STAR WARS // KIERSTEN CARNEY

On May 25, 1977, the first Star Wars movie was released and created a cultural phenomenon—for men. Not one single female went to go see any movies from the original trilogy. Even Carrie Fisher—who played the unimportant side character, Princess Leia—did not go see the movies. The films reeked of offsetting geek culture that repels women. Women want rom-coms and dramas, not a space opera. It’s amazing that even without a female audience, the Star Wars made about a quarter of a million dollars in North America alone. Sadly, men couldn’t help the franchise become a success. The first movie only reached No. 8 of the highest grossing movies of all time.

The prequels dragged a few more women out of the kitchen and into the theaters. George Lucas pandered to women by adding famous eye candy, Ewan McGregor, to satisfy our simple tastes. McGregor gave women something to stare at during the movie so they wouldn’t have to worry about focusing on the complex plot. Lucas also added the hilarious creature Jar Jar Binks, which gave women—who don’t usually understand humor—something to laugh at. Lucas was only focused on making Star War more inclusive. His selfless drive to make movies allowed a slightly larger audience to experience a Star Wars and the first prequel made it to No. 7 of the highest grossing films.

However, men are intelligent enough to know when their geek culture has been soiled. Their precious Space War was tainted by a female audience. They felt hurt because women for so long have been bullying nerds like them for years because they watched Star Battle. Their nerdy inclinations are the only reason they could not get dates—they’re such "nice guys" regardless. The Star’s Fight fandom was now being flooded with women. Men felt victimized. Women only make up 51% of the world’s population, so why should they have named characters? This made the prequels to be considered the worst part of the franchise.

It was not until 2015 that a new movie would come out to revive the series. I had to go see it so I could impress this guy with my knowledge of A Star’s War. Going to the theatre, I was flanked by my brother and his friends. I did not want to appear that I would be there on my own volition. It appeared as we entered the cinema that many other women thought the same way. They came in groups or with their boyfriends, dragged to the talkies to experience the seedy underworld of geek culture.

The movie began and I noticed how much pandering was done to grab a female audience. Lucas introduced new characters such as Poe, Finn, and Han Solo that were played by very good-looking men. This outdid the prequels with only one piece of eye candy. The adorable little robot, BB-8, rolled out of the screen and right into my heart. I now own an adorable stuffed animal version of him. We even had a female sidekick! Rey could not be considered a lead because she is a woman. Clearly, Poe and Han Solo were the main characters. Daisey Ridley and John Boyega excelled as supporting actors, even though they were in the background the entire time.

This new Space Fight was practically a chick flick! Very sensible and entertaining for my female mind to grasp. There were even three named girl characters that don’t end up dead by the end of the movie. Three! That’s twice the amount that the first trilogy had. I enjoyed the loving heteronormative romance between Rey and Finn. There was even a love triangle beginning to form with Kyle—scandalous! I even loved how Kyle let Rey win in their light sword fight at the end. Such a romantic. I can’t wait to see Star Wars 2 to see where this love triangle ends up. The Star’s War definitely keeps you wanting more from the saga.

This new Star Fight has ushered in a new era for women in geek culture. Before this, women would have never ventured into the seedy underworld of nerd, since they never liked things like Sci-Fiction or space. Before the new Space Race, women were incapable of enjoying anything that was not a rom-com. Geek culture has now become feminized by the newest installment of the Star Trek franchise.




Kiersten Carney is a junior English major, minoring in Graphic Design. She is currently trying to channel her teenage emo phase into more productive adult things like weird writing and conspiracy theories.