This character was our childhood hero. She even surpassed Ripley for us, probably because of her ability to kick ass in combination with her witty comebacks. It should be pretty obvious to anyone who reads our blog that we absolutely love the original trilogy, despite its problems. We've never found the sometimes corny dialogue/acting, plot holes, incompetent Storm Troopers or even Ewoks to be stumblingblocks for us. We actually find those ridiculous things rather enjoyable. The purpose of this post is not to investigate the issues of the originals (of which the biggest for us is obviously lack of representation, be it women or ethnicities) or to look at the films retrospectively, with a critical eye, to see what we see now, but rather to explore what good influences we got from the only woman in the galaxy.
1. Women can be leaders. You see Leia giving orders in the "strategy room" in the second film, rallying the troops and giving the final order. As children, we thought that was evidence of her leadership and power. It was important for us to see that women make good leaders. Especially since you don't see very many women being leaders in children's films, even today.
2. Women don't need validation from men (or anyone, for that matter). There's no particular moment from the films that we picked, but it's in general just her entire personality. She doesn't need the men's approval nor does she seek their permission to do stuff or be who she is. That always got us pumped.
1. Women can be leaders. You see Leia giving orders in the "strategy room" in the second film, rallying the troops and giving the final order. As children, we thought that was evidence of her leadership and power. It was important for us to see that women make good leaders. Especially since you don't see very many women being leaders in children's films, even today.
2. Women don't need validation from men (or anyone, for that matter). There's no particular moment from the films that we picked, but it's in general just her entire personality. She doesn't need the men's approval nor does she seek their permission to do stuff or be who she is. That always got us pumped.
3. Women are not a prize. There are few phrases we dislike more than the often uttered "he gets the girl". So basically, this awesome female character that has been doing things on her own, having attitude, great comebacks, and just generally contributing to the film in a mostly positive manner, is reduced into a romantic interest and in the end the thing that matters the most or makes the biggest difference is who she ends up with. When we were kids, we read a lot of fantasy and if you read fantasy or watched fantasy films, you know the drill. The boy needs to finish a quest and in the end "he gets the girl". Like a bonus. Here, it didn't actually happen. Sure, it had romance, but that's the thing - Leia didn't end up with Luke. Instead, she went with the person she actually had chemistry with and who was a more equal match to her. All in all, Leia would be just fine without Han Solo. But the question is, would we?
4. Women aren't limited by their gender. One of the things we loved about Leia was her ability to detach herself emotionally in a stressful situation and accomplish the necessary. This doesn't go to say that people who are more emotional are somehow weaker ('cause the other one of us is definitely more emotional), but we have noticed in children's media that women who show their feelings openly have more representation. Leia is actually quite reserved and that's important to see for young girls who are the same. She can also hold a gun and shoot just as well as her male counterparts.
5. Women don't need to conform. Just 'cause you're a princess, doesn't mean you have to be a damsel in distress. This lesson comes mainly because of our background. We grew up in a pretty conservative environment, so a lot of what we heard was that women could only have one role to fill. It was really empowering and important for us to see that women can do what men do, even if it was just that one woman, and that there's more to being a woman.
6. Women can take initiative. There are many instances when Leia proves that you don't simply have to sit around and wait, but that you can take charge. Our favourite moment of this kind was when Leia got the gang out of the cell block by blowing a hole in the wall while the men were bickering.
7. Women's motivation can be whatever they want/choose it to be. As girls, we always thought that Leia's main objective was to save the people of the galaxy (even with her so-called detour in RotJ to save Han Solo). She's a freaking ambassador as well and works in politics. How cool is that?!?!? Once again, our background is the reason this was so important to us; we realised that we can be motivated by the common good and not just by finding a spouse and having children. There's nothing wrong wanting those things, but it's pretty toxic to raise girls to think that those should be their only worthwhile goals in life.
8. Women don't need saving and can liberate themselves. This doesn't mean that she can't accept help. We all need a helping hand sometime in our lives. There is nothing shameful about needing help. To us, this point was perfectly demonstrated in probably the most controversial entry on this list. We are, of course, talking about the infamous scene in Jabba's party boat. What we remember from this scene was Leia killing her enslaver. Golden bikini or not. As a side note, we think it's kinda creepy that people would find Leia sexy when she's in chains against her will. What consenting adults do in privacy is none of our business, but it's quite disturbing if one is turned on by lack of consent. In that case, one wouldn't be Han Solo, but Jabba The Perv.
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