Star Wars:

In Star Wars: A New Hope, Princess Leia is royalty so technically in a higher rank than Luke and Han. However, she is not only that. She is a fighter and behaves like one, shooting at Stormtroopers as soon as she gets the chance. She won’t be reduced to any less and refuses to be undermined by her companions. Indeed, Han always finds a way to make a sarcastic comment about the fact that she is a woman or royalty. He is the perfect illustration of a player, a little bit cocky and over-confident. Luke, however, is a bit naive and young. He lived on a secluded planet all his life and is waiting for adventure which makes him innocent. But he will prove himself by wanting to save Princess Leia and fight the Empire without thinking about the consequences.

Example:

In this scene (Star Wars, Dir. Lucas, Lucasfilm, 1979), Luke, Han and Chewie want to rescue Princess Leia from the Empire. She is being held because she holds information about the plan of the Death Star that she herself placed on a Droid. Of course, nothing goes as they had planned. They end up shooting the guards in the prison, alerting Stormtroopers on the process, making them trapped with no exit. When Luke sees Leia, he is struck by her beauty. Being ogled at, Leia comes up with a sarcastic phrase ‘Aren’t you a bit short for a stormtrooper?’ (Star Wars, Dir. Lucas, Perf. Carrie Fisher, Lucasfilm, 1979), snapping Luke out of his trance. Out of the cell, Han informs them of the incoming company. Leia is the first one to argue about their way of rescuing. ‘Looks like you managed to cut out our only escape route’ (Star Wars, 1979). Surrounded by stormtroopers Leia finds a way out, not without adding ‘Somebody has to save our skins’ (Star Wars, 1979). Long story short, the rescuers are the ones needing rescue in the end and the one who needed rescue becomes the rescuer. This shows how the boys only planned half-way, thinking only about saving Leia without really thinking about getting out. Of course. Leia realises that and scolds them about it. She isn’t even thankful of them for trying. She becomes the leader in the group very fast. Throughout the movie, she will set up the plans and lay out the rules, always reprimanding Luke and Han when they step out of what was said or planned. Truth be told, she will become a War General and a very respected person in the galaxy, definitely an enemy that the Empire will try to wipe out. She will take the lead with Han and Luke following but still Han will be his reckless self-centred one and Luke will grow to be the brave hero focused on helping for the greater good. He is after all the ‘new hope’. (Star Wars, Dir. Lucas, Perf. Carrie Fisher, Lucasfilm, 1979)

Black Panther:

In Black Panther, T’Challa is a loving brother and an honest King. He will protect his country first and foremost. One can see he respects other’s opinions. Especially his sister’s. Both of them have a very sweet relationship, her always making fun of him, him trusting her with her abilities. Even if he is King and she is not, both of them consider themselves as equals.

Example:


In this scene (Black Panther, Dir. Coogler, Marvel Studios, 2018), T’Challa is escorted by the Dora Mijale, his personal guard, to his sister’s lab to overview her new inventions. As soon as he steps in the room, she makes fun of him for being King. They share a brief conversation where she mentions his ex, Nakia, proof of their complicity. She, then, demonstrates multiple inventions while enjoying the results on her brother, while making fun of his sandals. While it is striking that both of them have a great relationship, it is clear that Shuri has a brilliant mind and that her brother wouldn’t be as powerful and strong as the Black Panther without her inventions. This scene is a clear illustration of the simple and sweet chemistry between two siblings but also a demonstration of Shuri’s ingenuity and lively mind as well as the King’s trust in her abilities.
Throughout the movie, we will observe both characters facing different issues. T’Challa will be challenged and presumed dead. Shuri will have to use Wakanda’s technology to save an agent of the CIA, risking to expose Wakanda to the world. She will also put on a ‘suit’ at the end to help her brother and her country. (Black Panther, Dir. Coogler, Marvel Studios, 2018)

Kuch Kuch Hota Hai:

During the first half of the movie, one can discover the characters and their behaviours at College. Rahul is the popular one, he plays basketball, flirts with a lots of girls. He is the stereotype of the boy at College thinking that girls can’t play basketball. However, Anjali proves him wrong. Anjali isn’t like the typical girl. She dresses in jeans and sweatpants instead of skirts and revealing tops. She doesn’t do make up. She is a real tomboy. Rahul and Anjali are the kings of St Xavier’s College. No one messes with them. They are best friends, they know each other by heart. Tina is very beautiful and starts being friends with Rahul and Anjali, however it isn’t the same kind of friendship. Rahul falls in love with her leaving Anjali alone with her feelings.


Example:

In this scene from the first half (Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Dir. Johar, Dharma Productions, 1998), one can see Anjali and Rahul being mad towards each other because each accused the other of cheating at the basketball game they were playing. One can see how the entire school tries to fix the problem ‘But she’s your best friend ya?’ ‘But he’s your best friend ya?’ (Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Dir. Johar, Dharma Productions, 1998). Right after, one can see Rahul and Anjali running to each other to make up. After that one can see a glimpse of they relationship. Both of them say the exact same thing about the other. ‘He’s mad, always looking for trouble, he’s completely crazy’ ‘She’s crazy, always looking for trouble, stay away from her she’s completely crazy’ (Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Dir. Johar, Perf. Shah Rukh Khan. Kajol, Dharma Productions, 1998). It is easy to see that this is simple and easy banter between the two of them.
At 2mins 41 seconds, one can see Anjali playing a game of volleyball with guys. They leave her alone once a few girls pass in front of them. This is a funny scene where one can still see that even if Anjali behaves ‘like a boy’ because she plays sport on the beach instead of tanning, she is still a girl.
At 5mins 30 seconds, one can see Anjali helping Rahul study when he only focuses on other girls. She scolds him and get back to what she was saying. Anjali is then the serious one and Rahul the immature one.
Overall, this song and choreography are symbols of how young, wild and free the characters are.


During the second half of the movie, one can see an older and more mature Rahul. He is a dad and working in a bank. He is very protective over his daughter and his mother. However, one can see that he is still grieving the loss of Tina. Anjali changed a lot. She is calmer and less wild than when she was at College. Even if she changed her looks, wearing sari and make up, she is still the same Anjali deep down, especially when Rahul questions her basketball abilities.
The main theme of this second half is how Rahul realises his feelings for Anjali when she never stopped loving him. However, Anjali respects her engagements towards her fiancé Aman. She doesn’t plan to stop the marriage even if she doesn’t love him.

Example:

In this scene (Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Dir. Johar, Dharma Productions, 1998), one can see Rahul and Anjali making up after a fight concerning basketball. Rahul cheated and humiliated Anjali. In the song, one can see both of them spending time together. Even if time has passed, they still like each other and behave like before, Anjali messing Rahul’s hair and Rahul saying Anjali is crazy. However, both of them have changed. Rahul behaves like a ‘gentleman’ giving Anjali his jacket so that she doesn’t catch a cold. Also, he is struck by Anjali’s dancing. Both things never would have happened before.
This scene is a clear illustration of how both characters have changed, especially Anjali-long hair, wearing sari, dancing-, and also how Rahul falls in love with her step by step.

All these movies were influential because of the messages they sent. How were these messages illustrated? For instance, how does aesthetic construct meanings?
In Black Panther, all the costumes were inspired by traditional African costumes. The names of the characters had African origins as well. The female costumes were both traditional and with an edgy touch-army style- without being degrading or revealing, no deep cleavage, no legs shown. What was put forward was the strength of the characters and not their physical characteristics, both for women and men (Moore, 2018). In Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, however, the changes in the costumes were illustrating the changes in each of the characters’ personality. For instance, Rahul went from sweatpants and sports clothes to suits as he grew up and Anjali went from clothes sports to saris. This illustrates a change from young to adult and a gain of maturity (Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Dir. Johar, Dharma Productions, 1998). In Star Wars, Princess Leia was wearing a dress, but it didn’t stop her from doing everything she had to do from escaping a trash compactor to planning an attack on the Death Star (Star Wars, Dir. Lucas, Perf. Carrie Fisher, Lucasfilm, 1979).
Or what about some of the discourses used to describe ethnicity or gender?
In Black Panther, there’re only two white actors in the whole movie, the bad guy and an agent of the CIA Everett Ross. When Everett Ross offers T’Challa the idea of opening Wakanda to the world, he answers by calling him ‘settler’ as a joke and reference to centuries of African history where whites took advantage of the people’s ‘inferiority’ (Black Panther, Dir. Coogler, Marvel Studios, 2018). In Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, a recurrent theme is the fact that ‘girls can’t play basketball’. Anjali showed Rahul wrong in College and again 8 years later she tries to settle an argument between two children, who secretly want to see Rahul and Anjali play together again. This precedes a fight between both of them because Rahul cheated (Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Dir. Johar, Dharma Productions, 1998). This leads to the question of which values are presented or implied in these movies and how. In Star Wars, the idea is to fight for the greater good and give yourself to a cause. Of course, a hidden message is that girls can do just as good as men, if not better according to Princess Leia, who is both royalty and a rebel leader. In KKHT, the main theme is that ‘love is friendship’ and that family is important. However, do you really have to give up sport clothes and basketball in favour of dance and saris to be loved? In Black Panther, the main message is that one should fight for justice and righteousness to protect the weaker against the stronger and that is whether you are a man or a woman.