The Mandalorian's Latest Episode Would Be One Of It's Best If Not For Rosario Dawson

 

‘The Jedi’ should have been a momentous occasion for fans of Star Wars. The first live action appearance of a fan favorite character.  Said character answering some questions surrounding Mando’s small adult son and hinting at a continuation of Rebels’ story. And yet, the introduction of Ahsoka Tano in the flesh fell flat. Some of that is due to Rosario Dawson’s staid, uninterested performance. Some of it is due to Dawson and fellow Mandalorian actor Gina Carano’s history of transphobia. Some of it is the way in which no one at Lucasfilm or Disney has made so much as a peep about the problems fans have been asking them to confront.

Of course, enabling and inviting bigotry is nothing new to the franchise or the Disney era in particular. Whether it be refusing to reject the portion of the fanbase that has driven several actors off social media for the crime of being a woman or person of color (or both) or  by actively kowtowing to those bigots by replacing those actors and their characters with new, whiter ones. Or even adding quick cuts to LGBTQ+ characters that can be easily chopped out of the film when it releases in places with largely intolerant views of sexuality and gender. Making your casts interesting and diverse does not mean much when those characters get shunted to the side because Disney is scared of losing the worst section of its fanbase.

Disney is one of the largest corporations on the planet. Disney IS the movie industry. Disney can do whatever they want and what they want is to continue enabling bigots because they pay money too. This will likely continue as Ahsoka’s appearance in The Mandalorian is allegedly being used to generate interest in a spinoff. Of course, instead of continuing to employ Dawson, they could recast her. Or maybe make an animated series and have Ashley Eckstein return to the role she originated. I would not expect either of those, but I am a generally hopeful person.

I am not saying anyone should stop watching the show. Every individual should decide what they are comfortable with. I am going to continue to cover The Mandalorian for the remainder of the season as I have been the prior four episodes. If I feel up to it, I may write something more akin to previous reviews sometime before the next episode airs. Whether there is any cover of The Mandalorian, or Star Wars in general, following that commitment is undecided.

There are people much smarter than I that have written and spoken about these issues. I recommend you search them out as knowing more is never a problem. To start, I would recommend these articles and move forward from there. I will catch you all next week for more on the Grogu show.

As always, feel free to give your thoughts in the comments or on Twitter at @alexraysnyder. And if you like what you read here, consider throwing a couple bucks my way on Patreon to help cover costs.