Season 1 Episode 2: #Boycott Star Wars
The new “Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens” has unleashed a hot debate about gender and race. J.J. Abrams gives us two new heroes to look up to: the ass-kicking Rey and the defector who saves the day, Finn. But are these two total departures from old, gendered and racist stereotypical characters? How have some women and people of colour related to this film empire until now? And more importantly, will Aisha finally come to love the series? Our special guests for this episode are Julia Dickens and Nasser Jamal.
On this show, we featured a number of musical tracks inspired by Star Wars. Check out our recommended selection:
- 1977 disco album dedicated to the first Star Wars
- A violin version of the Dual of Fates
- A hilarious cello tribute with 28 million hit
- Drumming the Star Wars theme
On race and gender, check out these links:
- “The Force re-aligns: How the role of women in Star Wars has evolved” by Zenia D’Cunha
- “Star Wars needs a New Approach to Women – Not Just More Women” by Noah Berlatsky in The Atlantic
- “Star Wars: The Force Awakens Passes the Bechdel Test with Flying Colours” by Christopher Hooton
- “The 5 most racist Star Wars characters“
- “Star Wars’ Black Character Controversy: African-American Sci-Fi Fans Battle Genre’s Racial Stereotypes” by Aaron Morrison
- Patton Oswalt’s rant against racist trolls on Star War