Warning: This text incorporates spoilers for Andor Season 2 Episodes 1 by means of 3.Set off Warning: This text incorporates references to sexual assault. Reader discretion is suggested.
Since Andor premiered on Disney+ in 2022, it has earned rave opinions for its darkish, mature material and willingness to push the boundaries of what a Star Wars undertaking can get away with. Whereas Star Wars has historically aimed to be four-quadrant, all-ages household leisure, Andor‘s emphasis on political intrigue, espionage, and tackling the corrupt methods of fascist regimes make it a Star Wars sequence aimed toward a extra mature viewers. This has allowed Andor to go to some darkish locations, with the Season 2 opening block of episodes that includes what is likely to be the franchise’s darkest second.
In Andor Season 2, Episode 3, an Imperial officer makes an attempt to sexually assault Bix Caleen (Adria Arjona) earlier than she shoots him. This is not an implied assault both, as shortly after, a rightfully offended Bix tells one other Imperial officer who tries to arrest her that the earlier officer “tried to rape me.” This marks the primary specific reference to sexual assault in Star Wars, and the usage of the phrase rape.
In a franchise that featured Anakin Skywalker willfully admitting to slaughtering girls and youngsters in Assault of the Clones and later killing Jedi youngsters in Revenge of the Sith, this particular second in Andor felt like probably the most unsettling scene within the Star Wars franchise… and I am undecided learn how to really feel about it.
The Intent Behind the Scene in ‘Andor’
Andor
4.5
/5
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2022 – 2025-00-00
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Disney+
The topic of sexual assault and rape in media just isn’t one thing that ought to ever be handled evenly. Far too usually, it’s employed by male writers as an inexpensive manner of including drama and stakes to a narrative to make it really feel extra “mature”, with the goal usually being feminine characters as a manner so as to add trauma to their story or, worse, a motivating issue for a male character. Whereas I am not certified to say whether or not Andor dealt with the topic nicely, I do not suppose it was low-cost or finished for no cause. Author Tony Gilroy is showcasing a brand new facet of evil to the Empire that’s extra visceral than blowing up a planet with unnamed faceless individuals.
It speaks to how fascist governments usually make use of sexual violence as a weapon, with there being a number of studies of how the Nazis would sexually assault girls in focus camps. Andor additionally notably frames the Imperial officers as a police drive, and offers with how figures of authority, like police, typically use their standing to get away with heinous crimes they know will not be reported. Based on a 2013 examine, sexual violence is probably the most reported type of police misconduct, behind extreme drive. The ACLU famous that “The individuals most focused by police for sexual violence traditionally are from marginalized backgrounds, together with girls of colour, LGBTQ+ individuals, intercourse staff, and folks weak to threats of incarceration.” The scene in query additionally frames the Empire officers as immigration officers, trying to deport an “undocumented” political refugee like Bix, who’s performed by an actress of Guatemalan and Puerto Rican descent. A sample of sexual misconduct and abuse is frequent in ICE detention facilities, as, in accordance with PBS, between 2015 and 2021, 308 complaints have been filed by immigrants detained in ICE services concerning sexual assault and sexual abuse.
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Andor constructed on Rogue One whereas sustaining its personal nice story in a number of methods.
Andor‘s employment of tried sexual assault serves a dramatic level, one with historic and cultural relevance that matches the sequence’ bigger mission assertion of making an attempt to floor and present a extra adult-oriented facet to the battle between the Insurgent Alliance and the Empire — one with no Jedi or mythic heroes, however with heroes who stroll within the grey zone and villains who commit way more visceral acts of evil. It’s finished with a selected intent, and they’re nicely inside their rights to push Star Wars ahead as a property and problem what it means. Whereas that is certainly one of many torments that Bix has undergone, Andor has highlighted how lots of the Empire have left bodily and emotional scars on everybody within the galaxy. They’re an evil that places down everybody, which is boiling over into rise up.
Tried sexual assault is frequent in fascist regimes, and usually happens inside unequal energy dynamics. It is a unhappy actuality, and it is definitely life like… however that begs the query of whether or not Star Wars can or needs to be life like. That is, in any case, a franchise with droids and aliens, and options ships in area that financial institution like fighter jets, and have loads of sound in area. Realism has by no means been a priority. The sequence’ opening textual content, “a very long time in the past in a galaxy far, far-off…” units it as a galactic fairy story, and it was George Lucas’ unique intent. So does this aspect bend the fantasy aspect of Star Wars an excessive amount of to the purpose that it breaks?
Why Does This Really feel Out of Place in ‘Star Wars’… And Ought to It?
It’s arduous to disclaim that the tried sexual assault took me out of Andor. That is not a criticism of the present, however a private response to the episode. This franchise options lightsabers, droids that make whistle noises modeled after child speak, and aliens resembling werewolves. So, it may’t assist however stand out just a little at first.
Within the days after watching the episode, I have been interrogating what precisely it was about this that felt so improper inside the Star Wars franchise in comparison with acts of bodily violence. Anakin Skywalker slaughtering younglings definitely makes Vader’s redemption in Return of the Jedi more durable to swallow, but it surely by no means felt “off” with the remainder of the franchise. However it ought to really feel improper in any case, as a result of it’s clear little one homicide. The one cause I can consider for the motion is that it’s only referenced versus proven, whereas the tried assault on Bix doesn’t shrink back from how uncomfortable and harmful it’s.
This left me with a wierd feeling about whether or not sexual assault is one thing that ought to occur in Star Wars. Although Andor just isn’t made for youths, it’s half of a bigger franchise with a key demographic of youngsters. Sexual assault would not exist in The Lord of the Rings or Transformers, and would probably really feel very misplaced in each of them, so it could, in concept, really feel that manner in Star Wars. But then I feel, “Why does this not trouble me as a lot in Marvel initiatives?” I imply it does when it’s gratuitous.
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It has been determined that the ‘Star Wars’-Disney+ sequence ‘Andor’ will finish with Season 2. Nevertheless, it is not essentially a nasty factor, and for good cause.
Nonetheless, the presence of sexual violence in, say, an MCU tv sequence like Jessica Jones would not instantly take me out of the expertise the identical manner it did for Andor. If something, how Jessica Jones tackled it labored inside the bigger MCU, which confirmed that in a world crammed with threats like Ultron and Thanos, there are extra private evils like Kilgrave across the nook. I do not instantly go “This clashes with the tone of sequence like Ms. Marvel or She-Hulk,” as a result of the universe can help these completely different tales. It feels absurd to present Marvel a cross and never Star Wars, proper?
A part of this is likely to be that Marvel Comics, whereas primarily aimed toward children, additionally had a counterculture youth and college-age fan base that began within the Sixties, making it really feel barely extra mature. They’ve offered themselves because the world exterior your window, typically together with actual evils that shouldn’t be ignored. Star Wars just isn’t our world; it’s a galaxy far, far-off. It’s a melting pot of parts, themes, and visible signifiers from our world, creating one that’s equally distinctive as it’s acquainted.
Nevertheless, that unusual combination of parts makes Star Wars distinctive in comparison with different sci-fi franchises. Star Wars can characteristic Fifties Americana diners, regardless of there being no Fifties or America. It is a world with area pirates, samurai-style warriors, and a planet resembling Eighties American suburbs, and all of that appears like Star Wars simply by present inside the franchise.
This is likely to be the truth of being a Star Wars fan, or any longtime fan of a long-running franchise. Everybody has that second from a Star Wars undertaking the place one thing pushes towards their view of the franchise, breaking their understanding of this galaxy. For some, it was the Ewoks in Return of the Jedi being too cute. For others, it was Jar Jar Binks in The Phantom Menace. A whole part of the fandom melted down over The Final Jedi for a lot of causes. The return of Palpatine and the backtracking of Rey’s origin in The Rise of Skywalker made some swear off the franchise. Heck, the color-coded speeders in The E-book of Boba Fett have been a step too far for some individuals. Not liking one thing in Star Wars is simply a part of the method; the query is, what does one do subsequent?
Not Every little thing ‘Star Wars’ Does Will Be What I Would Do, and That is Okay
Regardless of the sensation that sexual assault feels misplaced in Star Wars, it’s a subjective view that’s under no circumstances indicative of the standard of Andor. I can also’t go full Helen Lovejoy and suppose “will not anyone please consider the youngsters” as a result of it is uncertain that any little one watching The Mandalorian will bounce over to Andor and see this. They are going to probably watch it when they’re sufficiently old and prepared for this dialog. Simply because I’ve a tough time grappling with the concept of characters like Grogu and R2D2 present in a world the place sexual assault can occur, I am not going to censor Gilroy or creatives who need to take large inventive swings with Star Wars. Perhaps in the long run, a sequence like Star Wars must say the phrase “rape,” as a result of it reveals the phrase has energy and it ought to make individuals uncomfortable.
Andor is a present made for an older viewers, probably the children who grew up with the Star Wars prequels, who did not thoughts the political elements of the tales that many modern grownup critics and followers seemingly did on the time. Andor is a Star Wars sequence for an viewers who grew up and needs a Star Wars present that appears like grew up with them. That is completely comprehensible, and fortuitously, there are nonetheless loads of Star Wars initiatives that keep in mind George Lucas’ preliminary thought of being aimed toward youngsters, and the youngsters inside all of us.
It’s high-quality for Andor to deal with such a mature topic. It may need taken me out for a second, and I am nonetheless grappling with it, however I really like Star Wars as a result of it encompasses so many issues. Children’ adventures like Skeleton Crew can have enjoyable alongside the extra politically minded Andor, whereas The Mandalorian provides the expertise of enjoying with a sequence of Star Wars toys. Star Wars in all probability should not go full R-rated, but it surely’s okay for it to deal with some lofty topics and experiment. It has finished it in varied tones, from Andor to The Dangerous Batch to the prequels to The Final Jedi. This galaxy can help many tales, and we should always not restrict it.
Even when this one aspect of Andor is likely to be one I wrestle with, I am nonetheless grateful the sequence exists and what it has finished for Star Wars general. Who is aware of, this sense would possibly fade after some time, and it would simply be accepted into Star Wars, like many different once-controversial parts have. Andor is streaming on Disney+.