What is it with people overreacting to movie trailers? I saw the trailer to Rogue One and thought, "that looks like an enjoyable mov - IS THAT THE EMPEROR? Why is he kneeling? Why can't I stop looking at Forest Whitaker's lazy eye in everything he's in? Am I a bad person?" The answer to that is, probably, but you know what I DIDN'T think about? Another female protagonist.
Sigh.
Lets do this.
(Every point I bring up is based on a comment I've seen on Twitter, Youtube, or wherever).
1. A Female Lead is Unrelatable.
...But a laser sword wielding, telekinetic wizard is?
I assume these people are fans of previous Star Wars films but even if they are not, how can you NOT relate. This reeks of close-mindedness as not being able to relate to a woman is basically saying you don't give two shits about what they think, feel, live through, etc. And don't bother trying to defend yourself saying, "blurh, blargh, burp, but I am open-minded!". Women are half the population. If you can't relate to them, in a fictional universe, how the hell do you relate to them in reality? I'd hate to see your opinions on smaller population numbers like Gay and Trans folks.
Unrelatable.
2. This is Katniss Again and Pandering to the Hunger Games Crowd.
First of all, THIS....IS.....STAR....WARS. They don't need to pander to anybody. It's only the most popular franchise in any media in history.
Secondly, based on what? Felicity Jones sorta looks like Katniss (you trying to say all white women look the same?) and because of that one "I rebel" line? This is a trailer. Every movie trailer for every action movie ever looks the same now. A bunch of quick cuts, some out of context action sequences, some shots of plot devices, a few catchy one liners, and a tease for something big. You got Katniss out of that?
Thirdly....nice red herring. This is a good way to say, "I am sick of action movies with badass females who are flawless but I'm totally not insecure about being beaten up by a woman."
Not the protagonist but still scary. Also, yes. she could beat me up and I'D WELCOME IT.
Speaking of flawless.
3. Just like Rey and Katniss, This is Another Female Protagonist Who is Flawless so They Don't Piss Off Feminists.
How can you possibly know that? It was a trailer.
I can't speak for Katniss as I only saw the first Hunger Games movie and complained about it ripping off the far superior Battle Royale, but Rey isn't flawless. She barely escapes the assault on Jakku, she gets captured later on (but saves herself), and even though she is badass in the final fight with Kylo Ren, there is an air of uncertainty to her as well. Daisy Ridley (badass name by the way) did a great job being badass and fucking terrified in that final fight.* She is going up against a Sith Lord after all.
*I know this opinion is based 100% on acting and that is super subjective. My other points still stand though.
SHE'S SO FLAWLESS!
Also, if you want to talk flawless, how about Luke in A New Hope. The dude somehow pilots an X-Wing without any previous experience*, somehow doesn't get killed when Vader has a clear shot but is saved by Han instead, then fires a weapon he has never used before into a 2 meter sized hole while BLIND and using a literal Force he only recently learned he could manipulate. Luke had exceptionally good luck during the assault on the first Death Star. Hell, he had flawless luck.
*Don't you fucking tell me that the Landspeeder was enough experience. That is the Star Wars equivalent of a car. I can drive a car, does that mean I can fly an airplane? I will fight you.
Finally, "internet feminists" frequently complain about badass female characters just being gender swapped versions of male characters (See Kill Bill). I don't think they would want "flawless".
4. ANOTHER female protagonist. This is a Trend.
The saying goes, "Two is a coincidence, three is a trend." This is the 2nd movie. Calm down.
And while yes, the main series will probably keep Rey in all three, meaning 4 Star Wars movies with a female lead, did you forget about the other spinoffs? There is going to be a young Han Solo movie and well as a Boba Fett one.
If this is so called reverse sexism, which this argument implies, you almost never see spinoffs of female protagonist movies (Looking at you Black Widow and Wonder Woman). At least the male characters GET their own movies.
This might be the most misleading poster ever.
Again, Star Wars doesn't need to pander. Remember how awful the prequels were? They still brought in a fuck load of money.
I...don't even know what to say to these people anymore. It's obviously the extreme right wing and Gamergate crowd (which is the same thing) saying this (and MRAS!!). If they ever read this, obviously Gamergate will deny having any political leaning despite their only mainstream allies being extreme right wing nut jobs and their actual namesake being coined by Adam fucking Baldwin. Anecdotally, one of the several times I talked with a GG'er, I brought this up and he claimed he was actually left wing in reality. I asked him how he felt on immigration as a litmus test. He IMMEDIATELY changed the subject to Pokemon of all things. I did not ask how he felt about dogfighting.
It's so predictable it's sad. They seem to think they have us all fooled but literally everybody knows they're dicks. Like...it's not even remotely a secret.
Also, if an MRA reads this, I'm sorry your penis is very tiny. Go buy the biggest truck you can find to compensate.
Yeah. I'm sure Disney is scared of you.
Also, why does Chewie look like we wants to creepily fuck that lightsaber?
6. Something, Something, Political Correctness, Free Speech, and Censorship.
The big three arguments bigots like to bring up to justify being a bigot. This is broader than Star Wars so I need to go slightly off topic here.
Political Correctness is code for "it used to be okay to say or joke about this thing". Free Speech is brought up as "Hey, I can say whatever I want". Censorship happens when you try to call them on their bullshit and they are so anti-censorship.
It's the last defense Trifecta. Unfortunately, Political Correctness is nothing but a political buzz term, they don't understand how Free Speech works, and they are extremely contradictory on Censorship.
Having a story with the kind of people who exist in reality is PC.
"Political Correctness", the modern term, was invented as self-critical satire in the 70's. Of course, politicians being politicians, completely missed the satire and ran with it (See any president using "Born in the USA" as a campaign song). The term is so callously used by pundits, I'm hard pressed to find any buzz term more political than "political correctness". It's very usage is still....satire. Only, the people using it don't realize it cause they're dumb.
Free Speech apparently only works for bigots and nobody else. Sure, you can say your sexist/racist/homophobic/transphobic bullshit, but that free speech also means people can call you out on your bullshit. Also, free speech does not mean freedom from consequences, nor does it mean anybody must give you a platform, NOR does it mean anybody has to listen. Blocking you on twitter isn't infringing on your free speech. It's the listener exercising theirs.
Obligatory.
"But not taking my opinion seriously is censorship!". Uh...no, it's not. You still think and say your bullshit. Plus, making ANY of my 5 previous talking points is basically saying the creators of Rogue One are wrong and should listen to you. In a way, you are arguing FOR censorship. They decided to have a female lead simply because a woman can be anything...and you are the one who has a problem with it.
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That's the kicker. They don't ever realize they're opinion is dumb and stupid. Instead, it's the system that is mocking/ignoring them that panders to those who they hate. It's not always women, but for this Rogue One trailer reaction, it is. They think men are going to disappear from protagonist roles in action movies even though that will never happen. It is impossible to argue that Men haven't been THE dominant gender in those roles through history but they do anyway.
And....
I think I know why.
If all this happened during a 3-4 month span when I was 22 years old...I may have agreed with them. After a bitter break up with a long term girlfriend, I hated the SHIT out of women. It only got worse since I forgot how to be single, every girl's boyfriend was juuuuust the biggest asshole, and they all refused to have sex with me because.....
I was a piece of shit. I never really tried to learn about them. I was always trying to impress them, look cool, BE cool, and be the nicest guy. I eventually gave up and stopped giving a shit about trying to find a girlfriend and you know....just live my life and be the real me. This had an ironic (?) twist though because as soon as I stopped caring, I started to get a ton of dates. It's also during this time that I met my future wife.
Some day, my love.
When I was trying and failing to get a girlfriend....I repeat, I HATED women. It's a bizarre hopeless feeling getting rejected by the single ladies and falling for the taken ones whose boyfriends were real assholes (This was mostly not true. In reality, most of these guys were good dudes. Later I would learn an emotion called "Jealousy"). During this time, it really felt like I was powerless and women had all the power. So when women/feminists say "white dudes" are living the privileged life, I can see why people like my 22 year old self would say, "what the fuck are you talking about?"
The people who complain about another female protagonist in Star Wars is probably a lot like past me. It's another point for their "women have all the power" argument. Although....I still don't know why they would be so angry about a woman protagon - OHHHHHHH......
It's about sex isn't it?
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As far as we know, Luke is still a virgin.
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