#but compared to the rest? to Cassian and Jyn and Leia and Obi-Wan?

[scifiisforgirlsgaystheys]

There’s something so very satisfying about Mon’s horror at Andor killing people and getting cold feet after years of espionage, and Cassian saying, “Welcome to the Rebellion.” (I love him so much 😭) Because this whole time she thought she was in the Rebellion. She even said nothing will be harder than these past few years, when she’s been living in total luxury. While Cassian was imprisoned and enslaved, Mon was at parties and hearings. While Bix was being tortured, Mon was having a full blown crisis over her daughter being a fucking conservative (which I mean, fair, but not life threatening). She has been stressed because of the rebellion, she has sacrificed, she has been inconvenienced. But she has not bled. And she certainly has not made others bleed by her own hand. Mon hasn’t gotten dirty like Cassian and others have. She’s been partying in heaven and they’ve been burning in hell, all while committing the same goddamned sins.

But there’s no going back now. People have died so she can live, and right before her eyes this time, in broad daylight. This is it. No more parties, or meetings, or hearings, or even a family. She’s not an esteemed senator anymore. She’s a rebel. Now she’s a rebel.

It makes me think about those who feel so holy and righteous by liking political posts or watching TikToks the full minute, when there are actual people fighting and hurting and dying. Rights are being stolen. Lives are being stolen. And some are acting like they’re a part of this great revolution by simply agreeing what’s happening is, in fact, bad.

There’s a line between ‘acknowledging something is wrong’ and ‘doing something about that wrong’ most are afraid to cross, and while spreading information and supporting those financially who need it is paramount to any cause, that line becomes very, very apparent when it comes to real effective activism, and Andor represented that spot on.

[anghraine]

Sometimes fandom’s fixation on Cassian/the vitriolic hatred that Jyn got makes me forget how much Lucasfilm has persistently minimized his importance, and then I run into it again and it’s just this utter whiplash. 

I hate that the main poster lumps Cassian in with the men/supporting cast when he is clearly the deuteragonist. I hate that critics followed their lead in the discussion of the overall film. I hate that the team has been persistently framed as Jyn+the rest by Lucasfilm, as if Cassian were no more central than Chirrut. 

Fun fact: Diego Luna has the most lines in the film. Felicity has slightly less, probably because Jyn is a less talkative character. But the next after them, Riz Ahmed, has less than half what Diego does.

The “ensemble movie” presentation is an exaggeration at best. The characters choose to form a literal ensemble, but that isn’t a matter of structure. RO has a ... somewhat uneven structure, but at its core it’s very typical: two leads (protagonist+deuteragonist), a few major characters, and supporting cast.

I’ve compared it to Pride and Prejudice before, but setting details of characterization and setting aside, it’s very much the same kind of structure: a female protagonist (Elizabeth), a male co-lead (Darcy), a few major characters (like Jane), and a range of supporting cast (Bingley, Mr and Mrs Bennet, Lydia, Charlotte, Caroline). Although the major/supporting characters have a strong presence, the narrative is primarily built around the relationship between the two leads and their influence on each other.

And in RO, that’s Jyn and Cassian. The RO team is led by both of them; the soldiers show up for Jyn because of Cassian, and Jyn and Cassian both call the shots during the mission. A poster that actually reflected the characters’ prominence would have shown Jyn and Cassian as central. Reviews that weighted what the film did would have spent nearly as much time evaluating Diego as Felicity. 

It’s particularly frustrating because it forms such a sharp contrast to the presentation of the PT’s and OT’s co-leads. Compare the RO poster to this, say:

Luke is given primacy, with Han and Leia placed center-stage around him, Vader looming behind, and the supporting characters on the edges. It’s relatively balanced.

Here’s one for Empire:

Han and Leia’s increased prominence is reflected in their increased prominence here, Vader’s increased presence has his helmet now taking up nearly the whole background, while Luke’s primacy is shrunk but he remains at center-stage, while yet again, the supporting characters hover at the edges.

Even as late as ROTS:

We’ve got Anakin as protagonist, Padmé and Obi-Wan as fellow main characters of nearly as much importance + a good-sized Palpatine as villain.

Hell, look at the poster to Solo, just this year:

Han as protagonist, with Lando, Qi’ra, and Chewie backing him up, and the supporting characters beyond them. 

But Cassian, who speaks more than literally any other character, gets a fraction of the space that Jyn does and barely more primacy than the supporting cast. 

ARRRRRGH