A Galaxy of Possibilities: Representation and Storytelling in Star Wars (New Revised Edition)

By Natacha Guyot

Star Wars has been a best-selling franchise since its creation in 1977. In the media landscape and people’s imaginations, its longevity isn’t surprising, given the efficient narrative models and strong multiple influences it possesses. Fictional universes of this importance that are meant for audiences of many ages have a responsibility in terms of representation and inclusiveness. This collection of essays looks at different aspects and eras of the Star Wars universe: movies, television series, video games, and novels. It addresses the portrayal of children, women, ethnic diversity, and disability; and whether they offer positive and layered images of both heroes and villains. Almost forty years of narratives of multiple forms has pitted Star Wars against societal and media evolutions, thus affecting narrative approaches and choices. A Galaxy of Possibilities explores some of their impacts on the franchise. The new revised edition brings more in-depth content, as well as two bonus chapters to provide a broader look at the complex notion of inclusiveness.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Natacha Guyot
• Release date: Sep 1, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370483358

Natacha Guyot

Natacha Guyot, Ph.D. is a Content Coach and Consulting who helps creators, entrepreneurs, scholars share their story, build authority, and create community. She shares weekly articles on Medium on organizational skills, content strategy, grad school tips, creativity, and spirituality.

Book preview

A Galaxy of Possibilities:

Representation and Storytelling in Star Wars

New Revised Edition

Dr. Natacha Guyot

(Smashwords Edition)

Text Copyright ©2015-2021 Natacha Guyot.

All Rights Reserved.

Cover Design by Jennifer A. Miller.

Front Cover Background by Rose B. Fischer.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Why Representation Matters and Why Star Wars has a Role to Play

Star Wars Rebels: A New Text to Link the Old

Lando Calrissian: Iconic Scoundrel

Star Wars’ Jedi Younglings: A Benevolent but Controversial Education System

Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II – A Milestone for Star Wars Female Characters

Mara Jade: Pillar of the Star Wars Expanded Universe

Female Wizards: Jocasta Nu and Kreia

Tenel Ka: Negotiating Acquired Disability

Nala: The Missing Link between Disney Princesses and Leia Organa

Bibliography

Acknowledgements

About the Author

To every artist who has kept Star Wars alive since 1977.

Introduction: Why Representation Matters and Why Star Wars has a Role to Play

The first thing I ever saw on television was the Muppet Show episode with members from the Star Wars cast. I was two-years old. I saw the original trilogy for the first time when I was seven. Now in my thirties, one might think that these are just memories among many. Well, Star Wars has shaped my path as a Science Fiction connoisseur and then scholar. I was an avid fangirl from a young age and consumed many stories from the Expanded Universe. This fictional saga, presented in all forms of media, participated to my thirst to read, watch, write, and study Science Fiction. I can safely say I would not be where I am today if Star Wars had not had such a profound impact on me.

Does this mean that I look at every single Star Wars story with fondness and enthusiasm? No. Some stories have made me cringe and I even stopped reading Star Wars novels for a few years after strong disappointment in one of the subseries. Yet, this is the beauty of such large franchises: one does not have to like everything nor consider that everything even exists in your imaginary world. I pretend that what I do not like did not happen.

Perhaps it is no surprise then, that in April 2014, when the first casting announcement for Episode VII: The Force Awakens (Abrams, 2015) came out, I was part of the many voices that spoke up about the lack of female and ethnic diversity representation in the list of names. I was concerned, though I also pointed out, that while the number of diverse characters mattered, the way they were written participated strongly to representation. Within the next few months, there was more diversity to be seen on all accounts as new casting announcements were revealed. I am looking forward to seeing how the franchise continues to develop, particularly with inclusive representation.

My love for Star Wars has been driven by the compelling stories, the strong monomythical aspect, to the extent of reading most of Joseph Campbell’s work during my post-graduate studies, and the female characters. Leia Organa and Mara Jade are two names I always mention when asked about my childhood fictional role models.

Over the past few years, much of my research has delved into the topic of female characters, especially in Science Fiction stories. With Star Wars being such an important franchise to me, I easily transitioned to other similar, singular papers. Little by little, I realized that they were coming together as a collection of essays. This is how A Galaxy of Possibilities: Representation and Storytelling in Star Wars came to be.

I was delighted to realize that the different subjects I had focused on meshed well together and formed a sensible structure. All chapters not only bring up the question of gender representation, but representations of other socio-cultural groups such as children, aliens and individuals with disabilities.

You will also find cult female characters of the Star Wars universe, like Mara Jade, Jan Ors and Sariss from the video game Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II, and Tenel Ka from The Young Jedi Knights. They also range from old-timers like Leia Organa to newcomers like Hera Syndulla and Sabine Wren from Star Wars: Rebels. Yet, other characters such as Lando Calrissian and Jedi Younglings are also at the heart of certain chapters. Star Wars is a rich universe, and this collection of essays is certainly not exhaustive; but it brings attention to several aspects that are not always on the forefront of analysis of George Lucas’s saga.

So, let’s go to a galaxy (not so?) far, far away…

Star Wars Rebels: A New Text to Link the Old

April 2014 saw the Star Wars canon go through drastic changes and kick-start a new era. The beloved Expanded Universe, which had existed since the original release of the first feature film, Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (George Lucas, 1977), was from that point on considered non-canon and labeled Legends, giving room to selected publications and productions to be the rearranged canon (Brooker, 2002, 101-113) of the fictional universe. Yet, more than thirty years of stories cannot be erased in the blink of an eye, and all narratives that kept the franchise alive are still dear to the fans and the authors, feeding their imaginations (Wyatt, 2006, 26-31). So, this does not take anything from the creativity of these stories, of how they participated to keep a fictional universe alive.

That is why the flagship of this new canon, not just the upcoming seventh episode Star Wars: The Force Awakens, but also the animated series Star Wars Rebels (Filoni, Kinberg, Beck, 2014-present), has a significant role to play. The new show will have to find its place among the love the previous animated series, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (Lucas, 2008-2014) generated, has the heavy responsibility of becoming a cohesive link between the prequel and the original trilogies’ eras, as its action takes place during this time.

While building its own identity and finding its place in a vast landscape of story lines and characters, Star Wars Rebels also had a surprising asset. In addition to the shorts The Machine in the Ghost, Art AttackEntanglement, Property of Ezra BridgerNot What You Think (August-September 2014) airing on the Disney Channel and online prior to the release of the show’s pilot, the new series also benefited from a prequel novel: Star Wars: A New Dawn (Miller, 2014). This book, combined with the film, Star Wars: Spark of Rebellion, which was released in DVD within two weeks of worldwide airing premiere, gave a transmedia dimension to this new series. The subseries was quickly able to enhance the complex nature of the franchise, both from a narrative, and production perspectives, something that had not been done in prior years in such a short amount of time.

Besides the way Star Wars Rebels has been working on finding its unique place in the grand scheme in the Star Wars story, this new animated series also has impacted diverse representation in the saga’s storytelling. While the show has only completed its first season, it nevertheless has had opportunities to fight demeaning clichés, either from a general cultural standpoint, or certain more specific to the Star Wars universe, in its early stages.

Inserting and Developing the New Text

With the new movie trilogy announced as sequels to the original trilogy, the decision to return to previous points in the Star Wars timeline with the Rebels series was a bit of a surprise, especially for those familiar with the Legends canon. Filling in the blanks in this massive franchise is common practice but placing Star Wars Rebels’ narrative between both existing movie trilogies allowed writers and artists to work on blending new and old elements for what has now been established as canon evolved with Disney purchasing Lucasfilm and the franchise. Reconciling the different threads of stories was a wise move, for it not only allows many fans to watch the show, but also provides much content for people first introduced to the universe through Rebels to discover.

It is of course important to remember how such long-lasting media universes cannot please everyone with every production made. There is also the risk of wanting to tie together so many other things present in