THE “STRONG FEMALE CHARACTER”
As is widely known, returns on the most recent Star Wars trilogy were disappointing, with each film in the series doing worse than the previous one. Many Star Wars fans believe the franchise is now “dead.” Kathleen Kennedy, President of Lucusfilm, claims that male prejudice against Rey, the “strong female character,” is the reason why episodes 7, 8 and especially 9 did nowhere near as well as expected at the box-office. Are there any *other* explanations that might account for the negative fan reaction?
All of this may be old news, yet it’s still happening (the new Indiana Jones V for example). So, I think it’s worthwhile to cut through Woke Hollywood blaming the audience for poor box-office (relative to the enormous cost of making these films) and dig deep to get very clear about what’s going on here.
The problem with Rey is that she’s not a character; she’s a feminist revenge fantasy. Compare and contrast the story arcs of Luke vs. Rey. Luke begins impulsive, even rather foolish. To reach his potential, Luke must travail his Hero’s Journey. To succeed he needs mentoring from those older and wiser, and he needs his friends. He must pick himself back up after suffering defeat, even to the extent of losing a hand. Luke begins as a feckless youth and ends up a Jedi. He’s a character with character flaws, a character arc, deep interactions and interdependence with other characters. Luke Skywalker exists to entertain and to enlighten us—becoming a hero ain’t easy kids.
Though it’s essentially an adolescent boy fantasy, we’re given the strong female character. At first, Princess Leia was gun-toting, ball-busting, haughty, and condescending—but that’s not ALL she was. She was funny and likeable and she wasn’t superior to the men in everything. She had vulnerability and she truly cared about her male friends. And the male fans loved her for it. So, the problem isn’t the strong female character; the problem is THE STRONG FEMALE CARICATURE, like Rey.
Superman LOVES Lois Lane. In Superman II, he gave up his powers, gave up *everything* out of love for her. But Superwomen rarely give men a second glance. The hero defeats the Bad Guys and the heroine defeats the Bad Guys. Men go around shooting men; and women go around shooting men—much of what they sell as “equality” is really sexist misandry to the core. Rey owns sexual power, beauty, grace, goodness, home, family, parenting just as women do and have always done. But Rey must be superior to men in EVERYTHING. The misandric sexism within Woke films runs much deeper than we perceive.
Rey begins flawless and ends up flawless. And that’s because she only exists to beat men at their own game. While the men stand around, she repairs the Millennium Falcon, a space ship she was introduced to only hours ago. Her character interactions are shallow because she doesn’t need mentoring; she doesn’t need the support of friends. She doesn’t need anyone. The very first time she picks up a lightsaber she uses it to defeat a Sith Lord.
They disparage the male hero, rendering Luke Skywalker an embittered old has-been so that Rey can be the one, the ONLY hero. Rey ends up taking everything Luke loved most, his lightsaber, his droids, his X-wing, the Millennium Falcon . . . at the end she even winds up taking his home and taking his name! Not all men are gender-politically indoctrinated to the point of blindness. Kathleen Kennedy’s man-hating, female-exalting agenda could hardly be more obvious. As feminist indoctrinated as most modern men are, even men balk at such blatant misandry (even if they don’t know what the word misandry means).
So, let’s be clear here, Woke Hollywood’s recent movies have failed in large part because they’re not movies . . . they’re flatter the female/shame the male feminist propaganda. By now the pattern has been ingrained in all of us.
“Should we go see the new Indiana Jones movie?”
“Nnnn no . . . we know what the movie’s going to be before we even enter the theater—beloved male hero is humiliated, ridiculed, and lectured to by smug, chip-on-her-shoulder, young nobody female who surpasses him in all things.”
“Hmm, what do you say we stay home and watch a real Indiana Jones movie?”
– Tim Goldich
