It looks like we won’t be seeing a #WheresJyn? hashtag come December when “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” premieres. The toy companies seem to have gotten the message that, not only do girls play with toys too, but if you make toys out of female characters, (gasp!) boys will still play with them.
Entertainment Weekly and USA Today got a first look at some of the toys that will be released for “Rogue One” and they mostly feature the lead character, Jyn Erso, who will be played by Felicity Jones (“The Theory of Everything”) in the movie.
There are a number of different types of Jyn toys: a seven-inch Disney Store Elite Series action figure, an Elite Series figurine, a tiny LEGO version, a FUNKO POP vinyl bobblehead, a four-inch collectible display piece, a huge 20-inch figure, and more.
This is a great step forward for female representation — not only in sci-fi film, but in the toy industry as well. With toy companies catching flack for excluding characters like Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow from a good number of “Avengers: Age of Ultron” playsets, and Zoe Saldana’s character Gamora missing from much “Guardians of the Galaxy” merchandise, it was as if they were saying the female characters didn’t matter because boys wouldn’t play with them. Newsflash! Boys will play with them!
As we’ve said before, sexism is taught. People aren’t born sexist — they are raised to be. So when you give boys toys and T-shirts that lack female representation, you’re telling them that women don’t deserve to be represented in the culture. But give them a female action figure at an early age before all of that bullshit has been implanted in their heads, and not only will they play with the damn thing, but they might just grow up thinking women are equal to men. Take them to see movies with women saving the world, and they’ll want a T-shirt with her picture on it.
The problem seemed to hit its peak when “The Force Awakens’” own main character Rey was also missing from toy shelves. “Iron Man 3” director Shane Black also revealed a surprising truth about why Rebecca Hall’s character, Maya Hansen, and female super-soldier Brandt (Stéphanie Szostak) were tragically underdeveloped: execs were afraid a female villain toy wouldn’t sell.
But the numbers have been proving them wrong. Just this past summer, toymaker Mattel reported strong sales for its line of “Ghostbusters” toys among both girls and boys. But we’ll have to keep an eye out for the rest of “Rogue One’s” merchandise. What T-Shirts will Jyn appear on? And who will they be marketed to? These toys are a great first step.
Also, according to Legion of Leia, “Lucasfilm has also released a great fan-made YouTube film that perfectly showcases the merchandise that will be sold for the Star Wars spin-off film. It is shot in stop-motion and is the first part of a four part series of clips that will be released onto YouTube. The clip also serves to help promote a contest that is being thrown called Go Rogue, which invites fans to make videos using toys and costumes based off of the upcoming film. The Go Rogue contest opens on September 30, so start plotting now.” This would be a great opportunity for aspiring female stop-motion animators to celebrate a new female character.
Check out the stop-motion movie below. The “Rogue One” toys will hit shelves on September 30, and the film premieres on December 16.