Scribbles About Feminism

Alrighty... so my last installment in the Star Wars Feminist Reviews for the time being... I'm sure there will be more... but those will wait a while lol. Anyway I don't have too much to say about this one... but Leia saves Han... and that's a huge deal. This is one of the biggest movies ever... one that a lot of kids watch when they are little... I watched it when I was little... and after seeing a lot of movies about the Prince saving the Princess... it was nice to see the Princess saving the man for once. And it was romantic and surprising and it was kind of dramatic after seeing The Empire Strikes Back. It was just really cool. I also like how she handled the situation with the Ewoks... she didn't know what the Ewoks were or what they wanted... she just kind of talked to them calmly and handled the situation really well... and they respected her for that and made her their queen. It was really pretty awesome. There's probably a lot of positive and negative...

Alrighty... so I'm sure this won't be the last time we talk about Luna Lovegood from the Harry Potter series on here... but I just have to kind of mention why I like this type of character so very much. Here  is a video from the Super Carlin Brothers that explains this definition. Basically it is a Wacky character that isn't Wacky because they're stupid or wrong... they're wacky because the way they see the story is different than how the rest of the characters see the story. They're usually very intelligent... they just seem like they're a little bit off. Luna Lovegood is maybe the best feminist definition I can think of for this. Because JK Rowling did really need the comic relief as the series was getting darker. Luna Lovegood first showed up in The Order of The Phoenix- after Cederick had died. She's the only other person at the time that could see the Thestrals... and that made Harry feel like he was crazy because he thought Luna was crazy... bu...

We're sticking with these Star Wars reviews for a little bit... and again I have not sat down and watched this movie since December... so it might be a little bit off. So The Empire Strikes Back is the first introduction between the love story between Leia and Han... and it is the BEST! I feel like this is the feminist way to do a love story and that is why I've always admired it. Han and Leia were equals... the love story added to that more than it took away from that. There was a little bit of jealousy between the two of them and with other characters as well. There was sort of a love triangle even... but Spoilers... Luke is Leia's brother and she didn't love him...  so there was that. Han and Leia pretty much only argued before getting together... and they didn't really stop after. They just kind of showed their respect for each other instead of only fighting. Leia would question his decision making... but she also trusted that he knew what he was doing and...

So... I mentioned last week that I don't think we need a dumb female character on TV or in movies and it just doesn't really add anything to the story if there's just a dumb character... of either gender really. It's a cheap gag for laughs... and girls should know that it's not just funny to be dumb... and that people won't like you any better if you act dumb... it's okay to be smart. I'm smart... I don't think I'm the smartest person in the world... I'm sure if I said that many people reading this would disagree... lol. But in school I usually got good grades... maybe not in Science or Math or any of those types of subjects... but English, history. Those are my friends. And as far as English classes go... I was the best student in several of my classes and I'm proud of myself for that... The thing is... I feel like a lot of people won't believe me about that because at some point in my life... I've acted "dumb" beca...

So I think all of the Star Wars movies... maybe aside from the prequels have a pretty strong feminist message... and it starts off with A New Hope... which is maybe the strongest of the series! We first meet Leia as a hologram that seems like she'll just be a damsel in distress... but when we meet Leia in real life... we learn she is anything but that! She gets help from Luke and Han Solo... but she doesn't really need it. She's sort of sassy and feisty about it. She has a different attitude than any other princesses in movies. And that is pretty damn cool! I just like how she carries herself... and that she is a total boss, but she isn't like any other Princess. And she kind of starts the resistance! Right? It was back in December when I started re-watching this- but Luke wouldn't have really gotten involved without Leia's call for help to Obi Wan Kenobi! Her cry for help isn't just her crying for help... she's trying to start something... and she...

So I came up with this idea in the shower... and I think I have 3 different posts that I want to talk about this subject with... so I'm going to do that... I'm starting with this one because this is something I kind of think is a problem. As a kid, I always laughed at the "dumb" characters in things... and as an adult- I'll admit I still do... but I think it kind of has negative impacts. Girls may act less intelligent because "it's funny." And I'll get more into girls acting "dumb" and calling other girls "dumb" in the next blog... but for now... do we need the dumb characters? No... we really don't... and here are some pop culture examples where there is no dumb characters... so let's get into it. Crazy Ex Girlfriend is one great example. There are a lot of female characters... in fact it's mostly female characters... and they all might make mistakes or do things that seem dumb or clueless... but everyone is i...