Solo:
A Star Wars Story was one of the
biggest and most highly debated blockbusters to be released this
spring. Would Alden Ehrenreich make an acceptable Han Solo? Was the
film even necessary? Can Han Solo exist without Harrison Ford? Now,
months later, I found myself watching the film for the first time
(somehow without spoiling the plot beforehand) and I emerged with
several thoughts on the film. They are, however, not about the acting
capabilities of the lead male but more focused upon what the film
does with it's female characters. The roles given to the women in
Solo can be seen as
equal parts progressive and problematic, and leads to the question of
whether this is a film that can be seen as Feminist, or whether it is
but another fumbled effort to be so on the part of Hollywood.
The
film begins with Emilia Clarke's lead in a role that is all too
familiar to female characters across all genres. Seemingly relegated
to the position of love interest from the very start, Qi'ra is placed
in a passive position when she and Han attempt to escape from their
old lives , with Han taking the stereotypically active male role by
taking control of the situation and guiding her through the majority
of this segment of the film. When he makes it out but Qi'ra gets
captured, this only serves to turn her character into a plot device
for the next twenty minutes, whereby Han Solo's main aim is to 'save'
her from her cruel captors as though she is Rapunzel locked away in a
tower, yet another helpless woman in need of a strong male rescuer
who seeks her affections. Whilst the entire opening of the film
adheres to these classical character archetypes, it seems to do so
for the explicit purpose of turning them on their head as soon as it
possibly can.
The
character of Qi'ra challenges the stereotypical female role when Han
discovers that she now leads a glamorous lifestyle and is referred to
by Dryden Vos as lieutenant. She transforms in the span of two scenes
into a character with agency, in a position of power. The intent to
portray Qi'ra as an empowered female is clear even in the casting
choice, when one thinks of Emilia Clarke it is impossible not to
recall her many seasons spent playing Danaerys Targaryen on HBO's
Game of Thrones, and
it is therefore expected that her character should pack as much of a
punch as our male hero. It is even more of a credit to her female
lead that by the end of the narrative she has cut all ties with the
male figures that she had prior attachment to – abandoning Han Solo
and killing Dryden Vos (a feat that is noteworthy in itself, given
that these final confrontations are usually always affirmations of
the strength of the male protagonist). By doing this she elevates
herself to a position of even more influence, exceeding the amount of
power that Han Solo has by the end of the film. In fact, there are
several females in Solo
who are placed in positions of equal importance to the men around
them, such as Beckett's partner Val who, whilst not an overly
important character, still has the confidence to speak her mind,
often telling Beckett that he is making wrong decisions. The rebel
girl is also a notable character in that she, whilst appearing to be
only a young girl, leads the group of rebels that Han Solo ends up
helping.
However,
whilst there are several powerful female characters in Solo,
there are also many problematic
elements to the portrayal of women in this film. Qi'ra becomes an
empowered figure by the end of the film, however for the majority of
the plot she is defined by her relationships with the men around her.
She may have earned her place as Dryden Vos's lieutenant, but it is
impossible to miss the obvious sexual undertones to their
relationship. Despite their obvious connection, Qi'ra doesn't appear
to have any positive feelings towards him, suggesting that in order
to rise up the ranks she needed to use her sexuality. Whilst this
could be taken as a sign of the blatant sexism of the universe she is
placed in, the Star Wars franchise has generally treated it's female
characters respectfully and there are several examples of women in
recent films who are high ranking without any hint of being
sexualised; a good example of this being Phasma in The
Force Awakens. Therefore it is
potentially problematic that Emilia Clarke's character is represented
as having to use her sexuality to attain rank when other recent
protagonists (and antagonists) have not had to do so.
The
final fight scene between her, Han and Dryden also problematises
Qi'ra's role in the film. With the coaxium removed from the scene by
Beckett, who is at this point a third party, there is no logical
reason for them to be preoccupied fighting each other. The coaxium is
the item throughout the film that all characters seek, so it makes
more sense when Dryden suggests working together to reclaim it from
Beckett, however they instead waste time attempting to kill one
another. It becomes clear at this point that the fight is no longer
about the coaxium or the fact that their partnership has gone south,
but it is in fact a fight to the death to determine who gets to
'claim' Qi'ra at the end of it. This is further confirmed when Dryden
explains to Han that he understands her more than he ever could. This
goes back to treating the female character like a possession or
reward for the film's hero, and takes away Qi'ra's agency up until
the point that she reclaims it by killing Dryden and deciding her own
fate. This could be seen as a positive resolution for the character,
as by the end of the film she has freed herself from the influence of
the men around her and gains nearly full autonomy. However, this is
undermined by the fact that the moment she abandons Han and chooses
her own ambitions over being his lover she is portrayed as a force of
evil. Han Solo engages in many unscrupulous acts throughout the film,
culminating in him shooting Beckett to ensure that he doesn't betray
him again, and yet he is still portrayed as the moralistic hero of
the film. Qi'ra on the other hand is portrayed as a potential
antagonist, simply for choosing to leave him behind to pursue what
she viewed as a more potentially successful path. The film therefore
ultimately ends on a negative portrayal of it's female lead,
effectively antagonising her for refusing to fall in line with the
wants of Han Solo.
Whilst
this is problematic enough, I found that the most negative female
representation in the film wasn't even of a human character, but the
droid L3. When she is first introduced she is attempting to convince
another droid to defy it's human masters and have free will. Whilst
this could be seen as a race issue, portraying tensions between droids
and humans, the fact that L3 was chosen to be played by a female
instantly brings a gendered perspective to her character. When Lando
Calrissian asks her if there's anything she needs, she gives an
instant and dry response of “equal rights” that is sure to
produce a chuckle amongst audiences. This comment is even more
poignant when you take into consideration the current political
climate of Hollywood, and yet instead of being a serious character
the majority of L3's dialogue is written to be comedic. Not only is
the 'equal rights' comment written to be laughed off, but she also
goes on to expain to Qi'ra how she (mistakenly) believes Lando to be
romantically attracted to her. It seems at this point almost as
though the character was deliberately written to be a caricature of
the 'crazy woman', or worse, the 'crazy feminist'. For a character
who has some very poignant dialogue to be written in such a way seems
not only tone deaf on the part of the writers, but blatantly
disrespectful to the ideals of feminism and the recently acknowledged
need for reform when it comes to female representation in Hollywood films and the industry at large.
Solo:
A Star Wars story makes an
obvious attempt at feminist representation through the multiple
characters who are placed in positions of power and free themselves
from the control of the men in their lives. However there is a
constant feeling throughout the film that this is working to hide
some debatably problematic subtext that is clearly present in the
character of L3 and the way in which Emilia Clarke's Qi'ra is treated
at the end of the film. Ultimately the female characters are written
to be judged by how they treat the men they interact with, and this
shows that Hollywood still has a long way to go before it's summer
blockbusters can be considered progressive.