Ever since Disney acquired Lucasfilm back in 2012, theStar Warsuniverse has expanded. Diversity has been one of the highlights of the newer movies likeThe Last JediandRogue Onewhile also adding brand-new female characters who have never been in theStar Warsuniverse before. Some fans have mocked the new direction that Lucasfilm has taken on and others fully embrace the decision to have larger parts for strong female leads who aren’t confined to play the damsel in distress any longer. A new study has broken down all of theStar Warsmovies released to date, except forSolo: A Star Wars Story, and revealed which film has the most female screen time.
Film lecturer Becca Harrison set out to figure out just how far theStar Warsfranchise has come in the last 40-plus years in regard to female screen time and dialogue. To conduct her research, Harrison edited the 9 movies down to only include when women are on the screen and then used all of thedialogue spoken by femalesto collect her data. The results aren’t all of that surprising after watching the last four movies that have been released, includingSolo.
Number one on the list with the most female screen time is Rian Johnson’sThe Last Jedi, which isn’t surprising in the slightest. 43 percent ofThe Last Jediis made of females on screen and speaking. Number two is also not very surprising. J.J. Abrams’The Force Awakensfeatured 37 percent of female-led screen time and dialogue followed byRogue One, which has 35 percent of female screen time. The numbers take a quick dive after that as we venture into the older movies.
Number four on the list goes toReturn of the Jediat 23 percent, which is remarkably similar toEmpire Strikes Backwith 22 percent.Phantom Menace,Attack of the Clones, andRevenge of the Sithhave 20 percent, 18 percent, and 17 percent, respectively. And coming in dead last:A New Hopewith a measly 15 percent. The numbers prove that Lucasfilm took a slide in the prequels from the original trilogy and then worked its way back up for the latest movies that have all come out under the Disney umbrella.
Rebecca Harrison’sStar Warsresearch proves that women have gotten better representation over the last 3 years. This news will sit well with the majority ofStar Warsfans, but there are always those fans who love to troll andcriticize Lucasfilmfor reportedly using too many new female characters and different races of actors. It will be interesting to see howSolo: A Star Wars Storystacks up to the rest of the franchise. While Thandie Newton did not have a very large role, Emilia Clarke’s Qi’ra did and showed off a multi layered, conflicted character who had a decent amount of screen time. You can check out the results of the female screen time across the [Star Wars} universe below, thanks toBecca Harrison’s Twitteraccount.
