Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
Luke Skywalker is a lot of things: He’s a farm boy, a Rebel hero, a Jedi Knight, and a mysterious old dude hiding out on a Jedi Temple all by his lonesome. It turns out he might also be gay.
Vanity Fair reports that in a recent interview with The Sun, Mark Hamill confirmed that his Star Wars hero’s sexual preferences are up in the air and open for speculation, saying:
…fans are writing and ask all these questions, ‘I’m bullied in school… I’m afraid to come out’. They say to me, ‘Could Luke be gay?’ I’d say it is meant to be interpreted by the viewer… If you think Luke is gay, of course he is. You should not be ashamed of it. Judge Luke by his character, not by who he loves.
Of course, the only person we ever saw Luke kiss was his twin sister Leia. So unpack the implications of that one…
Star Wars: The Force Awakens director J.J. Abrams recently commented that he would “love” to see more LGBT characters in the Star Wars films, telling The Daily Beast: “To me, the fun of Star Wars is the glory of possibility. So it seems insanely narrow-minded and counterintuitive to say that there wouldn’t be a homosexual character in that world.”
This rampant speculation comes on the heels of a massive internet push to make hotshot Resistance pilot Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) gay in the next Star Wars saga film. Fans have been making GIFs of the character’s interactions with one Finn to prove that he has a thing for gents.
Actor John Boyega told Radio Times that he initially saw Finn and Poe’s relationship as a “bromance,” but added, “[Y]ou never know what they’re going to pull. I’m looking at the director Rian [Johnson] closely so he can get me involved early, so I can prepare myself. So who knows?”
Who knows, indeed? Star Wars has been famously mum on its sexual politics. All we know so far is that marriage and love were forbidden by the Jedi and that babies come from…somewhere. Sometimes there isn’t even a father! Who’s to say that gender binaries and Kinsey scales do or don’t exist in a galaxy far, far away?
Star Wars: The Force Awakens arrives on streaming April 1. Click here for more on how to pre-order it.
[Gif source]
