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"Leia feels like a real person in this movie, and so does Rey. Watching them interact was incredibly touching, especially as a female Star Wars fan. When they hugged upon Rey returning to the base after Han’s death, it was beautiful to see two powerful female characters be allowed to seek comfort in each other’s embrace, to lean on each other in a time of tragedy. That’s never happened before in a Star Wars film—two women sharing a moment where they don’t have to be leaders or fighters, where they can just be people trying to find their footing after tragedy strikes. The Force Awakens also gave us something else that’s never happened in a Star Wars film before: one woman saying to another, “May the Force be with you.” That moment felt like the passing of the torch from one iconic female character to another who will undoubtedly become iconic to a new generation. It felt the confirmation of all that came before it in the film—one last reminder that this is a new world with a new hope. And that hope doesn’t look the same as it used to."
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