'Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker': First Same-Sex Kiss on Star Wars EXPLAINED
The most classic space-opera movie franchise came back not only to offer closure to its fans but also to showcase a never-before-seen moment in the history of the film.
"Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" is the "trilogies after trilogies" film that was released to deliver the ninth and last episode of its prequel trilogy. Directed by J. J. Abrams, the film showcased the stories that happened since "The Last Jedi" in 2017.
However, Abrams prepared something special in the movie for everyone.
Desire For Diversity
The director appeared in an interview with MovieZine last week where he explained his responsibility as a filmmaker.
Abrams said, "I think it's every filmmaker's responsibility to not only represent the world as it exists as much as possible on-screen but also behind the camera."
To fully "represent the world," he cast Victoria Mahoney as his second unit director in the film. Mahone -- because of this honorable role -- gained respect for being the first African-American woman to ever be included in that position since the franchise started.
Abrams pointed out that keeping Mahoney to his team was important, and choosing her was something he is proud of since he just brought people "who were not the usual suspects."
Rather than taking away positions from anyone, Abrams saw these opportunities as signs to give other people the chances they deserve but did not have before.
Moreover, choosing the right people (whether a woman or a person of color) for his film benefit him in terms of offering diversity among his projects, which is also good for his business.
Abrams was so sure that he made what he aimed to do, and he did offer people a different flavor this time.
Special Scene
In the same interview, he talked about that one scene that became part of Star Wars' diversity.
Towards the end of the film, two unnamed female characters kissed as they held the celebration scene.
Abrams shared his reason why he included the same-sex kissing scene, which was the first in the history of the franchise.
According to the director, that particular scene received attention and applauses during the film's screening in Sweden, and it was the right choice to include it.
For Abrams, the celebration scene felt like "an opportunity to him" to complete the whole movie experience by indirectly telling the moviegoers that they are all welcome.
He reasoned out, "It does not matter what your sexual preference is. [It] does not matter what your race [or] species -- whether you are organic or synthetic."
"Star Wars is for everyone and knowing that there had not been a representation like that, it does not take away from anyone, it just shows that Star Wars is for all of us," he went on.
With his statement and explanation, Star Wars' fans surely gained another reason to love the series even more.
