23rd December 2015

Rey & Finn: A Tale of Unspoken Biases

Here’s an uncomfortable question: Prior to seeing Star Wars The Force Awakens last weekend did you know that the movie was co-lead by a woman and a person of color?

Really, I mean that. Would you have said: YES, this movie is about a newly discovered female Jedi (maybe!?) and a defecting Stormtrooper, who also turns out to be a person of color?

I am guessing you would have said no. In many ways, this movie was pitched as an ensemble cast, meant to misdirect your attention all the way down to the posters. There’s a reason Finn is wielding a lightsaber and Rey is positioned alongside Kylo Ren. Even in re-watching all the trailers, it becomes clear that this is a movie full of feel-good cameos and a cast of new characters, most prominently scored to feature the adorable BB-8. And I have a sneaking suspicion all of this was by design.

By now, there are have been countless blog posts about the importance of having the biggest movie of all time be led by Daisy Ridley and John Boyega. And make no mistake: THIS IS A VICTORY. This is a victory for audiences. This is a victory for creating more equity in Hollywood. This is a victory for established brands. As more Star Wars movies are developed with this cast, it will continue to be an important marker of progress. And dammit, that’s exciting.

But here’s a really uncomfortable fact we must face as audiences and consumers: why did the franchise fail to embrace the diversity of its cast in the marketing and promotion of the film?

Let’s look at this dynamic in the wake of another important announcement about a beloved franchise: Noma Dumezweni was cast as the grown-up Hermione Granger in the London play “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” this week. And she is not white. Blessed be the dead body of dear Dumbledore, some people were not very happy about that. Right or wrong, this reactive audience uproar is very much what we could have faced if JJ Abrams and company had announced their true motives or even given a clear picture of who the actual star of the new movie was early on in the promotional circuit. It’s critical that we examine our own biases and ask: Would audiences have had as much of an open mind? Would there have been countless haters starting campaigns to boycott the film as we have seen in the days following the Hermione announcement?

May I be so bold as to suggest that we live in a time of two types of audiences?

The Tale of Audience One: Those who would have embraced a movie co-lead by a woman and a person of color and even heralded it publicly and boldly.

The Tale of Audience Two: Those would have been turned off by the notion of a non-white dude led iteration of their beloved franchise.

And you know what sucks? The film was marketed and promoted to abate the fears of the Audience Two at the cost of truly embracing what Audience One wants and is right to celebrate. There’s a reason we didn’t see Rey and Finn action figures in all the Christmas shopping holiday marketing this year - which really doesn’t make a damn bit of sense once you’ve seen the movie. Meanwhile, we have been bombarded with BB-8 toys for the last 3 months. And whether or not we want to admit it, we live in a time when this is a deliberate and strategic choice. By withholding the identities of the real heroes, the film didn’t have to take on the heat of fans who should be forced to face their own internal sexism and racism and could gracefully collect the biggest box office earnings ever in the history of film.

And yet, this trickles beyond the marketing. Our leads were reportedly the lowest paid on the film too, which isn’t uncommon, but their reported salaries are much lower than newcomer white dudes in similarly iconic franchises. For example, the Fifty Shades of Grey co-stars reportedly earned double those low-six figure sums reported for Boyega and Ridley.

What sucks the most is that I don’t blame them. The Catch-22 of this situation is mind-numbing: if they had heralded Rey and Finn early, would it have succeeded anyway? I want to believe that it would have. But now we will never know. As a fan and as a woman whose life is dedicated to this issue, I have to almost sit back and applaud them for playing it the way they did and resent them at the same time. It was masterful and manipulative and brilliant.

Here’s the silver lining: There’s no hiding now. We all know that Rey is it. She’s the one. She is who carries the franchise forward. And I am willing to bet that by the time Episode 8 hits theaters, we will have analyzed her character in academic and non-academic settings to the point where it’s almost painful. But at the very least, when everyone sells out all those damn theaters again, they’ll know exactly who they’re going to see.

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23rd December 2015

Rey & Finn: A Tale of Unspoken Biases

The End