Thing I saw on Tumblr recently, reacting to a great picture of Mark Hamill hugging Lupita Nyong’o: “I love that Mark Hamill has just unilaterally decided Luke is everybody’s father, and also gay. :D”
To which I can only say this…
It’s even better than that.
If you check out Hamill’s full quote, here’s what you’ll read:
“Fans are writing and ask all these questions, ‘I’m bullied in school…I’m afraid to come out. Could Luke be gay?’ I’d say it is meant to be interpreted by the viewer. If you think Luke is gay, of course he is.”
And, of course, that works for more than just gay. Gay, straight, bi, pan, ace, demi, trans, cis…anything at all. If you think Luke is, of course Luke is.
Even things you might not be able to think Luke is, Star Wars finds a way. Is it possible for Luke Skywalker to be a cis woman? Sounds like a stretch, I have to imagine. But then…as many people have established, in early drafts of the screenplay, the character occupying Luke’s place was a woman. Who’s to say that isn’t as much “Luke” as anything else?
The one thing Luke always is, through everything, is the one we look up to. That’s why it’s so important to the people writing in to Hamill. “If Luke can be gay,” they are saying, “it can be OK. I can face my fear. I can see Luke as someone to emulate, to be like. Luke can give me strength.”
No matter what you are, Luke can be you.
And that’s when you realize what Luke really is. And of course it’s what Luke is. What Luke always was, from the beginning.
Luke Skywalker is the Hero with a Thousand Faces.
Including yours.
Luke Skywalker is the Hero with a Thousand Faces.
Including yours.
My heart did a little thing. YES THIS.
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