J.J. Abrams Says Gay Characters Are Coming to Star Wars

[JimB]

Am I allowed to be pulling my hair out over this as a writer and ask what a character's sexual orientation brings to the story? Am I allowed to do that at any point?

Please do not pretend anyone can stop you from having whatever reaction you want. You can pull your hair out and ask questions whenever you want, just as I "am allowed" at any point to pull my hair out and ask why people it is when people say "sexual orientation," they actually seem to mean "non-straightness," because for all the ranting about how sexual orientation doesn't make a difference and detracts from the story, no one ever seems to argue that the form of sexual orientation which is heterosexuality detracted from the previous two trilogies. I never hear the audience complaining, "Look at Luke being all straight! Look at Han being liking girls, it adds nothing to the plot! Look at Leia being into guys, that's such pandering! Look at Anakin and Padme cramming their heterosexual agenda down our throats! Look at Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru, pandering to straights with their token straight relationship!"

It always comes off very disingenuous to me when people say the problem is introducing sexual orientation, and then act like heterosexuality is not a sexual orientation.

 

[EbonBehelit]

Let's ignore for a moment that Star Wars isn't horribly progressive. Let's take this at face value.

If that was the case, I'd expect you'd see more gays onscreen. People wouldn't need to make a big deal about coming out, no. But if homosexuality as a societal issue has been licked, then I would expect to see people partnered up far more casually.

*snippity snip*

So now you've actually established a very different question: with no reason to hide it, why would they need to? The answer is they wouldn't, and therefore we should expect it to show. Queers of any stripe sneak around today because we're still frowned upon. I fear for my life. But clearly, in this futuristic society where gay is normal, we shouldn't have to.

And in the end, that leaves the real issue: heteronormativity on the part of the viewer leads to inertia.

I see your query and reverse it: how many straight people do we see in Star Wars? If we don't possess the frame of mind that literally everyone is (an admittedly easy enough thing to do for straight people such as myself), it becomes clear that almost any character could be gay or bi. I mean, as far as we know only like 4-5 people in the entire universe even want to have sex in the first place since it's never even brought up for anybody else.

Hell, maybe Jango Fett was gay - a big reason for him desiring a unaltered clone to be the son he could never have naturally (baseless speculation, ho!)

 

[Something Amyss]

I see your query and reverse it: how many straight people do we see in Star Wars?

100% of the romantic or sexual interactions we see are heterosexual in practice.

 

[Barbas]

No. Just the movies. I haven't read any of the comics or books to know.
I was mostly posting that as a joke.

Oh, all right then.

Simon Pegg apparently wrote an essay once on Threepio being gay.

 

[faefrost]

Am I the only one that misses the days when we were free to project ourselves onto a broader base of the characters? When the only times we needed to know anything about a characters sexual habits preferences or proclivities was when it was specifically an element of the story? When we remained free to project however much or little of ourselves into our mental stories of our favorite heroes. In short way back when we actually had imaginations, and didn't need to have it spelled out, in bog brightly colored banners for the clueless sitting in the back row. It's like the whole Harry Potter "Dumbledore is gay" thing. What sis it matter? It in no way informed the story. The characters sexuality may or may not be used as an element to the story, but it should never ever be the story. At least not in this type of escapist fantasy work.

 

[MrFalconfly]

No. Just the movies. I haven't read any of the comics or books to know.
I was mostly posting that as a joke.

Oh, all right then.

Simon Pegg apparently wrote an essay once on Threepio being gay.

Well that goes without saying.

I mean you have to be a bit "camp" to walk around and always being "glittery".

 

[EbonBehelit]

100% of the romantic or sexual interactions we see are heterosexual in practice.

I meant that more in consideration of every single humanoid character that takes up screen space across the 7 films. 99.99999% of them are of completely unknown sexuality.

Nevertheless, the remainder are, as you say, straight. Or maybe bi, who knows (but probably not).

I guess I'm just concerned here; the straight relationships are ham-fisted enough, and a poorly implemented gay character would do far more harm than good.

 

[TT Kairen]

Though on the 'black stormtrooper' issue, I hardly have a problem with it but it did make me wonder: does that mean the empire's past using mass-clones of Jango Fett then? Frankly I'd been wondering that for a pretty long time actually. When'd they stop using the Repbulic's incredibly effective clones for their military?

As of Episode 4, actually. This is actually confirmed by the Special Editions. Note Stormtroopers of different height, and small-talking with each other unprofessionally? The most telling is that while they changed Boba Fett to be voiced by Temeura(sp?) Morrison, AKA Jango Fett, the Stormtroopers all retained their random voice actors from different people. Not clones.

 

[Saltyk]

No. Just the movies. I haven't read any of the comics or books to know.
I was mostly posting that as a joke.

Oh, all right then.

Simon Pegg apparently wrote an essay once on Threepio being gay.

We all knew C-3PO was gay. That was obvious. I stated as much in my original post in this thread.

 

[JimB]

It's like the whole Harry Potter "Dumbledore is gay" thing. What [does] it matter? It in no way informed the story.

What did the whole "Harry, Ron, Hermione, every Weasley, Malfoy's dad, Harry's parents, Harry's aunt and uncle, and anyone else I'm forgetting are straight" thing do to inform the story? What does their sexuality matter? Shouldn't Ms. Rowling have left all their sexual orientations undefined for gay, bisexual, pansexual, and otherwise queer people to project onto?

 

[bartholen_v1legacy]

*sigh*

So this is what it's come down to? Perhaps the biggest multimedia and film franchise of all time, resorting to hype generation of the lowest order. The kind that doesn't require intrigue, creativity, or even the audience's interest. No, just say "hey guys, them gays are totally coming!" and the money printer will work like it's on overcharge. No "we've got a really cool new character" or "the new worlds you'll see will blow your mind" or even "it's totally gonna go unexpected places".

It all loops back into the same phrase: "Not who you are, but what you are." For all we know, this character(s?) could be a time traveling, 900-year old 8 ton gorilla with cyborg arms and a mysterious backstory about his lost civilization, but all they deem important to tell us is "they're gay".

 

[Politrukk]

Happyninja42
Something Amyss


So now am I allowed to say they're doing it on purpose?
Or do we need to wait for another grand reveal that fits a certain denominator

 

[JimB]

So this is what it's come down to? Perhaps the biggest multimedia and film franchise of all time, resorting to hype generation of the lowest order. The kind that doesn't require intrigue, creativity, or even the audience's interest.

This was not an unsolicited statement. Someone at a Star Wars event asked the question, and the answer was given. If you dislike this being a story, then fine, whatever, but I think the Escapist deserves more of your bile for publishing it than...whomever you're blaming in the Star Wars franchise does for answering a straightforward question in a straightforward way.

 

[Barbas]

We all knew C-3PO was gay. That was obvious. I stated as much in my original post in this thread.

What, because he's all shiny and walks funny in the desert? I'd be shiny in intense sunlight (probably) and walk funny if I had sand stuck in my robocrack too!

 

[ThatOtherGirl]

I see your query and reverse it: how many straight people do we see in Star Wars?

100% of the romantic or sexual interactions we see are heterosexual in practice.

I would like to add to this that those romantic or sexual interactions include every single lead character in a Star Wars movie excluding TFA - Luke, Han, Leia, Anikin, Padme, and Obi-wan. Not only is every romance or sexual interaction heterosexual, but every single lead character demonstrates attraction to the opposite sex and never demonstrates attraction to the same sex.

 

[Something Amyss]

Am I allowed to be pulling my hair out over this as a writer and ask what a character's sexual orientation brings to the story?

Depends. Did you pull your hair out when Luke and Leia and Han were the ones whose sexuality were on display?

I'm going out on a limb and guess not, especially given the pre-emptive "evil straight white man" deal. And can I just pause and point out the irony that you're bringing your race, sexuality and gender into an argument while questioning what sexuality adds?

Can I go one further now? Because as a writer, I get shit for including female protagonists, and gays and lesbians and trans people. As a bisexual transwoman, these are literally my people. They're no being included for the sake of progress, but because it's the fucking story I want to write. In fact, one of the reasons I started writing is because so many of those straight white dudes told me that if I didn't like what was being created, to make my own. Now I get whined at because I'm making my own. And because it doesn't specifically pander to straight white dudes, even though 2/3 the main cast is still straight white dudes. And suddenly, that excuse doesn't work anymore. Disney's including blacks and women as main protagonists, and JJ Abrams says gays are coming. Don't like it? Make your own is what I was told, why doesn't the same advice apply now? You're a writer, create your own stories the way you want to make them. Why is it even an issue someone else is doing something else? I kind of get the impression that the issue is more that straight white dudes aren't pandered to 100% of the time.

Is this the great cross that straight white folk are asked to bear? That they're only pandered to 95% of the time in mainstream media?

It always comes off very disingenuous to me when people say the problem is introducing sexual orientation, and then act like heterosexuality is not a sexual orientation.

Thing is, a lot of the time they don't even notice. They're not being disingenuous, we're just so culturally inundated with heterosexuality that people don't think about it. It's not disingenuous, but it tends to be indicative of a systemic problem.

I meant that more in consideration of every single humanoid character that takes up screen space across the 7 films. 99.99999% of them are of completely unknown sexuality.

But that's a goalpost shift and you know it. You didn't make the argument that there was a lack of sexuality, you claimed that you would expect to not see it in a more progressive, futuristic world.

If we're going there, however, the cast is nowhere near large enough for that statistic to be even remotely true. Even if you couunt every onscreen character, you're looking at closer to 94% unknown, and that's ignoring things like the Life Day crap (which was canon at least up until Disney). And if you want to argue that, fine. In fact, I already brought this up chatting with someone earlier:

2:18 PM - Something Amyss: I mean, the only argument I can see is that there's not a lot of romance or sexuality in Star Wars. Which is mostly true.

But that wasn't the case you made. You made a case that you expected a lower visibility for gays in a progressive society.

I guess I'm just concerned here; the straight relationships are ham-fisted enough, and a poorly implemented gay character would do far more harm than good.

Yes, and look at how far back 50 Shades and Twilight and Star Wars have set heterosexuality.

 

[Something Amyss]

Okay, here's a point I want to make, if they made a character in a film and reveal after some time it's gay, then that would have least be an effort, but by announcing it they already doom the character to be "that gay character" and in general it has the condescending tone of "look at how progressive I am!!!".

What character have they announced as gay?

 

[Saltyk]

We all knew C-3PO was gay. That was obvious. I stated as much in my original post in this thread.

What, because he's all shiny and walks funny in the desert? I'd be shiny in intense sunlight (probably) and walk funny if I had sand stuck in my robocrack too!

What? Man, now you're being racist. ...Droidist? ...Robotist?

Nah, it's obvious that C-3PO is gay. He and R2-D2 are in a relationship. Why do you think C-3PO always seems so mad at R2? It's because R2 keeps interfacing with other computers. Half the time while C-3PO is standing right there. R2 is a horndog, man.

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

People.

Aren't.

Reading.

The.

Article!

Why comment without reading properly?? This is how misinformation and superstition spread. J.J. was responding to a damn question, not bloody announcing it to "shove teh gays into our medias." Fuck's sake. Why are there so many reactionary monkeys?? This article headline is just baiting a lot of stupid.

 

[Something Amyss]

This was not an unsolicited statement. Someone at a Star Wars event asked the question, and the answer was given. If you dislike this being a story, then fine, whatever, but I think the Escapist deserves more of your bile for publishing it than...whomever you're blaming in the Star Wars franchise does for answering a straightforward question in a straightforward way.

I suspect the whole reason this became a story in the first place is that people were hoping to cash in on then outrage train.

I should point out that the event was not a Star Wars one, but an Oscar Wilde Award ceremony Abrams himself hosted. But still, this doesn't change the bit where he didn't go out and advertise gays were coming to Star Wars.

I would like to add to this that those romantic or sexual interactions include every single lead character in a Star Wars movie excluding TFA - Luke, Han, Leia, Anikin, Padme, and Obi-wan. Not only is every romance or sexual interaction heterosexual, but every single lead character demonstrates attraction to the opposite sex and never demonstrates attraction to the same sex.

Indeed, and that's kind of what I noticed as well, but didn't explicitly say it. Hell, I forgot about Leia's adopted parents, or Lars and Beru Skywalker. makes me wonder how many others I'm actually forgetting in the Star Wars movies because heterosexuality is so "normalised" in our society.