Monday 11 January 2016

Where's Rey?

When I watched Star Wars: The Force Awakens on new years eve, I was blown away. I'd had my doubts but it was better than I could have hoped for, and I wanted to hug J. J. Abrams immediately. Everything about it was just so good - particularly, I think, the casting.

Rey is incredible. Everything about her is everything I want to be; she's confident, sassy, intelligent, witty, charming and brave. She knows who she is and what she wants, she won't be easily swayed and she's got the perfect attitude for everything she encounters in The Force Awakens. So why, then, is Rey excluded from so much merchandise?

You might think it's not important, it doesn't matter, that having a female main character should be enough - but the truth is, as inspiring as it is to see Daisy Ridley up there fighting, kids the world over should be able to help her fight those battles too. It's baffling: she's not in the Star Wars Monopoly (they've said it's because of ""spoilers"" as the game was released before the film, but come on like you've got Darth Vader in there and he's not even in the film, so give it a rest). There's a Millenium Falcon model you can get which features Finn as the pilot. Really?

Representation matters. When you exclude the main character of a film from action figure sets because she's female, what are you telling kids? That women don't matter. That action figures are for boys. That boys shouldn't associate with ""girly"" things - by that, I mean a female action figure. That Star Wars isn't for girls. The whole thing, honestly, is just bizarre.

It's 2015 and gender roles are becoming increasingly less important - that is, we are realising how much we don't need to conform to them. Jaden Smith is modelling for Louis Vuitton's womenswear collection, and without any sort of explanation or apology. And that's how it should be - gender is fluid, gender is flexible and it's about time toy merchandisers realised that nothing bad is going to happen because girls play with ""boys toys"" or you include a Rey doll in the Star Wars action figure sets.

She's the main character, and without her the force wouldn't have awoken in the first place. Girls across the world are looking at film in a whole new way - somebody just like them, somebody they can aspire to be, is up there with a Lightsaber in one hand and BB8 by her side.

Where's Rey? She should be there, along with the other cast members, immortalised in doll form. Get on with it, get your heads out of your collective asses and do something. Toys have no gender.

What do you think about Rey being excluded from a lot of the Star Wars merch?


Want to see my zombie-mermaid look? 'course you do

4 comments:

  1. I haven't seen the film but am appalled that she's been excluded from so much! Not even in the monopoly? Hell, how much could monopoly actually spoil? Shit man a female character is going to be in the film - spoilers! Livid.
    I'm so fed up with this whole 'boys toys' attitude. So fed up!

    Imii xx | nettleandblackberry.com

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  2. I love this post so much! I was so mad when I found out about Rey not being included in the Monopoly game! They couldn't argue about Spoilers as she appeared in the trailers! I'm sick of Star Wars being branded for boys. I would have loved having a Rey doll as a kid. If anything Disney could have used selling Rey figures, dolls and merchandise to their advantage! Lets hope they get their act together before the release of the next film!

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  3. Yes Katy! Love this post. My friend recently purchased the Star Wars Monopoly and was telling me about this, and I was so shocked because of how progressive Ray's character is for the film. There excuse being spoilers is bullshit! I hadn't seen or heard of an article written discussing this issue, so I admire this post so much!
    Jade xx

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