A long time ago, in a galaxy far away, a legendary series was born. Star Wars is one of the most legendary pop-culture icons of all time. As Disney pours new movies over the horizon like a fleet of x-wings, fans all over excitedly await the new content. Each new movie brings new change to the franchise, and no change is more apparent than that seen in the cast of the newest release, Rogue One.
While originally an American series, Star Wars has garnered fans from all over the world, and all walks of life. But unlike its immensely diverse fan-base, the original Star Wars movies, as well as the less-celebrated prequels, did little to reflect their multi-cultural fan base. The first six episodes focused on a largely white male cast with such a small number of minority actors that you could count them all on one hand.
Rogue One turns this colorless pattern on its head; everyone in Rogue One's scrappy band of rebels was either a woman or a person of color. Kick-ass female lead Felicity Jones co-stars with Mexican actor Diego Luna, who sports his Mexican accent throughout the movie. The rest of their team consists of Pakistani actor, Riz Ahmed, and two Chinese men, Donnie Yen and Jiang Wen, one of whom is portrayed as blind. The group works together with the beautiful synergy needed to pull off their major feat at the end of the movie, with each character bringing a valuable and unique skill to the table.
Rogue One was not just important for fans of color, but for female representation as well. Jyn Erso is unapologetically tough and gritty. While Leia's commanding role was groundbreaking in the original series, her bikini scene in Return of the Jedi and her lack of power with the Force compared to her lightsaber-wielding twin brother demeaned her role as a powerful and important member of the Imperial Senate. There are no hypersexualized costumes for Jyn like there were for Leia, and she is of equal importance to Rogue One's story as her male companions.
The wonderful thing about the refreshing diversity that's becoming so readily available in the new Star Wars movies is the ability for all fans to see themselves as the hero. For women and fans of color who grew up on Stars to be able to see themselves in such a socially influential franchise is invaluable, and essential to the magic and wonder of the Star Wars universe.
Rogue One's diversity matters because it reflects the struggles many fans of color feel in a white-washed Hollywood world. Rogue One seeks to tell a story about an overlooked group of people whose tale was never told, yet was so incredibly important to the story. And that's exactly why we need a more diversified Hollywood: to the tell the relevant, influential stories that aren't being told.
