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The Internet Knows That #RoseTicoDeservedBetter

By Dec 26th, 2019, 5:30 pm

Rose Tico in The Rise of Skywalker.

Of all the disappointing elements of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (and there are so, so many), the absence of Kelly Marie Tran’s Rose Tico is possibly the most upsetting.

After playing a pivotal role in The Last Jedi, Rose was basically a glorified extra–call it a cameo at best–in the latest installment. There was no character development and she didn’t move the plot in any way whatsoever. How could she when she was barely ever onscreen?

If you need that translated into the most depressing framing possible:

As far as I can remember, no other character even mentioned her. It was like she didn’t exist.

I cannot imagine the restraint it took to keep her composure on the premiere’s red carpet when asked about her “arc.”

A lot of people have grown tired of the minute-counters who go into a movie to clock the women’s dialogue or screentime. But this isn’t just about the barely-plural minutes Tran apepars. After all, according to Slate’s Violet Kim, Rose Tico appears for just shy of 11 minutes in The Last Jedi. That’s far less than I would have guessed because she was essential to the plot and her character was rich and fully developed.

The problem with TROS, then, isn’t just about minutes. It’s about the erasure of her entire character. JJ Abrams had praised her character, only to bench her for the entire conclusion of the trilogy. And this comes after Tran received an avalanche of harassment for, in the eyes of some very loud trolls, “ruining” the franchise. Abrams has been accused of creating a movie around fandom demands, resulting largely in a heap of blandness. With his treatment of Rose, it’s hard to believe he wasn’t listening to even the most toxic corners of the internet.

Luckily, the rest of the internet is out here getting #RoseTicoDeservedBetter trending, because boy did she ever.

And plenty of people are still holding out hope for the future Rose deserves.

Disney, make this happen!

(image: LucasFilm)
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Vivian Kane - Senior News Editor

Vivian Kane (she/her) has a lot of opinions about a lot of things. Born in San Francisco and radicalized in Los Angeles, she now lives in Kansas City, Missouri with her husband Brock Wilbur and too many cats.