I like her too.
I was listening to a bunch of cast interviews and something Laura Dern said really struck me. She was talking about the design of the character being very feminine, as opposed to the way Strong Female Characters are often expected to look. And it got me thinking.
When she is first introduced, Poe off-handedly mentions some battle– he recognizes her name because she’s a goddamned war hero. A famous one. One a cocky flyboy like Poe has heard of and admires. (Quick aside: I love Poe Dameron. I love that he was given a character arc in this movie in which he was allowed to fuck up. This is not me criticizing him.) I think that’s notable– Poe would not be admiring an Admiral who was known for, say, finding a diplomatic solution.
Poe is not wrong to be surprised by her appearance; in most movies, a female military hero would either be dressed like a man (not complaining about the other Resistance officers being in uniform; I like that, too) or would be full-on femme fatale, her femininity played only as weaponized sexuality. Rose and Rey, much as I adore them, are much closer to the former; they are female, but dressed in a completely practical and mostly gender-neutral way. Holdo is different; Holdo is feminine. She is not girly or sexy; her femininity is not the sort that is fetishized. She is very much a woman, stately and elegant with her pastel hair and beautifully draped gown.
And underneath that? From what we see of her in the movie– she has a spine of goddamn steel. She is called on in a time of extreme stress, and she faces it calmly. She is firm with Poe, but not unkind– though she does seem exasperated by him. In that same situation I’d be so stressed I’d be snapping at everyone who dared speak to me. She faces her own death with quiet dignity, smiling as she bids Leia farewell. The idea to weaponize the jump to lightspeed is brilliant, and the act shows someone who is unafraid of causing her own death if it lets her save everyone else– there is a different strength required for that than for sitting and waiting for her eventual demise. An active sacrifice instead of a passive one.
This quiet, dignified, soft, feminine woman did more damage to the First Order than everyone else in the film combined, and she did it with a gentle smile.
Holdo was utterly unexpected, and I love her.
TechieHux 