I thoroughly enjoyed this show, for the very most part.
Side characters are explored, enriching the SW universe. The story is well told. It is well done. It is well paced. The scope is neither small nor big, but focused. The techniques are good, camera and lighting and art direction and score and all the other machinations of cinematic story telling that an audience usually will not notice.
It made me feel stuff. I felt the anger, frustration, and fear. Tales Of The Empire works.
And then there is episode 5: A gender politic (singular?) out of the blue. It yanked me right out of A Galaxy Far, Far Away and into the undesireable present.
And I already feel the pressure, the need to explain myself: So, two years ago I met a person - first for me - who wanted to be addressed as they/them, and I was surprised: It didn't bother me at all. For one: Name and identity - behaviours, habitus - is anybody's choice: If I want to be addressed as "cactus", I have the right to want that. And very actual: I quite instantly realized that above mentioned person was plagued hard with psychological problems, and I thought, boy, if this is your way out, or at least some kind of help, I would be a terrible, terrible person to make it a problem. (I also think that a portion of people struggling with their social-biological identity, thanks to the media, fall for the "gender maelstrom" as a remedy (also thanks to the media), and I think that this sets them on a distracting course, and a caring therapist would be galaxies better...) What a digress.
What I do not appreciate: Disney is very consciously sabotaging my escapism. Star Wars, to me, is holy. It is a fairy tale. I don't want trade disputes in it. I don't want racial stereotypes (Ep. I, anyone?). I don't want Tatooine engineers talking about the hairyness of Jawas. I don't want conservationists joining the Rebel Alliance because the Empire uses plastics in their armor. I want to be swept away and I do not want to be hit in the face with what is trending. I also think that this is exactly what is fueling the burning divide, and that it is a huge disservice to the people struggling with these issues.
Closing thought: Me, I am a fat dude - where is my representation, where is the one fat side character Jedi? Kidding. I don't want fat Jedis. Please.
