Another thing that gets me about the reaction to the Kenobi series and especially Reva and Obi-Wan as characters is that like… Star Wars has always, literally ALWAYS, portrayed toxic masculinity as bad. This isn’t new. It’s not some weird modern hippie liberal agenda whatever, it’s literally been there from the very first movie.

The bad guys are tough and silent and threatening, they wear helmets or emotionless expressions, and the only emotion they ever show is anger. Vader is the epitome of this, obviously, but even someone like Tarkin–the only flash of emotion we ever see from him is anger when he finds out that Leia lied. The Empire is toxic masculinity on a mass scale. No emotion, no affection, no tears, just domination and violence and the kind of “strength” that’s all show, no substance.

The good guys? Luke cares–about the droids, about the girl he’s only seen in a hologram, about the Rebellion, about Ben, about everything. That’s ultimately what drives him, and what makes him a hero. He’s a good pilot and he’s got Jedi powers, but he’s not all-powerful, and a huge part of why he succeeds in the end is that he trusts his feelings. That thing that according to toxic masculinity, he’s not even supposed to have. And he’s only there in the first place because he cares.

The guys are allowed to be physically affectionate with each other. Han ruffling Chewie’s fur, Luke and Han running at each other to hug–not a manly clap on the back, a full-on genuine hug–Han ruffling Luke’s hair, Chewie ruffling Han’s hair, Lando attack-hugging Han, etc, etc. They’re allowed to be upset, they lose fights without anyone (including the audience) thinking less of them, they get hurt and need help and that’s okay. Luke and Han need rescuing just as much as Leia does, maybe more, and again, that’s okay.

Han is a telling example too, because he starts off not caring. And we don’t get some long-winded story full of manpain about why he’s so cynical. The story doesn’t need it, because you only need that when you’ve emotionally crippled your male heroes to the point where all they can express is anger and one single manly tear as they brood about how tough they have it.

Instead, Han just gets called out for his selfishness, and is irrelevant to the narrative the moment he decides to leave; he only gets to be in the story again once he decides to do the right thing. Because this story isn’t very interested in why someone is selfish; it’s about choosing to do the right thing no matter what you’ve been through. It’s shamelessly, enthusiastically idealistic anfd hopeful. And completely uninterested in broody manpain when there are so many more interesting emotions and dynamics to explore.

The prequels are slightly different in that they explore the theme with a bit more nuance. It’s not straight-up good vs evil. We see that the Jedi have some issues when it comes to allowing emotions–and it leads to problems.

Anakin is literally the poster boy for what happens when you tell a guy to control his feelings without actually teaching him how. Anakin fell to the Dark Side because he wasn’t allowed to love, to feel attachment, to care to the extent that he did. All those “soft” emotions that ended up being Luke’s strength were ones that Anakin was told to “control”, aka suppress. And the Dark Side only allows anger, the emotion that the Sith think makes you “stronger” because it feels strong. Like, they could not spell the metaphor for toxic masculinity out more clearly.

Reva falls right into the established “bad guy” mold that Star Wars has literally always had. Stoic, unfriendly, emotionless, the only feeling she’s allowed to express is anger. She works alone. In her world, needing help is weakness, caring is weakness, being hurt is weakness. Her gender is irrelevant. If you’re a bad guy in Star Wars, especially an Imperial, then you fall into that mold. That’s how it works.

And on the other side is Obi-Wan, a good guy, who takes Leia’s hand and offers her a reassuring touch when she needs it. He can’t show all of his emotions because some things have to stay secret, but he very much feels them, and they’re what motivates him, they drive his actions. There’s no toxic masculinity there. No toughing it out. No anger. He’s hurt, and he cares, and he needs and asks for help, and that’s okay. It doesn’t make him weak, it makes him stronger.

That’s not new, it’s not some cool innovative new thing and it’s not some new political (??) statement or whatever, it’s just new (and old) characters slotting into the established system. They could not be clearer about this, and it’s been right there in the story from day 1. If this is new to you, you haven’t been paying attention.