I just re-watched the Star Wars trilogy with my children. I still love the series. My children were as caught up in it as I was 20 years ago.
But I noticed for the first time that Princess Leia is the only significant female role in the whole series. And while she started out as a very strong woman in Star Wars, by the end of the trilogy she’s relegated to a bikini.
The only other females are 3 very minor roles: Luke’s Aunt, Jabba’s first bikini-clad dancer, and the woman general in Return of the Jedi.
I’ve heard that in Phantom Menace there is another female role, Queen Amidala (sp?). (I haven’t seen it yet.) But I wonder whether Lucas has progressed to include not just female leaders, but female pilots, female droids, or even (gasp!) female enemies?
There were a few women jedi - but they did not even have speaking parts. They were just there when they scanned the jedi council room.
There was Anakin’s mother. But, she was not much more than a slave, kept in ignorance.
Even Queen Amidala was basically a young girl, easily duped by her advisors. She was mostly costume with little substance. Well, she she did show bravery and diplomacy, at times - she has potential to grow into a strong character. But, as with the first trilogy, I’m afraid she will be the sole female lead.
Sorry if I’m beating around the bush by not giving any specific examples, but, since you haven’t seen the movie yet, I don’t want to ruin it for you.
Princess of the Time and Space Continuum since 1969 (upgraded to Goddess 01/07/00)
OK, we have enough youth. How about a fountain of smart. =^…^=
There will be a major female character, a bounty hunter, in Episode 2. Queen Amidala will be back, of course. Depending on when the Fall (you know “the Fall” I mean) Queen Amidala should play a major role in either 2 or 3.
I agree. I thought Amidala was a good, strong character.
If it helps, TC-14, a droid with a female voice, serves Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan drinks when waiting around in the beginning of The Phantom Menace.
JMcC, San Francisco, JJM’s page from the Bay
If I were beaned with a fastball, fling my limp, lifeless body to first, cause, dammit, I earned it!
Well, it doesn’t add anything to the discussion, but Koo Stark, a porno actress from the '70’s who had a fling with Prince Andrew :eek:, was in a scene from Episode IV that wound up on the cutting-room floor. It takes place at a bar in Anchorhead. I’ve never actually seen the footage-- just read about it.
Oh, and wasn’t Greedo (the green bounty hunter from the Cantina Scene in Episode IV) supposed to be female? I know that it was a woman inside the costume-- read an interview with her in Star Wars Insider.
Actually, the “woman general” in Jedi, for all the briefness of the role, is supposed to be Mon Mothma, the leader of the Rebel Alliance.
The scene rasta refers to can be viewed on the Star Wars: Behind the Magic CD-ROM; she appears very briefly in an earlier cut of the cantina scene, being chatted up by Han.
In addition to Amidala in Phantom Menace there is also her little cadre of attendants, one of whom serves a very important purpose; at least one female pilot in the attack on the Trade Federation ship; and the Jedi who, although not having speaking parts, are nevertheless Jedi. I also don’t think Shmi (Anakin’s mother) is all that weak a character, considering she gives up her son so he can have a better life.
But, yeah, I guess Lisa has a point–the SW universe isn’t exactly a NOW meeting.
“It’s my considered opinion you’re all a bunch of sissies!”–Paul’s Grandfather
Well, in the early trilogy I don’t think that Leia degenerated to a paricularly weak character. She was very significant in Return of the Jedi, and plays a significant role in the Forest battle. She was the only “main” character, but I don’t think that its a Star Wars issue, Lucas is actually more progressive on this than many of his peers in Sci Fi or the entire movie biz.
In Episode I, there are several female pilots with bit and nonspeaking parts. The Queen’s court is nearly 50/50 male/female, and there are women on the security detail. Most of the bad guys are genderless, many of the aliens showing no indication of their gender except for the human instinct to label all characters without overt feminine characteristics male. Add into the fact that the bulk of the enemy army is driod without gender (obviously), and a couple which speak do have female voices. Queen Amidala’s character is arguably the major character in the upcoming story line.
Now the movie isn’t a Amazon convention, but its not a testosterone fest either. Star Wars seems to occur in a fairly assexual environment so the genders are irrelavent and subject to bias by the veiwers preconceptions. So, don’t start calling NOW just yet, and understand that Sci Fi is a predominantly male viewed genre and making female characters glaringly obvious in a movie of the type would become a parody of itself.
I just saw The Phantom Menace last month and was dismayed to see the trivial role of Anakin’s mother. It was a retelling of the Virgin Birth of a Powerful Male, and you ladies oughta be glad to sacrifice for that opportunity…I was really dissappointed in her treatment, and hope that Lucas gets a clue in the next go around in how to give little girls a powerful, active, greasy- grimy role model.
I guess I just thought it a little paradoxical that Lucas sees women as moral authorities (Princess Leia and Queen Amidala), but never a part of the everyday fabric of the future.
I, for one, would have liked to have seen Leia develop her character a bit more. We saw Luke become a Jedi, and grow as a character, but Leia started out strong, then simply became a romantic foil for Luke and Han. I mean, the battle between Luke and Darth was great…but what about Leia’s confrontation with her father? Or Leia’s journey to also be able to channel the force…?
I dunno, I guess it’s easy to pick apart someone else’s brilliance, but for such a forward thinking guy, I just thought Lucas fell short in this department.
Also, in the original Star Wars episode 4 “A New Hope” some cut footage in the beginning shows Luke with some of his friends, one of of them a girl named Cammie.
One of the SW CD-ROM’s has all the deleted scenes that you can view.
The Cami mentioned by IceRigger is the role played by Koo Stark, not Han’s anonymous girlfriend.
When George made the first Star Wars movie in 1977, he was one of the only Directors ever to have such a strongly independent female character in an SF movie during that era.
Since then, society has changed, and SF movies have followed his lead - but for George, his original story he developed in 74 hasn’t changed, and the female roles he imagined then are now considered, in relation to other SF movies, not so striking.
However, I am hoping for Amidala to be a kick-ass character once the Clone Wars have started to be the main backdrop to the story. Presumably this is in both Episodes 2 and 3.
I wish Lucas just would have gone ahead and filmed Timothy Zahn’s books myself.
If you read them you’ll find that Leia’s diplomatic skills play a crucial role in the death of the Grand Admiral Thrawn-- and it’s the decision of Mara Jade, the Emperor’s Hand, that mirrors Vader’s decision to turn on the Emperor. . .
Jesus, I sound like an English Professor.
– Sylence
I don’t have an evil side. Just a really, really apathetic one.
Lucas’ femmes always play a passive, though important role. They’re powerful, but still china dolls.
And then there’s the recurring victorious sperm image of one guy making it through all the defenses to KaWham the Mothership. Time for a little more feminine complexity!