I have a question about Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
Seriously; do you believe this purple haired woman wearing prom dress can become an admiral of an army in any universe? pic.twitter.com/j2oMWFswQm— #WonderGal (@amazonheroicon) June 17, 2018
Another day, more The Last Jedi wank. Truly it has gotten to the point where you’d think causing an actress to flee the internet due to racism would make people want to re-think making sexist comments about female characters, but no. Instead, let’s talk about how there is no way that woman with purple hair in a “prom dress” became “admiral of an army in any universe?” Unfathomable in a world where The Grinch’s great-grandpa was a master warrior.
I don’t get all the retweets on this when that turtleneck jersey maxi dress in drab matte purple looks less like a prom dress than anything I’ve seen in my life. It’s as if all these angry star wars fans didn’t go to prom or something https://t.co/C4WDNUYpG3
— Jenny Nicholson (@JennyENicholson) June 27, 2018
Is it not obvious that every bit of Holdo’s character design was deliberately chosen to elicit this reaction, so that her ultimate badassery would come as a rebuke to thoughtless assumptions about femininity? https://t.co/vTEx6lapie
— Abigail Nussbaum (@NussbaumAbigail) June 27, 2018
A) It was the Navy.
B) Are you saying you’d like people to judge women on how they dress or wear their hair instead of their capability and intelligence when it comes to the armed services?
C) You have Amazon and Wonder in your name. Wonder Woman wears a tiara & she’s awesome. https://t.co/6PWM7KpjnO
— Geek Girl Diva (@geekgirldiva) June 28, 2018
Yes. The more pertinent question here is why wouldn’t you believe that a woman with decades of experience couldn’t possibly be an admiral just because she’s got purple hair & a smashing sense of fashion, hmm? *chin hands* https://t.co/2ztYvcJIew
— M. Trota Fieriosa 🔥🍜📖🦄 (@GeekMelange) June 27, 2018
She literally replaced an upright salmon in scrubs. https://t.co/XHe9oaM4Yu
— Floaty Zapb*stard (@SquidFromSpace) June 27, 2018
Admiral Ackbar was a fuckin’ GOLDFISH. https://t.co/wx1srABA73
— Brina-sounds-like-BRINE-ah (@BrinaStarler) June 28, 2018
Sexist as hell response. Women leaders come in all shapes and sizes. You’re okay with cinnamon bun hair, Jedi in bathrobes, tiny green dudes who speak in riddles and fish guys leading troops but not a woman with purple hair and a dress? Yup. Pigeonholing women is a thing.
— Shoshana Kessock (@ShoshanaKessock) June 27, 2018
I suppose this red haired woman in a prom dress didn’t lead the Rebellion to the destruction of the Death Star? I guess the purple hair disqualifies Holdo somehow? pic.twitter.com/oSHz4SUqId
— David Nett (@davidnett) June 27, 2018
Plus, in that dress, she was able to disarm members of the rebellion and undermine Poe’s attempt at a coup. Not to mention she gave her life to destroy a first order fleet. Leaders are supposed to be able to do that. Not to mention there were plenty of women throughout history who have led armies in gowns that were way more restricting than Holdo’s dress.
What I find most funny about this is how it crosses into the book Leia, Princess of Alderaan by Claudia Gray. In it there is a piece of dialogue between Leia and Bail Organa that goes as follows:
“Then there’s this girl from Gatalenta named Amilyn Holdo who is…let’s say, a little odd.”
“I trust your judgement, Leia, but don’t be too quick to write people off. Sometimes they can surprise you.”
Also, let’s not forget that Holdo was a vice admiral and only took over the command of the resistance because after the deaths of most of the commanders and Leia getting put in an Odinsleep. So she was forced to step up to the plate and got the job done, despite people not trusting her because she didn’t look the part. Wow, it’s almost as if that’s a lesson you were supposed to learn or something. Look there are valid reasons to criticize The Last Jedi, many reasons, but this is petty.
It is truly hilarious to me that The Last Jedi uses a hyper-feminine character to call out Poe’s internalized misogyny and yet the inclusion of said character has only led to a loud section of “fans” deciding to be misogynistic. But these are the same gems who decided to “rebel” against Disney and Lucasfilm with an actual manifesto because they feel “purposefully shunned, insulted, and tossed aside by those at the head of the Franchise.”
It’s as if they’ve had to experience the only characters resembling themselves being sidelined, over-sexualized, being cut from screen time or largely non-existent. Oh, wait that was all the female, people of color and queer fans of Star Wars. My mistake.
Sidenote: we don’t need to drag Admiral Ackbar so hard guys, he can’t help being Calamari!
(image: Disney/Lucasfilm)
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