Star Wars has been receiving praise recently, as it should, for the franchise's increased diversity in the films, specifically with the casts of The Force Awakens and Rogue One. One area of diversity, however, that the Star Wars films have yet to extend into is the inclusion of gay characters. The Force Awakens director JJ Abrams was asked about this at the recent Oscar Wilde Awards, and he commented that it wouldn't make sense for Star Wars not to include gay characters in the future.
Abrams said,
“Of
course! When I talk about inclusivity it’s not excluding gay characters. It’s
about inclusivity. So of course.
I would love it. To me, the fun of Star Wars is the glory of possibility. So it seems insanely narrow-minded and counterintuitive to say that there wouldn’t be a homosexual character in that world.”
The Star Wars canon already includes a few gay characters, with the novels Lords of the Sith by: Paul S. Kemp, and Aftermath by Chuck Wendig both including homosexual characters. Obviously, Kemp and Wendig are to be commended for their inclusion of gay characters but Star Wars' biggest audience is on the silver screen and as the films continue to expand the universe they should continue to include characters that reflect their entire audience.
I think this sort of inclusivity and diversity in Star Wars can only be a good thing. Diversity opens up the story telling to new audiences which simply means more people to share our Star Wars passion with. And that is undeniably a good thing. If you're against the inclusion of gay characters, I can't help you. It's going to happen sooner or later, preferably sooner. As Wendig put it on his blog,
"If you can imagine a world where Luke Skywalker would be irritated that there were gay people around him, you completely missed the point of Star Wars."
UPDATE: The Lucasfilm Story Group's Pablo Hidlago revealed on Twitter that we have already seen a same sex couple on screen in Star Wars in the episode of The Clone Wars "Lightsaber Lost".
Source: The Daily Beast
I would love it. To me, the fun of Star Wars is the glory of possibility. So it seems insanely narrow-minded and counterintuitive to say that there wouldn’t be a homosexual character in that world.”
The Star Wars canon already includes a few gay characters, with the novels Lords of the Sith by: Paul S. Kemp, and Aftermath by Chuck Wendig both including homosexual characters. Obviously, Kemp and Wendig are to be commended for their inclusion of gay characters but Star Wars' biggest audience is on the silver screen and as the films continue to expand the universe they should continue to include characters that reflect their entire audience.
I think this sort of inclusivity and diversity in Star Wars can only be a good thing. Diversity opens up the story telling to new audiences which simply means more people to share our Star Wars passion with. And that is undeniably a good thing. If you're against the inclusion of gay characters, I can't help you. It's going to happen sooner or later, preferably sooner. As Wendig put it on his blog,
"If you can imagine a world where Luke Skywalker would be irritated that there were gay people around him, you completely missed the point of Star Wars."
UPDATE: The Lucasfilm Story Group's Pablo Hidlago revealed on Twitter that we have already seen a same sex couple on screen in Star Wars in the episode of The Clone Wars "Lightsaber Lost".
For those talking about the subject, note that Cassie Cryar and Ione Marcy were written as a couple in a relationship.— Pablo Hidalgo (@pablohidalgo) February 27, 2016
Source: The Daily Beast
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