Career radical feminist, Anita Sarkeesian, tried to “cancel” Disney+’s hit new Star Wars property, “The Mandalorian” earlier this week but met with a wave of pushback by Star Wars fans and social media users who’ve grown tired of Sarkeesian’s woke crusade against nerd culture.
“The Mandalorian” is, arguably, Disney’s most successful addition to the “Star Wars” lexicon to date, garnering a wave of positive chatter from both critics and Star Wars fans alike — a huge feat, particularly following Rian Johnson’s awful sequel film, “The Last Jedi” — and its “Baby Yoda” character, “The Child,” quickly became a viral sensation.
But, like any popular entry into nerd culture, its success quickly made “The Mandalorian” a target for woke critics, including Sarkeesian, who made a name for herself by being a “feminist gaming critic” on the front lines of the anti-GamerGate movement. After viewing the first episode of “The Mandalorian,” Sarkeesian had thoughts.
Woke thoughts.
“Am I extremely tired or is there not a single female speaking character in the first episode of #Mandelorian?? I’ve gotta have missed something right???” Sarkeesian tweeted.
Am I extremely tired or is there not a single female speaking character in the first episode of #Mandelorian?? I've gotta have missed something right??? pic.twitter.com/nSo7sv4CUr
— Anita Sarkeesian (@anitasarkeesian) November 21, 2019
She most definitely did miss something. The “Armorer,” a fellow Mandalorian who welds bits of the sacred armor worn by the series’ title character, is a woman, played by Emily Swallow. She had a significant speaking role in the series’ first episode, but that wasn’t enough for Sarkeesian, who operates on the “quanity” theory of female equality.
Knowing she’d made a mistake, Sarkeesian doubled down, attacking “Mandalorian” showrunner, Jon Favreau.
“I guess Jon Favreau was like “well if we just make all the vehicles female like the ship and the Blurrg then we’re good right? That’s just the right amount of ‘female’,” she went on. “It feels especially jarring given how much the recent films have done to amplify women and women of colour who have been historically marginalized in the franchise.”
“I still feel like I just forgot an entire scene and that in this year of our Lord 2019 an epic blockbuster television show could not be released without any female speaking parts,” she concluded, still, apparently, unaware that she’d just watched an episode with a female main character.
Fortunately, there were many on social media ready and willing to correct Sarkeesian.
“I’m extremely tired of your blatant sexism,” tweeted fan “That Star Wars Girl. “No one cares about your obsession with women. There’s a concept called: Quality vs Quantity. Learn it.”
“You watched the first episode and not only did you miss the forger who was female…But you are complaining about this? Not talking about the acting, writing, character depth, pacing etc? Critiquing media like this is how we end up with The Last Jedi,” tweeted another.
A quick Google search might have revealed more shocking information on female involvement in “The Mandalorian,” including a handful of female “firsts” represented in the series. Vanity Fair reports, for example, that the third episode of “The Mandalorian” will be directed by a woman, Deborah Chow, making it the first live-action Star Wars property to feature a female director.
The series also isn’t lacking in strong female characters, even if only one woman appeared in the first episode. The Boston Herald reports that Gina Carano will take on the role of “Cara Dune.”
She told the paper that her character pays homage to the long line of strong women featured in the “Star Wars” lexicon.
“What Carrie Fisher did playing the character that was so strong and so independent was so incredible. We feel like this women’s movement is new, but it isn’t new. There have been massive female heroes through history and Carrie Fisher was one of them in ‘Star Wars’ as well as life,” Carano said. “I get to be such a cool character and when you are watching me, I feel like you kind of are looking at her as a soldier. There is a lot of depth to her and I hope people end up wanting to know more.”
Vanity Fair also reports that Ming Na-Wen will play an assassin in the series.
Sarkeesian may just be trying to work herself into a new occupation, though, as a Star Wars critic, given that her Feminist Frequency non-profit, is running out of cash.