Star Wars is a magical magical place. While the universe has mastered lightsabers, lightspeed and introduced us to the likes of R2-D2 and Chewie – the women of Star Wars have remained severely under-represented. The minute long video Every Line Spoken By A Woman Other Than Leia In the Original Star Wars Trilogy only highlights this problem.
Although, it seems now that the times they are a-changin, L.A. Times reports that the company (Lucasfilm) may be doing something about the absence of women behind and in front of the camera. “Behind closed doors, people at the studios are saying, ‘we know we have a problem'”, WME partner and agent Adriana Alberghetti told the LA Times. “How do we get more women behind the camera?” Alberghetti also told the paper that she had set up meetings for three female writers and four female directors on upcoming Star Wars films.
Well, it’s about time and it’s nice to see that good things are coming out of these meetings. Less talk, more action. Kathleen Kennedy, head of Lucasfilm and one of the most successful executives in the business, has previously told The Guardian that she thinks it’s vital to find female directors for future Star Wars films. “Having a balance of men and women in the room changes the story”, she said. “the dialogue, the point of view”.
Allowing women a bigger and more essential part in the creative process of Star Wars films will certainly pave the way for more women within the franchise, the action-adventure-sci-fi genre and have a positive effect on Hollywood as a whole. That’s not to say that they’re aren’t roles for women, in the upcoming Force Awakens, Daisly Ridley’s character Rey will play a major role, alongside Carrie Fisher who is reprising her role as princess – now general – Leia. Gwendoline Christie will also play an important part in the upcoming film as the franchise’s first female villain, according to Kennedy “She’s an important character, a baddie in the best sense of the word”.
#Peace.Love.StarWars
