You don’t have to be a film graduate to know that the film industry is dominated by men, in terms of production, audience, and the stories told. Fortunately there is one particularly popular, decades-old franchise, which values its women: Star Wars.
Super-nerd Amy Ratcliffe has produced a stunning anthology celebrating 75 female characters from across the galaxy, illustrated by a range of female and non-binary artists.
Dedicated to the late, great Carrie Fisher, and with a foreword by producer Kathleen Kennedy, Star Wars: Women of the Galaxy is the ultimate coffee table book for feminist film geeks.
The book consists of 200 pages showcasing the impact of characters big and small, quite literally, from Kneesaa to Captain Phasma, and everyone in between.
While I can’t say enough good things about the contemporary films, I’m not familiar with the wider franchise, so I was interested to see that the book also covered the comic books, computer games and animated series. No stone is left unturned in Ratcliffe’s quest to recognise the impact of the female heroes (and villains) of George Lucas and co’s global phenomenon.
As you can see, the artwork is nothing short of incredible, bringing many of these characters to life for the first time. Of course, some are more prolific than others, and the accompanying character breakdowns explore their impact and legacy.
Leia Organa is such an icon of film, not just the Star Wars universe, blazing the trail for action heroines for over 40 years. Without her, we may not have had the likes of Ripley (Alien), Sarah Connor (The Terminator) or Trinity (The Matrix), and we certainly wouldn’t have had Star Wars’ recent leading ladies, Rey and Jyn. Thanks to Leia (and George Lucas and Carrie Fisher), generations of young women have characters to aspire to, and it’s fantastic to see a book celebrate that.
Star Wars: Women of the Galaxy is out today.
*I was sent a copy of this book for review purposes and all nerdy thoughts are my own
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What a cool book! I know quite a few people who would love this.