New Star Wars movie ‘The Rise of Skywalker’ features LGBT kiss between two females
The latest installment in the decades-long Star Wars saga Episode IX, The Rise of Skywalker includes a same-sex kiss between two women. "In a celebration sequence in the film, two female members of the Resistance share an exuberant kiss during the joyful moment,” according to The Hollywood Reporter. However, “they are minor characters and not heavily featured in the film.”
Director J.J. Abrams had hinted weeks ago that “Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker,” might feature an LGBT character or scene, as lifesitenews.com reports
“In the case of the LGBTQ community, it was important to me that people who go to see this movie feel that they’re being represented in the film,” said Abrams during promotional interviews in the run up to the film’s premiere. At the time, he wouldn’t give away whether Episode IX might see another character stated to be or depicted as LGBT in some way, but he quipped that “I did just say what I just said.”
Surprisingly, the fabled franchise’s very first LGBTQ moment — has gone uncut by China’s oft heavy-handed film regulators. Moviegoers attending Wednesday night preview screenings of Skywalker in both Beijing and Shanghai reported the moment had been retained.
The Star Wars Franchise is owned by Disney. As LGBTQ portal Pink News commented:
“It is the first time a Disney-owned blockbuster has featured a same-sex kiss, and will likely prove a test in markets where censors prohibit depictions of homosexuality on-screen.”
LGBT Star Wars fans had hoped for years that two male characters who had appeared in 2015’s Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens —Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) and Finn (John Boyega)— would develop a romantic relationship in future episodes, but Adams had recently nixed that idea in an interview with the movie trade publication, Variety.
No… Finally not them. But they decided to remain friends!
Referring to the on screen chemistry between Poe Dameron and Finn, Abrams said, “That relationship to me is a far deeper one than a romantic one,” which challenges the notion of most gays that intimate relationships between males must include a romantic/sexual component.
“It is a deep bond that these two have, not just because of the trial by fire in which they met, but also because of their willingness to be as intimate as they are, as afraid as they, as unsure as they are, and still be bold, and still be daring and brave.”
Homosexual news outlets are welcoming the news. “It is definitely progress for a franchise that has previously eschewed depictions of LGBT+ people on screen,” stated Pink News.
