# So DID Luke genuinely have the hots for Leia, or she for him? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 9, 2014, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-did-luke-genuinely-have-the-hots-for-leia-or-she-for-him/706786 "2014-12-09T19:44:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2014, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-did-luke-genuinely-have-the-hots-for-leia-or-she-for-him/706786/1 "2014-12-09T19:44:20Z")
I didn’t see the oringal _Star Wars_ trilpgy until 1988 or so, on account of my parents being Pentecostals who thought movies were evil. So to me they’re just ordinary movies, nothing I feel any nostalgic connection to. I actually saw _Jedi_ first (though I’d read the novelization of _Empire_ and listened to the radio play version of _SW_ on NPR. Thus by the time saw Luke & Leia’s chronological introduction to one another I knew they were twins. Maybe this colors my viewing experience, but it never seemed to me that they had any real physical attraction to one another. The kiss in Empire was obviously meant only by Leia to piss off Han, and Luke was simply playing along with the former two’s slap-slap-kiss interaction. The way Carrie Fisher is desexed in the first movie also does not encourage any notion that they’re sexually attracted. But that’s just me. To the rest of you: in the first two movies, do Luke & Leia seem genuinely attracted to one another? Poll in a moment. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2014, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-did-luke-genuinely-have-the-hots-for-leia-or-she-for-him/706786/2 "2014-12-09T19:48:05Z")
Attracted? Yes. Oh my stars I have to have you now attracted? No. She was probably the first non-relative female Luke had ever touched, and Luke was her gallant rescuer. Bound to be a few basic feelings bubbling away somewhere deep down. But her loins ached for Han, and would not be denied. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2014, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-did-luke-genuinely-have-the-hots-for-leia-or-she-for-him/706786/3 "2014-12-09T20:10:44Z")
I thought they were mutually attracted to each other, and was certain they would end up together. It wasn’t quite like that Folgers’ commercial with the brother and sister, but close. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2014, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-did-luke-genuinely-have-the-hots-for-leia-or-she-for-him/706786/4 "2014-12-09T20:20:00Z")
Luke thought that Leia was hot, but mostly in a teen boy “I’d rate her an 8” sort of way. Leia thought Luke was a goofy kid, especially next to the infuriating but hot Captain Solo. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2014, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-did-luke-genuinely-have-the-hots-for-leia-or-she-for-him/706786/5 "2014-12-09T20:27:35Z")
I agree with the situational attraction, but Leia was an Imperial Senator, used to travelling at the highest levels of a society where people who look like Lando Calrissian and Han Solo are freighter captains. Hell, her adoptive father was played by Jimmy Smits, who is no slouch himself. Also, “You like me because I’m a scoundrel. There aren’t enough scoundrels in your life.” ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2014, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-did-luke-genuinely-have-the-hots-for-leia-or-she-for-him/706786/6 "2014-12-09T20:35:07Z")
Leia probably lost any interest she might have had in Luke after he got curb-stomped by the wampa and lost his pretty-boy looks. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2014, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-did-luke-genuinely-have-the-hots-for-leia-or-she-for-him/706786/7 "2014-12-09T20:37:28Z")
What does it mean that you don’t have a “No” option? ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2014, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-did-luke-genuinely-have-the-hots-for-leia-or-she-for-him/706786/8 "2014-12-09T20:42:30Z")
> [@bup](#): > > What does it mean that you don’t have a “No” option? It means only that I forgot to include one, since that is my position. Cigars are sometimes no more than cancer sticks. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2014, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-did-luke-genuinely-have-the-hots-for-leia-or-she-for-him/706786/9 "2014-12-09T20:56:23Z")
My answer is “Not really attracted _that way_”. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2014, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-did-luke-genuinely-have-the-hots-for-leia-or-she-for-him/706786/10 "2014-12-09T21:27:15Z")
Also meant to say no, but it’s not in there either. He was too caught up in his mission, she was too caught up wondering what the hell was going on. Then she had a spark for Han and it was brushed away. The kiss was 100% platonic and just to piss Han off ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2014, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-did-luke-genuinely-have-the-hots-for-leia-or-she-for-him/706786/11 "2014-12-09T21:32:51Z")
> [@](#): > > **[Genetic sexual attraction](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_sexual_attraction)** (GSA) is sexual attraction between close relatives, such as siblings or half-siblings, a parent and offspring, or first and second cousins, who first meet as adults.[1] Happens all the time. Well, not _all_ the time. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2014, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-did-luke-genuinely-have-the-hots-for-leia-or-she-for-him/706786/12 "2014-12-09T21:36:57Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > She was probably the first non-relative female Luke had ever touched, and Luke was her gallant rescuer. Bound to be a few basic feelings bubbling away somewhere deep down. But her loins ached for Han, and would not be denied. Where do you get that first sentence from? Luke was about 18 at the time of the first movie (I refuse to even type the phrase _epoH weN A_ except backwards), and there’s no reason to think thee’s no girls in town. Incidentally and if I haven’t made it clear, my thought is that Luke & Leia had the kind of relationship I had with my friend Fonda in college. Though they didn’t perk one another’s interest, they got along so famously that people around them thought they were a couple, something they didn’t realize until it was suggested to them and which they found amusing. Thus when Leia planted the big one on him, Luke knew without having it verbalized that she was fucking with Han, and his self-satisfied smile afterwards was less “I am totally going to get into her pants before you do, Han,” than “You are an idiot, Solo.” ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2014, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-did-luke-genuinely-have-the-hots-for-leia-or-she-for-him/706786/13 "2014-12-09T21:59:02Z")
Come on, he definitely had the hots for her. He was worried about competition from Han. Luke Skywalker: So, what do you think of her, Han? Han Solo: I’m tryin’ not to, kid. Luke Skywalker: Good. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2014, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-did-luke-genuinely-have-the-hots-for-leia-or-she-for-him/706786/14 "2014-12-09T22:06:27Z")
Yes. Simple answer. They were attracted to each other. Was it hot, hot, hot attraction? Maybe not. ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2014, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-did-luke-genuinely-have-the-hots-for-leia-or-she-for-him/706786/15 "2014-12-09T22:50:07Z")
Did Lucas intend for them to be brother-sister from the beginning? I always got the feeling it was something he came up with after the first movie was done and he had to shoe-horn it in. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2014, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-did-luke-genuinely-have-the-hots-for-leia-or-she-for-him/706786/16 "2014-12-09T22:59:33Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Where do you get that first sentence from? Luke was about 18 at the time of the first movie (I refuse to even type the phrase _epoH weN A_ except backwards), and there’s no reason to think thee’s no girls in town. > > Incidentally and if I haven’t made it clear, my thought is that Luke & Leia had the kind of relationship I had with my friend Fonda in college. Though they didn’t perk one another’s interest, they got along so famously that people around them thought they were a couple, something they didn’t realize until it was suggested to them and which they found amusing. Thus when Leia planted the big one on him, Luke knew without having it verbalized that she was fucking with Han, and his self-satisfied smile afterwards was less “I am totally going to get into her pants before you do, Han,” than “You are an idiot, Solo.” Totally disagree. When the movie was made, Lucas hadn’t even thought of any follow-up, no matter what he said later. Luke & Leia were definitely written to be a couple if necessary. The whole family thing didn’t get written until much later. The look Luke gave Han was most assuredly a “Fuck you, dude. I’m gonna bang her first” look. As for Luke’s experience…there probably wasn’t any at all. He’s a farm boy from out in the sticks. And I doubt he was spending his allowance on hookers at the cantina. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2014, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-did-luke-genuinely-have-the-hots-for-leia-or-she-for-him/706786/17 "2014-12-09T23:25:41Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > As for Luke’s experience…there probably wasn’t any at all. He’s a farm boy from out in the sticks. And I doubt he was spending his allowance on hookers at the cantina. Didn’t even have a couple of sheep, poor bastard. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2014, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-did-luke-genuinely-have-the-hots-for-leia-or-she-for-him/706786/18 "2014-12-09T23:33:47Z")
I think Luke thought she was beautiful but from his humble farm boy mind, he thought of Leia as such an elevated status, he didn’t even consider the possibility of a romantic connection. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2014, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-did-luke-genuinely-have-the-hots-for-leia-or-she-for-him/706786/19 "2014-12-10T00:23:16Z")
My reading was that he was hot for her, but she didn’t have anything for him, being neither her social equal, nor a studly smuggler (and thus hot enough to get past that issue). ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2014, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-did-luke-genuinely-have-the-hots-for-leia-or-she-for-him/706786/20 "2014-12-10T02:30:54Z")
Dude, you’ve seen what she looks like, right? I think it’s safe to say that every heterosexual human male, and most of other species, had the hots for Leia. Now, the infamous kiss, yeah, that was definitely intended just to piss Han off. And Luke probably knew it, and was playing along just to rub it in. But that doesn’t mean that he didn’t enjoy it, too. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-did-luke-genuinely-have-the-hots-for-leia-or-she-for-him/706786.md?page=2)