The Importance of Inclusivity in the Star Wars Universe

The Star Wars universe means so much to so many people on a global scale, and even though these films are set in a galaxy far, far away, they remain very close to our hearts (sappy, I know). Over the past 40 years we’ve had 8 films, TV shows such as the Clone Wars and Rebels, and countless novels and comics, all set in the same fictional universe. The world of Star Wars wasn’t introduced to me until I was 11 years old, but it feels like I’ve loved this franchise for a lifetime, and it’s provided me with much more than just entertainment, it’s allowed me to bond with a whole community of people who share the same love for the films as I do.

In 1977, a New Hope blessed us with an iconic heroine named Leia Organa, who shaped the media’s perception of strong female protagonists up to this day and age, without Leia, many people, including myself wouldn’t be so enriched with an array of strong female leads in films, TV shows and books in the 21st century. Leia Organa showed us that women were a whole lot more than damsels in distress, and gave us the inspiration to be more honest with ourselves and strive for what we really want in life. Without Leia, we most likely wouldn’t have been introduced to these brilliantly strong, brave and cunning female protagonists we’ve seen in the Force Awakens and Rogue One — Rey and Jyn Erso. Not only has the franchise been more inclusive of women, but they’ve also introduced Black, Latino and Asian characters, allowing more people around to world to relate to these incredible characters, and feel more included in the world of cinema, like their stories are being told.

This representation is extremely important as the idea of an entire galaxy filled with peculiar aliens and droids being abundantly white and male, is absurd. As this universe clearly reflects our society, and our governance, it only makes sense for this galaxy far, far away, to display a lot more than just the heterosexual parts of world; if it’s so essential to include romance in this franchise through straight couples like Han & Leia, Padme & Anakin, and Jyn & Cassian, then why should it be so exclusive? Since we know that sexuality is a huge spectrum, why only show a tiny part of it?

For me, like many other people, coming to terms with my sexuality took quite some time and I faced an internal struggle for quite a few years, which is still something I don’t feel entirely comfortable opening up about. It wasn’t until around 2015 that I finally accepted myself and my sexuality, as an asexual lesbian, and since then I’ve gradually become more confident and capable of self-love. One of the things that made the journey difficult was the lack of representation on the media; I didn’t have a fictional character I could relate to, whose problems were similar to my own, whom would’ve helped me to realise, what I was going through was totally normal and that it was okay to be confused, and to not feel the same way as my friends and family. It wasn’t until I found the LGBT+ Star Wars community on Twitter, in which I could finally hear stories that I could relate to and could find comfort in knowing it wasn’t just me going through these struggles, and that there were so many people going through different experiences, and within this community, no matter how different, our mutual fondness for this saga of whiny teens with a tendency to lose limbs could bring us together.

I’m very grateful to this franchise and its huge fan base, because without it I wouldn’t be where I am today. I take my situation for granted at times, because not everyone is a part of these communities, and don’t always have people they can turn to, to discuss how they feel about themselves and their sexuality. I don’t often open up to my friends and family, and twitter, to me, feels like a safe haven where I can talk about my feelings more openly with people who are going through similar problems. It’s incredibly important that other people feel this sense of belonging, and when this spectrum of sexuality and gender identity isn’t represented through films, TV shows and books, people can often feel like they don’t fit into the society that is supposed to be reflected through the media. The people I was surrounded by in school, and sometimes at home, could be extremely misogynistic, homophobic, transphobic, etc. which made me feel excluded and lose confidence in myself, but through twitter, more so in recent months I’ve been able to feel a lot more confident, which has made me realise just how important fandom culture is, and that’s it’s a lot more than what it appears to be on the surface.

It wasn’t until I put everything into perspective that I realised how little LGBT+ representation was in Star Wars, and when I say little, I mean none at all. I grew up accustomed to seeing heterosexual couples everywhere, and shipping LGBT couples became a sort of fantasy within a fantasy. After joining twitter, overtime I recognised there were hundreds of other people supporting the same ships, and fan fiction, art work and headcanoning made the idea of these couples becoming canon more realistic. In Star Wars’ case, what made me realise just how little representation there was in the franchise was seeing other films and TV shows take these so called “risks” by becoming more inclusive, and providing healthy relationships and positive representation for LGBT couples, if you compare this to Star Wars, the difference is quite startling, not to say that Lucasfilm shouldn’t be praised on their increased diversity and strong female leads, but we know they can do better, especially after a perfectly subtle opportunity was set up for Chirrut & Baze in Rogue One; the two already having a close bond and a vibrant past, a large percentage of the audience perceived them to be in a romantic relationship, and a healthy one, which brought a lot of joy to me when watching the trailers and falling in love with their dynamic before the film was released, and for them to not embrace that opportunity was disappointing, and to some extent, hurtful.

I’m excited to see how Lucasfilm represent LGBT+ characters in the future, because without a doubt, there will be an openly gay character in the Star Wars universe — other than the notable introduction of Star Wars’ first LGBT protagonist, in Chuck Wendig’s Aftermath trilogy — I’m just hoping it’s sooner rather than later. Star Wars, being the largest film franchise in the world, has a huge responsibility when it comes to representation, and this inclusivity will most definitely have a ripple effect in the film industry, a positive response to the introduction of an LGBT+ character would mean that more and more films, TV show, etc. would be encouraged to bring up issues surrounding the LGBT+ and include same sex couples within their storylines. My worries in particular, are that when Lucasfilm introduce an openly gay character, they will be side-lined, which wouldn’t make as much as an impact on the general audience, or in a more unlikely case, they present inaccurate or even negative representation which won’t provide the representation LGBT+ Star Wars fans need.

For me personally, alongside Poe being revealed as a gay character for obvious reasons, I would love for Rey to be openly asexual. I know this is very unlikely, but for me, it would feel extremely empowering because like a lot of other Star Wars fans, I see apart of myself in Rey, which makes me feel extremely protective over her. She doesn’t quite know where she belongs in the galaxy, she’s searching for this belonging whilst also trying to survive daily life. She’s overwhelmed by the change but takes on each challenge as it passes and isn’t afraid to love the people around her and will do anything to protect them, and eventually embraces this new family within the Resistance. Seeing Rey as an asexual character would show people who aren’t fully aware of what it means to be asexual, and those who often call us “emotionless” or “incapable of love” that whether or not you’re sexually attracted to someone, has nothing to do with the amount of love and affection you have for the people around you. If we go back to Poe, who’s seen as a courageous, charming and loyal protagonist, and has been a part of something bigger than himself from a young age. He’s an important member of the Resistance, he belongs to this family and is loved and respected by the people around him. This would give Lucasfilm the perfect opportunity to display positive representation for our community. Poe’s loved, he’s not an outcast and his sexuality doesn’t come into play when he’s off saving the galaxy. It’ll show people that there’s a place for everyone in the world, and that there’s a community out there willing to embrace them for who they are, like the Resistance accepts Poe.

In the future, it’s nice to think about the generations that will be introduced to Star Wars, and the newer films, being able to see these iconic role models, of a variety of genders, sexualities and races, telling the stories of hundreds of thousands of people around the world, and children not growing up so alone, learning to be more inclusive and accepting of themselves at a young age, not being restricted to the “norm” or any gender roles. We’re not trying to force Lucasfilm to represent LGBT+ within the franchise, we’d just like them to know that we’re here, we exist. We’re so thankful for this galaxy far, far away that you’ve let us escape to, and these characters you’ve allowed us to love, and we just want to feel more included, and be able to immerse ourselves deeper into this galaxy.

Thank you to Lucasfilm, Disney, J.J. Abrams, Rian Johnson, Gareth Edwards, and the entire Star Wars cast and crew. I honestly can’t imagine my life without you.