Why “Tallie” Was The Most Underrated Character Of The Last Jedi?
First please understand that this article contains spoilers for The Last Jedi, and reading anything after this sentence should only be done if you just don’t care about spoilers or you’ve already seen the movie. If you’re reading this, I bet you have.
The first question you may be asking yourself upon reading this headline is who is Tallie? Surely many people who watched the movie didn’t recognize the character, or heard her name mentioned even. Tallie is a nickname of Tallissan Lintra, a 22 year old pilot for the resistance.
You may remember her as “Blue Leader” in the opening sequence of The Last Jedi, part of the team that helps clear the fighters for Rose’s sister Paige and her team of bombers. While the resistance suffers great losses during the battle (known as the Evacuation of D’Qar) thanks to Poe Dameron’s plan to destroy a Dreadnaught, Tallie makes it back to the fleet and jumps to hyperspace with everyone else.
This young woman is leading a squadron of fighters, at 22 years of age, that include alien creatures, a grizzled older man and others. Watching the movie a second time gave me clarity on this character, with minor screentime, and I have realized how important this character is.
The resistance military doesn’t seem to have a patriarchal system of advancement in place that would emphasize the skills of a male pilot, and probably because they cannot afford to do so. They need talent and this young woman has apparently done enough to be a leader in her young life. There’s no hint of her being selected because she’s beautiful, or using her femininity to defeat her enemies.
Hell she even passes the Bechdel Test in her short screen time. (The Bechdel test asks whether a work of fiction features at least two women who talk to each other about something other than a man. The requirement that the two women must be named is sometimes added.)
Still though, the character perishes soon after the battle when Kylo Ren fires missles into a hangar, with Poe and BB-8 barely surviving.
What an important message to the viewers.
The original Star Wars series of films consisted of only a handful female characters speaking, Princess Leia, Aunt Beru, Mon Mothma and some random rebel on Hoth. There weren’t pilots or fighters in the Star Wars – women were either royalty (even if they were kick ass royalty) or support players.
The prequels stepped up the game a little bit with Aayla Secura being a Jedi and Padme Amidala picking up a blaster but the message was still “you had to be special to be a woman involved in a Star War.” Plus, many women in the prequels were shown in submissive or slavery roles. There few decidedly few military female personnel, and I simply cannot think of a single female fighter pilot of note until the one single one in “The Force Awakens” and then “Rogue One” last year.
This is significant. The women of Star Wars are not only those chosen few, such as Princesses, Senators and the random Jedi… they can be anyone. When a young girl watches the Star Wars movies they should have a choice. How many playground groups consisted of boys fighting over who got to pretend to be Han Solo or Luke or Darth, while any girl brave enough to even like Star Wars was playing one character only; Princess Leia.
Representation is important. If a female wants to play (or cosplay for the older “kids”) in the world of The Last Jedi, they would have a bevy of choices. They could be a Jedi (Rey), a First Order Captain (Phasma), a scrappy alien fight (Maz Kanata), a military leader (Leia, Holdo) or yes… a fighter pilot.
There’s also a subtlety to showing such a diverse group of members of the resistance, one that is starkly contrasted with the helmeted legion of The First Order. This group, varied in age, sex, race and species are all on the resistance side, fighting for what’s right. This assemblage of characters with a probable variety of backgrounds all fighting for the same cause, a true and just cause, is one that can encourage both inside the universe, and in ours.
It’s the type of thing that can inspire the one thing all universes need.
Hope.