Previous Story
‘Star Wars’ Monopoly to include Rey after 8-year-old’s note
Posted On Jan 09 2016
Comment: Off
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) – The “Star Wars” version of Monopoly will add a game piece based on the female character Rey after an 8-year-old girl wrote to game maker Hasbro complaining about the omission and telling them: “Girls matter”.
Annie-Rose questions why Rey, a female character in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, wasn’t included in the board game in her letter.
Hasbro responded to the tweet, saying: “We love your passion for Rey, and are happy to share that we will be including her in the Monopoly: Star Wars game, available later this year”. And without her, the bad guys would have won! Annie Rose asked the toymaker how it could leave out Rey, pointing out that: “boys and girls need to see women can be as strong as men” and “girls matter”.
The controversy hit a fever pitch when Hasbro released its Force Awakens Monopoly game, which lets you play as one of four characters: Luke Skywalker, Finn, Kylo Ren or Darth Vader.
“Marvel fans started a “#WheresNatasha” hashtag in May after Avengers: “Age of Ultron merchandise excluded Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow hero. The company argued that due to the game’s release in September, Rey’s absence was an attempt to avoid spoiling her involvement in the key plot of her taking on Kylo Ren and joining the Rebel Alliance.
Hasbro’s response announcing Rey will be included in the game from later this year.
It said the Jakku scavenger already featured in other Star Wars games including Hands Down, Guess Who? and Chess.
When Goldman tweeted Annie Rose’s letter, she added the hashtag #WheresRey, which was created by her colleague and friend Jenna Busch, founder of the women-focused awareness group, Legion of Leia. Parenting her 8-year-old was excited to learn that the Monopoly game will soon be released with Rey. Goldman told HuffPost. “But I told her the next morning and her eyes grew wide and she gave me a huge toothless grin. The only thing that’s unique here is this one seems to draw a lot of attention, but she quickly takes to pen and paper to try and make a difference”, her mother Carrie said.
