It's Time For "Star Wars" To Introduce LGBTQI Characters (And Here's How They Should Start)

Ah, big blockbuster franchises; films that break box office records and render people that didn’t watch them perpetually out of conversation.

However, they all share a common issue, slight though it may seem. Nope, it’s not a lack of strong female protagonists, or a lack of diverse ethnicities. It’s a lack of queer characters.

A recent report by GLAAD found that of the 126 major films from big studios released last year, just 22 of them featured queer characters – none of which were franchise films.

Let’s look at some franchise examples:

• The Hunger Games: no queer characters.
• Harry Potter: Dumbledore was only revealed to be gay after the final book was released; his sexuality was not made explicit in the books or the films.
• Fast and Furious: none (even though it’s very homoerotic).
• Divergent: the only queer character, Lynn, didn’t feature in the movies.
• Marvel: none in the cinematic universe (although the TV show Jessica Jones features an out lesbian).
• Star Wars: none… yet.

Disney, responsible for both the Star Wars and Marvel franchises, received a failing grade from GLAAD for their lack of LGBTQI representation.

So, how great would it be for Star Wars: Episode VIII to feature a queer character?

Hear me out.

In the dreaded comment section of the internet, whenever these opinions are made, people always say things like, “unless it’s essential to the story there’s no point having gay characters in movies?” or, “why does every movie have to have adhere to political correctness?”

Then there’s my perennial favourite: “But we already have films like Brokeback Mountain, Milk, and The Danish Girl – just let Star Wars be Star Wars."

To say this is to miss the point.

A central formula to most franchise films is a romance between a man and a woman, with some conflict keeping them apart. Examples include Deadpool, Spiderman, most James Bond films… the list goes on.

Therefore, by saying that these films don’t need queer representation is an inherently heteronormative outlook; most of the aforementioned films could have done as well without any romantic narrative thread. And yet, they’re still present (and, most would agree, aren’t worse off because of it). They often enrich and deepen the characters by giving them an outer life. So, why not simply include some people who happen to be queer?

Let’s have characters go home to their same sex partner, or turn down those of the opposite gender in a bar scene due to their sexuality. It’s the simple things. (And it worked in ParaNorman.) It absolutely doesn’t have to completely take over the story like the commenters always cry. (But, if it did, would that be so bad?)

So, my proposal (which is in line with many other people on the internet) is to make Oscar Isaac’s Poe Dameron queer in the Star Wars series. Heck, it’s possibly already being set up . Evidence: that lip bite.

What a gorgeous subplot this would create; a fresh take from a long-running series. Plus, J.J. Abrams (director of Episode VII) says gay characters will inevitably join the Star Wars-verse. Who knows – a Poe/ Finn romance could lead the way for Rey/ Ren (what a great revelation that would be). The possibilities are endless. I just hope director Rian Johnson makes it happen.

Kyle Uglow-Turpin is one of Student Edge’s student contributors. Learn more about the contributors program.

Photo: Disney.