How Women Can Save The 'Star Wars' Franchise

How Women Can Save The 'Star Wars' Franchise
In this 1977 image provided by 20th Century-Fox Film Corporation shows, from left, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, and Mark Hamill in a scene from "Star Wars." The intergalactic adventure launched in theaters 35 years ago on May 25, 1977, introducing the world to The Force, Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, Princess Leia, Han Solo and a pair of loveable droids named R2-D2 and C-3PO. (AP Photo/20th Century-Fox Film Corporation)
In this 1977 image provided by 20th Century-Fox Film Corporation shows, from left, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, and Mark Hamill in a scene from "Star Wars." The intergalactic adventure launched in theaters 35 years ago on May 25, 1977, introducing the world to The Force, Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, Princess Leia, Han Solo and a pair of loveable droids named R2-D2 and C-3PO. (AP Photo/20th Century-Fox Film Corporation)

If you're a young girl watching Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, as I once was a long time ago in a state far, far away, you might not know that you're watching something unusual. You might not know that, over three movies, George Lucas and company didn't just create the ultimate fanboy surrogate in Luke Skywalker, but they also told a story about the rarest of action movie creatures: a woman with a job and political principles, who was more competent and important than either of the two men who showed up to rescue her, and who fell in love with a guy who changed to be with her, rather than the other way around.

Princess Leia is one of the original Star Wars trilogy's strongest legacies. And as Disney reboots the franchise, starting with Episode VII, it should recognize that women, as much as farmboys from Tatooine with a penchant for bullseying womp rats, are Star Wars' secret weapon.

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