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Force Feature: The New Disney Princess: Princess Leia Organa
Exploring the many worlds of Star Wars, in the imagination and in real life!I’m familiar with the Disney Princesses – Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Tiana, Cinderella, Rapunzel, et al – so one of the first things that occurred to me after Disney bought Lucasfilm (and I’m sure I’m not the only one to whom this occurred), was that the new Disney Princess was a kick-butt, sharp-witted, take-charge princess who could dominate all the other princesses combined.
I’m talking, of course, about Princess Leia. I can’t imagine them making dolls of her with accompanying horses, as they do with the other princesses, or creating hair play sets for her. Though really, they ought to – who wouldn’t want to style the infamous twin buns hairdo? Most of the Disney princesses also have a cute little companion, like Belle with the teapot, Jasmine with Abu the monkey, Ariel with Sebastian and Flounder. Princess Leia would have…Chewbacca? Not exactly the same kind of thing. But you could have weeks of hair play fun with him.
Disney princesses have certainly become more assertive over the years, and yet Leia could still teach them a thing or two. Secret spy missions, commando raids, even helping to direct a full-scale battle and evacuation from Echo Base – what happened to General Rieekan in the waning moments, anyway? Had he already vacated his post for a transport, even though Leia seemed intent to stay no matter what?
Now, here’s the thing. As much as I think George Lucas has a tin ear for dialogue and emotional development, I have to give him credit for creating the character of Princess Leia, who was anything but a damsel in distress, at a time when that’s pretty much what you got for females in movies. She’s just fantastic.
But aside from Mon Mothma in Return of the Jedi, who has a few lines and disappears, and Toryn Farr, the communications officer who ordered the ion cannon control team on Hoth to shoot at Star Destroyers, Leia is it for the chicks in the Original trilogy. Now, I never thought much about that when I was a kid. I still wanted to get the Princess Leia action figures – after all, she was part of the adventure, so why wouldn’t I?
It’s modern day storytellers who are doing awesome things with female characters that make me want to see more of them. In fact, we happen to have landed two of them for Episode VII. Larry Kasdan as co-writer can handle it, for sure, and we’ve already seen him do it with Empire. Even more promising is the presence of our fearless Episode VII director, J.J. Abrams. Consider Felicity Porter from Felicity, Sydney Bristow from Alias, nearly a dozen different interesting lady characters through the six seasons of Lost. If you’re looking for a strong, action-oriented director who can give women credible space in those kinds of stories, look no further.
That said, I’m not a fan of casting solely for the sake of filling out the rainbow. If you’ve got an awesome story to tell, I want to hear it, regardless of the diversity of the characters. And yet, maybe this is just my own movie-consuming taste, but I hope we get more interesting women in interesting roles for the Sequel Trilogy. Disney movies have been much more princess-centric over the years, and with the news that Daisy Ridley is the only person so far who’s signed on for all three movies in the Sequel Trilogy, I wonder if she’s going to be getting center stage or close to it. There’s speculation as to who her character is, which I’ll save for our weekly update a couple days from now. But if that speculation is true, then we’ll have our new super-strong female lead for the sequels.
We’ve also got Gwendoline Christie from Game of Thrones in here, so if you’re looking for strong women, look no further. It seems like the movie makers are on the right track, and yet I hope they can do more to get there.
Star Wars Fun Fact
Surprising and little known Star Wars tidbits, usually related to today’s Force Feature.Gone but not forgotten – Stuart Freeborn passed away last year, and today would have been his birthday. He’s the man who brought us Yoda, as well as Chewie, Jabba the Hutt, and the Ewoks. A wicked talented man, and it looks like the new trilogy will be following in his practical footsteps.
Life on “Tweet”-ooine
A featured dispatch from the Star Wars Twitterverse!I don’t really know what’s happening here…and perhaps that’s why I love this? #StarWars #puppies pic.twitter.com/69QpzaxblA
— A.Giacomi (@thepoeticzombie) August 25, 2014
Star Wars Swag Bag
So many fun, quirky, and awesome ways to bring Star Wars into your daily life!Remote Control Lightsaber Room Light – click the pic for details!
Trivia Time!
Test your knowledge of the Star Wars universe!Yesterday’s answer: He was “too small.”
Today’s question: What did the Emperor use to physically attack Luke?