Page - 116 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 06/02

116 | Jade Weimer www.jrfm.eu 2020, 6/2, 114–118 ic reasons but rather a leitmotif that initiates mythic recapitulations in the viewer. He argues that the melody played during the scene where Leia and Rey hug in The Force Awakens prompts the viewer to make certain interpretative conclusions about Rey’s possible status as Leia’s daughter and identifies both characters as the real heroes of the story. However, Callaway concludes that the use of the same melodic motif actually subverts this potentiality for a fe- male hero by taking the viewer/listener back to something they have already experienced (where Luke is the hero). The main point he makes is that the music subverts the audience’s gendered expectations. This is a fascinating argument that deals with the often-neglected topic of music in myth-making. However, I would have liked to see a more detailed analysis of the leitmotif in that scene in order that the point might be more clearly (and strongly) ar- gued. For example, what type of emotional response is this melody meant to elicit? How does that response shape the viewer’s interpretation of the scene more generally? Further discussion on the musical aspects of the melody (i.e. mode, rhythm, etc.) would be useful here. In chapter five, Daniel White Hodge and Joseph Boston explore the issue of racist fan responses to the casting of John Boyega in The Force Awakens. In light of the legacy of racism and stereotyping in Hollywood films, they argue that the casting of non-white characters in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (Gareth Edwards, US 2016) and The Force Awakens challenged the white hegemony of the Star Wars franchise and therefore met resistance from some fans. Yet despite the attempt at diversifying the franchise, all of the Black characters are in roles that reinforce whiteness as superior: “Lando is a traitor, Finn is a coward, and Lupita Nyong’o is buried under latex” (86). The authors aim to provoke further discussion on issues of race and racial representation in film, and they conclude that while Star Wars still reflects long-embedded tropes of whiteness and patriarchy, a positive mythical com- ponent is also present. Chapter six continues the issue of race as Joshua Call argues that the films have not sufficiently recognized or embraced the “gen- erative and rhetorical power of myth-making that has so captured the Star Wars fandom” (93). The Black characters are often tokenizing, which is prob- lematic considering that myth-making is successful only when a person can recognize themselves within the narrative or story. Call contends that other iterations of the franchise such as video games are actually more successful at achieving diversity by allowing players to create their own avatar, which reflects other ethnicities besides the “white hero” figure so prominently fea- tured in the franchise.