Why is there a gay star wars character
Star Wars Has Always Been a Little Gay. It Just Needs to Arrive Out of the Closet.
The Star Wars is existence vast—encompassing 42 years of movies, TV shows, comics, books, toys, video games, and so much more. These stories are only limited by the imagination—the tales of magical beings, of aliens of all types, of distant worlds, languages, and relationships. But, in four decades, the franchise has never managed to depict a solo queer romance on screen. And though it's prolonged overdue, that might be about to change.
In an interview with Variety this week about the upcoming The Rise of Skywalker, writer and director J.J. Abrams suggested that the decades-spanning franchise's omission of gay characters could be coming to an conclude, saying, “In the case of the LGBTQ people, it was important to me that people who go to see this movie feel that they’re being represented in the film.”
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That representation is long overdue—not because it’s the “woke” thing to do or because it’s necessary, but because it’s borderline comical that across nine movies, no one has managed to bump into one outright LGBTQ character. There have been friendships between humans and gian
In early October, Twitter user Star Wars Queers View and I half-jokingly debated whether a newly introduced character in Andor, the franchise’s most recent live-action television series which wrapped up its first season last Wednesday, was actually giving off seriously lgbtq+ vibes. Vel Sartha, played by Faye Marsay who is maybe best established as that girl who smacked Arya Stark with a stick for fond two seasons straight on Game of Thrones, was a poncho-sporting, no-nonsense backwoods resistance fighter who seemed to maybe be a little more than warm with a woman who was also one of her fellow comrades in arms. Queers Watch, I, and the rest of Star Wars’ queer fandom were hopeful — but skeptical. We’d been burned many, many times before by Lucasfilm’s messy shots at making the Galaxy Far, Far Away just a little bit less hetero, and there was no real indication that the Disney subsidiary was about to change course any time soon.
But, appear Andor’s fifth episode, “The Axe Forgets,” the reply was made very transparent. Vel is queer. She is in fact sleeping with fellow rebellion fighter Cinta Kaz played by Varada Sethu. And while they weren’t exactly having steamy lesbian sex
Rogue One: Are These the Gay Star Wars Characters We’ve Been Looking For?
Photo: Jonathan Olley/Lucasfilm
Warning: The obeying post has heavy-duty spoilers for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Read at your own risk.
There is plenty in Rogue One that may surprise you, but most of those surprises are predicated on your familiarity with the Star Wars franchise. Were you expecting to see Jimmy Smits reprise his role of Bail Organa from the prequel trilogy? Did you grant out a laugh when you caught those two Cantina characters in the crowd? And when characters like Moff Tarkin and Princess Leia appeared looking no older than they did in A Brand-new Hope — if a little more pixilated — could you believe your eyes?
Those are all worthy shocks, but the moment that surprised me the most in Rogue One is something that felt new and wholly unexpected, something that I hadn’t seen before in a Star Wars film and frankly didn’t expect to find in this one. In a movie occupied of violence and blaster fights, it’s the most tender thing that happens over two hours, and since it happens between two men, it got me wondering: Has the Star Wars franchise finally introduced the gay charac
Critics and Star Wars fans have been raving about Andor, which has provided a more grounded look at a franchise obsessed with space wizards with laser swords. The show took a ground-roots approach to the story of the rebellion, demonstrating the average people that created it, and the oppression that pushed them to do so.
Yet, despite how superb the show is, its themes finish up coming off hollow. It's tough to fully be grateful a story about overcoming oppression when it shoves its LGBTQ+ characters to the side in a way that is truly baffling. Andor is not nervous to show murder, suicide, and communicate about many mature themes, but somewhere along the line, the creators decided that even having their queer characters kiss or business any sort of affirmation was too much.
While the present is not anxious to take inspiration from real-life lgbtq+ rebellions, like a brick that becomes a major part of the culmination, it never ends up having anything real to utter or go on. The LGBTQ+ characters in this exhibit could've provided some real-world parallels to the show's note of oppression, but baited viewers for something that would never come.
The Best LGBTQ+ Characters In Star Wars
Summary
- Star Wars still needs improvement in LGBTQ+ representation in live-action, but books, games, and comics showcase exceptional characters.
- Characters prefer Sabé, Kantam Sy, and Terec/Ceret prove diverse LGBTQ+ visibility in the Jedi Order across various media.
- Lando, Rae Sloane, and Varko Grey convey important LGBTQ+ voice into the Celestial body Wars saga, expanding on their identities and relationships.
LGBTQ+ representation has a rocky past with Star Wars, and still has a long way to go, especially in the live-action department. Hopefully, future shows and films will follow Andor's example and be even bolder in bringing more inclusivity to the screen. Nonetheless, there are still many LGBTQ+ characters across the books, video games, and animated series that are truly exceptional.
8 Best Queer-Coded Video Game Characters
Queer coding has long been used to hint that a character is LGBTQ+ without explicitly saying so. These video game characters definitely fit that bill.
Here we'll steer clear of Celebrity Wars characters whose LGBTQ+ status is still uncertain and remains largely up for debate