The Force Resurgent: How the mythology of Star Wars is more relevant that ever, Part II

Welcome back, fellow nerf-herders! Today we’ll pick up where we left off in Part I of this series and begin an examination of the contentious complaints raised by some corners of fandom against the new sequel trilogy. Let’s take the bull by the horns by starting off with arguably the most publicized point of contention, which has turned into something of a rallying cry for put out fans: that Rey, the new female lead capably portrayed by Daisy Ridley, is nothing more than a feminist fantasy, plugged in to further advance the ongoing postmodernist assault on the traditional hero narratives that have dominated pop culture storytelling. The addition of such characters into the Star Wars universe, said fans bemoan, is a product of political correctness run amok, and are corroding the rich mythical/philosophical foundations on which George Lucas built the saga.

As I wrote in Part I, such deviations from the “old time religion” of the original trilogy have been met with all manner of weeping and gnashing of teeth. It runs the gamut from corrosive, such as the noxious trolling of Last Jedi actress Kelly Marie Tran and the blow back against director Rian Johnson, to downright humorous, like the attempted crowd sourced Last Jedi remake campaign. While I would never begrudge anyone’s right to an artistic…