Emotional Expressions in Star Wars (psychology nerd post)
Today is the 3rd anniversary of The Last Jedi. What a spectacularly beautiful movie. I think often about the emotional expressions of the 2 main actors, Adam Driver and Daisy Ridley. They both conveyed SO much just through their eyes. It really is a powerful movie. It was well-directed and well-acted.
So, I’m a psychologist in my daily life and I discuss gender differences in emotional expression often. Typically (but not always), boys are taught NOT to express emotion except for anger. Girls are taught they can have all the emotions EXCEPT anger. As we become adults, we can see how this plays out. Men who cry are seen as weak. Women who display anger are called bitches. This isn’t fair to either gender. I encourage my students to explore their own emotional expressions and to allow their children, nieces, nephews, etc. to display their full range of emotions. It’s an integral part of being human.
Why does this have anything to do with Star Wars? There are many fans out there who do not like The Last Jedi and I’m hypothesizing that it has to do with emotional expression, specifically crying and sadness. Kylo Ren in The Force Awakens is angry, so fans happy. Kylo Ren in The Last Jedi is sad and is really showing the full range of emotions (including anger). Perhaps this was too much for these fans. Thus, The Rise of Skywalker shows us angry Kylo Ren again without much of that sadness (until the very end; dear god that’s sad); fans happy. Fans tolerated Han Solo falling in love with Princess Leia, but if you remember, there were no tears. Tears may be what tears the fans up.
The ironic thing about this group of LastJedi-hating fans is that I suspect they are the same fans who are loving the father-son dynamic in The Mandolorian. Now, I have yet to see any tears from Din Djarin, but perhaps they are coming in the future. How will these fans act then? I’m definitely looking forward to finding out.
