Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Beauty and the Beast, and Disney’s Commodification of Feminism: A Political Economic Analysis

Abstract

This paper seeks to explore the strategies Hollywood utilizes to capitalize on feminist social movements through replacing hegemonic male characters with female ones or updating traditional stories through a more “feminist” retelling. By analyzing both 2017’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Beauty and the Beast as representative of this corporate trend, we critique the ways in which these pseudo-feminist texts not only contribute little to the social conversation surrounding the evolving roles of women and their representations in media through the lenses of critical political economy, feminist political economy, and feminist film criticism. We conclude that creating “feminist” reimaginings of classic narratives ultimately serves to uphold the existing economic structures that maintain social and financial capital within the largest Hollywood studios. Thus, little to no social progress is made through the creation of these retellings.

'La Bella y la Bestia' y el movimiento LGTB en Disney: empoderamiento y activismo en YouTube

“…La selección de esta película queda consolidada, en este sentido, por el carácter de la empresa Disney, considerada desde antaño como una aseguradora de la estructura económica y social, y como una creadora de cánones a partir de narrativas basadas en cuentos de hadas, mitos y leyendas (Koushik y Reed, 2018). Maier (2017) indica, por ende, que los fans de la compañía se han unido en una acción conjunta y positiva, con el objetivo de ensamblar a sus personajes favoritos mediante situaciones amorosas que reflejen sus deseos, al ser el medio audiovisual un concatenado estándar de heterosexualidad, negatividad e intolerancia (Seif, 2017).…”

The past, the present and The Mandalorian

“…Drawing on the notion that nostalgia enables a continuity of identity (see Sedikides & Wildschut 2018;May 2017;Wilson 2005;Davis 1979), this article explores how the aesthetics of the Disney+ lynchpin property, The Mandalorian (2019-Pres. ), facilitates a return to, and continuity of, masculine heteronormativity in the face of rapid and widespread change within the Star Wars cinematic franchise (see Wood et al 2020;Brown 2018;Koushik & Reed 2018;Scott 2017). Launched in the run-up to the theatrical release of the final instalment of the sequel trilogy, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (Abrams 2019), The Mandalorian can be read as a reaction to the diverse nexus of fresh characters and social contexts explored in Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Abrams 2015) and Star Wars: The Last Jedi (Abrams 2017).…”

Bad Witches: Gender and the Downfall of Elizabeth Holmes of Theranos and Disney’s Maleficent

“…These figures may act as agents of socialization Bandura 1999, 2004), especially in the area of gender equality (Coyne et al 2014(Coyne et al , 2016Davies et al 2002;Gerbner et al 2002;Pike and Jennings 2005). These types of depictions may also reflect continuing fears about females gaining power at the expense of men (Koushik and Reed 2018;Macaluso 2018;Olsson 2000).…”