We Need to Talk About Kylo
We Need to Talk About Kylo *Includes spoilers for The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi. You may have heard that a new Star Wars film dropped before Christmas, to a fairly mixed reception. As someone who isn’t a huge follower of the franchise with no cherished childhood memories at threat from the modern sequels, I had the luxury to disregard the crunchy bits and focus on the element that really spo ke to me - the standout narrative of toxic masculinity. And we really need to talk about Kylo. Over the years, the Star Wars universe has presented us with a variety of competing masculinities, from roguish fly-boys to violent, emotionless leaders, the jack-booted followers of orders to the pure of heart and morally rigid heroes. The Force Awakens introduced a new villain, Kylo Ren, with a new kind of masculinity which is more relevant than the chattering jury of the internet may realise. Some fans have been less than impressed with their beloved franchise’s latest bad guy, ye