# Star Wars question **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 23, 2013, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-question/648110 "2013-01-23T15:14:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-question/648110/1 "2013-01-23T15:14:44Z")
I just read a factoid at Cracked. Somebody said that Darth Vader was only on screen for a total of twelve minutes in the original _Star Wars_. Is this true? It seems wrong when you hear it put that way but when I think about the movie it becomes more plausible. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-question/648110/2 "2013-01-23T15:22:20Z")
That sounds about right. And it jibes with a prevailing filmmaking theory of the late Seventies: The less you show of the villain/monster the more threatening he becomes. ---
**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:** [January 23, 2013, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-question/648110/3 "2013-01-23T15:27:17Z")
That fits. Entrance, force choke one of his own, confrontation/consultation with Tarkin, beat down of Obi-wan, off to the fighters, down the canyon, blasted by Han. 12 minutes is a generous timing. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-question/648110/4 "2013-01-23T15:30:20Z")
Who’s got the movie handy and can time it out? ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-question/648110/5 "2013-01-23T15:54:45Z")
Vader wasn’t even the villain in the first movie. The Empire was the villain, and its face was Tarkin. Vader was just an interesting henchman; notice how he follows Tarkin’s orders. What’s remarkable isn’t that he only has 12 minutes of screentime, it’s that they bothered to give him any characterization at all. They created a backstory with Obi-Wan, and then they had a showdown that felt like it had some real depth. Contrast that with Darth Maul from the first prequel, who did nothing and then died. Darth Vader was a happy accident that they were wise to capitalize on, but the whole father/son thing was clearly an afterthought, especially given the dialog in the first movie about Luke’s dad. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-question/648110/6 "2013-01-23T15:54:58Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > That fits. Entrance, force choke one of his own, confrontation/consultation with Tarkin, beat down of Obi-wan, off to the fighters, down the canyon, blasted by Han. 12 minutes is a generous timing. You left out a few scenes with Leia; accusing her of being a spy, interrogation in her cell, putting the big hurt on Alderaan. You know, all those times he was right next to her and didn’t sense that his daughter was strong with the Force. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-question/648110/7 "2013-01-23T16:11:54Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > You left out a few scenes with Leia; accusing her of being a spy, interrogation in her cell, putting the big hurt on Alderaan. You know, all those times he was right next to her and didn’t sense that his daughter was strong with the Force. Well nobody’s perfect. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-question/648110/8 "2013-01-23T16:55:39Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > You left out a few scenes with Leia; accusing her of being a spy, interrogation in her cell, putting the big hurt on Alderaan. You know, all those times he was right next to her and didn’t sense that his daughter was strong with the Force. Interesting in the next movie he seems to sence that she is, hence the rather quizzical stare in the Cloud city freezing chamber. Just after he saved them from being blasted by Boba Fett.Presumably, Annie was always slow on the uptake. ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-question/648110/9 "2013-01-23T17:17:55Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > Darth Vader was a happy accident that they were wise to capitalize on, but the whole father/son thing was clearly an afterthought, especially given the dialog in the first movie about Luke’s dad. Which reminds me of something I read or heard once, about James Earl Jones being paid as a “sound effect” rather than an actor for his Star Wars work… ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-question/648110/10 "2013-01-23T17:41:31Z")
> [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](#): > > Well nobody’s perfect. Only from a certain point of view. 12 minutes in a 120-minute film comes to about 10% of screen time, which sounds about right when you think about it. How does that amount compare to Luke, Han Solo, Obi-Wan or C3P0? Not every character, even the main ones, need to be onscreen 100% of the time. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-question/648110/11 "2013-01-23T18:28:55Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > Only from a certain point of view. > > 12 minutes in a 120-minute film comes to about 10% of screen time, which sounds about right when you think about it. How does that amount compare to Luke, Han Solo, Obi-Wan or C3P0? Not every character, even the main ones, need to be onscreen 100% of the time. I didn’t time it out by any means but I would venture a guess that the Droids percentage is much higher. There are very few scenes other than the ones that focus on the Empire that don’t have at least one of the droids. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-question/648110/12 "2013-01-23T19:17:17Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > You left out a few scenes with Leia; accusing her of being a spy, interrogation in her cell, putting the big hurt on Alderaan. You know, all those times he was right next to her and didn’t sense that his daughter was strong with the Force. That’s 'cause she _isn’t_ strong in the Force. ---
**Author:** ![Sarabellum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarabellum/32/3492_2.png) [@Sarabellum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarabellum)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-question/648110/13 "2013-01-23T19:41:45Z")
Yes, it was established that Leia WAS strong with the force. She just never trained as a Jedi. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-question/648110/14 "2013-01-23T19:44:39Z")
> [@Sarabellum1976](#): > > Yes, it was established that Leia WAS strong with the force. She just never trained as a Jedi. Was it? ---
**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:** [January 23, 2013, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-question/648110/15 "2013-01-23T19:49:19Z")
Pretty sure it was. Besides her choking out Jabba, didn’t Luke say something in RotJ like “All of my family are strong in the Force. Me. My father. My sister…” ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-question/648110/16 "2013-01-23T19:53:32Z")
Obi Wan put a cloaking device on her midichlorians. /ridiculous fanwank ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-question/648110/17 "2013-01-23T19:55:19Z")
> [@](#): > > Was it? Ben : That boy was our last hope. Yoda : No - there is another. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-question/648110/18 "2013-01-23T20:03:56Z")
> [@Sarabellum1976](#): > > Yes, it was established that Leia WAS strong with the force. Her specialty: screwing with force-detection powers. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-question/648110/19 "2013-01-23T20:15:19Z")
That gold bikini made me strong with the force, let me tell ya! ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-question/648110/20 "2013-01-23T21:54:35Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Pretty sure it was. Besides her choking out Jabba, didn’t Luke say something in RotJ like “All of my family are strong in the Force. Me. My father. My sister…” Well, she choked Jabba out with an eight foot length of chain. I don’t think that necessarily requires Force powers. I’d forgotten Luke’s line, but I don’t know if that really establishes anything about Leia’s abilities. Luke may be just assuming that his sister has the same capabilities as he does. And Yoda’s never met Leia, has he? Maybe as a baby, in the prequels? He could be making the same assumption Luke did. I do remember one of the novels (the Thrawn trilogy, I’m pretty sure) establishing that, despite training with Luke, Leia’s ability to manipulate the Force was pretty negligible. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-question/648110.md?page=2)