Star Wars for my generation of women.

One of the biggest shames I can think of is how many women and girls have never seen Star Wars. I personally believe that movies are culturally significant, if not outright works of art. Movies, in their own way, can inform people as much as the very best books. Because of this, I feel like women and girls are missing out on something extraordinary and important if they never see Star Wars.

I've heard girls complain about the popularity of Star Wars, I've heard them scoff at it, I've seen them roll their eyes. They treat it like it's the most juvenile and ridiculous thing ever. Like it's an embarrassing thing their man-child husband likes. Now, when their dislike for Star Wars is a matter of taste, that's fine. People are, of course, entitled to their likes and dislikes. Unfortunately, the vast majority of the time, these women and girls have never seen the movies at all (or it was so long ago they don't even remember them).

But you know, I don't really blame them. Star Wars was relegated to a movie for boys and men who grew up watching it as boys. The Star Wars "Dark Ages" of the late 80's and 90's pretty much removed Star Wars from the collective consciousness. There were no toys in stores, no movies had been made for years and years, no video games had been released for a very long time, etc. Even boys weren't allowed by their peers to be open Star Wars fans. It just wasn't cool, and it wasn't accepted. I myself was bullied throughout elementary and middle school for being a fan of Star Wars.

With the Prequel Trilogy's release starting in 1999, the public suddenly remembered, "Oh yeah, Star Wars was awesome, and it changed everything about movies, and it kind of helped shape me into who I am today." Everyone smacked their heads at having forgotten such an important piece of their childhoods and culture at large. Star Wars started to be cool again (I recently spent two solid hours playing with my nephews and their Star Wars figures). It's been a Star Wars Renaissance since then, with the new Trilogy and Anthology movies being worked on, LEGOs and videogames releasing, toys and collectibles everywhere, and I'm thrilled beyond belief.

But we still have those women and girls who haven't seen it, and don't want to. Now, I will make it clear right now that I'm not putting them down, I am not saying it's their fault. Star Wars wasn't allowed to be a part of a normal girl's life. It wasn't given the respect it deserved by the people who raised these girls. And that's a shame.

Still, that was in the past, and these women and girls continue to show disdain for Star Wars. Trying to get them to watch it is tantamount to shoving rotten pears down their throats. But something they might not realize is that Star Wars was a phenomenon for boys AND girls, men AND women. When it came out, it didn't matter what your gender was, everyone loved it! Look up old photos of fans from 1977 and on, you'll see a crap ton of grown women and girls wearing Star Wars shirts, lining up to see the movie, etc. It was a gender-spanning movie! It's only since the 90's that we've made it a movie for boys. Hell, look up Comic Con cosplay and you'll see more women in Star Wars costumes than you can count.

There’s been a lot of talk about the lack of female roles in Star Wars. And for good reason. We should always have those kinds of discussions. Star Wars IS a mythology for everyone, and everyone should feel a part of it. There are definitely things that could be done better. That being said, Star Wars did some incredible things for feminism. It featured a tough female protagonist who didn’t take shit from anyone: Leia had her own blaster and shot dozens of Stormtroopers with it, she figured things out and saved everyone’s butts multiple times, and she was one of the head honchoes of the entire Rebellion throughout. By the end of the third film in the Original Trilogy, we find that Leia even has the Force, putting her right in line with Darth Vader and Luke! Girls, these movies are for you! They could have done better with gender equality, but man, for their time, they were revolutionary. Girls, whether you like it or not, Star Wars is a part of your history! Give it a chance!

I’m just gonna end on this: the feminist movement is about women bringing change, it’s about men bringing change. It’s about people ensuring equality for each other. I’m asking women and girls everywhere to give Star Wars a chance. Take back the fandom of these movies females used to have. Don’t let marketers sell it to boys and leave you out. Watch the movies, give them a chance. Look deeper into the themes and significance of the stories these movies weave. I promise, if you give them a serious chance, you’ll find you’ve been missing out on something meaningful. Better late than never. Let’s show everyone that women and girls love good stories and characters, love action and romance, love drama and humor. Don’t let people define what you should or shouldn’t like.

As the new movies are made and come out, let’s tell the brass of Disney and Lucasfilm we want more awesome female characters! We want more toys and merchandise to fit the desires of both boys AND girls! This is our chance to make a difference, to carry Star Wars into the rest of our lives, the lives of our children, and help give them the awe and wonder we all felt ourselves.

1998 Princess Leia in Hoth gear.

All photos by Becky Green Photography, effects by me.

Accesories:

• Blaster Rifle (A slightly incorrect model, as she didn't procure an Imperial blaster rifle as pictured below until her escape from Cloud City with Lando, Chewie, and the droids, and was wearing another outfit by that point.)

"I'd rather kiss a Wookie!"

This 12" figure of Princess Leia Organa is taken from The Empire Strikes back, arguably the best of the original Star Wars movies (certainly the darkest). In the movie, Leia is part of the Rebel command structure working to secure the newest base on the ice planet of Hoth. While she doesn't do much fighting in this part of the movie, she does have a lot of responsibility on her shoulders, and can be seen giving orders for the evacuation of the base long after the Imperials discover and attack it.

"You stuck up, scruffy-
looking... nerd herder!"

I just barely purchased this 15 year-old figure from an antique store. Not only was this figure cheap, but I didn't have to pay shipping either! I was pretty excited to find it, as I had been hoping to get a Princess Leia figure for a while, but didn't like the version dressed in the costume from A New Hope. As an extra plus, she matches the Hoth Luke Skywalker I already have, and the Hoth Han Solo I hope to get. All the Hoth figures are high quality, and I'm glad to add them to my collection. Her clothing is authentic and stitched well, and though her skin color is much too yellow and the paint simplistic, her face is a surprisingly good likeness. In general, Kenner makes slightly horrendous female figures, but this is one of the better ones. One thing that bugs me: though her hair is well made, the hairline around her ears is too high, and makes her look weirdly shaved, even though she had those 1980s pronounced female side-burns in the movie.

While I've always appreciated how beautiful Princess Leia is, I've never had the typical male-geek obsession with her (though the gold bikini in Return of the Jedi was, and always will be, hot). I enjoyed watching her on screen because of her confidence and ability to blast stormtroopers when needed, as well as her caustic wit when it comes to Han. I feel like they're the perfect couple: drawn to each other even though they hate the idea of the other, and never mushy. Reading the Star Wars EU books has given me an extra appreciation for Leia, though I must admit they have never really explored her potential, and have perhaps written her with less finesse than the other characters. Still, I think she's an awesome character and I hope any girls I have in the future will look to her as the princess they emulate, rather than the many pink-ified Disney ones.

1998 Emperor Palpatine from Return of the Jedi by Kenner.

All photos by Becky Green Photography. Lightning and effects by me.

Accesories:

• Knobbly Cane
• Pure Evil

I love that he has
a cane.

This 12" Emperor Palpatine figure comes straight from Return of the Jedi, the last of the Star Wars movies (so far). In the movies, he's the ruler of the Galactic Empire, a dictator with a hatred for all non-humans, the dark center of the galaxy, and the acting force behind Darth Vader's many atrocities. Luke Skywalker's character arc peaks during his confrontation with Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader, where the Emperor's cruel order to join the Dark Side or watch his friends die brings an emotional and powerful climax to the trilogy. (I'm not sure anyone was expecting freaking lightning to shoot from his fingers!) Vader kind of messes the Emperor's plan up by betraying his master and helping his son defeat the darkness whirling within him, but it was a good plan for a while. Paplatine dies screaming, thrown down an air shaft, where his Dark Side energy explodes and nearly drags a wounded Vader down with him.

"If you will not be turned,
you will be destroyed!"

This is one of the new figures I've purchased in the last month. And by "new," I mean new to me. He's actually fifteen years old, but came to me sealed and pristine in his original packaging. I originally purchased him in tandem with a new figure of Luke (more on him to come), but fell in love with him as soon as I opened the box. The detail on his face and hands is exquisite, by far the best sculpt job of any of the 12" figures I own so far. Everyone I've shown him to gives me the same reaction: "Oh, he's creepy!" I love it. His robes are well made and the falls of fabric actually look like the costume from the movie. The only downsides I can see are his resistance to standing up straight (which the figure stands I purchased will rectify as soon as they get here) and a strange decision by the manufacturer to sew his hood to the top of his head. It makes his head seem kind of flat and smashed on top, so I stuffed some tissues under the hood to give it some extra volume. I'm pretty sure I'm going to keep collecting more Palpatine stuff, he's just that cool.

"It is inevitable. You–like
your father–are now... mine."

I don't know if I've ever come across a character that does the "evil overlord" archetype better (Sauron from Lord of the Rings certainly comes to mind, but I'm not sure who wins out). Palpatine is evil as all get out, unseen in the original trilogy until the final movie, which was an excellent move: letting the obvious intimidation of Vader run the show for so long, until–BAM!–someone even more evil shows up. I'll never forget the first time I saw his shuttle fly into the Deathstar, surrounded by ranks of white stormtroopers and greeted by a nervous–nervous!–Darth Vader: the low male's chorus in the background (love his theme), the bleak atmosphere, the slow reveal of the character from the hem of his plain black robes up, not to mention that damn creepy cackle he weirds Vader out with a minute later as they talk. Oh man, such a great character. I actually used his general appearance and creep factor to inspire one of the characters from one of my novels.

If the video below doesn't show up on your smartphone, use a desktop. Not sure why that is.

Introducing a new feature of my blog: Weekly Star Wars Toy Highlights!

Before you take a single breath further, know I am aware how nerdy this is and realize how little I care.

I posted about my resurrected Star Wars collection already on this blog, which was fun, but left me wanting to talk about it more. So I've decided to highlight each piece in the collection once a week, complete with quality photos and description of their place in the movie universe. I'm hoping to include a breakdown of their accessories, a brief history, along with the year they were manufactured, if I can swing it. For the more interesting or rare pieces, I'll include the details that make them such. I'm excited by the idea because it will give me an excuse to play with everything once more, and of course, talk about Star Wars toys.

I'll begin with my favorites, then move on to the smaller and less consequential pieces, all the while mixing in the new pieces I acquire going forward. The first post should come some time this week!

Join me, and together, we can build our collection as father and son!

The Star Wars movies, books, comics, and radio dramas were some of the most wonderful things to me in my childhood to mid teen years, and I feel no shame in how much of a role they played in my life. I count the EU novels to be one of the big reasons I developed a love for reading--and by extension--writing.

Anyway, when I was a kid, my brothers and I had a ton of Star Wars toys. I mean a TON of them, from different manufacturing runs and decades from before I was even born. We never had a lot of random toys lying around everywhere like you might imagine a spoiled kid might have had, but we scrimped and saved allowances for each action figure and begged Santa for the more expensive vehicle sets (my poor, poor mother). Because of this, each acquisition was precious and well played with. (Unfortunately, that also means we no longer have any boxes for the collector items, more about that later.)

When my three brothers and I grew up, other things took priority over continuing our Star Wars collection: a sofa to sit on, a $50 TV from the D.I., a kitchen table, those sorts of things. We got married, got jobs, went to college, etc. Unfortunately none of us really had room for our old Star Wars collection in our little apartments, and my mom eventually boxed everything up and stuck them in the garage.

Until now.

I've always been a geek (the kind that gets bullied at school because they can't bring themselves to hide it)  and as I grew up, I never lost my love for fantasy and scifi. I've recently begun to embrace that aspect of my life once more and my new collection of superhero action figures and comics has slowly been growing as I rewatch the old Star Trek TNG/Voyager/DS9 episodes and write fantasy novels.

My mind has naturally turned once more to the boxes of Star Wars toys at my mother's house.

So, a couple weeks ago, I stopped by and broke open the boxes for the first time in years (while screaming like a girl at the spiderwebs).

It was like Christmas times twenty. I didn't even remember some of the stuff I found before I actually pulled them out! My HUGE X-wing fighter, the MASSIVE Millennium Falcon, our SWEET AT-AT walker, not to mention the hundreds of action figures. We have playsets, SW micro-machines, full-size lightsabers, puzzles, and half a dozen smaller vehicles like the A-wing, Luke's landspeeder, a special edition snowspeeder based off a Ralph McQuarrie painting, and much more.

Perhaps most valuable are the dozen or so original Kenner toys from the '80s, including such figures as telescoping lightsaber Darth Vader (x2), RoTJ Obi-wan, Imperial Star Destroyer Controller, AT-AT Pilot, Walrus Face, Weequay (x2), and a many more I can't recall at the moment. We even have a super rare RoTJ Anakin Skywalker that would be worth BIG (and I mean MEGA) bucks if we only had the box he came in. This is super painful, because he'd be worth more than a lot of used cars if we had never opened him up (not that I'd ever sell him anyway, nostalgia and all that).

But I wasn't prepared for the wave of comfy nostalgia brought on by my pride and joy: a set of 1998 12" fully-poseable dolls with real cloth costumes and armor. There's Luke, Han, Darth Vader, Obi-wan, and Luke with Hoth gear. Man, we had so much fun with those (I used to swap Darth Vader's clothes to Luke and pretend he'd turned to the Dark Side like in the graphic novels). They just don't make toys like that any more.

I'll add some better
pictures later.

Each one belongs to a different brother, with the two Lukes belonging to me, but for now, they're all residing at my house with the rest of the Star Wars stuff (minus the toys from the Prequels, they went back in the boxes and are now sleeping with the spiders, as is fitting. Seriously, screw them). My dearest wish is to continue adding more of the 1998 12" dolls to that collection, since Amazon has a ton of characters I never knew belonged to that particular toy line. There's even a Boba Fett, which I think I might faint when I can finally afford to buy (peeps love that bounty hunter, so he's kind of expensive).

I dedicated a whole corner of my writing office to the display shelves that reach almost to the ceiling and stare at the collection for perhaps longer than is strictly necessary. I don't know why it took me so long to reclaim everything from my mom's house, but I'm really glad I finally did. I'm sure at some point my brothers will also come to their senses and start stripping their personally-owned toys from the collection (as is their right), but until then, I just gotta work on building my own collection to fill in the eventual gaps.

So yeah, I have a geeky collection once again, and life is good.

UPDATE: I have just purchased two new 12" figures: Luke Skywalker in black Jedi gear, and Emperor Palpatine from RoTJ.

What the Lucasfilm/Disney merger could mean for Star Wars.

Admiral Thrawn

Oh man. Oh boy. Did you hear? They're making a new Star Wars! I think the entire world was under the impression there would be no more, mostly because of George's statement about not wanting to make things that would only get him yelled at. But that's kind of changed now. I can completely understand and sympathize with his statements, despite having done a little of that yelling myself. I mean, the poor guy just wants to make movies. He had an awesome run of three, a perfect storm if you will, born of funding issues, budget problems, not to mention distribution and production bottle-necking. Despite all this, or maybe because of it, the original Star Wars trilogy was, simply put, amazing. Then George ran into a hitch. A hitch called "success". See, the problem is, without adversity there can be no growth. When you hold the power of making movies in your palm, with no one to say yea or nay, some bad decisions never get changed or fixed. There also isn't the passion involved that fighting a system can impart. George definitely had that passion when he made the original trilogy, but not so much with the prequels. I won't go into the problems episodes 1-3 had, because let's admit it, we all know what they are.

So this news yesterday of Disney buying out Lucasfilm for $4 billion (the same as Marvel's acquisition) came as a surprise to many, and a shock to some (like me). When I heard of the merger, my first thought was "why?" Why would Disney invest in Lucasfilm, a company that had basically run its creative course and retired with the ending of the last Star Wars film? Immediately following this question was a small spark something you may have heard of: hope. Wait a minute, would they, could they, possibly be thinking of making more Star Wars movies? Eeeep!

Of course, I immediately headed out to Google and read all about it on several different sites. I'm not gonna cover all the info, because there are better outlets than me that number in the thousands. Let's just say that George is retiring for real and will only be involved with future projects as a consultant. But I do want to say what I feel this could mean for me, the viewer and former Star Wars fanatic.

Oh, and yes, this does mean there will be more Star Wars movies, starting in 2015. Since George is calling it Episode 7 in interviews for now, we have to assume that these would be sequels, not prequels, to the original trilogy. As in, Luke, Leia, and Han post-Battle of Endor. Now, before you get your panties in a bunch, I realize that there is no concrete evidence to support that assumption. Even if there was, the logistical nightmare of getting the original cast back together, all these decades later would be monumental. Possibly impossible. Harrison Ford, for one, has always said he was glad when his role in Star Wars was over. Plus, they're all old. Have you seen Mark Hamill lately? The point is, we don't know.

But I can hope. Here are some things I think and wish they would do.

First (and what I think is most likely), they could easily take one or two actors from the original trilogy (the least ancient) and bring them along as cameos. Think Mark Hamill in a beard and robes, teaching a new generation of Jedi at the Jedi Temple on Yavin 4. Or Carrie Fisher back in her simple white dress trying to wrangle the New Republic into some semblance of order, long after the Empire fell. If those don't work, they could go lower and bring in some of the people with even smaller roles, just to help bridge the gap between the two casts. Of course, the cameo idea would dictate new characters and most likely a completely new story idea other than simply The Empire vs. Alliance Take 2. The Extended Universe (books and comics) has a multitude of story lines they could draw on.

Second, they could go a whole different direction and introduce a completely new set of actors and a timeline well outside of Luke, Leia, and Han's lifetimes. This would mean an entirely new cast, and no real on-screen ties to the original trilogy (please leave C3-PO and R2-D2 out of it). I'm thinking a focus on Luke and Mara Jade's/Han and Leia's kids would work. It would definitely feature an antagonist other than the remnants of The Empire. Once again, the Extended Universe has already gone here. This option wouldn't be bad, but I don't prefer it.

Third, they might choose to simply throw the whole original trilogy away and go with a spin-off, such as a Boba Fett movie (which they ruined already with the Clone Wars origin they gave him), or some other new Jedi doing stuff in space. Maybe even the Old Republic, a la Star Wars: The Old Republic game (I hate this idea). I really hope they don't continue to move backward in time, only forward. These are better than nothing, but not ideal at all.

Fourth, and least likely, they could actually manage to get the original cast together and make the movies I've been waiting for since I was 12 years old. Granted, instead of 10 years after the Battle of Endor, the story would have to take place quite a ways after to match the original casts' current ages, but it would be worth it. This option fills me with glee, even though I know I'll be disappointed.

And fifth, they could simply recast the roles from the original trilogy and move onward directly after the Battle of Endor with a new cast. This one would be risky, and would upset a LOT of people. I might be okay with it, just to see the characters again, but it would be really hard to pull off. I don't think this is likely, because Star Wars is a continuing story, not prone to (semi)reboots like Star Trek or some others out there. If this were the case, I'd love to see the Thrawn Trilogy by Timothy Zahn come into play. Those were great books and introduced some of the best Extended Universe characters hands down. A complex Admiral Thrawn would really fit into what we like as villains nowadays, and a conflicted Captain Pallaeon would add intellectual depth the prequels were lacking. Like I said, this is really unlikely, and I'd be really cautious about it, but the storyline options it would open up are exciting.

Aside from all that, I also wanted to briefly discuss what they could do (and are already planning to do in some cases) to kind of "fix" the problems the prequels brought into play. First off, George Lucas will not be directing or writing the scripts. This is huge, and as much as I hate to say, the best thing for Star Wars. The original trilogy was directed by 3 separate directors, only one of which was George. By far the best 2 of all 6, are Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. They were directed and written by people who knew how to accomplish what the story called for. If I had my way, each of the new movies would follow that model and switch out directors, so the talent would match the need of each movie's story. I dream still of a Spielberg directed Star Wars. We'll see. Heck, even JJ Abrams or someone else like that.

Second, the prequels suffered from "earnest syndrome". Everything and everyone was so damn earnest all the time. Romance, drama, the fighting, even "comedic" lines were delivered with complete seriousness. Everything was supposed to be dire and important. It all comes down to this: where the heck was the Han Solo character? Why are all the actors staring at me through the screen like I killed their dog? The new movies desperately need a rogue, a pirate, or a thief. Someone to bring real sarcasm and biting humor back to the universe. The movies can be serious as all get out, but they can't take themselves too seriously. Bring back the Han Solo!

Third, get rid of the politics. The prequels were a huge mess of dry and thoroughly uncomplicated maneuvering by people wearing latex and makeup. We don't watch Star Wars for the politics. Sure, those can be running behind the scenes, maybe even poke their heads out every once in a while. But don't make the whole story line revolve around it. Bring back some action and adventure. Let's get some opera back in the Space Opera.

Fourth, no more puns. Enough said.

Fifth, focus on things we haven't seen before. Let's get some space walks, Jedi Special Ops, kids training in jungles where they get beat up by the wildlife and sweat to death like Luke on Dagobah. Let's see some space plagues or Hutt gangster action. Stop bringing back characters just for the sake of it, stop making everything tie in. Let some things expand the universe, not just make it into a huge loop. Let's see some prominent female characters that kick butt (hint, hint, Mara Jade). One thing I would like to revisit is the grunge. Star Wars used to be a grungy future, but the prequels kind of glossed that over a bit. Let's get gritty.

Sixth, the Force needs to be magic again. Star Wars is not sci-fi, it's fantasy set in space. Trying to make the Force fit into science just doesn't work. Mystify it once more, make it MAGIC. Also, take a note from the Star Wars Unleashed video game, and really go for it as far as Force powers go. Explore it.

Seventh, focus a bit more on practical effects and make sure the CGI looks and feels real. The prequels were a little too close to video game for my tastes. I think the new Star Trek did a great job hitting the spot when it comes to effects.

Eighth, try to forget the stuff from the prequels, please. Don't rely on the aliens you made in those movies, come up with new ones. Don't keep referring back to the Trade Federation or Naboo. Don't retconn stuff in the original trilogy to fit the prequels when you make the sequels (sorry for that).

And finally, try to keep in mind your ENTIRE audience, not just the kids. There are adults who want an awesome, complex movie to enjoy. The prequels were way too closed off when it came to adult viewership.

Anyway, those are my thoughts, and I hope to see some awesome things happening in the next few years. What do you think will happen? Disagree with me anywhere?