2014 at 8:26 pm
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        Because then it turns into fodder for derisive mockery. Like Sucker Punch.

        • July 14, 2014 at 1:10 am
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          You’re confusing the amount of female characters in a film with the portrayal of them.

          • July 14, 2014 at 2:47 am
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            Not at all. It’s the portrayal of them that will likely be comedy gold.

    • July 13, 2014 at 4:34 pm
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      Then why not male all cast females if you do not care?

      • July 15, 2014 at 4:43 pm
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        Freudian slip?

  • July 13, 2014 at 8:14 am
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    carrie was hot in rotj. natalie was hot in aotc. hope daisy is just as hot in at least one of the three episodes of the ST.

  • July 13, 2014 at 9:04 am
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    There is absolutely no point in arguing about the sexism with Star Wars. The amount of women vs men has been balanced, there are plenty of awesome actors on both sides, and from all appearances, it’ll turn out a satisfying film. And bashing Marvel for their lack of diversity is off topic, despite the truth of it. I’d rather try guessing what roles they all could be playing <— much more interesting

    • July 13, 2014 at 4:32 pm
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      Not really male 2:1 Females in SW 7.

      • July 13, 2014 at 5:02 pm
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        Shh don’t provoke the sexist idiot. People think including any more than 3 or 4 women means that it somehow balances the numbers. These people also don’t have a brain.

        • July 13, 2014 at 6:28 pm
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          Well, except for the fact that one is actually saying that except for the feminists themselves.

          • July 15, 2014 at 4:11 pm
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            I have heard multiple people say this and say that there are too many females in the film, even though there are only 5 females. Therefore they are saying having any more than 4 females is too much.

  • July 13, 2014 at 9:40 am
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    Hooray for people shitposting messages about how women being in this movie signifies the artistic death of this project, and that they’ll all look laughable in action because they’re “pretty cosplay girls” regardless of their ability to act! I’m pretty sure if they were all “handsome cosplay guys”, you’d take no issue with them (double standards ahoy).

    Seriously, guys, I think you need to simmer down. And those of you that are perpetuating this at least need to adjust your fedoras.

    • July 13, 2014 at 6:09 pm
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      Expletives are the sign of an ignorant mind struggling to express itself.

      • July 13, 2014 at 6:49 pm
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        I thought expletives were a sign that the person is overwhelmed with the stupidity of others who don’t seem to grasp basic understanding.

        • July 13, 2014 at 8:30 pm
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          “Profanity is the effort of a feeble brain to express itself forcibly.”

          ~Spencer W. Kimball

      • July 13, 2014 at 7:56 pm
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        “Shitposting” is a catch-all term describing spam and messages that add absolutely nothing to the thread/forum/article; I wasn’t using as an expletive, but as a description of what’s transpired here. I could understand discussing feminism here, but the level of pants-wetting and pointless nerd rage that this arguing has attained is nothing short of irritating.

        • July 13, 2014 at 8:34 pm
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          Except that’s not at all what’s transpired here for the most part. You’re misapplying the term spam to opinions you simply disagree with. Spam is the electronic equivalent of junk mail, advertisements for male enhancement medication, the latest slicer and dicer, or life insurance. Spam is not inconvenient opinions that you don’t care for. The posts did in fact add to the conversation whether or not you approve of them personally.

  • July 13, 2014 at 10:41 am
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    Luke: “..he told me enough, he told me you killed him!”
    Vader:”No… well actually yes, but I AM YOUR MOTHER!!!”

  • July 13, 2014 at 11:40 am
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    My concern is to the nature of the 7-9 scripts. If the characters are all keept well balanced out and made for the story of Star Wars itself, there should be no problem.

    I am happy that we got such a big group of people we know, we dont know and dont know that good. If there are big bad agendas shoved down our throats people will find those.

    But for now all seems okay.

  • July 13, 2014 at 1:31 pm
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    “This lovely unknown actress from the UK …”

    “This beautiful, new Lourde in town …”

    I’m afraid this belies the real lack of equality between the sexes in this sort of thing. These throwaway remarks about how the actors look add nothing to the article. Why are they included? The author would never have written that if the actors were male (and I doubt a female writer would have written the equivalent about male actors – although if they did the same would still apply).

    Did the author think he was being nice? I just don’t understand why he’d write something like that.

    I’m not part of the “PC Brigade” and wouldn’t usually comment on something like this – but that stuck out like a sore thumb and I’m afraid that it is that kind of under the radar, entirely casual, self-reinforcing behaviour which underlies the bigger problem.

    RANT OVER

    Edit: P.S. I am male and I genuinely mean what I say.

  • July 13, 2014 at 1:52 pm
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    ohhh no a movie with more men than women in the cast. This is so bad, I bet JJ will alter this and make the cast more like Sex in the city. 3 stupid women hunting men. Maybe this is the real reason for hunting luke down.

    Please accept what star wars is and please accept that Leia is so cool in the movies. Lazer brain, walking carpet, flyboy ect……

    I realy dont see the problem.

    • July 13, 2014 at 2:52 pm
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      Oh so if there were 10 females and 2 men it wouldn’t be an issue for you then?

      • July 13, 2014 at 3:26 pm
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        Nope!

        • July 13, 2014 at 10:15 pm
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          I doubt that…

          • July 14, 2014 at 9:10 pm
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            Of course you doubt it because you can’t let go of your misconception of what others actually think about women in Star Wars.

          • July 15, 2014 at 5:52 pm
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            Nobody has any misconceptions. People have made it quite clear that they think, for no substance fueled reasoning, that some women are too unrealistic to be in the film, as though there is a specific kind of female to be realistic or good enough as a female, which is a sexist opinion. Also, apparently star wars is a war film which predominantly features men so not many women can be in the film, and also ‘female are simply boring’. All of which are more sexist opinions. No misconceptions at all.

    • July 13, 2014 at 4:29 pm
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      Even Sex and the City has equal ratio of both female and male characters.

      So your point is?

      • July 13, 2014 at 8:41 pm
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        What are you talking about?

        The four principle leads are all women?

        • July 13, 2014 at 10:12 pm
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          We do not know whether they are leads or small roles…

          Their part in the movies is maybe big or small.

          We do not know that. I hope that they are leads.

          • July 14, 2014 at 5:19 pm
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            No, the four principle leads in Sex In The City are all women.

  • July 13, 2014 at 3:48 pm
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    Seriously cut the crap, Star Wars is and always was targeted at a young male audience. If you enjoy Star Wars, fine, but I am not going rampage on Sex and the City or Glee boards either and demand more male characters. Enjoy Star Wars for what it is but don’t try to make it something else.
    Do you want more females in the Expendables as well?

    • July 13, 2014 at 4:26 pm
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      Why not…. Bring them in..

      • July 13, 2014 at 6:25 pm
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        Yeah, it’d give me something to laugh at.

        • July 13, 2014 at 6:51 pm
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          All characters in that movie are laughable, so adding females in the mix, would not change anything.

  • July 13, 2014 at 3:59 pm
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    The movies are ALL about the Skywalker family. NOT about representing the whole of humanity. There are a lot of people on here who have no sense of reason. Chip in your shoulder much? How’s that working out for ya in life? Geez, it must really suck to go through life and miss out on so much because you are distracted by making sure everything is equal. Preschoolers often are obsessed with this concept of everything being “fair” and “equal”. Then comes the day they emotionally mature, expand their intelligence and realize that…oh damn, LIFE IS NOT FAIR! Stop trying to make EVERYTHING “equal”. Life would be boring as hell if it were. You are brainwashed. Go out and live in the real world and accept it instead of fighting so damn hard against it and I guarantee you will be more fulfilled, happy, and at peace. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING in this world is “equal”. That’s insane and makes you look so much less intelligent than I know you are. Face reality and make it work FOR you not against you. The first step in that is accepting the world for what it is. Unfair, unequal, imperfect, raw and beautifully so. You will be eaten alive if you go on thinking the way you do. Try to use that big ass brain of yours and embrace reason as opposed to some b.s. utopian idea that will NEVER come to be. Star Wars is fine. Political correctness sucks and is for the weak. P.s. Bechdel is a twisted hate filled fool.

    • July 13, 2014 at 4:24 pm
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      Yes Star wars is about Skywalker family, not about males. So all members of Skywalker family can be females to.

      So again you are wrong.

      Story is not about males, it is not about females. But viewers, audience are people of planet Earth.
      And planet Earth has more females than males.

      So movies should at least have equal ratio of both genders. So that audience of both genders can have someone with who they can relate…

      Stop being sexist…

    • July 13, 2014 at 4:58 pm
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      LOL. This was so hysterical to read
      “Go out and live in the real world.”
      Oh you mean the real world where there is an equal number of men and women? Nice try sexist moron 😉

      • July 13, 2014 at 8:45 pm
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        No.

        The real world where wars are predominately fought by men you blithering PC idiot.

        • July 13, 2014 at 9:44 pm
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          Oh yes. Star wars, famously set in a galaxy far far away .. on earth in 2014. Shit, I guess including aliens really jumped the gun a bit, huh? Not to mention droids. But phew, thank fuck they were’t female. That would REALLY be pushing the line wouldn’t it? Damn, why weren’t you there to tell George these things in 1977? Your vision is clearly so much grander.

          • July 13, 2014 at 9:54 pm
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            So feminists essentially want it both ways.

            They want more females in Star Wars, because according to them the world is made up of 50% women.

            But when someone points out that wars are predominately fought by men, then it suddenly becomes a fantasy set in a galaxy far far away.

            Pick one, will ya?

          • July 13, 2014 at 10:01 pm
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            There is more females than males in the world.

            In ancient times females were in wars too. You never heard of the Amazons?

            Stop being sexist…

            Star wars should have equal ratio of both females and males at least.

          • July 13, 2014 at 10:20 pm
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            People want females because they want equal representation, and it doesn’t matter if wars are predominately fought by men. That’s here and now. Star wars is a fantasy set a long time ago in a galaxy far far away. There’s aliens and spaceships fighting, why not females? It doesn’t have to adhere to any structure. Star wars is not a war film anyway. It has that element, but first and foremost is a fantasy adventure film. Luke was a farm boy, not in the army. Leia was a senator, not in the army. Han was a smuggler, not in the army. If the war scenes have to feature just men as you say, then other characters can be female. Heck, if gender representation supposedly doesn’t matter, then pretty much all the other characters might as well be female.

          • July 13, 2014 at 11:39 pm
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            If Star Wars is a fantasy set a long time ago in a galaxy far far away, then why would equal representation matter?

            You want equal representation because you state that this world is 50% women. But then when we point out that in that very same world wars are predominately fought by men, you suddenly don’t want Star Wars to reflect this world. This is hypocrisy. You either want Star Wars to be representative of this world, or you don’t. There is no in between.

            If it doesn’t have to adhere to any structure, then why does it need to adhere to equal representation?

            Of course Star Wars is a war picture. The word “war” is in the title for cryin’ out loud. Han, Luke, and Leia, all came to fight in a guerrilla rebellion for the Rebel Alliance; an army.

          • July 14, 2014 at 12:03 am
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            You are simply repeating your own statements which I’ve already debunked as shortsighted and flawed. You keep repeating the statement that wars are predominantly fought by women. But that is here and now. Star wars is not chained under the way we live here on earth. It’s a made-up fantasy film. Aliens fight in the wars for christ sake. Plus, it doesn’t matter, because star wars is not first and foremost a war film. It’s a fantasy adventure. Luke, Leia, Han, Chewie, R2, 3PO, They are not in the army fighting in a war. They are farmers, senators, and smugglers, and droids. NOT primarily people who are recruited or drafted to be in a battle/war. They are not under obligations to be a certain sex. Even if the war scenes had to feature all men, that has no effect on the principle cast including an equal amount of females to males to create a layered cast.

          • July 14, 2014 at 1:37 am
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            Of course I’m repeating my statements. Is because you don’t seem to be understanding them. Not only haven’t you debunked them, but it doesn’t seem that you understand what the definitions of shortsighted or flawed actually are.

            I understand that the notion of men predominately fighting wars is here and now; this is why I keep repeating it.

            Because the feminists keep saying that there should be more women in Star Wars, because there is 50% women in the world we live in here and now.

            If Star Wars is not chained under the way we live here on Earth, then it shouldn’t be chained by Earth’s 50% gender representation either.

            You simply can’t have it both ways.

            If you don’t think Star Wars is about wars, then I’m not sure that you’re able to understand this conversation at all.

          • July 14, 2014 at 1:36 am
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            “So feminists essentially want it both ways.

            They want more females in Star Wars, because according to them the world is made up of 50% women.

            But when someone points out that wars are predominately fought by men, then it suddenly becomes a fantasy set in a galaxy far far away.

            Pick one, will ya?”

            Star Wars isn’t Rambo and it isn’t about muscles. It’s about fighting with blasters, lightsabers, starships and the Force. Plenty of room for strong women.

          • July 14, 2014 at 1:42 am
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            Star Wars is about wars, which are predominately fought by men.

            Not by sexy cosplay girls in burlesque costumes.

          • July 14, 2014 at 3:06 pm
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            Like I say, you are simply repeating your own statements that men fight wars, which don’t have any power as an argument to the film as the primary narrative is not about battles by an army. It’s about a group of characters going on adventures. Han was a smuggler, Luke was a farmboy, leia was a senator, c3po and r2 were droids, chewbacca was a co-pilot. They were not army recruiters. If the war scenes have to feature all men, then why was leia in the film? She was a princess. What’s wrong in that? She worked brilliantly as a leader. That didn’t effect the war scenes at all. Mon Mothma was a leader and a female and it was great. Saying women can’t be in a film as much as men because the film features war which predominantly includes men, is a ridiculous argument. You can repeat it as many times as you like, but it’s ridiculous. Simple.

          • July 14, 2014 at 3:23 pm
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            You thought Mon Mothma was a sexy cosplay in burlesque costume? Are you being an idiot on purpose? It’s working.

          • July 14, 2014 at 4:28 pm
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            And like I say, of course I’m repeating my own statements. That’s because you’re not grasping the larger point, so they bear repetition.

            It’s not a ridiculous statement at all.

            If we are to expect that Star Wars should have equal representation because there are 50% women in this world, then in the exact same way we should expect that the representation of warfare should reflect the warfare of this world in which men predominately fight.

            You can’t say it should reflect this world when it gives you something you want, and then say it shouldn’t reflect this world when there’s something you don’t want. It’s either one or the other.

            Continuing to insist that Star Wars isn’t about wars, when the characters are fighting wars in all of the movies, and the word wars even appears in the actual title of the entire franchise, is just an excercise in publicly advertising your own blatant idiocy.

          • July 14, 2014 at 4:31 pm
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            No. I do not think Mon Mothma is a sexy cosplay girl.

            But then, I’ve never made reference to Mon Mothma as such.

            I’ve only made reference to the casting of new women in Episode VII as such.

            It’s amazing how you females keep reading words that were never written. What is the nature of this problem exactly? Are you under some kind of hallucinatory influence where you see words that don’t exist?

          • July 14, 2014 at 5:28 pm
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            When did I claim you thought Mon Mothma was cosplay? You see, I was making a point that women have a role because they have a role. Whether you subjectively convolute some idea that the new women are only there for cheap cosplay effect is your problem and your problem alone. It’s amazing that you claim I am not reading the larger picture when it’s you who is doing that. And once again, it’s just you repeating themselves without taking in anything in that I say. So once again, try to take in my point- like I’ve said, yet again, even if the battle scenes have to for some reason copy what we do here on earth and just have men, then the actual narrative and characters with dialogue can easily be women, such as mon mothma and princess leia.

          • July 14, 2014 at 5:50 pm
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            “When did I claim you thought Mon Mothma was cosplay?”

            See the post at

            Anonymous July 14, 2014 at 15:23 PM

            Again, I never argued that women don’t have a role. Who exactly are you talking to?

          • July 14, 2014 at 6:44 pm
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            No no no. Where did I specifically claim that you thought mon mothma was cosplay?
            No. You’re making it up. I instead asked a question to make a point that, you see, if you think a female cast member means the character is cosplay or not, well that is entirely your own subjective and short sighted viewpoint/opinion and yours alone. It’s not an objective argument, just a silly personal opinion. See I can say I don’t like black plastic so therfore I think darth vader’s costume is cosplay, but that’s not an actual objective argument against the character is it?

          • July 15, 2014 at 1:54 am
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            “Where did I specifically claim that you thought mon mothma was cosplay?”

            See the post at Anonymous July 14, 2014 at 15:23 PM

            Please be sure to ask this question again, so that I can copy and paste the exact same answer again.

            I’m not sure if the rest of your post is comprised of actual sentences.

          • July 15, 2014 at 3:15 am
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            Ok. I think we have to go back to basic English with you.. Especially as you then say you don’t think what I’m saying are sentences. Probably because, as you’ve proven, understanding being right is a difficulty for you.

            Question number one; what is the difference between these two sentences?-
            Option number 1- You are therefore saying Mon Mothma was a sexy cosplay in burlesque costume.
            Option number 2- You thought Mon Mothma was a sexy cosplay in burlesque costume?

            Question number 2; which sentence did I say?-
            Option number 1- You are therefore saying Mon Mothma was a sexy cosplay in burlesque costume.
            Option number 2- You thought Mon Mothma was a sexy cosplay in burlesque costume?

            Question number 3, why did I say this sentence?
            Option number 1 – To claim that you think all women are just sexy cosplay in burlesque costumes, as I have decided to claim that you have told me that you think mon mothma was sexy cosplay in burlesque costume.
            Option number 2 – To make a mockery that you even begin to think of a female character as a sexy cosplay in burlesque costume and clarify my point that being female does not in any way, shape, or form, such as mon mothma, mean a sexy burlesque cosplay. For example, I can claim that I DO think of mon mothma as sexy cosplay in burlesque costume. But so what? My weird view of mon mothma and your view of the new cast members of epvii as being sexy cosplay in burlesque costume, is nothing more than a weird, sexist, and rather pervese opinion.

  • July 13, 2014 at 4:37 pm
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    There is still only few females in SW 7 and many males.

    And who knows how many of these females are important in the movie.

    I will be mad if only one of them is lead.

  • July 13, 2014 at 4:38 pm
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    No. Just no. Are you looking in the mirror when you say sexist? This is not my opinion, it is fact, you are misguided and wrong! You are the one hopelessly hung up and obsessed on ideals based entirely on gender. YOU are the sexist. Do you walk into a shop and complain that the makeup of people in line at the counter are unequal parts m/f? There are transgendered people in the world as well, next you’ll be saying they should be cast in SW as well. Yes that is a nice “concept” but in the real world holds absolutely not one iota of common sense or reason. Absurd. No. Just no. Read this: http://www.everyjoe.com/2014/07/09/politics/downfall-generation-mistrust-intelligence-reason/

    • July 13, 2014 at 7:05 pm
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      Why shouldn’t transgendered people be cast in Star Wars? They don’t make enough “common sense” for you?

      • July 13, 2014 at 8:48 pm
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        I’m still waiting for bisexual siamese dwarves with goiters to be represented in a Star Wars film.

        • July 13, 2014 at 10:09 pm
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          So in your logic it is a handicap to be a woman.

          Gender is equal as handicap?

          Sexist…

          • July 13, 2014 at 11:27 pm
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            If women insist on responding to things that were never written, then being a woman might be a handicap after all.

          • July 16, 2014 at 12:43 am
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            Why do people keep implying on this blog that when you make a statement, it automatically has no relevance if it’s not directly related to what somebody has otherwise said? It’s stupid, annoying, and rather manipulative.

      • July 13, 2014 at 9:22 pm
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        We do have the Hutts as Hermaphrodites…

      • July 13, 2014 at 10:06 pm
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        Why not. I would not mind that.

        But they are small minority in the world. Females are majority in the world.

  • July 13, 2014 at 4:51 pm
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    Ummm. Am I missing something in your post? If all Skywalker family were females, unless they are adopting, there would be no Skywalker family. Wtf are you talking about??????????? Have you taken sex ed yet? Do you know how humans reproduce?

    • July 13, 2014 at 6:46 pm
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      And if all Skywalkers are males, again there would be no Skywalker familly.

      Your point?

      That is why we want equal ratio of both genders.

      And in teory if all Skywalkers are females, they can have sex with different males, and have cildrens. And give childrens Skywalker last name…

  • July 13, 2014 at 6:36 pm
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    What is the purpose of prefacing a statement with “ummmm”?

    Anyone know?

    • July 13, 2014 at 6:57 pm
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      It gives the tone that the person is almost baffled into confusion.

      • July 13, 2014 at 8:51 pm
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        Is being baffled into confusion supposed to impress anyone?

        • July 13, 2014 at 9:20 pm
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          Is not being battled into confusion not supposed to not impress anyone at some of the time but not all of the time? Or not?

  • July 13, 2014 at 9:36 pm
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    What in holy hell’s name has happened in this comments section? I think the fact people are trying to actually justify their sexism, just might mean you are sexist. Some of the arguments for it are hysterical though I admit. Can I punch people in the face, and then just say ‘Well the world isn’t fair.’? Is that really an excuse to be a bellend now? The collective IQ of you trolls is probably around .. 3? Maybe 3 and a half?

    • July 13, 2014 at 9:58 pm
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      Everyone’s IQ is perfectly equal, and all IQs are represented equally in these comments.

      • July 13, 2014 at 10:39 pm
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        You all seem to have gone mad as far as I can tell. Is this an American thing? Women should be equal in the real world, but in a sci-fi/fantasy space opera traditionally aimed at boys it’s a bit perverse to complain about a lack of equality. That said, if the film’s good I’d be perfectly happy for all the characters to be female. Except Luke and Han. That would just be weird….

        • July 15, 2014 at 2:46 am
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          The tradition’s changing, pal. Women are going to get a larger role in Star Wars, Science Fantasy/Fiction and Science in general.

  • July 13, 2014 at 10:31 pm
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    I think the whole male to female thing is slightly off the real issue of how the stories work.

    What we are talking about here is not a TV series or a TV mini-series but a series of films, 3 in this case, that are going to be 2+ hours long.

    There is going to be a core central story with core characters so while having more women in side roles is a fine thing to do the point is that just like the non-central male roles the non-central females will still be side characters. They might have an important role in the story but be on screen like Lando was which really was not that much.

    Presuming that the original trio have central roles in this first film then there is not that much room left and presuming that JB and DR are also central then we have 3 men and 2 women.

    When you really break it down we had:

    SW: Luke, Obi-Wan, Han, Leia

    ESB: Luke, Han, Leia, Vader, Yoda

    ROTJ: Luke, Han, Leia, Vader, Emperor

    TPM: Qui-Gon, Padme, Anakin, Jar Jar, Obi-Wan

    AOTC: Anakin, Padme, Obi-Wan, Dooku, Yoda

    ROTS: Anakin, Padme, Obi-Wan, Sidious, Yoda

    You can argue adding some names and I think about even placing Yoda in at all because it’s really not his story but the point is the true central cast is really small with lots of secondary roles. Not unimportant but the story doesn’t revolve around them. The same will happen for these films.

    • July 13, 2014 at 10:46 pm
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      R2-D2 and C-3PO are major characters too.

  • July 13, 2014 at 11:37 pm
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    Maybe Episode VII will be like Pamela Anderson in Barb Wire.

  • July 14, 2014 at 12:19 am
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    Star Wars benefits women because it isn’t about muscles. It’s about fighting with blasters, lightsabers, starships, the Force, etc. “The great equalizer.”

    This allowed someone like Carrie Fisher to believable portray a strong woman fighting the Empire. Not even Han or Vader had muscular builds. They weren’t Rambos or Terminators because they didn’t need to be, so why should this hold women back?

    Guys want to talk about realism. Most of you punks will never be Han Solo.

    • July 14, 2014 at 12:50 am
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      They certainly won’t be Han Solo if they spend their lives whining about equal representation.

  • July 14, 2014 at 12:31 am
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    Many or most superheroes could easily be women because of the way they got their powers.

    Iron Man is strong because of his suit and brain. Thor is a god. Captain America was a wimp who was experimented on. The Hulk doesn’t need to hit the gym to bulk up. Spider-man was bitten by a radioactive spider. X-Men are mutants. Superman isn’t even human.

    • July 14, 2014 at 8:23 am
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      There actually are female counterparts to the characters you just mentioned – many of which appear in their own comic books.

      Iron Man has Rescue, which is his love interest in similar power armor.

      Thor has Lady Sif. She’s not on his level in terms of power (what with him being a God and all), but she’s capable as a warrior.

      Captain America has American Dream, who is one of the leading members in the Captain America Corps.

      The Hulk has the aptly-named She-Hulk, who is considerably more reasonable to her male counterpart when she uses her powers. Also, she doesn’t act like a child throwing a temper-tantrum when she Hulks out, which is something Bruce Banner struggles with in regards to his alternate personality.

      Spider-Man has two: Spider-Woman (actually, there are multiple characters to carry this title), and Spider-Girl (Peter Parker’s daughter from an alternate timeline).

      Many of the X-Men are actually female, in spite of the masculine name of the team.

      Superman has Supergirl and Power Girl, both of which are related to him by blood (and one of which is from an alternate universe).

      Now, as far as when those characters will get movie adaptations (if at all), your guess is as good as mine.

  • July 14, 2014 at 3:04 am
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    Boy, there sure are a lot of bossy women in these comments.

    • July 14, 2014 at 5:10 am
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      How can you tell they’re women? The internet is a magical place where nothing is ever quite what it seems.

    • July 14, 2014 at 9:48 am
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      Not all of us are women, jackass.

      • July 14, 2014 at 2:48 pm
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        You’ll find that most of us are men. You don’t have to be a women to want to see women in films..

        • July 14, 2014 at 5:10 pm
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          I’d like to see women in films too; just in a more realistic context.

          That’s the point I’ve been repeatedly making that doesn’t seem to be able to find its way into the minds of pea-brained feminists, male or female.

          • July 14, 2014 at 5:35 pm
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            Yes Mon Mothma was really unrealistic as a woman, as was princess leia too. It’s almost physically impossible to create female characters without it being in a realistic context isn’t it? ..

          • July 14, 2014 at 5:53 pm
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            I have no idea what point you’re trying to make here.

          • July 14, 2014 at 6:59 pm
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            Well you see you made a stupid statement-
            “I’d like to see women in films too; just in a more realistic context.”
            Referring to the fact that the female characters were somehow not ‘realistic’, by what only seems to be from you’re point of view, simply being female.

            Me making the equally stupid response to highlight the stupidity of your statement-
            “Yes Mon Mothma was really unrealistic as a woman, as was princess leia too.”

          • July 14, 2014 at 9:20 pm
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            Women can’t fight with laser weapons on the battlefield? Women can’t engage in space battles with starships? Women can’t use the Force to battle foes?

            I’m sorry, where in Star Wars do we see the need for women to be as physically strong as men? Do you cry at your screen in outrage every time you saw Leia or Padme, gasp, touch a blaster?

          • July 14, 2014 at 9:36 pm
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            Quit assuming things which no one has ever said.

          • July 14, 2014 at 9:50 pm
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            Then quit being a twat. If you’re opposed to seeing a decent number of females in the cast, then people have to therefore assume you are an idiot.

          • July 14, 2014 at 11:08 pm
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            ANON at 21:50 – I’m a different anon, and again you have said something which no one else has stated. Keep pushing that agenda though (while throwing in the usual insults of course…)

          • July 14, 2014 at 11:37 pm
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            If people are being a twat, I am not afraid to point that out.
            “again you have said something which no one else has stated.”
            When did I say anyone specifically stated the situation which I referenced? I simply said-
            “If you’re opposed to seeing a decent number of females in the cast, then people have to therefore assume you are an idiot.”
            I can also say, if you have black hair, you have black hair. It’s a true statement. I’m not talking at a specific person, I’m just putting it out there that if you think a decent number of female cast memebers is bad, then you’re an idiot. Yes, an idiot. An insult is not a pointless childish insult if it’s simply a true statement.

          • July 15, 2014 at 1:58 am
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            You do realize of course, that I wasn’t at all referring to Mon Mothma, right?

            That I was only referring to the female casting of Episode VII specifically, which is what I’ve been repeatedly saying, right?

          • July 15, 2014 at 2:32 am
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            “You do realize of course, that I wasn’t at all referring to Mon Mothma, right?”

            ..are we STILL doing this? For the 195th time, yes. For the 195th time, I asked you the question about mon mothma as an example to make my point. For the 195th time, I know the actress of mon mothma is not a new cast member of epvii. For the 195th time, I know your point was about the cast members of epvii. For the 195th time, my question about mon mothma was not directly related to your statement. You’re saying you think the new cast members are cosplay. I’m saying that that’s totally subjective. Hence me using the example of mon mothma and Leia. I’m simply pointing out that your statements are entirely made up as to what you think of the female cast member, not who the cast member is themself. If you think a female is somehow cosplay or not good enough, then that’s your own shortsighted opinion. If you think they should be more accurate, that is, again, your own subjective opinion. And if anyone thinks they should just therefore be male, then that’s sexist.

          • July 15, 2014 at 3:25 am
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            Did you like Gladiator movies?

          • July 15, 2014 at 3:43 am
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            Did I like Gladiator movies? Since when? Or ‘do’ I like Gladiator movies? If so, which ones? Also, may I ask why?

          • July 15, 2014 at 5:41 pm
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            These posts are truly epic! With all the anonymous posts, I’m having a hard time figuring out who said what and about whom they’re saying it about.

      • July 14, 2014 at 5:07 pm
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        Then there sure are a lot of men that act like bossy women on this blog.

        • July 15, 2014 at 5:40 pm
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          No, just a lot of sexist moronic pigs.

  • July 14, 2014 at 10:26 am
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    EPVII has way more women in the cast than all previous movies. Since we don’t know how big the individual roles are, how can we judge the filmmakers? Star Wars made a big step forward with TCW in introducing multiple strong female characters.
    But we all have to understand this from a buisness perspective. SW became such a huge sucess and cultural phenomenon not only because of the movie itself, but due to the clever use of Merchandise that kept interest high for more than 30 years.
    Disney wants to make back their invested money and the biggest paycheck won’t come from boxoffice, but from the merchandise. Boys generally buy more action figures than girls and even though there will of course be some dress up dolls as well (remember the 20 different dresses of Amidala), the bulk of the money will come from the target demographic.

    • July 14, 2014 at 8:35 pm
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      That’s essentially what it boils down to. Money. That’s why, back in ’77, George Lucas thought it was so important to retain merchandising rights. The movies reflected the demographic he was aiming at. Star Wars was modeled after the movies and comics from when he was a boy. The toys were all geared towards boys. George sold a lot of toys to little boys and made a heap of money.

      He just happened to make a great movie in the process.

      Fast forward to the 00’s and the prequels. Anakin Skywalker was a little boy for a reason. GL was starting the whole process over again. Marketing to little boys was the entire reason Jar Jar existed. Do you really think GL designed Jar Jar to appeal to the OT fans (Older people/demographic)?

      He just happened this time to make a not so great movie in the process.

      Disney is no fool. How much did they buy the rights from GL for? Was it 2 BILLION? I think it was and correct me if I’m wrong. They’re here to milk the cow George had been squeezing for almost 35 years Are they aiming for the same demographic from ’77? They’d be mostly 42 year old males. Or are they trying to expand that demographic?

      Most women I know don’t care a thing about Star Wars. My wife doesn’t even know the difference between Anakin and Luke Skywalker. She had never watched it before being married to me. I work with two women in my office (I’m the only guy). Neither one of them are in any way Star Wars fans. They’re sitting right now with their other women friends watching soaps during their lunch break. Soaps, btw, are geared toward their demographic and reflect that. You won’t catch me watching that mess.

      Yes, there are a few women that actually like Star Wars. But there are few. For the most part, the movies reflect the demographic that George was going after.

      I’m all for equal opportunity. I believe a woman should have just as many opportunities as a man. I just don’t think that movie companies think that way. They think of demographics and the bottom line (how much money can they make).

      Let’s play role reversal for just a minute. What if back in ’77, George decided he was going to make Laura instead of Luke, Bernadette instead of Ben, Harriot instead of Han, and Leanord instead of Leia. Do you think George’s target demographic would have been interested?

      • July 14, 2014 at 9:32 pm
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        Amen. The most logical post in this whole mess. Just wait, however, someone will make a “Times have changed” argument. But the overall demographic has probably changed only slightly since 1977.

        Notwithstanding, I still have seen no one on this website fail to applaud the diversity of the cast (albeit some would prefer more realistic “women warriors” cast, which point is understandable.)

  • July 14, 2014 at 10:24 pm
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    Exactly, with it’s broader cast, Disney seems to try to cast a wider net, trying to appeal to an even broader audience. But still the main demographic will be boys. You can also see this reflected in the sales from Hasbro. The highest sales are not the elaborate first time produced background aliens that every 35 year old collector will buy, but the umphtenth Clonetrooper an Anakin or Obi Wan… This is were the money is coming from, which is not such a bad thing, because only through the merchandise money GL was able to complete his trilogies independantly…

  • July 14, 2014 at 11:26 pm
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    Who’d have thought this comments section would end with a bunch of sensible posts? Someone lock it quickly, before we get back to “women are simply boring” vs quotas for women…

  • July 14, 2014 at 11:29 pm
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    Star Wars is catered to it’s primary demographic, which are males. Though there are female fans out there, they are outnumbered in this. Therefore, for optimal profitability, the movies are made to appeal to men. Women have movies specifically catered to them as well, most recent one being Maleficent, similarly by Disney. It’s unrealistic to demand a franchise cater to a minority demographic, thus neglecting the majority and in turn losing customers (fans)/a high yield profit margin. If the fan ratio had women as the majority, it would make more sense for Star Wars to be geared likewise. There is nothing “sexist” about this.

    • July 15, 2014 at 12:06 am
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      I couldn’t care less about how much the film makes. If I ever think a film’s cast should be a certain way thinking the film will make more money then that’s the day I might as well bury myself. I want an interesting and diverse set of characters. The fact that people fill casts with men thinking that it is somehow going to maximise the amount of money it makes is a PROBLEM, not an EXCUSE. In reality, people don’t care when females are the lead in blockbusters. Gravity had a female lead and was praised for it. Maleficent made more money than was expected because they thought having a female lead would put people off. Including females in big blockbusters doesn’t matter however much people think it does. You’ll find that it’s an equal amount of men and women who want to see more women in films, not just the specific demographic of the film. Anyway, if it’s a gurantee that blokes are going to go out to see the latest star wars flick, then it only makes sense for Disney to include more women with the franchise to get women to come also.

      • July 15, 2014 at 12:59 am
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        When you say you ‘couldn’t care less how much the film makes’, that is the same as saying you don’t care whether anyone, but you, wants to see it.
        Presumably, given the disappointing lack of major characters who were women in previous star wars films, you don’t actually like star wars films because this is clearly an important issue for you.
        That’s fair enough, but if you don’t like the previous star wars films, why do you think the new ones should be written with you in mind? They already have a huge and dedicated following.
        What most star wars fans are desperately hoping is that they make a decent film. If they can do that we’ll forgive pretty much anything.

        • July 15, 2014 at 1:16 am
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          “When you say you ‘couldn’t care less how much the film makes’, that is the same as saying you don’t care whether anyone, but you, wants to see it.”
          You are twisting my statement about wanting quality over revenue, into me not caring about others.

          “Presumably, given the disappointing lack of major characters who were women in previous star wars films, you don’t actually like star wars films because this is clearly an important issue for you.”
          I’m a huge star wars fan. I can say I hated the christmas special but that doesn’t mean I’m not a star wars fan. Yes, the lack of women is an issue to me and I don’t think it’s a suitable excuse that the quality of the film is less important than how many people don’t go to see it because there are females in it. It’s quality I will be looking for, not how much Disney are pocketing from it.

          “if you don’t like the previous star wars films, why do you think the new ones should be written with you in mind?”
          Written with me in mind? So half the world being women is only relevant to me? The other person is literally saying that it should feauture men so that it’s specifically written with that demographic in mind, which is wrong. I’m argueing that it’s good to open up who it’s written for by featuring more women. It’s the same way I don’t like music that relies on being controversial rather than talent and quality. I want quality over mass appeal that sells a lot and therefore makes a lot of money.

          “What most star wars fans are desperately hoping is that they make a decent film”
          That is exactly what I am saying. I care more about the cast of the film than the revenue. If people seriously don’t watch a film because it has females in it, then that should not effect those of us who want quality, and a vast array of characters will improve quality. The film should not be put down in quality on the chance that it will make more money if it’s specifically written to feature the demographic.

          • July 15, 2014 at 1:57 am
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            If you genuinely think that a balanced cast will make for a better film then fair enough. I just don’t understand why you would think that. There are excellent films which have all female casts and excellent films with all male casts and anything in between. Surely, it’s the quality of the acting, direction and writing that matters not the quantity of men and women.

            Also, If you really want quality over mass appeal, why are you so concerned to ‘open up who it’s written for by featuring more women’?

          • July 15, 2014 at 2:17 am
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            Like I say, I’m not first and foremost concerned with mass appeal. I want quality. It’s just that’s what he kept bringing up. So I made the point that it would be better to open up the film to more women than to even more men anyway. And yes, there are great films with all male casts and all female casts, but star wars has more potential for what the characters go through, plus it’s just generally interesting to have a group of characters of different, age, personalities, sex, even an alien race or droid. Plus star wars has not had prominent female characters before, apart from Leia. I totally understand that firstly it’s the writting and direction, but it is not a setback on the writting and directing to feature more women. Simply having a main character be a female jedi would be really good.

          • July 15, 2014 at 2:54 am
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            I think you’re very likely to get your wish and that would be cool with me. If they do it well, what’s not to like? But if they go in a different direction and pull it off, I’ll be just as happy.

  • July 15, 2014 at 2:13 am
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    In all of this, the feminists are missing one vital point:

    They are making spin-off films.

    If you’d like to see a female-centric Star Wars film made; write one and pitch it to Disney.

    If you’re a good writer, then there’s every reason to believe that your script has a good chance at being greenlit.

    • July 15, 2014 at 2:59 am
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      My guess is that as women continue to prove themselves as strong characters in Star Wars, the opportunity will eventually present itself where we’ll get a female-centric standalone.

      For now, let the women of the ST continue to build up the fanbase.

      • July 15, 2014 at 3:27 am
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        If they’re not mocked for their burlesque costumes that is.

        • July 15, 2014 at 6:35 am
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          Dude. Evolve or get out the way.

          • July 15, 2014 at 3:39 pm
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            Don’t flatter youself kid. There’s nothing evolved about pandering to comedic female empowerment fantasies.

            Now go shave and take a bath.

          • July 15, 2014 at 4:03 pm
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            Well the fact you actually think it’s comedic, sums up the stupidity and immorality of what you’re saying.

          • July 15, 2014 at 5:58 pm
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            While I’m sure that in whatever dream world you’ve been indoctrinated to embrace a ballerina is perfectly capable of overtaking a berserker, it doesn’t make your statement any less preposterous.

            There’s nothing immoral whatsoever about being a realist. In fact morality has nothing to do with anything here. The empty rhetoric you’re parroting is causing you to misapply the word.

          • July 15, 2014 at 6:59 pm
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            ‘Ballerina’? Digging yourself a deeper hole is not helping yourself. I mean, yes, let’s just disregard the theme about inner strength from star wars shall we? I suppose all of Yoda’s wise sayings against the physical have no effect on females. It’s a shame he forgot to mention that part.

          • July 15, 2014 at 7:40 pm
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            You’re the only one digging here. You can pontificate about inner strength all you like. And then when you’re done, a 95 pound fashion model in burlesque costuming will still look hilarious overtaking a 300 pound professional wrestler wearing armor. Funny, funny, stuff.

          • July 15, 2014 at 10:58 pm
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            So green frogs that talk backwards is fine, giant circles in space that destroy planets is fine, an old man stuck in a black suit with a respitory mask that fights with a red glow stick called a lightsaber is fine, but including a woman is not fine? .. Face it, your entire argument that a female’s costume is somehow burlesque and therefore not good enough or that the actor portraying the character is not a suitable weight, is just your own pathetically weird, sexist, and convoluted opinion that you think has meaning or substance when it doesn’t. As I say, which I shall ask again, do Yoda’s teachings about how the physical is not important, not effect women? In fact, I’ll answer that- No.

          • July 16, 2014 at 5:46 am
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            “And then when you’re done, a 95 pound fashion model in burlesque costuming will still look hilarious overtaking a 300 pound professional wrestler wearing armor. Funny, funny, stuff.”

            LOL, what? This is Star Wars, not Rambo, not Die Hard, not Predator. People fight with blasters, lightsabers, starships and the Force – not muscles.

            The playing field is even here.

          • July 16, 2014 at 6:10 am
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            “Don’t flatter youself kid. There’s nothing evolved about pandering to comedic female empowerment fantasies.”

            LOL, your butthurt runneth strong! |D

            Hey, guess what? There’s a good chance your beloved Han Solo is going to be succeeded – by Daisy. Don’t be surprised to see this woman shoots first.

            “Now go shave and take a bath.”

            Yes. Of course. Because that has anything to do with this conversation.

          • July 16, 2014 at 3:41 pm
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            July 16, 2014 at 05:46 AM
            &
            July 16, 2014 at 06:10 AM

            Thank you for seeing sense! And your comment about Daisy replacing Han is actually what I’ve been thinking all along. I’d love her to be Han’s daughter and replace him as the Falcon’s pilot. It would also butthurt the sexists to see a woman in a position they’re used to men being in, which is a rather satisfying idea, but of course they don’t have the brain cells to see this kind of thing as a positive.

  • July 15, 2014 at 2:49 am
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    Are there any articles here with more posts than this one?

    Very passionate topic…

  • July 15, 2014 at 3:29 am
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    It’s a phenomenon and no mistake. Does anyone understand where this is all coming from? Almost worth an article in itself.

  • July 15, 2014 at 4:43 am
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    Way to tip the scales by posting a female heavy article. Subtle.

    Daisy’s character’s name begins with an “O”, btw.

  • July 15, 2014 at 6:51 am
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    Why can’t I “Like” anything? My button is broken for some reason.

  • July 15, 2014 at 7:19 am
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    For anyone concerned about women and realism in Star WARS, what did you think of Leia’s portrayal in the Original Trilogy?

    • July 15, 2014 at 3:32 pm
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      I think it was relatively realistic.

      She was a princess, so there was a certain amount of prissyness to be expected in her character.

      But at the same time she was a bit tom-boyish, she wasn’t model-perfect, so when she had to fire a pistol it was believable.

      She didn’t engage in impossible acts of brute strength, like the waifish Keira Knightly sword fighting assailants 300 pounds heavier than her, so there was no incredulity there.

      • July 15, 2014 at 3:44 pm
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        What about Jabba the Hutt? How much heavier was he than Leia? Yes, he was a fat slob. But, even fat slobs are hard to take down.

        • July 15, 2014 at 3:52 pm
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          I’m unclear on your point.

          She didn’t engage in sword fighting with Jabba, where she’d have to parry thrusts from an assailant whose bicepts are bigger than her own skull. In fact she was mostly manhandled and shoved around.

          It’s wasn’t until the diversion at the Sarlacc Pit, where she was able to strangle Jabba. But by that time, his henchmen were busy with other things, and he was too fat to do anything about it himself.

          It was a realistic portrayal I think.

        • July 15, 2014 at 3:53 pm
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          @ Rebel Scum:

          Oh yeah. Leia and Jabba. Although he was huge, I don’t consider him a brute like the rancor monster. I liked how Leia waited until he was caught off guard before using her strength and the chain to kill him.

          Very believable and satisfying. xD

        • July 15, 2014 at 4:01 pm
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          You both need to realize the tone of my reply. You have to notice where my tongue was when I said it. There’s also a certain bone that should start moving in your body when you read it, that is if you have one.

        • July 15, 2014 at 4:26 pm
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          Here’s an interesting thought about Jabba, BTW. Jabba is so fat, I can’t figure out how such a creature survives. What we see of his movement is very slow (from EP1 and really none in EP6, he just sits on his slab all the time). Also, how DOES he get onto his slab? His arms are so short, he can’t use those to pull himself up and his body is so fat I doubt he slithers up there like a snake would. Also, how would he and his girl friend get it on? He obviously has a libido, he hits on Leia like she’s the greatest thing since sliced bread.

          • July 15, 2014 at 7:11 pm
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            Well as you say, we do see Jabba move about in Episode I. My guess is that there was a time in his younger days when he was a bit more agile, and posed a real physical threat, that allowed him to become the galaxy’s premiere gangster, and have a good following of henchment behind him.

            By the time we see him in ROTJ, he’s a lot older, and has gained an enormous amount of weight from enjoying the fruits of his criminal enterprises. His name probably still held a lot of weight and respect in the galaxy however, so his loyal henchmen used his name and kept things running in order to stay empoloyed.

            The practical explanation however is that the Jabba puppet was simply too large to be very movable in 1983.

            That’s actually a stand alone film I’d like to see. A star Wars Untouchables, Goodfellas, or Godfather, that shows Jabba’s rise to power as the galaxy’s most infamous gangster.

          • July 15, 2014 at 8:08 pm
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            That’s the thing, Lucas designed him as a fat slob. So, the reason the giant puppet wasn’t very mobile is because Lucas designed him that way. People complain about how the “Teddy bears” defeated the Empire. Which, I understand. But, Jabba is a fat, disabled slob. So, I guess you could say SW the OT is very diverse by including a powerful handicapped person. Which brings me to my next question:

            Why did Jabba cross the road? Because his cronies pushed him to the other side!

            http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPcod8IS214

      • July 15, 2014 at 3:47 pm
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        I like how none of the characters in Star Wars, male or female, fought brutes with muscle power. This levels the playing field.

        Luke, for example, defeated the rancor using his wit, a bone and a rock. Anakin, Obi-Wan and Padme were also able to handle themselves well against the monsters in the Geonosis Arena.

        • July 15, 2014 at 3:56 pm
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          Padme in the Arena looked a little ridiculous to me. She fought, I’m afraid, like a girl. But it’s been a while so maybe I need to review the sequence.

          • July 15, 2014 at 11:03 pm
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            If it’s not masculine enough for you then go watch Die Hard. Why should the film not reach out to a wider audience and stretch further from a creative standpoint, simply because some people want it to only contain scenes of masculinity even when it’s involving women anyway? Equal opportunities my friend. It’s not all about you. How do you fight like a girl anyway? With a handbag? The classic fluttering eyelash attack of death?

          • July 15, 2014 at 11:25 pm
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            In that case, why shouldn’t Die Hard stretch further from a creative standpoint?

          • July 16, 2014 at 12:22 am
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            Because Die Hard is not a family film.. The whole point of Die Hard is to be a boys fest thing so it doesn’t matter if it doesn’t showcase women. Like a girly film’s point is to be a girls fest so it hasn’t got a responsibility to accurately represent what men can do. Star wars is the mix and reaches out to more people and to more ages. It has more of a responsibility than people realise. It’s bordering on dangerous to discriminate with such films.

          • July 16, 2014 at 3:56 pm
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            I suppose you are the decision maker as to which films are for boys only and which films are girls only. You seem to draw a line somewhere between Mean Girls and Die Hard. You probably don’t like Die Hard, so that’s probably why you say it’s okay for it to be all guys.

          • July 16, 2014 at 6:22 pm
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            When did I mention mean girls?.. Anyway, Die Hard was made with the intention for a male audience. Star wars is not made with the intention for a male audience. The audience is families, including young people. Both sexes. That’s just the way it is. Just because I’m stating facts doesn’t mean I was the one who made the decision. What’s your point anyway?

          • July 16, 2014 at 6:46 pm
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            “When did I mention mean girls?.. Anyway, Die Hard was made with the intention for a male audience. Star wars is not made with the intention for a male audience. The audience is families, including young people. Both sexes. That’s just the way it is. Just because I’m stating facts doesn’t mean I was the one who made the decision. What’s your point anyway?”

            Okay, so if Star Wars has to stay equal sex because it is meant for families (which I dispute, it is made for young boys) then are we supposed to create all shows meant for the family as equally distributed male and female? What about black and white? And while we’re at it, black, white, asian, Jew, Gentile, Muslim, and Atheist. Let’s not forget sexual orientation, too. I’m sorry, but if I’m writing a story and have to go by a quota to meet I’m severly crippled. It’s AFFIRMATIVE ACTION! If that’s something you’re for, I guess you see it differently than I do.

            If you want to see exactly who the Star Wars movies are made for all you need to do is go to your local Wal-Mart or Target. Ask the sales associate there where you can find the Star Wars toys. Whether that person likes Star Wars or not, they will ALWAYS tell you it is in the BOYS section of the toys.

          • July 16, 2014 at 8:40 pm
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            “If you want to see exactly who the Star Wars movies are made for all you need to do is go to your local Wal-Mart or Target. Ask the sales associate there where you can find the Star Wars toys. Whether that person likes Star Wars or not, they will ALWAYS tell you it is in the BOYS section of the toys.”

            What do you expect? Star Wars toys are overwhelmingly marketed to boys. Girls are taught to play with dolls.

            Further down this page, a father named JJ said this regarding his 3 year old daughter:

            “The toys have always been marketed as ‘boys’ toys’. There’s never been much effort to attract girls to them. My 3 year old girl’s already worked out they’re not girls’ toys despite me quite happily buying them for her. …”

            and…

            “Her father’s message, “you should like star wars”. Society’s message, “the toy packet’s not pink, it’s not for you”. And the toys are far more important than the films at that age.”

            Besides, it’s clear that while the toys may be marketed to boys only, the films are for general audiences. Is it any wonder that so many women are calling for greater representation in Star Wars?

          • July 16, 2014 at 10:04 pm
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            Seriously? You are comparing men and women with religions and natives? Well Asians do not similarly apply to the whole world, there are thousands of other ethnicities and natives, unlike men and women which are only two. Muslims do not similarly apply to the whole world, there are thousands of other religions unlike men and women which are only two. Athiests do not similarly apply to the whole world, because as I say, there are thousands of other religions unlike men and women which are only two. Men and women connect much deeper to the whole world. Everyone is either man or woman. It’s just two options. Even trans men and trans women fall under the category of men and women. I mean athiesm does not fall under a category of muslim does it?.. It’s impossible to embrace every corner of the world unlike different ages and sex as 99.9% can apply themselves. Age and sex reaches every corner of the world unlike disabilities and religion and ethnicities where only some are applied in each part of the world. How do you even begin to represent disabilities and ethnicities and religions? Where do you begin? You’d simply have to give someone a basic handicap like a limp to represent disabilities as a whole, or a well known religion such as christianity to represent religion as a whole, or a common ethnicity such as being black to represent racial diversity as a whole. Which hey, if that’s the case, why not? Do you still have a problem with simply doing that? But men and women, as I say, is something every single person can relate and connect to easily. Well actually that’s not true as a lot of people have proven here that it’s difficult for some people to even realistically connect with a woman in a film.. I dread to think what they would think if you put a disabled person in a film. Probably just have a heart attack.

          • July 16, 2014 at 1:36 am
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            Once upon a time, Star Wars was masculine, and was targeted at a predominately male crowd.

            Then the feminists began gnashing their teeth, and here we are.

            I suppose in 10 years, feminists will be gnashing their teeth over the lack of a female John McClane.

            So why don’t you go watch something intended for girls, like Dawson’s Creek or Care Bears or something.

            The only responsibility Star Wars has is to tell a good story, and nothing else. Saying that anything about it is dangerous is preposterous. Today’s youth need a serious vocabulary boot camp. I wonder if they understand the very basic definitions when they throw words around like “dangerous.” So what, like broken glass is going to fall from the ceiling and hit you in the eye if they don’t have cosplay girls twirling lightsabers around in Episode VII? Get real.

          • July 16, 2014 at 2:16 am
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            Princess Leia being a strong female character in the original Star Wars was THE GAME CHANGER.

            Rather than dangle from Han or Luke’s arm, she bravely fought to free the galaxy from the clutches of the Empire.

          • July 16, 2014 at 2:34 am
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            “Star Wars was masculine, and was targeted at a predominately male crowd.”
            No. Star wars was aimed at young people. Just because it featured mostly men, doesn’t mean that’s who it was aimed for. On the contrary, it was aimed at both sexes, hence the argument exists for a larger mix of both sexes. And for the record, you have no idea what you are talking about. Danger does not adhere to the physical. Danger means to cause harm. Despite your claims that only men watch star wars, it actually has a wide audience of young ages and both sexes, so it has a responsibility. If you are entertaining impressionable people, you have a responsibility. Should films with impressionable audience feauture sex and drugs and violance? No. Princess Leia was very impressionable on young girls and boys. She was not the typical damsel in distress. What if she was? What if the film didn’t have a woman in? Young boys and girls would think (like you unfortunately have been brainwashed into thinking) this is not a problem. Simply featuring a handful of women in the film does a world of good whether you like it or not. Both morally, like I’ve explained, and creatively. The fact you think it’s just cosplay shows you are a clear problem.

          • July 16, 2014 at 5:06 am
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            And I suppose you know this because you were around in 1977.

          • July 16, 2014 at 3:25 pm
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            It’s called research. When George pitched star wars it’s shown in writing he stated it’s for young people, and he’s said numerous times since then that it’s aimed for the young movie going audience. He has never said it’s a film aimed at men, most likely because it isn’t a film aimed at men.

          • July 16, 2014 at 7:14 pm
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            Anonymous July 16, 2014 at 02:34 AM:

            “If you are entertaining impressionable people, you have a responsibility. ”

            No, actually, I believe it is the responsibility of the parents of what their kids watch. It is not the responsibility of film makers to make movies that are suitable for kids. They are there to make money. Like Charles Barkley once said, “I am not a role model.”

            If you are a parent and you’re looking for movies and TV to teach your kids what’s right and wrong, I feel sorry for your kids.

          • July 16, 2014 at 7:44 pm
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            Those are two separate things. Yes, you’re right, it’s also the parents responsibility to stop their kids from watching films that are not for their age range. But whoever is creating entertainment that is indeed for their age range which in this case includes impressionable people, they should handle that responsibility with care. I never said all films have to teach what is right and wrong. I’m saying that if you have an audience of younger people, you have a responsibility to handle that with care. But also, yes, obviously parents should stop their kids from going to see films that are not for their age range. But we’re talking about star wars which doesn’t apply to those kind of films that don’t need to worry about a young audience, as this is clearly a film that is intended and made with children in mind, so it should obviously handle that with care. Treating something as common as women, with disrespect or disregard or discrimination in front of children is very arguably dangerous to them and their viewpoint of women as they grow up, as a lot of people on this blog have proven. Somebody has said that women are ‘boring’. We need better care with how women are seen in today’s society to a younger impressionable audience. Does that not care because some men think women are boring? It shouldn’t. It’s no excuse. Parents can’t do everything, they have to teach them about the world and about society. Clearly society has a responsibility to young and impressionable people. Which kids do I feel sorry for? Those who have parents who say they can’t go to forms of entertainment because the people in charge of the entertainment are too lazy to treat their responsibility with care so the parents have to wrap their kids in cotton wool instead.

          • July 16, 2014 at 8:18 pm
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            To tell you the truth, yes it does apply to Star Wars. Why? Some parents don’t want their kids exposed to violence. I’m not one of those that believes my kids should not watch Star Wars, but there are those that do believe that way. It is their choice not to let them watch Star Wars. And you know what? They’re right because that’ what they believe is best for their kids. So, does Star Wars have the responsibility to cater to those families? No violence in Star Wars? No, the filmmakers have the freedom to make the movie the way they see fit. They will make the movie the way that will make them the most money. They’re not out to please everyone, just the masses that might come to watch their movie.

          • July 16, 2014 at 8:21 pm
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            I agree with Anon @ 19:44 PM.

            I think parents and the movie industry both share responsibility in influencing young people, with the bulk of that obviously resting on the parents. Saying that the movie industry is simply there to make money shouldn’t be an excuse not to give consideration to what subtle and obvious messages young people walk away with after viewing movies, especially ones that are clearly culturally impactful, like Star Wars.

            Princess Leia is a strong character throughout the OT, but most fanboys focus on her slave outfit. I find it strange and disappointing how even women embrace it for its sex appeal when it was used in the movie to dehumanize and violate women as objects of Jabba’s lust.

          • July 16, 2014 at 8:33 pm
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            Leia’s bikini costume in ROTJ tells you all need to know about how much the producers care about what they are putting in front of your kids. I read in another article a poster wrote that when Star Wars came out in 77, the target audience was 7 year old boys. And, in 83, those 7 year old boys had turned into 13 year old boys. So, what does Lucas put in front of little boys who are just entering or about to enter puberty? A scantily clad Leia being lusted over by Jabba the Hutt.

            I liked the scene, myself, it shows Jabba as the vile gangster he his. What’s more gangster than having a beautiful woman in a metal bikini chained to you.

          • July 16, 2014 at 8:57 pm
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            “So, does Star Wars have the responsibility to cater to those families? No violence in Star Wars? No, the filmmakers have the freedom to make the movie the way they see fit.”
            Yes it DOES have the responsibility to cater to families because that’s who they are allowing to see it!!! You are simply stating incorrect facts. You then use violance as an example? Yes they did take responsibility when it came to violence. They dialed it down with very little to no blood.

            “I read in another article a poster wrote that when Star Wars came out in 77, the target audience was 7 year old boys.”
            That’s incorrect. It was intended for both sexes, not just boys. And no, that’s not just an opinion. That’s a fact. It’s actually in writing somewhere where George originally pitched his idea for star wars. It was to be for the “young movie going audience”.

            “Leia’s bikini costume in ROTJ tells you all need to know about how much the producers care about what they are putting in front of your kids.”
            .. I know. It’s called a problem. That’s like saying it’s ok to be punched in the face because the person who punched you in the face didn’t care if you got hurt because they don’t think you apply for some reason. You’re just outlining a problem.. Why is it a problem? Because star wars was not, nor is, aimed for just men. It had the responsibility to not discriminate. If they really needed Leia in a bikini, then they should have given her feisty lines to back talk Jabba. Instead, she just sat there to be a pretty thing for the boys, and to empower Jabba. But then the girls were left wondering why she wasn’t saying anything about it the same way she backtalked tarkin and vader. That doesn’t stop Jabba from being powerful, that doesn’t stop her from being goodlooking. You can claim that girls don’t care or that girls weren’t watching the film or that it wasn’t intended for girls so it didn’t matter, but the point is, it did matter, and still does matter. If you can’t see that then it’s simply because it doesn’t apply to you, but believe me, the problem is there whether you see it or not.

            And thank you anon at July 16, 2014 at 20:21 PM for seeing the logic in all of this. I appreciate it.

          • July 16, 2014 at 9:12 pm
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            If it’s a problem for you to see a metal bikini wearing Leia then don’t put a dime into the movie to support it. Have you ever bought a copy of ROTJ? Have you watched it on the TV? Then you’re supporting it. If you really felt as passionately about it then you’d not spend one dime on ROTJ. I’d respect that, you’d be standing up for something you believe in. I wouldn’t agree with it, but I’d respect it.

          • July 16, 2014 at 9:39 pm
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            I knew you was going to say that. That’s just a cop out. People can’t point of the faults of a film because they just shouldn’t watch it? Well what were people supposed to do if they didn’t know about the scene before they watched it for the first time? Were they supposed to look into an alternative dimension where they have watched the film and then ask themselves if it’s morally suitable before they then decide to watch it? Where’s the limit if the filmmaker has no responsibility? Should it have graphic suicide in it? Because hey guys, it’s the parents responsibility if they let their kids watch the film, not the filmmaker’s responsibility for what they put in the film that’s aimed for them, as that’s selfish to think it’s a responsibility to control what you allow kids to watch if it stops creepy blokes from enjoying that kind on thing… The whole point is that it’s not simply the audiences responsibility, it’s the filmmakers. You still cannot grasp this concept and instead choosing to convolute cop outs that are also flawed points anyway.

          • July 16, 2014 at 9:50 pm
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            So you’re saying that you had no idea Leia was in the bikini the first time you saw the movie. Did you walk out of the theater so appalled and demanded your money back? Have you bought the DVD or blu-ray since then, knowing you’re supporting the exploitation of women? Have you watched the movie on TV since? Please tell me if you have. If you have, you are supporting it.

            And btw, if a parent is concerned enough about what their kids watched they will go see the movie first. I know PLENTY of parents that do this. It may be more expensive, but it’s important enough for them to do it. My brother did it with his daughter and I respect that. I don’t do the same with my mine, but I do respect that.

            You still have not convinced me that it is anybody’s responsibility except the parents as to what comes on the TV screen. Hollywood is in the business to make money, not look after your children and support your ideals.

          • July 16, 2014 at 10:25 pm
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            “So you’re saying that you had no idea Leia was in the bikini the first time you saw the movie.”
            Why are you being so shortsighted all the time? I’m talking about sexism in general and to all films. I’m not simply talking about princess leia in return of the jedi. Please open your mind just a little bit. And what’s your point? Do you care to answer my question? What if there was a graphic suicide clip in a childrens film but the parents didn’t know? Is it the parents fault because they are in charge of what their kids see? Should society not have any blame on what could be impressionable on children because the parents didn’t wrap them up in cotton wool?

            “Did you walk out of the theater so appalled and demanded your money back?”
            You can’t do that.. You can’t get a refund if there are critisisms to be made with parts of a film..

            “Have you bought the DVD or blu-ray since then, knowing you’re supporting the exploitation of women? Have you watched the movie on TV since? Please tell me if you have. If you have, you are supporting it.”
            Again, it’s a very basic a cop out with flawed substance anyway. You’re saying that I shouldn’t buy something from a company that does something wrong. It’s almost like when people say you shouldn’t buy meat if you like animals. Not buying meat does not excuse harsh treatment to animals. The problem still exists.

            “And btw, if a parent is concerned enough about what their kids watched they will go see the movie first. I know PLENTY of parents that do this.”
            Yes. So do I. But you’re still missing the point.. A film aimed at kids has a responsibility to not abuse this opportunity, whether the parents allow the children to watch the film or not. It works both ways. Like I say, should star wars include graphic suicide? No. It’s wrong to put that in a kids film whether parents know that there is suicide or not. The same way that exploiting women to young impressionable children is wrong. Simply saying you don’t think it matters is not an excuse.

            “Hollywood is in the business to make money, not look after your children and support your ideals.”
            Oh thank goodness. Killing others for money is fine because they are in the business to make money? You should have told me sooner.

          • July 16, 2014 at 10:45 pm
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            “So you’re saying that you had no idea Leia was in the bikini the first time you saw the movie.”
            “I’m talking about sexism in general and to all films. “ – I thought we were talking about Star Wars.
            “And what’s your point?” My point is is that Hollywood is in the business of making money and it doesn’t matter to them unless you don’t spend your money on it.
            “You can’t do that.. You can’t get a refund if there are criticisms to be made with parts of a film..” Actually, you can. I’ve known people to do it.
            you watched the movie on TV since? Please tell me if you have. If you have, you are supporting it.”
            “Again, it’s a very basic a cop out with flawed substance anyway. You’re saying that I shouldn’t buy something from a company that does something wrong. It’s almost like when people say you shouldn’t buy meat if you like animals. Not buying meat does not excuse harsh treatment to animals. The problem still exists. “ Actually, it’s exactly like that. People who don’t believe in eating meat actually don’t buy the meat. You’re demanding that you can buy the meat without an animal dying.
            “Oh thank goodness. Killing others for money is fine because they are in the business to make money? You should have told me sooner.” Actually, that was one of the first things I said, but I never said anything about killing others for money, I was just talking about making a movie.

          • July 16, 2014 at 11:09 pm
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            .. I still can’t believe you’re missing the simple point; that it should be the films responsibility to not be sexist. The parents shouldn’t have to worry about the content. It works both ways. If the film claims to be suitable for kids, then it should be. The parents shouldn’t have to worry about whether a film is lying or not. They’re paying for a trusted service. You can’t just say, “well don’t watch it again”. You don’t go to mcdonalds or something and then see that your child gets food poisioning, but somehow it doesn’t matter because it’s only your responsibility to protect them and not mcdonalds responsibility as it’s only their responsibiliy to sell food. “Well don’t go back to mcdonalds again”. “sue them”. “get your money back”. Is that it? Has the damage not been done? Honestly, I would just love you to see you stand up in film studies lecture and claim that you don’t have any social responsibilities to what you put out to young audience in a film aimed at young people.

          • July 16, 2014 at 11:43 pm
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            Dude, Rebel Scum is clearly a troll with what he’s saying. Just ignore him. Personally, I’m just going to leave this quote here –

            “I get really annoyed when I hear filmmakers talk about not taking responsibility for what they write. “Hey I’m just a writer.”, “Hey I’m just a filmmaker, “It’s just entertainment”. They say “just”. They say what they are and put the word “just” at the beginning. “I’m just a this”. No. You’re not “just”. You’re supposed to be the visionary of this world. You’ve got film which touches millions of people. You’ve got this power and you’re pissing it away on “just”?”
            – Joe Aaron.

          • July 16, 2014 at 11:53 pm
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            i am not a troll. I am just trying to have a meaningful conversation with someone. I just so happen to disagree with them.

            Have I resorted to name calling? No. Have I just made statements without trying to express reason? No.

            If you can’t have an adult conversation in the comments section then that makes you a troll.

            Just because I don’t agree with you does not mean I am a troll.

            Can you at least respect someone that has a different opinion than you? You may think my opinion is wrong, but it’s still my right to have my own opinion, however different than yours.

          • July 17, 2014 at 5:19 pm
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            Yes but you don’t understand. I’m explaining to you what is true and what is right but you are simply saying “I personally don’t believe that”. I’m trying to explain to you that the influence of film is powerful, but you are simply saying you don’t believe me. It’s not up for debate. It’s like me trying to ram it down your throat that 1 + 1 = 2, but you just say to me that you don’t think it is.. No matter how many times I explain it, including examples, you still just convolute a cop out that you ‘don’t agree with it’, and I should just ‘respect your opinion’, so others even have to come to the conclusion you must be a troll to have this inane train of thought. A film has a responsibility to it’s audience. Especially if the film has an impressionable audience. The moral responsibility is not political or lawfully, it’s a social responsibility. It shouldn’t abuse this opportunity as it can cause harm to society as it has a powerful influence. It can cause harm. Whether you “beleive” this or not- doesn’t matter. It’s the truth. But hey, if you don’t want to agree with this fact then go ahead, while the rest of the world can develop. Luckily females are being much better represented and treated in films and will continue to do so as the majority of society realise it’s socially important to do so. I’m not being personal. I’m not being mean. I am stating facts. Your statements are ridiculous. Luckily in about 100 years time or so, nobody will share your ridiculous thoughts, and nobody will have this stupid debate as it will be common knowledge to the subconscious of the huge majority. Everyone will finally be happy and nobody will even blink an eye at a blockbuster film with a 50/50 female to male ratio. Then, the children who watch these films will learn about how past generations had such a stupid argument, because some people thought discrimination simply didn’t matter to them so it didn’t matter at all, and that people who realised it did indeed matter were simply told by the others to selfishly “respect their opinion” so that society should be written with those people in mind instead of what is right for the masses, including a young impressionable audience, which is who the film was originally aimed at anyway.

  • July 16, 2014 at 5:04 am
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    The toys have always been marketed as ‘boys’ toys’. There’s never been much effort to attract girls to them. My 3 year old girl’s already worked out they’re not girls’ toys despite me quite happily buying them for her. Oh well! Clone Wars is a bit more gender neutral, than the films.

    • July 16, 2014 at 8:04 am
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      “The toys have always been marketed as ‘boys’ toys’. There’s never been much effort to attract girls to them. My 3 year old girl’s already worked out they’re not girls’ toys despite me quite happily buying them for her.”

      It’s amazing how many subtle and obvious messages society sends to people over the course of their lives, beginning at their childhood.

      • July 16, 2014 at 7:18 pm
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        Her father’s message, “you should like star wars”. Society’s message, “the toy packet’s not pink, it’s not for you”. And the toys are far more important than the films at that age.

        • July 16, 2014 at 8:00 pm
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          Well, it’s great that you’re encouraging her to look at things from a different perspective.

  • July 16, 2014 at 6:41 am
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    YADDLE: Gender matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my gender, do you? Hm? Mmmm.

    Luke shakes his head.

    YADDLE: And well you should not. For my ally is the Force. And a powerful ally it is….

    • July 16, 2014 at 5:59 pm
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      For my ally is the Force, and a powerful ally it is. Life creates it, makes it grow. Its energy surrounds us and binds us. Unless you have a vagina of course. Luminous beings are we. Not this crude matter. You must feel the force around you. But only if you have a penis. Otherwise it’s all about crude matter and you aren’t a luminous being.

  • July 16, 2014 at 7:59 pm
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    Take this with your sense of humour:

    Princess Leia’s toughness is overrated:
    First appearance in IV she takes a shot at a Storm Trooper while he’s not looking and RUNS AWAY…only to be stunned by an alert Storm Trooper.
    She talks a lot of trash to Lord Vader and Tarkin, but in the end she LIES about the location of the Rebel base.
    When she is rescued, she takes a gun from a man trying to defend himself and shoots a whole in the wall so she can run away.
    She refers to Chewbacca in an insensitive manner: “Will somebody get this walking carpet out of my way?” What a racist.
    When on the bridge with Luke, she shoots but it looks like she’s cringing while shooting, as if she’s going to crack a nail. After that, she has to have Luke swing her to safety.
    While on Yavin 4, she does absolutely nothing while everyone else is either planning or actually getting into an X-wing and taking on the Death Star, which just killed her home planet! She tops this by barking at Han for running away (something she has clearly shown she’s akin to doing).
    When Luke is stranded on the ice planet of Hoth and Han goes after him, she stays at the base instead of going after the two men she loves. Chewbacca stays behind as well, so maybe we need to question his heroism, too, since he’s the only one really suited to go after Luke and Han BECAUSE HE HAS A NATURAL FUR COAT!
    When Darth Vader confronts Han, Leia, and Chewy on Bespin, the only one that has any courage to actually stand up to Darth Vader is Han, who pulls out his blaster and attacks. Chewie and Leia are both willing to surrender and do nothing!
    In ROTJ, Leia has to have Luke tell her what to do in the battle at the Sarlac pit. “Point it at the deck”. Leia looks confused but complies and Luke actually fires the cannon. She is then swung away to safety by Luke. Before that, she actually killed Jabba the Hutt, who is a helpless cripple.
    On Endor, Luke, Han and the rest of the gang have to stop what they’re doing and go find Leia (she’s being treated like a princess at the Ewok village). Why didn’t she just leave the Ewok village and join back with her friends. She had her hair done while she was there! She has it flowing now instead of in a helmet! The storm trooper she killed? Well, she got in a sucker shot because she was hiding behind Han.
    Yeap, Leia’s a real heroine!

    • July 16, 2014 at 8:47 pm
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      “First appearance in IV she takes a shot at a Storm Trooper while he’s not looking and RUNS AWAY…only to be stunned by an alert Storm Trooper.”
      Was she not supposed to run away? Was she supposed to just stand there? That’s not bravery that’s stupidity to just stand there.

      “She talks a lot of trash to Lord Vader and Tarkin, but in the end she LIES about the location of the Rebel base.”
      Exactly. She backtalks them and then lies about the location, risking being tortured for a worhty cause. She didn’t give in. Bravery.

      “When she is rescued, she takes a gun from a man trying to defend himself and shoots a whole in the wall so she can run away.”
      She realised it’s pointless to persue a way of exit that is no longer possible to persue, so she takes responsibility and comes up with the idea of escaping via the garbage shoot. Luke was not left defenseless when she took his gun as they were hiding behind pillars.

      “She refers to Chewbacca in an insensitive manner: “Will somebody get this walking carpet out of my way?” What a racist.”
      Cruel sure, but has nothing to do with how tough she is. Nor is she racist as she develops a bond later. Merely she is annoyed at them and refers to Chewie in a mockery way.

      “When on the bridge with Luke, she shoots but it looks like she’s cringing while shooting, as if she’s going to crack a nail. After that, she has to have Luke swing her to safety.”
      She is shooting a gun. Her facial expression does not have anything to do with her actions. So it doesn’t matter if she saves people, but it does matter when she is saved?

      “While on Yavin 4, she does absolutely nothing while everyone else is either planning or actually getting into an X-wing and taking on the Death Star, which just killed her home planet!”
      She is not a pilot. She is a leader. She was the one that risked her life to organise everything. Does that have no effect if she didn’t then risk her in the execution of the event too?

      “She tops this by barking at Han for running away (something she has clearly shown she’s akin to doing).”
      Leia ran away from danger. Han ran away from moral conduct.

      “When Luke is stranded on the ice planet of Hoth and Han goes after him, she stays at the base instead of going after the two men she loves.”
      Nobody was aloud out as it was freezing and they would have died. Luckily Han and Luke made a shelter, but Leia would not have had any shelter while looking for them and she would have been killed.

      “Chewbacca stays behind as well, so maybe we need to question his heroism, too, since he’s the only one really suited to go after Luke and Han BECAUSE HE HAS A NATURAL FUR COAT!”
      ..Ok..

      “When Darth Vader confronts Han, Leia, and Chewy on Bespin, the only one that has any courage to actually stand up to Darth Vader is Han, who pulls out his blaster and attacks. Chewie and Leia are both willing to surrender and do nothing!”
      What was Leia supposed to do. Han did what he did because he had a weapon. As soon as Vader took away his weapon via the force and grabbed his gun, Han was also left defenceless like Leia and also was forced to surrender. Leia had no choice.

      “In ROTJ, Leia has to have Luke tell her what to do in the battle at the Sarlac pit. “Point it at the deck”.”
      So what? Luke gives Leia instructions. How is that bad? Leia just killed Jabba the hutt with a chain. Does she then have to come up with ideas on how to save everyone else too otherwise that horism doesn’t count?

      “Leia looks confused but complies and Luke actually fires the cannon.”
      She never looks confused. She complies and moves the gun. How is moving a gun an act of cowardliness?..

      “She is then swung away to safety by Luke.”
      Either one could have swung on the rope. It just happened to have been Luke because he got to the rope first. Leia then reached Luke and the rope and so they swung.

      “Before that, she actually killed Jabba the Hutt, who is a helpless cripple.”
      He is a giant monster.. His skin and throat were enourmess yet Leia had the strength to strangle him.

      “On Endor, Luke, Han and the rest of the gang have to stop what they’re doing and go find Leia (she’s being treated like a princess at the Ewok village).”
      Yes. She calmly befriended the ewoks, while Luke and Han are panicking over where she is. If anything, they seem lost without her and Leia is absolutely fine.

      “Why didn’t she just leave the Ewok village and join back with her friends.”
      She didn’t know where they were.

      “She had her hair done while she was there!”
      So what?

      “She has it flowing now instead of in a helmet!”
      …So what?

      “The storm trooper she killed? Well, she got in a sucker shot because she was hiding behind Han.”
      She put her gun where Han could see him, signalling that she was going to try and surprise them and shoot them, to which Han replies that he loves her, and then she successful takes out both stormtroopers with agility before they could shoot back and therefore rescues Han once again.

      “Yeap, Leia’s a real heroine!”
      Yes she is..

      • July 16, 2014 at 9:01 pm
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        Obviously, you didn’t read the first line of the OP. Get a a sense of humor and read it.

        • July 16, 2014 at 9:29 pm
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          Yes. I know. I read that. I don’t just randomly skip the first lines of a comment lol.. But the lack of any logic in his point was just too weird to even take with humour and I was constantly asking myself- “Am I supposed to laugh at this?”. If the comment was supposed to be funny then I think some people need to redefine what they think a humorous statement is ..

          • July 16, 2014 at 9:35 pm
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            If you don’t like or get a joke, then fine. You just don’t have the same sense of humor.

          • July 16, 2014 at 10:16 pm
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            Why not both?

            I found humor in reading about Han and Leia’s shortcomings and appreciated the defenses for them. 😀

    • July 16, 2014 at 9:27 pm
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      If you’re going to take cheap shots…

      Take this with your sense of humour:

      Han Solo’s toughness and bad boy image is overrated:

      – Han says he answers to no one, but throughout the OT he makes several attempts to run back to Jabba with the reward money so he can get out of trouble.
      – Han constantly hides and runs away from the Empire. He’s even dumped shipments at the first sign of them.
      – Rather than get pissed about the Empire and try to get even or something, Han is content to let them have their way. I wouldn’t expect Han to want to join the Rebellion, but you know a real bad boy wouldn’t put up with that crap.
      – Once Han and the others secure that room on the Death Star, Han is content to lay back while Ben does all the work. Again, he lets someone else tell him what to do. It gets so bad, Luke is forced to use the lure of riches to get Han off his lazy ass and do something.
      – During the shootout with the stormtroopers shortly after Leia’s rescue, Han’s standing there like a dolt blasting at the endless supply of enemies rather than trying to figure out an alternative solution, which Leia does.
      – Once in the garbage compactor, he foolishly tries to blast his way out, nearly killing himself and the others. Between that and him shooting into the compactor after they escape, it’s no wonder Leia has to yell at him like a petulant child.
      – For some silly reason, Han chases and RUNS away from the stormtroopers in that corridor. A real man wouldn’t do something goofy like that.
      – Leia speaking about the mission gives him an opening to at least pretend he cares enough about the Rebellion to get into her pants. Instead, he royally screws that up.
      – It’s fine that Han’s not the type of guy to join the Rebellion, but he looks weak when trying to defend his reasoning against Luke and Chewy. “Hey, Luke.” “What?” “May the Force be with you.” LOL, what?
      – Han has to be guilted into fighting at the end of IV. However, instead of going with his “I prefer a straight fight to all this sneaking around”, he conveniently waits until the fighting’s almost over to shoot ONE enemy who’s not even looking at him! This confuses the other henchmen and throws Vader into a spin. Yeah, some hero. If he had showed up earlier, maybe Biggs and some of the others would’ve lived. Too bad Luke never brings that up to him.
      – Although Han played an important role in saving the day at the end of IV, he acts like he deserves more credit than he actually does.
      – Near the beginning of V, Han whines that Leia doesn’t give him a kiss and treat him like the greatest thing ever. He even stomps away like a petulant child. Yeah, real ladies man there.
      – Later on, Han actually has the balls to pretend Leia thinks he’s hot stuff TO HER FACE. She rightfully put him in his place. Scruffy nerfherder!
      – Again, Han’s main thing in the battle of Endor is RUNNING AWAY AND HIDING. In fact, he’ll spend most of this movie doing just that. Yeah, what a badass.
      – Han uses a knock to the Falcon as an opportunity to feel Leia up and be all creepy because he clearly isn’t skilled enough to have won her over by now. “I haven’t time for anything else!” Come on, man! It’s the SECOND MOVIE!

      to be continued…

      • July 16, 2014 at 9:39 pm
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        Now that’s funny. Leia’s was funny too.

      • July 16, 2014 at 10:01 pm
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        Part 2 of 2 of why Han is overrated as a tough guy and bad boy:

        – Although Han does display some smoothness in his classic scene with Leia, it’s not like she pulls him in for the kiss. He practically has to force himself on her. It’s no accident that a small distraction from C-3P0 was enough for Leia to make an escape. And did you see Han’s reaction to that? AWWWW! So pathetic, lolol.
        – Han knows that he doesn’t have Leia eating out of the palm of his hand. Throughout the rest of V and VI, he’s constantly worried about Lando or Luke swooping in to take her from him! Why? Because he knows he’s not really all that. Lando almost gets his foot in the door by kissing Leia’s hand and treating her WITH RESPECT. But thank goodness, fanboys, that good ol’ Han was there to “rescue” her!
        – We discover that Han hasn’t even had the Falcon since day 1. He got it USED from Lando, after possibly cheating for it. Lol, talk about sloppy seconds!
        – Han knows at that point that he only wants to get in her pants, but he can only stare at her like an idiot when she questions whether he’ll stick around.
        – Han’s act of going to Bespin screwed over his old friend, Lando. But instead of having the brains to figure that out (which isn’t all that hard since the Empire tracked them to Yavin IV in Episode IV), he foolishly blames Lando and delivers a cheap suckerpunch. “My friend”? Riiigghhht…
        – A regular hero in hiding would be planning his next move. What does Han do? Go for refreshments!
        – Once Han loses his gun to Vader, he’s worthless! He doesn’t steal a stormtrooper’s gun, he doesn’t fight. He gives up!
        – He can’t even take carbon freezing like a man. Look at his frozen b^tch face reaction!
        – Han needs his friends to rescue him. He needs Leia to free him from carbon freezing. Han is completely worthless in Jabba’s palace scene. He’s basically begging for his life! “You’re throwing away a good deal!”
        – Han does next to nothing in Jabba’s barge scene. “You’re going to die here, you know. It’s convenient.” He, lol, ACCIDENTALLY bumps into one of the greatest bounty hunters of all time. He almost shoots Lando in the face. “Just a little higher!”
        – Han shows weakness at times between being with the Rebels and on Endor. “You promise, not a scratch!” “It’ll be all right. It’ll be all right.”, etc.
        – Han can’t even sneak up to a stormtrooper without snapping a twig.
        – He gets mad at Luke for losing Leia when he got them in that mess in the first place. Yeah, really manly.
        – Han gets caught in an animal trap, lol. R2D2 has to get them out while Han’s busy trying to reach Luke’s ass for the lightsaber, haha.
        – Then, get this, Han is captured by teddybears! TEDDYBEARS! If it wasn’t for Luke and ‘3P0, Han would’ve been barbecue. Ridiculous.
        – Han becomes a member of the Ewok tribe and reluctantly hugs an Ewok. Weak.
        – Han soon whines again about Leia being able to talk to Luke but not him. When Leia finally throws herself into his arms for a soothing hug, he holds her like he’s uncomfortable.
        – “Bad boy” Han fights alongside teddybears!
        – Even after all the “I love you”/”I know”s and EVERYTHING they’ve been through, Han still somehow thinks Luke has a shot at getting Leia, lol. A real man would know that the girl is crazy for him.
        – After Han does his part on Endor, he just chills with Leia and the teddybears while Lando destroys the Second Death Star and Luke redeems his father and has the Emperor killed. Why didn’t he at least try to help them finish off the fight in space?
        – Lol, the way he kisses Leia twice when he finds out that his “competition” was her brother!

        Han: Phew! Dodged a bullet there!

        • July 16, 2014 at 10:16 pm
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          – A regular hero in hiding would be planning his next move. What does Han do? Go for refreshments!

          I don’t know what that’s referring to, but it’s funny.

          • July 16, 2014 at 10:20 pm
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            It refers to that scene from V where Lando lures the gang into a trap with the offer of refreshments. No wonder Leia didn’t have her blaster on her. 😛

      • July 16, 2014 at 10:41 pm
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        “- Again, Han’s main thing in the battle of *Endor is RUNNING AWAY AND HIDING. In fact, he’ll spend most of this movie doing just that. Yeah, what a badass.”

        *I meant the Battle of Hoth from Episode V.

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