The latest Disney acquired Lucasfilm in 2012. With the company rebranding those installations as “Legends,” new books, comics, video games, and shows have emerged, becoming a part of the official canon within the galaxy from “far, far away.” These pieces have explored an entire cast of characters who identify and express themselves in a way that is starting to relate to the franchise’s diverse fanbase.
Johnston’s latest novel, the aforementioned Queen’s Hope, includes Tepoh, a character who goes by zhe/zher/zhem, and this isn’t even the first time a character in a Star Wars novel has gone by these specific pronouns. Chuck Wendig’s Aftermath: Life Debt features Eleodie Maracavanya, who also goes by zhe/zher/zhem as well. There are a plethora of other Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, the inclusion was a welcome one, but it was such a fleeting moment that it was easily removed from the cut many international audiences saw.
While writers like Johnston have done a great service by including characters like Tepoh in their books, Star Wars needs to get LGBTQ+ characters into their big-budget movies in a way that does justice to their identity in an effort to reach a wider audience. The extent of representation in other areas of the transmedia franchise highlights that the film series is failing where other Star Wars content is thriving. By doing this, Disney can reaffirm its commitment to representing a more diverse population, no matter the form of media. Disney has come a long way, but if they plan to keep up with other studios and utilize their position in a way that can have a positive impact on society, they need to start reflecting on how they represent the LGBTQ+ community on the silver screen.
What has made Johnston’s inclusion of LGBTQ+ characters successful for her Star Wars books is the fact that she simply normalizes it, as do many other writers for the franchise. There is sometimes a belief that someone’s sexuality has to be portrayed in an overtly sexual manner, but this isn’t true. Star Wars includes characters of all shapes, sizes, and belief systems that people hardly bat an eye at, and so the franchise is in the perfect position to include LGBTQ+ characters on the silver screen. Disney is a huge entertainment media company and they have a responsibility to the public to represent real people, unapologetically, on the big screen, not just in a book that sadly the average Star Wars movie-goer might not read.
While Star Wars books are including characters that use neopronouns and have committed, loving relationships with people of the same sex, The Rise of Skywalker’s half-hearted try at a same-sex kiss only further exposed Disney’s lack of true commitment to LGBTQ+ representation. While The Rise of Skywalker ultimately failed in this attempt, other Star Wars media is faithfully doubling down on including a diverse population in its storytelling. Though it’s true many countries won’t accept such diversity in their movie theaters, Disney needs to assess just how powerful of a message they can send by portraying LGBTQ+ people on screen.
