Leia, Lucas, and Fandom
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| Title: | Leia, Lucas, and Fandom |
| Creator: | Sandra Necchi |
| Date(s): | May 1984 |
| Medium: | |
| Fandom: | Star Wars |
| Topic: | |
| External Links: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
"Leia, Lucas, and Fandom" is a 1984 Star Wars essay by Sandra Necchi.
It was printed in Jundland, Too #2.
Some Topics Discussed
- George Lucas' offers conflicting Leia contradictions
- some fans' desire to see a wedding scene in Return of the Jedi is silly
- a reference to an earlier essay by Necchi called "There is No Fandom for El Cid"
- Lucas is incapable, or doesn't care, about making a complicated female character, so it is up to the fans to do so
- this essay has MUCH detailed character analysis of Leia Organa
Excerpts
Media fandom is largely made up of women, and practically all of media fandom's heroes are male. Much of the attraction to them stems from purely physical reasons -- I doubt Han or Luke fans would be so devoted were Hamill and Ford not so good-looking. The female characters are almost never the favorites of "mainstream fandom. Only the minority male fans prefer them to the male characters and.again, largely for physical reasons. Certainly our attraction to the characters does not stop there, but it is the physical, sexual element which immediately affects us and which generally defines our feelings for them. Since fandom is female-dominated, and since this mainstream prefers the male characters, the female characters receive less attention not only in fan fiction but also in the "discussion zines , letterzines like the one you're reading now. Therefore, analysis and comprehension of female characters Is very weak, and unfortunately, usually prejudiced.
Which brings me to Princess/Senator Leia Organa. From a feminist analytical perspective, Leia is an extremely ambiguous character as presented by Lucas in his three films. Her portrayal is perhaps the best we can expect from Hollywood. Lucas doesn't strike me as a very progressive thinker, but he does show some intelligence in his portrayal of, and attitude toward, Leia. Lucas has often said that Leia was originally supposed to be the central figure in the SW saga. That is the most powerful argument to the Han extremists who deny ROTJ's clear implication that Leia is the all-important "other," and who try to impose their vision of Solo on Lucas and the rest of us, making Han out to be something he simply isn't. It is pretty clear that Lucas, who originally saw her as the central hero ("heroine" is unnecessary), gave her a secondary but crucial role as a Force-wielder, an "alternate Jedi, almost as important as Luke in ridding the galaxy of the Empire. That original centrality of the character probably still lingered in Lucas' mind after he decided to have Luke as the main hero. It shows in his choice of Leia as "the other" and in her role as leader of the rebellion, and a political figure of some significance.
It would be interesting to ask Lucas why he decided to change the hero of his saga from a female to a man. I suspect that he capitulated to his and others' more chauvinist tendencies and decided that the audience wouldn't accept her. If so, he was right.
Although I do like the Han-Leia relationship, it is unfortunate, in a way, that she did not choose Luke since he immediately treats her as an equal whereas Han does not(initially). In TESB, we see the beginnings of a watered-down Leia. Not only does she begin to become domesticated, but her leadership position becomes less clear. These two developments are strengthened in ROTJ.
In that film, she has lost her edge (as has Han). She's become sweet, and nice, and "womanly." She is also no longer as crucial in the Alliance as she was in ANH. What began in TESB, and was reinforced in ROTJ, is the development of Leia as just another operative in the Rebellion. Lucas' attitude toward Leia seems to have deteriorated. Her alliance with Han seems to preclude her continuing leadership role. Or is it that Leia's role as "the Other" must eclipse her involvement with the Alliance? Lucas' decision to make her this "other" does smack of more "maverick" tokenism since he doesn't really delineate the nature of her importance in this new guise in any precise way. Yet Leia is still obviously crucial to the story hot only in the fight against the Empire but now in the conflict between the Dark side and the Light side of the Force. If Lucas says she's a leader and a Force-wielder, then she is, and it's up to us to develop those ideas, and to explain the contradictions, since he won't.
Fans seem to love Leia in ROTJ, claiming that she's so much better now. I say there was little wrong with her in the first place. It's unfortunate to see such sexism on the part of female fans, but there it is. Leia has gone from strength and leadership to being Han's "other half" (how trite can you get, folks?), domesticity, and powerlessness. And fans approve. Granting this ambiguous "other" business, Leia has generally lost her individuality in ROTJ -- as has Han.
It is generally a commonplace to argue that women have no female heroes because popular art doesn't supply us with very many good ones. Generally, that's true. But I think in SW, Lucas has created a character, despite the flaws, that can be emulated as a real hero. Leia is just as good, and just as flawed, as Luke and Han. Female fans generally don't even care about the female characters, however, no matter how heroically they're portrayed. Every media fandom is female-dominated,and this mainstream generally shows complete indifference to female characters. In fan fiction, the females are usually there in support or passive roles only. We spend much more time developing the males, and yet it is the females whom we all believe need a great deal of improvement. I myself am guilty of this, but not in the SW universe.
From the beginning, I have felt Leia to be the more interesting, more adult character. I like women who stand up to men with large egos, and who teach as Leia does with Luke in ANH.
Of course, I see Lucas' universe in a different way than fans and Lucas himself. As I have said in an essay elsewhere, there is a basic contradiction within SW fandom, which divides Lucas' perspective from that of fans'. Lucas never meant his universe to be analyzed as we have analyzed it. In his vision, there is no room for in-depth character analysis as if his people were real, complex individuals, except for some very superficial, generalized observations. To Lucas, these people are merely symbols for mythological values. Once you start analyzing his characters and universe as if they are complicated three-dimensional constructs (which Kershner did, but which Lucas rejected) you no longer inhabit Lucas' vision of his universe. We fans have expanded on his limited presentation, and we must if we are to develop it into a believable, coherent whole. You can't create a viable, growing fandom out of a fairy tale and expect to keep it a fairy tale, "My" SW universe is an extrapolation of Lucas'. Although his universe is not science fiction, "mine" must be if I am to consider it seriously. Fans haven't realized this. They use Lucas' own nonchalant attitude toward the story against him, analyzing his words and scripts so seriously, using selective and picayune illustrations , twisting everything as if he himself sees it as they do. They invoke his name to demonstrate they have the correct answers. Yet, their conclusions resemble biased and bizarre unreasoning, rather than rational, objective thinking. It would be interesting to get Lucas' reaction to their arguments.
Yet if we are to analyze, we must confront the fact that such discussion does not coincide with Lucas' vision' and never will. He would dismiss any attempts at in-depth analysis as ludicrous. He only accepts basic generalizations. But we have extrapolated his story into a viable universe which therefore should be analyzed. We must use his own extremely bare facts to create a believable universe. We must separate Lucas' own flaws, contradictions and lapses into prejudice from the basic (very basic) story and develop it from there. Because Lucas hasn't, and he doesn't seem inclined to in the future.