There is something of a side-conversation in this thread on whether or not the above Harrison Ford characters are or are not misogynistic:
I was a bit surprised at the suggestion but on thinking about it I can see how they could be perceived that way, though personally I would probably set a higher bar to accuse someone (fictional character or otherwise) of misogyny. I can’t say much about Han Solo as while I enjoyed the Star Wars movies they were never really my thing, growing up I much preferred the Indiana Jones trilogy. However I would say Indiana Jones is depicted as someone from his time and place and we couldn’t really expect him to have modern attitudes, besides isn’t a university professor pretty much patronising by definition?
Thoughts? I haven’t watched any of the Indiana Jones movies for a long time and now I’m kind of curious but reluctant to do so in case I end up viewing them differently.
Indiana Jones is a character from the 1930s, an era that is not exactly known for progressive thought in gender roles (the sexual politics of the Jazz Age notwithstanding). That said, the sample size is fairly low, with only four significant female roles across 4 films:
*Marion (the love of his life and who gives as good as she gets)
*Willie (who, as written, is phenomenally dumb and shallow)
*Elsa (who he respects as an academic, and even tries to save her after her betrayal)
*Spalko (who is a one-dimensional villain).
The closest thing to misogyny I can remember is when he accidentally punches a cigarette girl in the face at the beginning of Temple of Doom. Otherwise, his pursuit of the various artifacts is relentless but he doesn’t treat women any worse than he does men.
Han Solo has an even smaller sample set, with one female he interacts with in the entire Original Trilogy and two in Episode 7:
Leia (the love of his life, who gives as good as she gets)
Rey (who he respects from early on in their encounter, enough to offer her a role on his crew)
Maz (who he defers to as wise and worthy of respect)
The closest thing to misogyny I can think of in the SW films is when he suggests that Phasma gets thrown down the trash chute (which is quite generous, since killing her by blaster would be a far more understandable solution under the circumstances).
Also, while he doesn’t really interact with her, consider his reaction when Mon Mothma starts talking about whether the time has come to launch an attack: he of course falls silent, listens as attentively as everyone else, and otherwise acts like this is somebody who knows what she’s talking about and has big important things to say.
I believe that Han Solo has a line that always seemed misogynist to me. I couldn’t remember it, so I googled, and found it mentioned in a very similarly titled thread from a year ago.
And I basically still say what I said in that thread:
Note, I don’t think it’s all that bad or anything. I think having him be a bit misogynist kinda works for the character, to be honest. Or even, yes, that he was being intentionally misogynist to get under her skin, as they had that back and forth going.
Still think “Any more princess advice” would have worked better, though.
The argument for Han Solo being a misogynist is so weak, it’s really not worth addressing. The question about Indiana is a bit more interesting, in part because it’s really hard to decide what frame of reference to use to judge his actions. In 1926, a 15 year old dating a 15 year old would barely raise eyebrows. In 1981, it might be seen as a bit roguish, but not a fatal character flaw. In 2016, it makes you an utter scumbag.
On the other hand, sleeping with a “respectable” woman in 1926 and not marrying her did make you a scum bag. But it wouldn’t in 1981, and even less so in 2016. It’s a fairly safe bet Jones isn’t intended to be viewed as a scumbag: having sex with Marion but not marrying her would be seen as an appropriately modern attitude for the character in 1981. So, either we judge his behavior by modern standards, in which case he’s a scumbag, or judge him by his contemporary standards, in which case he’s also a scumbag, but for slightly different reasons.
Which brings me to a related question: is the Galactic Empire misogynist? It sure looks like it: we never see any women at all in uniform in the original trilogy. But is it supposed to be read as misogynistic, or is that just a function of the film being made in the '70s, when the default assumption for, “Important military person,” was “older dude.” Similarly, is the Galactic Empire racist? Because we don’t see any non-white people in uniform, either. We also never see any aliens working for the Empire, and that has been interpreted in other SW media as evidence that the Empire is overtly prejudiced against aliens - but that other media has also included a lot of female and non-white Imperial characters. It’s interesting how lack of one sort of representation in the films was folded into the broader characterization of the Empire, but others did not.
The Rebellion is shown having a female leader and female officers (plus a female, err…Princess) so I don’t think Lucas just defaulted to “military leader == dude”. I think the Galactic Empire didn’t have female leaders because they were basically supposed to be Space Nazis, and the actual Nazis didn’t have female leaders.
Han Solo is a “lovable rogue”. Having flaws and being a bit of a jerk but charming at the same time is what the character is about. If he wasn’t like this there would be no progression for the character and he’d be even more one dimensional than he already is. In short, “misogynistic” is probably too strong a word, but he’s a bit sexist and that’s ok in the context of the film
Well, I was specifically thinking of Imperial uniforms… but I don’t think you ever see a woman in a rebel military outfit in the original trilogy, either. Mon Mothma and Leia represent the civilian leadership of the Rebel Alliance. They’re politicians and diplomats (and spies), not military.
