If this is too soon, let me know. I'll be thorough with my tags. I just really really need to yell about this, and there has been decent grace period. I planned this last night and there are around 20 tweets.
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First of all: Vanessa Marshall's performance in both Jedi Night and Dume was an absolute tour de force, she was absolutely, truly impeccable. For reals. My heart. However: the writing was not deserving of such a performance
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The treatment of Hera in Jedi Night was, frankly, appalling. It made me uncomfortable on viewing but as soon as I started talking about the episode that developed into full on disappointed distaste. This is more than her just being my fave
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At every opportunity the episode went out of its way to steal hera's autonomy, her agency undermined at every turn. First she was tortured far longer and more explicitly than any other character on the show, including Kanan and Sabine.
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But importantly: she was drugged. With a truth serum. 'So what! Pryce is wicked devious an imperial,' you say. Sure thing. Drugging anyone, but especially a woman is awful. It is a violation. Which it was shown as being for about 30 seconds, then: comedy.
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A women being under the influence of a drug is just hilarious, right? Sure we got some lovely banter, great coupley moments (Kanan, that's mine.) but Hera had no agency in any of that. She was compelled by the drugs to declare her heart's contents. It was gross.
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As shown and stated, hera's openly acknowledging their relationship and their possible post-war future, is a Big Deal. As Marshall stated in RR, Hera is very reserved. They've been together for the better part of decade (fight me)
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and she hasn't thought or spoken beyond the here and now of their relationship status. These declarations are HUGE:... and she is being compelled to say them. She has no agency in it. She thinks, she says it. Bc evil drugs.
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This isn't a breakthrough chAracter revelation; it is a breakdown in character respect & building. The only way they could get Hera to this point was through literal force, dragging her out of her mind? Remember she spent the entire episode tripping balls.
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Not to mention that there was this heavy element of regression to this very girlish person. It was nice being reminded her age (she's of an age with me, this is why this shit hurts), but not in this way. Again: imagine if this had been though her actively CHOOSING
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To embrace a lighter side of life, to allow herself to be be Hera Syndulla, not General Syndulla? But no, this was done through bodily violation. 'It's all me.' Maybe, but she isn't sharing this naturally of her own volition.
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Have you ever been drugged? Non-consensually drugged, that is? I have. It's awful. You have no control, you don't know what you're doing or saying. Your body is this heavy alien object and your mind is unleashed and you don't. Know. Why. It is terrifying.
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And the next day? You still don't know why or how or what. You won't remember things. You'll have disjointed memories and no context for anything at all. Hera is going to have horrible confused disjointed memories of her final moments with Kanan.
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But it was funny and romantic! Hera had no say in that, no choice. She had her mind and bodily control stripped, plus her last moments with Kanan robbed, and we were supposed to cheer and then gasp and feel the feels.
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Then last of all we have kanan's final (weightless, emotionless, pointless, wasted) heroic gesture of pushing her away and dangling. Her. Like. A. Doll. Withthe force. He's saving her! Yes! Ok. But again, Hera became an object to be saved. Again.
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A mannequin - almost literally given how helpless Kanan forced her to be (and remember she's tripping balls here, gUys!) - to motivate and force emotion in what felt like an incredibly tacky and sloppy move.
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I don't begrudge people loving the episode or being moved by it. I do begrudge writing that stole hera's narrative away from her and handed that control to everyone but herself. I begrudge writing that thinks a woman being forcibly drugged can be played for laughs
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I begrudge seeing my own traumatic experiences being forced on a character I love dearly. I begrudge writing that poorly served the incredible heart and soul that went into the performance
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And I begrudge that I am so upset about this that I can barely process the wider story happenings bc it feels a little like the creative team don't have respect for the characters' narratives. I know they do, but it doesn't feel like it rn.
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This show is my darling fave - these characters are my darlings. despite being fake and in space they have done so much for me, brought me so much. Kill your darlings, but at least respect them & their stories. Consider the optics of what you do to your characters
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I know there's s plan, and Filoni tells us to trust him. I do. But this treatment of a character? Of a woman? Especially in this (to me) very weak context? Is not ok. I would much rather be gasping over the ep with everyone else
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I am done now. Sorry, guys. I just... yeah. This was a poor move and this is not how I want to be approaching these last episodes.pic.twitter.com/yo0gImPF8J
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If you could all maybe read my entire thread before coming to yell at me, that would be swell. Also bear in mind that 1) I acknowledge my reaction is rooted in my experiences and is not shared others/anyone and 2) my take is just as valid as yours.
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I was fully expecting to be shredded for this thread, but I've had less than a dozen people taking issue, and only a handful of them were truly awful. So thanks everyone for being cool today.
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I'm still working through notifications and dm's so bear with me
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