This is my girlfriend asking this question…
"Padme was an idiot. The jedi chick with the matterhorns gets taken down in a second, only the chick on the speeder bike gets taken down faster. I mean, why doesn’t Padme know what’s going on about anything?
Does her pad not have a radio, cable hookup, satellite, etc? Her pad is so boring it doesn’t even have a checkerboard. She must be bored out of her mind in that place.
Does anyone else notice this?"
Thanks.
Well Padme is the only girl in RotS in any capacity, and I’ve never seen a TV or radio in Star Wars ever, anywhere, I don’t think.
Leia was pretty smart.
But I’m going to go with most people in ROTS are pretty stupid. Padme even more because she really had no other purpose than plot motivation.
Because Lucas and Kasden are MALE CHAUVINIST PIGS.
Seriously. I mean, let’s just start with the firts trilogy. What exactly does Princess Leia do in the films? I mean, sure, she’s supposed to be an important political figure - just like Padme - but she never actually does shit. The high point of her involvement in the trilogy is the first thing she ever does on screen - PUT THE PLANS IN R2.
After that? Need rescuing by the gang. Get everyone almost killed in the trash compactor (fair enough, they were surrounded). Oh, maybe she shot some Stormtroopers.
TESB: Nothing on Hoth. General Reikann ran things. She briefed the Rebels on how to escape, but she needed Han to get herself out. Sit around and insult Han’s piloting (which was motherfucking awesome and still fun to watch and tactics. Man, they’re only on the run from THE ENTIRE IMPERIAL FLEET (BTW, Vader’s ship, The Executioner, is silly fucking big. I’d forgotten). In Bespin? Nothing. Um, she gets Luke’s telepathic signal, but you know Lando’s got to be the one to go out there and get him. Oh, maybe she shot some Stormtroopers.
ROTJ: Okay, actually, here’s her big contribution. Thawing Han. She helps Luke out in the Speeder chase, too. Does she outmaneuver one of them? Maybe. In the Ewok fight, she gets hurt. Oh, maybe she shot some Stormtroopers.
As for the other females in the trilogy?
Beru: plays the dutiful, ineffectively persuasive wife. Dies.
Twi-lek dancer: dies.
Female Ewoks: die.
Mon Mothma: assists General Nadine in instructing the Rebels on how to attack the DS Mk. II.
HAHA WOOPS THAT’S IT.
Projection much?
In an entire space opera dedicated to space battles and lightsabre battles, who has time to watch smart women do boring administrative things? Not me.
Sides, I doubt if Lucas or Kasdan even knew how to write women other than “Damsel in distress” mode.
That be the point, it be.
Bill: She also kills Jabba (and if PT Obi was around, he’d probably call it uncivilized)
why all the maybes? in rotj she was wasting stormtroopers like the princess leia parody in spaceballs when her hair got shot. i love you…i know…blam blam! and with a small pistol only, not a real blaster.
in star wars she wasted that first stormtrooper even after hearing him say to set their weapons on stun. and she resisted torture until tarkin pulled the ‘tell us or billions of people will die!’ card. she was transporting the plans and was smart enough to put them in the smartest good guy character in the trilogies.
Leia befriended Wicket, and without the Ewoks’ help they never would have shut down the Death Star 2’s shield generator. So there.
Pshaw. That first stormtrooper wasn’t killed–watch the movie and you can see that her poor marksmanship only wounds him, despite the fact that she’s like five feet away when she fires the shot. Only Greedo has worse aim. And the resisting-torture thing? She wasn’t tortured. They gave her some sort of truth serum, but it didn’t work, which has nothing to do with her. (You want to see someone resisting torture? That would be Han Solo, on Bespin, motherfucker.) And then what happens? She fucking gets Alderaan blown up. Nice job, princess.
Princess Leia is a sort of Jimmy Carter figure. She did a horrible job as the titular leader of the rebellion (ha! he said titular) but she’ll probably get ok press later on for execrable poetry and building houses for homeless Jawas.
(Habitat for Jawanity! HAHAHAHAHAH!!!)
Yeah, Tarkin is sort of an evil sci-fi Jack Bauer.
I’m not sure it can be said that Leia was ever head of the rebel alliance. It almost seemed like there was a council, between Bail Organa, Mon Mothma (who is in a ROTS sequence that was cut out), and others. Leia had been doing conducting various missions for the alliance under the guise of diplomatic and humanitarian missions up till Star Wars, and frankly I think she seems more of a figurehead that has some power in the alliance but I’m pretty sure doesn’t run it.
— Alan
oh, she only crippled a stormtrooper in the first movie. and you seem to ignore the huge number she cut down in rotj.
and the guy in memento really didn’t kill other john g’s and at the end of 28 days later they weren’t rescued and anakin didn’t acutally kill any younglings. we know this because they either cut away or never showed this onscreen.
also:
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&lr=&q=torture+droid&btnG=Search
You want to see someone resisting torture? That would be Han Solo, on Bespin, motherfucker
“They didn’t even ask me any questions”
Does just being tortured for the hell of it (well to attract the attention of Luke) count as resisting?
Yeah, Tarkin is sort of an evil sci-fi Jack Bauer.[/quote]
Dude, if Jack Bauer worked for the Rebellion, by the end of Day One Alderaan would be saved, the Death Star destroyed, and Darth Vader back to the Light Side. The Emperor would still be alive, but Jack’s saving him for next season, even though his actions caused him to be kicked out of the Rebellion in disgrace.
Actually, I concede the fact that she killed Jabba. I’m glad that got pointed out to me, plus the torture/interrogation resistance stuff.
What?
In an entire space opera dedicated to space battles and lightsabre battles, who has time to watch smart women do boring administrative things? Not me.
How about, capable women flying fighter ships in those battles and savvy female Jedi participating in those saber duels?
Sides, I doubt if Lucas or Kasdan even knew how to write women other than “Damsel in distress” mode.
Wow that totally explained it, I never even thought of that.
It seems to me that you can explain both the lack of notable female characters and the totally unbelievable romatic dialog in the second trilogy by Lucas’ divorce. After ROTJ (1983?) George Lucas and his wife Marcia (who co-edited the SW, ESB and ROTJ) split up, and it was ugly. IIRC, she left him for another guy, and Lucas was devastated (and went on to make Howard the Duck). Prior to this they were a real team - I think Spielberg mentioned them as having the ideal relationship, both on the set and off. When this came apart, I don’t think Lucas ever quite recovered, and this is why all the Anakin/Amidala stuff is so screamingly painful to watch. To push on with the psychobabble, THAT’s why the Jedi chick dies so quickly, and why there are no girls in the JEDI BOYS CLUB.
As the best counter example, Miyazaki also started off making adventure stories for boys, but then went on to films with very strong female characters.
Yeah, evidently she helped with the sound editing for the original trilogy.
and the guy in memento really didn’t kill other john g’s and at the end of 28 days later they weren’t rescued and anakin didn’t acutally kill any younglings. we know this because they either cut away or never showed this onscreen.[/quote]
I knew you’d see this, dude. Heheh :)