Violation is a synonym for intercourse. Better?
Too Serious?: Sexual Assault in RotJ
- Thread starter Myasishchev
- Start date
To be accurate that statement should be "It was probably not the author's deliberate intent that Leia be a representation of sexual assault..."
Whether or not or to what degree she was is something that the guy behind it all only gets one vote on - and not only isn't it a veto, it's not even usually the most interesting opinion.
Oh God, I just got that. How the hell did I...
Excellent work as always, Guy. Damn.
I think it's more than clear that Jabba intended to do something really untoward with his tongue.
Another reason I never developed a sinister outlook on the whole thing was that around the time the movie came out, Carrie Fisher had no problems with doing a (Sadly Brief) pictorial in Rolling Stone Magazine where she frolics around on the beach with an Ewok. She seemed anything but victimized to me.
That was about the only time I ever gave any serious thought to being an Ewok when I grew up.
That was about the only time I ever gave any serious thought to being an Ewok when I grew up.
It was a bad movie for Leia. First Jabba's guards forced her to change, and then she has to get undressed and measured by a bunch of dwarf Furries for her new space-deer pelt dress. I picture the Ewoks dancing around her to song, braiding her hair, and draping her in a venison dress like the friendly animals in Cinderella. At least now they blink and don't stare at her yub-nub with those lifeless eyes.
Uh oh, I guess "that" av I sometimes wear is now politically incorrect? 
To the extent I thought about this issue, I pretty much assumed that yeah, Jabba might do something like that to Han. Given how un-humanoid his species is, I never thought he even understands humanoid sexuality, except in the same "oh isn't that interesting/gross" way we might understand, say, the sex lives of hermaphroditic snails, but he probably knows that dressing up someone like Leia - is a rebel leader and Senator who takes herself quite seriously - like a dancing girl would cheese her off a whole lot. If dressing her in a burka would have had the same effect, he would probably have done that instead. Jabba was being an ass.
Besides, Leia strangled Jabba with her own chain, which paid him back in full.
To the extent I thought about this issue, I pretty much assumed that yeah, Jabba might do something like that to Han. Given how un-humanoid his species is, I never thought he even understands humanoid sexuality, except in the same "oh isn't that interesting/gross" way we might understand, say, the sex lives of hermaphroditic snails, but he probably knows that dressing up someone like Leia - is a rebel leader and Senator who takes herself quite seriously - like a dancing girl would cheese her off a whole lot. If dressing her in a burka would have had the same effect, he would probably have done that instead. Jabba was being an ass.
Besides, Leia strangled Jabba with her own chain, which paid him back in full.
Yeah that was painful in the usual way that bad Stargate episodes are painful. Also I vaguely recall the fat guy was an incredibly annoying actor.
Yes, sexual enslavement and assault are bad in real life. But you know what? So is war. So is genocide. So is cutting people up with swords. So is owning little kids as slaves. Star Wars depicts a lot of things that would be awful in real life. A lot of people are killed, dismembered, tortured, enslaved. Whole worlds are destroyed. Starships and space stations with thousands or millions of people on them are blown up. A tyrannical government keeps its people subjugated and oppressed. And yet all of this horrible stuff is treated as light entertainment. We've turned Darth Vader, a brutal oppressor and casual killer responsible for immense suffering and complicit in the downfall of an entire republic, into a cuddly pop-culture icon. We treat lightsabers, terrifying weapons designed to kill with great efficiency, as something cool and awesome and fun. We cheer when Luke blows up the Death Star without a thought to the countless innocent maintenance workers, technicians, plumbers, and probably Rebel prisoners that he slaughtered.
But all of that is okay because we know it's only make-believe. Nothing bad really happened to any real person. The danger and cruelty are only fantasy danger and cruelty, nothing more than obstacles in the path of our heroes. We're able to dress up for fun as Darth Vader and Stormtroopers in a way we could never validly do with Hitler or SS officers, because Vader and the Stormtroopers aren't real and neither are the people they killed and oppressed. Nothing bad actually happened to anyone in real life, so it's okay to make light of it, even to celebrate things that are portrayed as evil in-story.
So surely the same is true with Slave Leia. Yes, forcing someone into sexual slavery is an awful thing. In real life, it's nothing to make light of. But in a work of fiction, of fantasy, we know that nothing bad actually happened to anyone, that nobody was forced to do anything against their will. This was the third movie; surely by that point Carrie Fisher had enough clout that if she hadn't wanted to don that outfit or have a chain put around her neck, she could've talked Lucas, Kasdan, and Marquand into rewriting the script. And it's not like Leia suffers unduly. Jabba manages to get the bikini and the chain on her, but she still remains unbroken and turns that chain into the weapon by which she gains her freedom.
I think that may be part of why people enjoy the Slave Leia costume to this day -- because it's not a symbol of sexual oppression, but a reminder of a woman who remained free and heroic and strong no matter what she was made to wear or to look like. She was sexualized, but lost nothing in the process despite every attempt to the contrary. Leia is a great, strong, empowering female character, and the metal bikini reminds us of one of the scenes where she most successfully, unforgettably proved just how awesome she was.
And I think people enjoy the costume simply because it's a very beautiful costume design and Carrie Fisher looked incredible in it. And everything else associated with the costume is just a fantasy in a fluffy adventure movie, so it's okay. Even if one does enjoy the slave fantasy, that's not an immoral or abusive thing, as long as it remains a fantasy. It's not even sexist; lots of women enjoy submissive fantasies, bondage, stuff like that. That's often what fantasy is for: to explore "dangerous" things in a safe, harmless context.
But all of that is okay because we know it's only make-believe. Nothing bad really happened to any real person. The danger and cruelty are only fantasy danger and cruelty, nothing more than obstacles in the path of our heroes. We're able to dress up for fun as Darth Vader and Stormtroopers in a way we could never validly do with Hitler or SS officers, because Vader and the Stormtroopers aren't real and neither are the people they killed and oppressed. Nothing bad actually happened to anyone in real life, so it's okay to make light of it, even to celebrate things that are portrayed as evil in-story.
So surely the same is true with Slave Leia. Yes, forcing someone into sexual slavery is an awful thing. In real life, it's nothing to make light of. But in a work of fiction, of fantasy, we know that nothing bad actually happened to anyone, that nobody was forced to do anything against their will. This was the third movie; surely by that point Carrie Fisher had enough clout that if she hadn't wanted to don that outfit or have a chain put around her neck, she could've talked Lucas, Kasdan, and Marquand into rewriting the script. And it's not like Leia suffers unduly. Jabba manages to get the bikini and the chain on her, but she still remains unbroken and turns that chain into the weapon by which she gains her freedom.
I think that may be part of why people enjoy the Slave Leia costume to this day -- because it's not a symbol of sexual oppression, but a reminder of a woman who remained free and heroic and strong no matter what she was made to wear or to look like. She was sexualized, but lost nothing in the process despite every attempt to the contrary. Leia is a great, strong, empowering female character, and the metal bikini reminds us of one of the scenes where she most successfully, unforgettably proved just how awesome she was.
And I think people enjoy the costume simply because it's a very beautiful costume design and Carrie Fisher looked incredible in it. And everything else associated with the costume is just a fantasy in a fluffy adventure movie, so it's okay. Even if one does enjoy the slave fantasy, that's not an immoral or abusive thing, as long as it remains a fantasy. It's not even sexist; lots of women enjoy submissive fantasies, bondage, stuff like that. That's often what fantasy is for: to explore "dangerous" things in a safe, harmless context.
Well, the laws of each jurisdiction vary.
But in many U.S. states, if there is a crime called "sexual assault" (as opposed to calling it "rape," "criminal sexual act" or something similar) it refers specifically to non-consensual genital/oral/anal sex or some other sex act performed on a victim without his or her consent. It doesn't refer to a kidnapping, false imprisonment or other crime that might have a sexual motive.
True, and in fairness I'm not using statutorily exacting language because I have no idea what the Empire's sex crime laws are. 
You've got a point, though; "sexual battery" as defined my own state's laws is like that:
I'd have to look a bit more, but it seems impossible that my state doesn't have some sort of sex crime law that would convert a clear sexual assault/battery into an 1st degree assault and battery if care is merely taken only to strip and chain a woman for the entertainment of your criminal crew, but not touch her hoo-hah. But damned if I couldn't argue it.
This is not the case in every jurisdiction, though. I checked a few.
Still and all, I wanna take the way I said that back because I come off as waaay pretentious.
You've got a point, though; "sexual battery" as defined my own state's laws is like that:
Now, actually, I think I could still secure a conviction for criminal sexual conduct in the first degree (of which sexual battery is a necessary element; we can say that forcible confinement is trivially proven). Sexual battery requires "intrusion, however slight... of any object..." She was forced to wear costume, which would brush against her genitals, and thus be intrusive, if only slightly. I think I could get that to a jury. ETA: but assault with intent to commit criminal sexual conduct would probably be easy.
I'd have to look a bit more, but it seems impossible that my state doesn't have some sort of sex crime law that would convert a clear sexual assault/battery into an 1st degree assault and battery if care is merely taken only to strip and chain a woman for the entertainment of your criminal crew, but not touch her hoo-hah. But damned if I couldn't argue it.
This is not the case in every jurisdiction, though. I checked a few.
Still and all, I wanna take the way I said that back because I come off as waaay pretentious.
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... Aaaand Christopher just won the thread, by at least a parsec.
Yes, that was an excellent post. The foremost quibble I have with it is that TESB isn't really light entertainment, certainly not in the same way that ROTJ is. Watching TESB, in many places I get a visceral sense that serious things are happening that is completely missing in ROTJ. The tone of ANH is somewhere in between the other two.
Excellent point. A very strong Alex Raymond influence in the design.
... Aaaand Christopher just won the thread, by at least a parsec.
Yes, that was an excellent post. The foremost quibble I have with it is that TESB isn't really light entertainment, certainly not in the same way that ROTJ is. Watching TESB, in many places I get a visceral sense that serious things are happening that is completely missing in ROTJ. The tone of ANH is somewhere in between the other two.
Thank you very much, both of you. And I agree, TESB is definitely a more sophisticated and serious film than the ones bracketing it. But ROTJ undoubtedly went in a lighter direction.
She should've been flattered by all the attention. She turned a professional film crew into a bunch of fanboys.
As the film stated, it wasn't either one.
ROTS novel said:
Oh, a few hours in a tank and she'll be fine!