For
those of you that don’t know, Leia is the heroine of George Lucas’s original
Star Wars trilogy. The story follows her attempts to form a rebellion against
the evil Galactic Empire and bring balance to the Force. She’s an iconic
science fiction character and has been hailed as a role model for young girls
everywhere.
Many of Princess Leia's lines (delivered by actress Carrie Fisher) have since become part of the cinematic canon: her repeated, almost hypnotic exhortation, “Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi, you’re my only hope”; her wryly unimpressed reaction when Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) arrives in disguise to rescue her from a detention cell: “Aren’t you a little short for a stormtrooper?”
Does
she live up to her reputation? Let’s find out – but watch out for spoilers!
NOTE:
I’ll be basing my analysis off the original trilogy of movies only.
- · Does the character shape her own destiny? Does she actively try to change her situation and if not, why not?
Leia
spends most of the trilogy leading a rebellion against a thinly veiled Nazi
allegory, and she plays a very active role in this. She co-ordinates battle
plans, steals the schematics for the Death Star, and literally has to be
dragged out of her military base when it starts collapsing around her ears. She
does all this at great personal risk. She’s captured more than once, and it’s
implied she’s also tortured by that weird slug thing that looks like a cross
between a Dalek and a colander – but she keeps her focus on the master plan.
She’s very much in control of her own destiny and the destinies of many of the
other characters. Great job, Princess Leia!.
- · Does she have her own goals, beliefs and hobbies? Did she come up with them on her own?
Leia
doesn’t really have many hobbies, but her goals and beliefs are pretty clear:
she believes that the Empire is evil, and she makes taking it down her first
priority. In the movies, there’s no clear source for these beliefs apart from
her own convictions, and so once again, she passes this round.
- · Is her character consistent? Do her personality or skills change as the plot demands?
Throughout
the trilogy, Leia’s personality and skills both remain fairly consistent. She’s
always a fiery, strong-willed character who knows her way around a blaster.
Towards the end of “Return of the Jedi” she starts picking up on some of her
latent Jedi abilities, but this doesn’t happen in a completely unrealistic way:
she only hears Luke’s message to her, rather than suddenly developing the
ability to shoot lightning from her hands.
"That's
what you think." (image: giphy.com)
The
only issue worth raising in terms of consistency is Princess Leia becomes much
weaker when she’s captured. She’s perfectly capable of fighting her way out of
trouble, but as soon as one of the bad guys grabs her upper arm, she’s
completely powerless and all she can do is flail. However, it’s worth pointing
out that when she is captured, she’s outnumbered by enemies who are much better
armed than she is, so you could make a case that this is a tactical move on her
part.
- · Can you describe her in one short sentence without mentioning her love life, her physical appearance, or the words ‘strong female character’?
A
princess from leading a rebellion against an evil empire and trying to restore
peace to the galaxy.
- · Does she develop over the course of the story?
Leia
doesn’t really develop much over the course of the movies. While she does
achieve her goals, and bring down the Empire – she doesn’t really learn
anything while she’s doing it.
- · Does she influence the plot without getting captured or killed?
Leia
gets captured a lot in the Star Wars trilogy. It’s true that she manages to get
captured at least once in every film, forcing some of the other characters to
come and rescue her, but this isn’t all she does – a substantial amount of her
screen time is devoted to making sure that the audience sees her leading the
rebellion, taking charge of the other characters and just generally keeping the
plot moving..
- · How does she relate to stereotypes about gender?
Leia
relates to gender stereotypes in a really interesting way. In some ways, she’s
very clearly in the role of the damsel in distress, who must depend on the male
characters to save her. She’s also absent from a lot of the serious battle
scenes (particularly the X-wing fights), often being placed in the rebel base,
watching the attack from the sidelines. This plays into a lot of ideas that
women are not capable of fighting to the same standard as men.
While
she’s absent from a lot of the big fight scenes, it’s shown that she’s a
capable fighter, can pilot a speeder relatively easily, and is more than
prepared to full-on CHOKE JABBA TO DEATH WITH HER OWN SLAVE CHAIN. What’s more,
she’s shown to be a very skilled political leader, who’s more than capable of
drawing up battle plans and inspiring her troops. This really undercuts the
stereotype that young women are not cut out for political or leadership roles –
she is by far the best political leader we see in the original series.
In
this respect, Leia’s character can be pretty divisive. While the positive
aspects of her character in relation to gender stereotypes cannot be denied,
whether she passes this round or not really depends on how much the individual
viewer is bothered by her role as the damsel in distress. For my part, I think
it’s worth noting that being captured by an enemy doesn’t make you weak (it
just makes you a prisoner), and during her captivity she withstands torture and
Sith mind games and never gives in.
- · Princess Leia has had a huge impact on popular culture.
Aside
from being one of the most metal princesses ever, she’s a role model that many
of the young girls (have and still) look up to.
While Princess might not stand up to a full-blown character analysis,
but that doesn’t necessarily mean that she’s not worth analyzing at all.
However, with the death of another Hollywood Start this 2016, I wonder what strong female character will take her place.
RIP, Princess Leia.
She is the decisive, relentlessly courageous, ever resourceful, slyly funny Princess who saves the day for the galaxy.
And thank you Carrie Fisher, you will be missed.
