Monday, January 25, 2016

Why There Are No Transgender Characters in the Star Wars Galaxy (Another Thought)

Okay, for those of you who read my post Why There Are No Transgender Characters in the Star Wars Galaxy, I wanted to add something else I just noticed, having watched The Force Awakens for the fifth time today.

Yes, I am personally responsible for 0.035% of this film's domestic gross. 

There was something I noticed that I hadn't thought of yet in well, a transgender context. It reminded me a little bit of when people transition, but their families refuse to call them by their chosen name as a means of denying that their transition is real. A young person will change genders but their parents will keep calling them by their birth name (or dead name. I personally hate the term "dead name.").

But in Force Awakens (five week old spoiler alert), we see Han, who knows his son prefers to go by his Dark Side name of Kylo Ren, refuse to call him that. Instead he calls him Ben. Kylo Ren is what his friends (Hux, Phasma and Snoak being as close to friends as Kylo has) and co-workers know him as, but the change isn't real to his dad. Nope, to his dad he's always just Ben because Kylo's family just doesn't accept his new life.

Being trans-force-side is just a phase, Ben.
Even Luke, who knows that his father has lived for thirty years as Darth Vader, insists on calling him Anakin. Even when Darth Vader tells him "That name no longer has any meaning for me."

Jeez. These people are jerks. That's just another reason not to transition in the Star Wars galaxy. People won't accept you for who you really are. C'mon, Luke & Han, just accept that some people choose to transition. Whether it's to a new gender or to a new side of the Force, there's new life changes and often a new name. Don't be jerks. Accept your loved ones for who they really are.

Also...

Attack of the Clones features some alien race that the other characters call "Changelings." Apparently, they can change their appearance at will. Now that would great skill for a transgender person to have. The trans kids of that race have it so easy, don't they?

Zam? Is that a boy's name or a girl's name? It doesn't matter.

So are there transgender characters in Star Wars or not? Maybe Rogue One or Episode VIII will finally show us once for all. Or possibly that Han Solo origin story will finally shed some seriously interesting light on that character's early years...

http://loveandasandwich.deviantart.com/
Be sure and check out my final thought on this.

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