In making a break from the popular narrative pushed by everyone from mainstream news outlets, to the franchise’s actors, to the House of Mouse itself, Daisy Ridley has claimed to disagree with the idea that the Star Wars fandom – particularly the sub-sect that has rejected Disney’s handling of the IP – is a wretched hive of sexism and misogyny.
(But let’s call a spade a spade: There’s no way this is anything but a desperate attempt by the House of Mouse to win back the same franchise fans they pushed away and insulted now that its reputation – and financial pull – is in the dumpster.)
The actress offered this ostensible PR spin while discussing her upcoming return to a galaxy far, far away during a January 25th appearance on NBC’s TODAY show.
Therein, after sharing her excitement towards being asked to reprise her role as Rey, Ridley was pressed by host Dylan Dryer for her thoughts on the fact that “Speaking of Sharmeen [Obaid-Chinoy], there are some of the – I would say ‘extreme’ Star Wars fans who have made this a conversation on the internet about how they don’t want a female director” – which Dryer opined “seems bizarre because episodes of The Mandalorian were directed by females, I mean Kathleen Kennedy has been overseeing all of this”.
In turn, Ridley asserted, “I think my take is, things get blown out of proportion and the interactions that I’ve had with people have been nothing but wonderful and supportive.”
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“And honestly the day that we announced that I was coming back at [Star Wars] Celebration last year, you cannot imagine the joy and goodwill in that room,” she added. “I’ve only ever been embraced, and I think we’re gonna make a great film for people.”
Notably, this is the not the first time in recent weeks that Ridley has appeared to push back against the media’s favorite defense narrative against Star Wars’ currently abysmal level of quality.
Earlier this month asked by French entertainment news outlet AlloCiné if she could recall how she felt during her surprise unveiling of the Rey film at last year’s Star Wars Celebration, the actress detailed, “It was wonderful, and the thing about those conventions are everyone is really lovely, and everyone’s really lovely to each other, and I think a lot of the time people online sort of make out there was discourse or whatever it is that actually isn’t shared by a lot of people and my experience has always been very welcomed”
“People have been very kind, even if they wanted the story to go here or there or everywhere,” she concluded of her thoughts on the Rey movie reveal.” she added. “It’s always like a conversation that’s respectful.”
[Time Stamp: 02:43]
Unfortunately for Ridley, this heel turn falls flat in light of the fact that, during the hey-day of the Disney Star Wars discourse in 2016, the actress publicly pushed the idea that any and all criticism of Rey as a ‘Mary Sue’ was inherently rooted in sexism.
“The Mary Sue thing in itself is sexist because it’s the name of a woman,” she told entertainment reporter Josh Horowitz on an episode of his Happy Sad Confused podcast [Time Stamp: 55:00]. “And everyone was saying that Luke had the exact same [abilities ] I think Rey is incredible vulnerable, and nothing she’s doing is for the greater good.”
“She’s just doing what she thinks is the right thing,” she concluded. “And she doesn’t want to do some of it, but she feels compelled to do it. So for me, I was just confused.”
