May The Force Awaken Us All

I’ve seen the new Star Wars movie twice now and have fallen in love with BB-8 and Rey.

In that order.

BB-8 charmed me even more than R2D2 had those many years ago.

You see, I’ve seen only the first Star Wars and this latest release. I’m not sure why I missed the others. But when The Force Awakens promised the original Han Solo, Luke and Leia, I couldn’t miss it.

Now I’m hooked on that little round droid and her powerful human, Rey (way to go, Daisy). Okay, I know that without Poe, the two would not have met. Still, the story is theirs. It belongs to Rey and BB-8.

As a lifelong feminist, I was thrilled with the powerful, resourceful yet sensitive Rey. Of course her droid would be intelligent, perceptive – and female.

Hooray, I thought! Hollywood finally recognizes strong female characters. After all, even Han Solo cautions Finn that women always find out the truth.

And in the end, the two who are left, the two who are in charge, are Leia and Rey. And BB-8.

I did some browsing, looking for more information on the droid. One of the sites began with two questions:

• Wait, is BB-8 female?
• What does that mean?

The first question could have been written by anyone, male or female. The second? Definitely male. At least, I believe a woman would have written:

• Wait, BB-8 is female?
• Hallelujah!

What a disappointment, then, to find that Disney left Rey out of their new Monopoly game. An eight-year-old girl wrote in protest, saying, “girls matter.”

Both Disney and Monopoly-maker Hasbro are now scrambling to include Rey – and hopefully BB-8 – in their games and toys.

May The Force awaken us all to the power and wonder of women.