‘Star Wars’: The Franchise’s Highest-Grossing Films Are The Ones That Give Female Characters More Screen Time

The latest round of “Star Wars” canon films have only further bolstered the franchise’s interest in creating compelling, singular female characters, from the continued legacy of Leia and Padme to new stars like Rey, Rose, and Captain Phasma, and a new study makes a case for the connection between female-led screen time and box office take. Author, film lecturer, and founder of the Glasgow Feminist Arts Fest Becca Harrison recently undertook a labor intensive process to figure out which “Star Wars” canon films (not including the just-released “Solo: A Star Wars Story”) include the most screen time for their female characters. When we recently spoke with actress and activist Geena Davis, she pointed out that her own Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, which was created with the express aim to “champion women and diversity in film,” had recently wrapped a study of the 100 top films from 2017 and found that films starring a female character made 38% more at the box office than films starring a male character. That such metrics would carry over to a franchise as popular and enduring as “Star Wars” is not shocking in the least. Read More…