The Significance Of (Finally) Seeing Yourself In ‘Star Wars’

When Rey makes her first appearance in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, she is noticeably a lot of things that female characters, especially in action-driven flicks, are often not: tough, capable, self-sufficient, alone and seemingly OK with that. When Finn and Poe Dameron make their first appearance, they are similarly a lot of things people of color in films are often not: skilled, strong, capable, nuanced.

The very existence of these characters is revolutionary. But they’re more than just present; they’re a presence, felt and fully fleshed out. This representation is significant in big-picture ways — maybe now, for instance, Hollywood will recognize that non-white-men can get top billing in a blockbuster without threatening its box office prowess. Moreover, and equally significantly, this representation is significant in personal, even visceral ways; if you cried watching this film, stirred by a character you’d never had the opportunity to see in a movie like this before, you’re not alone.

Here, five women speak out about the importance of watching The Force Awakens and seeing, for the first time, themselves.

Michi Trota

Star Wars wasn’t the first sci-fi movie I ever saw as a kid (that honor goes to E.T.), but it was the film that made me fall in love with sci-fi…