Rogue One: A Commentary - By Kate Farence

Note: So today's post has been written by my friend Kate Farence. With a franchise such as Star Wars that means so much to so many people, I thought it fitting that a commentary on the latest edition to the franchise be written by someone whose passion exceeds my own. While I do like Star Wars, I don't meet the level of fandom that Kate and many of my other friends have. (I was terrified of Yoda as a kid.) These stories are very personal to them, and in order to do that justice, I have handed over the reins. 

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The thing about Jyn Erso is that she is perhaps the first female character I have seen in a film that could just as easily been a male character. This in itself is a sort of an achievement to me. She is allowed an emotional life that is generally not allowed for the “strong female character” trope. She is less Zoe from Firefly and more Captain Mal Reynolds. Like Mal, she is a flawed character with a criminal past and a heavy nonconformist streak. Like Mal, she is also a natural leader and compels people to follow her, despite her flaws. Jyn doesn’t play second fiddle to anyone in Rogue One. There are few female characters in the realm of sci-fi/fantasy that fit that bill. Jyn Erso is not “plucky” Princess Leia, who is allowed to be sassy and clearly the brains of the operation, but still has to be rescued by a bunch of dudes.

Jyn doesn’t fall in love with a classic example of toxic masculinity; instead, she leads a group of interesting but underdeveloped male characters into a battle that will ultimately result in the victory in A New Hope. She is allowed a hero’s journey a role generally reserved for the male characters. Like in any hero’s journey, Jyn is called to leave familiar surroundings to go on an adventure that ultimately changes her perspective of the world and allows her to become more than she was, much like Luke Skywalker. I find an interesting parallel between Jyn and Luke Skywalker, in that Luke could have easily been a female character as seen in last year’s The Force Awakens with the character or Rey. Not to mention, spoiler alert, daddy issues.

Jyn is as gritty a character as Rogue One’s atmosphere calls for. The movie is in fact a war movie in a way that the original trilogy, the prequels, and The Force Awakens are not. Those stories being based more on retelling myth than telling the story of war and rebellion. I love that about the Star Wars movies, but I also love a good war movie—and Rogue One is a hell of a war movie. It has great action sequences and special effects, and X-Wing battles that may leave you a little breathless. It is also great to see female X-Wing pilots. Rogue One is a movie for its time: a group of diverse people fighting fascism, fighting back against oppression and genocide. And at the center of all of this is Jyn Erso, a woman who is complicated but inspiring. She is played with a sort of quiet ease by Felicity Jones, who gives a grounded realism to a story “A long time ago in a galaxy far far away.”

Of course there were some issues with the film; nothing is perfect. It would have been nice to see Mon Mothma more. She is an interesting female character who has gotten very little screen time. She is one of the most important leaders of an intergalactic rebellion against a fascist empire and she gets almost zero character development. I want more Mon Mothma! And though we have a more diverse cast of actors in Rogue One, there is still only one female character in the center of the action, and though she is a bad ass, I want more Lady Rebels—I mean, would it kill the Star Wars franchise to cast a woman of color in a substantial role? Also, while I might find the fact that it is the male characters are underdeveloped instead of the women personally refreshing, the male characters could use with a bit more character development. The thing that bothered me the most was seeing Peter Cushing’s face superimposed on another actor’s head. It was really distracting and felt weird considering that the actor has been dead since 1994.

But ultimately Rogue One is Jyn’s story, her journey. She is the hero of Rogue One; she is the metaphor for the mission. She is Rogue One if you look at things, to quote a certain bearded Jedi, “from a certain point of view.” Just as Luke is A New Hope Jyn is ultimately Rogue One. She is the mission: without her there would be no secret plans, no knowledge of how to destroy the Death Star. Without Jyn, there is no “hope,” and without Jyn, Luke’s own hero’s journey would have taken a very different course. Jyn is the character who makes it possible to hope, and in a world like ours, much like that fictional galaxy far far away, hope is a precious commodity.