Star wars fans don't actually like what star wars really is and do their best to bend it to what they believe is more palatable. I was watching a video about ROTJ and I'm peeved honestly.
The part that peeved me is their discussion on Leia's reaction to Luke telling her that Vader is their father and how he wants to save him. Essentially this person saw this as yet another oopsie that George Lucas made.
The reason why is because they were of the personal belief that Leia should have cussed Luke out, that she should have reacted negatively and aggressively towards Luke and even go as far as shooing him away or be so volatile that he leaves.
This person stated that the reaction she actually gave was essentially "out of character" and showed no signs of the distress she should have been in. That she should have broken down in an aggressive manner because that would have been the appropriate reaction.
I personally believe that this probably stems from the good old belief that "if I was in this situation I would have reacted differently so it is therefore wrong that the character didn't do that". I believe they felt that Leia not reacting in a more volatile manner was a part of the pattern of George Lucas's flawed writing.
*Now back in highschool, I remember my English teacher say that just because you don't like the way a character reacts to a situation in the story or just because you personally wouldn't react the same way doesn't mean the storyteller was wrong to write a character to react that way especially knowing that in real life your experience is not something inherently universal and that there are people who would react to those similar/same situations the same way a character does. BUT ANYWHO
I disagreed strongly with this, and I'm sure anyone who actually likes Leia's canonical character would disagree as well. I already have a post about star wars fans viewing Leia as "angry girl boss no.1" so I won't go over that too much instead I'll go over the whole "should have cussed out Luke" part.
The thing I wanna go over is why there's this incessant need from the fanbase to have Leia blow up on Luke or to baby him or to undermine him. I see post after post that says in different ways that she should have put belt to ass when it came to Luke. I'm of the belief that this probably stems from why the fans believe TCW Anakin is superior to PT Anakin.
Luke isn't some "alpha male", I've some even call him a "twink" now personally I don't think it's wrong to head canon Luke as gay but I do question the whole "twink" thing sometimes, maybe I'm too woke (I hate that saying) or maybe the gays are fine with it ehh idk. What personally makes me uncomfortable is that some people and I mean SOME who call him a "twink" also believe he needs to be belittled by Leia as much as possible which is deeply troubling, it rubs me the wrong way.
It's essentially girlboss Leia and her twink brother Luke who she's a mean sister mother to but it's ok that she's mean because it's funny, [insert marvel-style quip here] BAZINGA, while Han is cheering in the back like a real man.
I also think this also stems from people clearly misunderstanding Leia's character and story. As I said in a previous post she's a forest fire but that's not her only personality trait.
Leia was in character when she didn't yell at Luke, seriously, when has she taken ALL her frustration out on a person who didn't do anything wrong. And I know the reason why they feel Leia telling Luke to run and find a safe place away from Vader was proof that she should have lashed out at him for saying he's staying to save him instead but like...no.
It wasn't out of character for her to let Luke confront Vader without yelling at him first, she has shown on several different occasions that she can be very calm even under pressure.
Also Leia did show that she was in distress, which is why she asked Han to hold her. Just because she wasn't yelling, kicking and screaming at everyone in her path doesn't mean she wasn't in distress.
It's really weird to believe that a woman or a female character was wrong because the reaction she gave was one that you didn't think was the correct one.
Especially if you claim the reason you state this is because you want to advocate for her. As if there's only one way of showing how distressed you are, as if unadulterated anger is the only valid emotion she should portray because that's the only serious emotion you can have.
It sucks to be in this fanbase sometimes because at this point it seems none of the characters are liked for who they were canonically written to be at this point, like who are some of y'all stunning because it's not the characters within the 6 movies that's for sure.
None of the Skywalker family are liked for who they actually are, not even the two female characters (Padmé and Leia) who they say "deserve better". Or to phrase it better, it seems you need to dig deeper to find people who are actual fans of star wars as it was told or shown in the first 6 movies.
It's ironic to me that the general fanbase hates Disney star wars because Disney is essentially a continuation that goes against the 6 movies and the characterisation within them, just like they wanted George to do and Filoni to continue doing.
It's exactly what the fans asked for down to the smallest detail. Everything they used to complain about, everything they wished existed got fulfilled and it's terrible.
It's funny that they call out Disney but, Disney is just doing what they asked for, and now they're scared of continuing the story after the sequels because I guess they realized just how flip floppy the fanbase is.
It's quite literally a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation for them...oh well. Back to topic!
It still genuinely baffles me that they believe that Leia's complex feelings towards her father somehow mean that she should and must essentially ,at best, berate Luke constantly and ,at worse, be downright emotionally abusive. Then that's not Leia Organa, and it never will be.
Leia didn't yell at Luke because she understood how important that was to him, she understood that ,unlike her, he didn't grow up with parents. She understood how much it meant to him to get his father back and she *and this is the key word empathised. Even if she didn't fully agree with him, she trusted him to do right regardless, she has faith in him and she put that faith in the right person because he succeeded.
And guess what Luke understood not to force her to view Anakin in the same light that he did because he empathised too. I noticed in some fanfics they justify Leia's reaction by having Luke insist that she view him as her father when he didn't do that canonically.
So essentially they had to make shit up but hey it's fanfics so whatever the problem starts when they believe that this should have happened canonically because...why?
Luke has never been shown to be pushy like that so why was he "supposed to" do that canonically?
It's almost as if these characters understand the importance of giving someone the space to come to the conclusion that they want about a person without being beaten in submission or forced to accept said person all the while supporting each other.
Leia would have never forced Luke to not see Anakin as his father, she would have never berated Luke for mourning him or for wishing Anakin was in his life sooner and equally Luke would not have forced Leia to view Anakin as her father, or to immediately feel the same way that he does about Anakin.
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