Dear Han: Thoughts on the "Star Wars" Franchise After "The Last Jedi"

 Han Solo - feel the pressure. I'm counting on you, bro. The Last Jedi has raised concerns for me that I hope the upcoming Solo film will provide clarity on. I need to know that Star Wars is not destined to become nothing more than a platform for the Feminist agenda.

My biggest complaint about The Last Jedi is that not a single male character was shown as competent or worthy of admiration, whereas the female leads are shown in mostly positive ways. Finn was goof who had wrong priorities. Luke was a grumpy old man. You could argue that those two make sense. But then there's Poe Dameron.

By far my favorite character in this movie, Poe does the right thing I believe, given the circumstances, and no one apologizes for keeping him in the dark despite his status as ranking squadron commander (what's left of it anyways). Holdo not telling Poe is a good move story-wise but only if you plan to set her up as egotistical and wrong-headed. If Leia had scolded Holdo for her treatment of Poe, my gripe would be resolved. But we don't get that. Instead, we get two women speaking about an unconscious man in a sickeningly patronizing way. There is no justification for Holdo's actions, and Poe was absolutely right to stand up to her and had Finn and Rose succeeded, he would have proven the better strategist. Instead, Holdo get's a pass. I don't want to believe this is because of the feminist agenda, but story-wise it makes no sense that a woman (Leia) who had no qualms slapping and reprimanding Poe at the beginning for conducting a successful mission would not even suggest to Holdo, "You know maybe Poe was wrong to mutiny but you aren't exactly guiltless here."

And here's where Solo comes in. This movie is about a male character, Han Solo. There will side characters of course but the heart of this movie is everyone's favorite stuck up, half-witted scruffy looking nerfherder. At least he had better be. If this movie essentially shoves Han to the side and makes one of the female characters the defacto lead, if this movie portrays Han as a "silly boy" archetype then I am done with the new era of Star Wars. I will not buy a copy of The Last Jedi, I will not go see Episode IX. I will await more information on the Johnson Trilogy but if seems like more feminist propoganda then I will pass. Now, I will be going to a Kenobi movie if that pans out just to see Ewan McGregor but if they emasculate or man- vilify Kenobi I will never forgive them.

Solo has to show me that solid (not perfect, but smart, competent and strong) male heroes are welcomed in the world of Star Wars because between The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi I'm really wondering if they do. So far, the only good male heroes we've gotten in this era are Cassian Andor from Rogue One and the Rebels male characters (sidenote: Filoni understands balance here. The cast of Rebels is balanced between strong men like Kanan, Rex, Ezra, Zeb and now Kallus on the one hand and strong women like Hera, Sabine, Ahsoka and Bo-Katan on the other. And yet, Rebels feels like a concession to the pre-Disney Star Wars, a sort of last hurrah that Kathleen could care less about).

I do understand that Han Solo in this movie is going to be a morally ambiguous character. He's a pre-Original Trilogy Han and is going to be more in line with the guy who shot Greedo and callously walked out after tossing a credit to the bartender than the Han we see in ESB and ROTJ who comes to care for someone else. But he can be strong, courageous and smart while still being a tragic picture of a man looking out for only himself.

So there you have it. Please don't misunderstand my issue concerning the Disney-era Star Wars and male heroes. I have no issues with female characters being heroes. In fact, in concept Rey is an amazing character and Daisy Riddley is an amazing actress. Padme, Leia, Ahsoka, Jyn Erso, Hera Syndulla, Sabine Ren - these are all female characters that I respect. I especially respect the character of Jyn in Rogue One and Hera/Sabine in Rebels because unlike Rey these ladies had to endure hardships and losses to become the heroines we root for. Rey never really had a  "reach the dregs moment."

My problem with the trilogy is the underlying assumption that to have strong female characters you have to make all the men in Star Wars into fools, jerks and/or failures. NEWSFLASH: This is not an either-or situation.

Is the feminine ego of Kathleen so fragile that she is threatened by the very existence of capable and strong men in the franchise? I'm beginning to think so. And if she is so threatened by them cinematically, I guess she won't mind if I stop paying money to see her movies. Come May 25th I hope to have my answer.