Character Analysis Princess Leia Organa
Recently I joined a website about Science Fiction art. While most pictures were extremely artful and inspired several story ideas, there was one picture that actually annoyed me. It was a drawing of Princess Leia from "Star Wars - A New Hope", with her white dress. Unfortunately the artist has decided to give her extremely fake boobs, a ridiculous cleavage and a slit in her dress that reached to her hip. It wasn't neccessarily that fact that she was potraited sexy, but that she was made into a sex doll. Princess Leia is so much more than that and to reduce her to her sexuality is just sexism in its worst from.
Although Leia, played by the brilliant Carrie Fisher, is usually referred by "princess" she is much more: Senator, rebel, leader, general and spy. In fact I would go as far as saying that she is the most qualified of the lead characters.
She is a born Skywalker, which makes it clear that although she wasn't trained in the Force, she is very powerful. This is obvious during "The Last Jedi", when she survives being sucked into space and even can save herself. Had she been trained as a Jedi it is only logical that she would have been as powerful as Luke.
In addition Leia is the senator for Alderaan, which is probably the equivalent of an ambassador at the United Nations. This makes her a skilled politician, who most likely had extensive training, similar to the one Padme tells Anakin about during "Star Wars - Attack of the Clones". It is most likely this skill that makes her a perfect leader during the rebellion and finally a General during the "Star Wars - The Force Awakens". She is intelligent, a smart diplomat and has a great tactical mind.
Leia is also a skilled fighter. While she is petit, she knows how to apply force effectively, when necessary as evident when she strangles Jabba the Hutt with her chain. She is also an absolute crack shot, who knows how to keep her calm during a fight and using her strategic mind to her advantage.
Despite her inner strength and authority she never looses her feminity. Many strong female characters in movies and books end up loosing all feminity in favor of power but she never does so. She is graceful and although tough never rough.
But Leia is far from perfect. She has temper, which is usually triggered by Han Solo and is somewhat of a snob, when we first meet her, even making fun of Luke in his stormtropper uniform. Considering he could have been her executioner this is a sign of incredible arrogance.
She could also be described as borderline racist when she addresses Chewie during "A New Hope" but this is most likely an expression of her temper as her later actions prove that she is in fact open to other races. A later Chewie becomes one of her clostest friends.
Princess Leia is a very complex character and a perfect example of a modern woman, despite having been created more than forty years ago. I like to think of her as a role model as she shows us, that we don't have to loose our feminity to be strong and capable as these qualities are not exclusive.
In addition Leia is the senator for Alderaan, which is probably the equivalent of an ambassador at the United Nations. This makes her a skilled politician, who most likely had extensive training, similar to the one Padme tells Anakin about during "Star Wars - Attack of the Clones". It is most likely this skill that makes her a perfect leader during the rebellion and finally a General during the "Star Wars - The Force Awakens". She is intelligent, a smart diplomat and has a great tactical mind.
Leia is also a skilled fighter. While she is petit, she knows how to apply force effectively, when necessary as evident when she strangles Jabba the Hutt with her chain. She is also an absolute crack shot, who knows how to keep her calm during a fight and using her strategic mind to her advantage.
Despite her inner strength and authority she never looses her feminity. Many strong female characters in movies and books end up loosing all feminity in favor of power but she never does so. She is graceful and although tough never rough.
But Leia is far from perfect. She has temper, which is usually triggered by Han Solo and is somewhat of a snob, when we first meet her, even making fun of Luke in his stormtropper uniform. Considering he could have been her executioner this is a sign of incredible arrogance.
She could also be described as borderline racist when she addresses Chewie during "A New Hope" but this is most likely an expression of her temper as her later actions prove that she is in fact open to other races. A later Chewie becomes one of her clostest friends.
Princess Leia is a very complex character and a perfect example of a modern woman, despite having been created more than forty years ago. I like to think of her as a role model as she shows us, that we don't have to loose our feminity to be strong and capable as these qualities are not exclusive.
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