I hate to bring up Slave Leia and Aayla Secura, but?

I remember some time ago, on another message board, I came across a poster who was bashing the Star Wars movies. Now, he wasn't bashing them for poor dialogue, or having too much CGI, or bad acting, but because... they had humans in another galaxy. That's right, he argued that humans evolved on this planet due to a very specific environment and circumstances, and to believe that this exact environment and set of circumstances existed in another galaxy was absurd. Too absurd for him to swallow, so dismissed the movies out of hand. He was also presented with the idea that humans evolved on Earth then migrated to the Star Wars galaxy, but that's even more of a stretch since faster-than-light travel is fundamentally impossible.

The thing is, the guy wasn't wrong. If you actually try and work out the mechanics of a species that looks exactly like humans evolving in another galaxy, you realize how comically small the chances really are. So then, what do you say to people like this? What do you say about criticism of "sound in space," or "force-ghosts," or "hyperspace?"

Well, the only thing you really can say is "suspension of disbelief." Yeah, these things don't really hold up to examination, but for the sake of your own enjoyment, you shut your mind off for theses things in spite of how absurd they really are.

Now, does suspension of disbelief mean that you have to accept anything in a film, no matter how outlandish? Of course not, everyone has a line somewhere. But then, how does one justifies criticizing somethings as "unrealistic," or "stupid,"
when they're willing to accept something as dumb as sound in space?

Well, it's just a matter of personal preference. I'm personally willing to accept most of the nonsense that Star Wars throws at me, but things like the convoluted breakout plot in ROTJ, or Leia remembering her mother was "kind" still bother me. I've heard a million in-universe explanations for both of these things, but they're completely unsatisfying to me.

Ugh, I've gotten pretty far off track here, haven't I?

I guess my point in all of this is that there are a lot of things on a Star Wars board that we can argue about or discuss in a constructive way, but then there are somethings like "sound in space" that you pretty much either accept or don't. To me, the out-of-universe logic behind Secura's skimpy outfit fall in that category. If we argue about it, it basically becomes a long circular argument of: I'm a heterosexual male and I like looking at beautiful women in skimpy clothing, vs: I'm a heterosexual female and I don't like looking at women in skimpy clothing.

Of course, we could get into the whole feminist argument about sexual objectification of women in media, but I think its better if we don't open that can of worms.

 

i would hope Ahsoka's style of dress is mostly designed to look cool. oola on the other hand...

 

I thought that was the argument at hand.

 

Aayla's outfit is really a pretty far cry from Oola's in terms of modesty. It's form fitting and has a bare midriff, but it's not really stripperiffic. Twi'Lek women are fairly relaxed when it comes to showing skin, but this aspect of Twi'Lek culture is something that slavers like to exploit because it makes Twi'Lek slaves seem more valuable. A reasonable Twi'Lek woman would never wear something as revealing as Oola's outfit in public unless she was being paid to (or if she were evil like Darth Talon because as we all know, evil is sexy). Basically, Aayla's outfit represents a fairly traditional Twi'lek woman's outfit, whereas Oola's represents an exploited, sexualized counterfeit version.

Really though, neither Aayla's or Ahsoka's outfits can compare to Shaak Ti's "back to nature" outfit from The Force Unleashed. That was about as stripperiffic and fanservicey as they come!

[image=http://i42.tinypic.com/nfpenl.jpg]

 

I think this "Darth maul species without tattoos" babe's outfit pushes the scale a little farther than shak's.
Need proof? Just cick on her to zoom into her top (not in a dirty way) if you get my drift.

http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/starwars/images/5/52/MarisBrood_bg.jpg

 

Oddly enough, she's Shaak Ti's padiwan.

 

Flip that around and we've gotten to the insidious cultural subtext of it all: Sexy is evil.

Do I wish there was a more fair standard applied across gender lines? Sure.

But at the same time, it IS nice to see a character like Secura who chooses to dress sexily not because she's evil but just because she likes it.

 

The Wookie is naked(just to quote a famous discussion from Empire of Dreams). in fact all the wookies are naked, the Hutts too and the ewoks are mostly naked(just wearing hoods).

I will give the ones who are outraged Padme's outfits in AOTC, they were designed purely for sex appeal.

There are alot of other examples of women in the star wars universe going the exact opposite way of Aayla, Slave Leia, Force Unleashed Shaak Ti and Maris Brood and TCW's Ashoka. Besides Bariss and Luminara who have already been brought up, we have Butler Swan,who in the Genosis battle can be seen along side several other female Knights, Masters and Padawans wearing traditional Jedi robes, Leia for the rest of the movies except that one scene, Several Female Council Members shown in the films all wear traditional outfits. Mon Mothma and several female backround rebels all wear military type uniforms or robes of station.

In ROTJ, we have Leia wearing an impractical, sexualized outfit.She is wearing it against her will but it is completely justified in those scenes. Jabba likes to have scantity clad dancing girls to show his power. Jabba is a hermaphrodite, just like all hutts are, and he would not find humanoid females attactive. He keeps her and his other female humanoid slaves dressed this way prove his power and also to distract people who do find them attactive.

For the Jedi complaints:
While most of the Jedi are taken as small children, cubs, larvae, etc, they are still allowed some ties to their culture it seems. For Ashoka, Aayla, Shaak Ti and Maris brood there skimpier clothing may really be part of their culture. Ryloth is shown as a dry hot planet, Iridonia (the zabrak homeworld) and Shilli(the Torguta homeworld) are arid with some areas tropical rainforest. Their are plenty of jedi who wear traditional items from their culture in the opposite direction. In the same Comics that Aayla came from there is a human male Jedi knight who wears Tusken Raider Clothing because he was raised among them(another in Post ROTJ EU a female human who raised in a similar situation who wears tusken clothing for a time) . The female Jedi who gets shot off the speeder bike wears a headress with traditional jedi robes. One of the female council members in The Phantom Menace wears a bindi on her forehead. Luminara, Bariss and the Male Zabrak Council members all have traditonal tattoing.

The are way more examples of conservatively dressed female characters then not so conservatively dressed ones. Slave Leia is an a different matter because it actual serves a purpose of having her dressed like that to make a point about the Jabba character. Aayla, Ashoka, Slave Leia and Shaak Ti and Maris should not be that big a deal. They are the exception not the rule when it comes to the depiction of women in Star Wars.

 

I will concede that point. More often than not, the characters are dressed fairly modestly. I just find it odd, from an in-universe perspective, that Ashoka and Aayla dress the way that they do. It would be one thing to have them dressed in a variation of the Jedi robes, given the fair uniformity we see within the Jedi dress code. Instead, we are given just unusual Jedi outfits, one that make the characters stand out, yes. But, there seems to be little other reasoning behind it.

But, in my opinion, that is not a reason enough to put it in a movie.

Maybe I am naive and sheltered, but I would prefer wardrobe choices to have an in-universe motivation. In all honestly, it would make more sense to me if the Jedi had more variation to reflect cultural preference. But tattoos are one thing; but they still wear the robes.

That is my two credits. Hope it made sense.

 

Rule of Sexy

Check and mate. /thread

 

Is it just me, or is that a dangerous way to wield two lightsabers.....dangerous to the user, that is.

 

Maybe if she had no saber skills, but she does. The Jedi have no set dress code, so they can wear what they please.

 

You know, in the new Clone Wars cartoon, Obi Wan has a secret ex-lady friend. Maybe Ahsoka's like most teenagers and want to dress to look good, and maybe the whole chastity policy isn't as strict as Anakin and Padme make it out to be.

 

There is no chastity policy in the Jedi order..

 

I was referring to the danger of holding the lightsabers tonfa-style, not the risk of her taste in clothing.

While it looks cool, the writer/illustrator obviously wasn't aware of the impracticality of such use.

 

I know what you were talking about. I just added the bit about the dress code, because of the main topic of Jedi and what they wear.

 

In my Muslim household Luminara Unduli has been a family favorite Jedi because of her clothing since AOTC. My wife thinks she's pretty cool.

 

I've got news for anyone that thinks "hot planet" or "desert planet" would be a likely reason a character might wear less clothing... desert dwelling people aren't exactly known for sporting less clothing than their counterparts in more termperate climates. In fact, they are known for wearing much much more. The heat, the sunlight on sand, it's not exactly ideal for exposing your flesh. Man or woman. Be it the sands of Arabia or the Gobi, none of the cultures that came up there are known for wearing skin-baring clothes.

I'm pretty certain that living on a desert planet simply would not be a motivation for the clothing that Aayla wears or in fact, Leia's continued use of the bikini while FIGHTING on the sail barge. We don't see Leia in the Falcon after that fight, but presumably she's heading to the 'fresher to take a shower and change into some clothes that are more par for the course for her. Like those Rebel fatigues that we see her in on Home One.

 

Aayla Secura is the only Jedi that actually does dress practically, Being a Jedi involves a lot of physical activity like jumping around, using laser swords and running.

Could you imagine gymnasts or sprinters wearing those big ridiculous robes?

But people are right in saying that in the Star Wars movies some of the female characters dress like that to appeal to the mostly male audience, it's just like how in the Twilight movies all the 17 year old hunks don't wear shirts.I mean the Twilight movies are far worse for this sort of thing than any Star Wars movie and they are made for a female audience, so both genders are guilty of this(not that I think anyone should feel guilty about liking scantly clad men or women).

 

You've got a point with desert people wearing lots of clothing to keep out sand and heat - though I'd just pop in and mention all the groups from sub-saharan Africa (and other places) who wear little to no clothing at all. I suspect this has to do with cultural norms and melanin content of the skin, as well as the specific environments we're talking about.

 

Thus giving rise to the saying, "Before you go into her forest, you better hood your ewok."

 

I really enjoy your icon because if you glance at it, he appears to be laughing at all your jokes.

 

Anakin certainly knows what funny is.

 

Actually, Chinese buddhist monks do use tunics much like those of the Jedi, even when training martial arts. Example: Shaolin monks. So the Jedi tunics are quite appropriate for heavy physical activity. All you have to do is to take off the heavy brown hooded robes, and you'd be fine.

 

Shaolin monks don't do the huge amount of varied tasks the Jedi do.The Jedi in huge bath robes that suck up water and hang down is ridiculous.They should be in a form fitting enviro suit uniform like Stormtroopers with the ability to add armor to it like Stormies and Jango have.

LOL

Then the original Gendy Clone Wars show is for you.Theres a whole episode of shirtless Anakin,another where in a fight he losses his shirt and an ep where Kit Fisto? runs around in a pair of shorts.

That's exactly what it is.Her and Aayla are just wearing belly shirts so it's not really something that should be a big deal like some are making it out to be.That's a pretty standard why of dressing and looking cool for lady's.