Cartoonist AnnaBeth Crittenden speaks up about the flaw in ‘Star Wars’ merchandise.
AnnaBeth Crittenden, Campus Carrier cartoonist
As we are all aware, the newest installment in the Star Wars franchise was released over winter break. Merchandising and advertisements were everywhere, spoilers could be punished by death, and people waited in line for more than two hours just to get a good seat at an early showing. I’ll admit I’m not the biggest Star Wars fan. In fact, I’ve only seen “A New Hope.”But I ventured out to the movie theater to see what all the hype was about.
Over the years, one thing about Star Wars has been made clear to me – the Star Wars universe has always been known for pushing boundaries and standing out for its accomplishments, and I honestly believe “The Force Awakens”broke boundaries. But these accomplishments had nothing to do with science fiction or special effects. They had to do with casting choices.
The entire time I was watching the movie, I was proud of the Star Wars franchise for creating admirable characters outside of the white masculine norm. Returning familiar faces aside, the film’s leading actors are John Boyega (Finn), playing a character who does not fall into stereotypes of black men, and Daisy Ridley (Rey), playing an independent woman who is not caught up in a romantic sub-plot. Rey in particular was my favorite. She was strong-willed and brave, she had the Force, and she yielded that light saber like a boss. Rey was created to be a role model for boys and girls alike, and I knew I would enjoy watching her story play out.
Fast forward to the end of the break. Everyone had already seen Star Wars, and merchandise was still flying off the shelves. I was shopping with a friend, trying to find a present for her 9-year-old brother, Samuel. Now, Samuel had seen Star Wars earlier that month and had fallen in love with Rey. He wanted nothing to do with the evil in the movie and would not touch a red light saber or anything with Kylo Ren’s face. So, my friend and I went to the Disney Store to find him a Rey.
But there were no such items to be found. Kylo Ren was everywhere: T-shirts to light sabers to water bottles. Even Finn had a fair amount of toys and shirts. In the whole store, there was one Rey T-shirt, made for girls. It was as if Rey never existed.
However, it wasn’t only the Disney Store that had this problem. According to the Huffington Post of Jan. 7, Target’s website listed 17 Rey products out of the 267 Star Wars products available. Toys “R” Us featured 10 Rey toys out of 254, and the Disney Store has 27 out of 146. Hasbro’s Star Wars Monopoly game does not even include Rey, electing to feature Finn, Kylo Ren, Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader (two of whom appear in the movie for fewer than five minutes). The hashtag #WheresRey began to circulate on Twitter. And on top of it all, no Star Wars merchandise was even found in the “girl” section of many stores including Target and Toys “R” Us.
According to Vox of Jan. 7, Hasbro’s omission of Rey for both girls and boys “ignores the notion that both girls and boys can like superhero toys, as well as Disney princesses. And it ignores the fact that reinforcing the myth that boys won’t play with female action figures is harmful and outdated.”
In our society’s conversation about gender norms, it is imperative that children understand that what may be considered normal shouldn’t be exclusionary. When toy companies refuse to make Rey an important aspect of their merchandising, they are telling boys and girls alike that this strong female is not significant.
According to Time of Jan. 7, “when Rey toys are not in stock, or worse, when they’ve never been made, kids may internalize that to mean they must not be that important. And so, another generation is at the risk of growing up thinking women simply aren’t as big a deal as men.”
But that is not true. Little girls need to be able to see themselves as heroes. They should be able to imagine themselves as a princess and a Jedi.
And little boys too need to see the strength in women and understand that girls and boys can be the heroes. They should be able to let Rey save the day as much as Finn or Luke Skywalker.
With feminism and gender equality on the rise, it is vital that we let children see that anyone can be the hero. And maybe, if Rey can fight off the objectification in her life, we can as well.