Page 127 - Star Wars Insider (Special Edition 2019)

Lucas expressed
SWI2019_124_129_Ventress.indd
SWI2019_124_129_Ventress.indd
an affinity for strong
female characters in several
interviews. She mapped that
sensibility into Ventress’s storyline
in The Clone Wars, describing the
character as an expression of “visceral
female rage.”
Since around the turn of the century,
fan academics have been extoling the
infl uence of Buffy the Vampire Slayer on
pop culture at conventions and in scholarly
writing in books like Fan Phenomena: Buffy
the Vampire Slayer. With Buffy showrunner
Joss Whedon now helming superhero
blockbusters and writer Jane Espenson
branching out to shows like the ABC hit
drama Once Upon a Time, the relevance of
Buffy the Vampire Slayer on the direction of
popular storytelling may continue to be a
topic for many years to come. The
long-running arcs of characters like
Cordelia, Faith, Drusilla, and Glory
created roadmaps for future storytellers
to understand that female characters do
not have to all be likeable or good in order
for an audience to root for them. Buffy and
Tank Girl inspired Katie Lucas to take a
villain, one who could have remained a
sort of pastiche of the female bad girl,
and elevate her to the status of anti-hero-
ine, a character who might do bad things,
but the audience still hopes she prevails.
“ARC Troopers” (Season 3, episode 2)
While General Grievous’s droid army
invades Kamino to strike at the Republic’s
critical cloning facilities, Ventress’s task is to
steal the original Jango Fett genetic sample.
She nearly succeeds, but Anakin stops her.
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