For all Star Trek got right over the years in terms of representation and tackling important social issues, there are many areas where the franchise could have done better. One in particular is the portrayal of pregnancy. Deanna Troi and the ‘mystical pregnancy’ trope In ‘The Child’, the […]
The Borg are the ultimate enemy because they defy definition. They are whatever the plot requires them to be, from a frightening new adversary to even an ally. Since they were first introduced to Star Trek canon in The Next Generation episode ‘Q Who?’ in 1989, the Borg […]
Even before The Last Jedi shook up the status quo, it was clear that Star Wars was always about much more than heroes and dynasties and the evils of right-wing ideology. The story threads woven throughout the saga films and the auxiliary story materials was as much a […]
If, as Churchill proclaimed, “history is written by the victors” then any account accepted by a cultural majority is a prescribed and biased narrative. Individual accounts of the same events rarely align, but on the national scale this becomes much more sinister. Taking charge of an information stream […]
Names in Star Wars range from the ridiculous to the sublime, combining marketing fun and in-jokes – Elan Sleazebaggano, I’m looking at you – with the pantomime stylings of Sidious, Grievous and Tyrannous. From a linguistic perspective, many names across the saga offer subtle clues and insights […]
“I must be allowed to speak,” Luke Skywalker demands of Jabba the Hutt in Return of the Jedi. Historically peacekeepers and diplomats, the voice and spoken word are as important to the function and philosophy of the Jedi as their lightsabers. Having already struck out in anger against […]
From its inception, Star Wars has always existed as political allegory, with its goodies-versus-baddies narrative also acting as the marginalised struggling against far-right supremacy. As a politically opinionated film student, George Lucas imbued his work with a social commentary that would transcend his early avant-garde efforts and supercharge […]
In The Last Jedi, Rey asks if Luke created Kylo Ren. But Ben Solo’s fall from grace is not so easily defined and certainly not so simple as having one catalyst alone. Of course, Luke’s brief failure as a mentor contributed significantly to Ben turning to the Dark […]
Recently watching Rogue One, I was struck by its style and storytelling chops as if it was the first time but then its deeper themes and devices become more apparent to me than they ever had before. I tweeted as much at the time and while the replies […]
When The Phantom Menace arrived in theatres, it was met first with fervour as the expectation of sixteen years unspooled. What we consider the backlash came later (I wasn’t even aware people had a problem with Jar Jar until after Revenge of the Sith). Perhaps the most prevalent […]
