ST Chewie and Leia...The aftermath???

It's amazing what people take an "excuse" nowadays. It was a total bleep up, end of story.

 

Lack of a Leia/Chewie moment doesn't bother me. Easy to see why Chewie wouldn't be in a hugging mood just then. I did find the Leia/Rey interaction really awkward, though, given that the two characters had no prior interaction.

 

Literally feel like force choking JJ Abrams or whoever the **** designed that scene. It was not only a MASSIVE disappointment but it undermined these characters even in the OT in my opinion. As if they were never friends and hardly knew each other and all the events they had been through in the OT never occurred.

 

I'm glad Abrams has finally come out and admitted it was a mistake. All these twisted excuses, as folks try to turn an OBVIOUS screw up into some intentional character driven development, are officially hilarious.

 

Or maybe it wasn't awkward and there is some history and we just haven't been made aware of it yet.

From the WGA script:

The two women move for each other. And Leia takes Rey's face in her hands. Despite her heartbreak, she is grateful. She embraces Rey. A mother's embrace.

Not saying this means she's her mother. Just saying there is a good chance that this wasn't just two random strangers. They have a close connection, even if only through sensing each other's force capabilities.

 

Hans death scene (where he was cast irretrievably into a chasm - no chance of anyone grieving over his dead or dying body - maybe Abrams thought Fisher didn't have it in her) and the aftermath show how much of a fan Abrams really is. His admitting Chewie being in shot was a mistake doesn't really change anything. The guys an idiot. It was lame back in December and will forever more be lame and he deserves all the criticisms he's getting - and more. I can't see them treating Finn or Poe in that manner. They may try and provide some consolation in VIII with a scene between Luke, Leia and Chewie but in a way it could just make the situation worse, and you can't retroactively fix TFA. Imagine watching the OT and TFA in quick succession - the Han situation is not ever going to get any better. Hopefully because of this Luke gets to survive the whole trilogy.

 

I totally agree with every word you just said!

Would it be possible for an individual to edit that scene for the desired outcome of Chewie hugging Leia? I would pay good money for that and I bet most people on the site would!

Obviously not suggesting it since there may be legal issues involved. So message me about it.

 

As Gene Hackman says to Tom Cruise in The Firm, "People mourn in different ways.". That is a very true statement as just think of your family/friends and how they mourn. Some get emotional, some get extremely emotional, and others come off as cold cause they don't know how to handle it.

 

Not to worry, folks! I just heard that J.J. hired George Lucas to do a Special Edition of TFA. He's reportedly going to put a CGI Chewie on top of Rey and then cut the other Chewie out of the scene. The only problem is that just before CGI Chewie and Rey hug, CGI Jar Jar pops up between them and says "mesa so sorry!"

 

Lol, beat me to the punchline.

 

Yeah, no.

It was a mistake. An obvious one. The director has admitted it. Let's not turn this into a ****.

Edit - review banned words list, please.

 

Relax Buddy, I read what JJ said and how it was an error. It's still fun speculating different theories with fans about the movies. You can always 'ignore' comments like mine instead of insulting people.

 

JJ Hackbrams handled the aftermath death of Han & the Leia meets Rey hug poorly. The hug will even look worse if Rey is Rey Random & that's the 1st time L met R.

So JJ. Light Side Force who never met go around randomly reading minds?

 

And as I said, go abck and watch the chemistry between Leia and Chewie when Han is frozen.

Just another dump on the OT character develpoment pure and simple.

 

So ture, i must admit I have enjoyed listening to JJ talk about his TFA experience, he is very open, upfront and honest which i put down to his obvious love of the saga as a true fan. This particular piece of honesty is refreshing from a talented artist in his prome where he is happy to admit his mistake. He gets more respect from me for that straight away. I also love how he approaches any discussion with regard to GL whom he always makes sure is given the credit he deserves as the creator. TBH I would expect anyone in JJ's shoes to do this but he is so very genuine about it and never allows the interviewer space to critique GL even when it is clear they are fishing for a response of that type.

 

ezekiel22x wrote

Lack of a Leia/Chewie moment doesn't bother me. Easy to see why Chewie wouldn't be in a hugging mood just then. I did find the Leia/Rey interaction really awkward, though, given that the two characters had no prior interaction.

I concur. And is she truly hugging Rey because she feels the Force in her?

Because of the Force Vader's father became a monster, because of the Force Leia lost her son and because of the Force Luke has gone away.

For somebody who suffered that much because of the Force, I'd expect her to give any Force sensitive a wide berth who's not family.

 

As previously mentioned, the real-world explanation is that the composition of the scene was an oversight. However, being fans, we like to speculate on what the in-universe reason is (and no, I don't think it's "hilarious"; many of the theories are very plausible).

The theory that Chewie doesn't want to hug at that precise moment and is busy with getting Finn to the infirmary seems plausible. For all we know, they did look at each other and Chewie gave a "Please leave me alone right now" look or something. At any rate, since the junior novelization (by Michael Kogge) clearly shows that Chewie laid all the blame for Han's death and Kylo Ren's feet, I doubt that there's any bad blood between the two.

And as far as Leia choosing to hug Rey being bizarre (on the grounds that they had never met) I actually don't think it's strange at all. First of all, the Alan Dean Foster novelization (as others have pointed out) states that Leia went to Rey instinctively (whether it be a prod from the Force, her own intuition, or whatever). Even looking at it objectively, Rey is a young girl (nineteen, to be exact), who was recently the POW of a faction not known for their humane treatment of prisoners, Finn (arguably the most important person in her life now) is in critical condition -- possibly dying, and she watched Han (another person important to her) get killed.

Leia would have at least known about those first two facts (and would be able to empathize with being a prisoner), so it wouldn't take a rocket scientist to figure that Rey is scared, in emotional pain, and very much alone at the moment. So, why wouldn't Leia reach out to her? Beyond basic empathy, there could be some maternal instincts at work. Leia did just lose her husband and son for good and has very few family/close friends left, so I could see her latching onto Rey as a sort of surrogate daughter. (The novelization starts the scene where Rey leaves to follow the map earlier than the movie does. Leia is described as fussing with the buttons of Rey's vest-jacket-thing, which brings to mind the image of a mom helping their kid get dressed for school.)

Am I reading too much into it all? Maybe, but there it is.

 

No you aren't, really. Great post. It's the point at which everything that Rey has experienced since at least since Takodana catches up with her, and she breaks down in Leia's arms. It's why the screenplay describes it as a "mother's embrace." It's to do with Leia, as a mother, recognising the vulnerability in Rey as a naive teenager, a teenager who thought she was "tough" in her own little world on Jakku but has only really just taken her "first steps into a larger world." She wouldnt even begin to know how to process a violent death like that of Han's, which she has witnessed first hand, and Leia recognizes this. This is in addition to a force/spiritual connection between the two as well.

 

Oh yeah, and making Luke/Leia siblings in ROTJ after their big smooch in ESB was so great for character development, albeit alittle creepy!

 

There doesn't exist a single plausible explanation that can justify why two people, who are basically family, who've been connected for about 40 years, and have just shared a devastating mutual personal loss,would pass by each other without so much as a glance, gesture, any semblance of an acknowledgement of one another's presence.

This isn't about a hug. It's about the fact that literally nothing happened. They might as well be two people who never even met.

 

On the other hand, are we perhaps expecting Wookiees too much to follow our standards and behavior patterns?

 

I do know from personal experience that there are times when I'd like to commiserate with people I know and other times that I'd rather process it alone. It stands to reason that every one has similar shifts in wishes depending on the situation. So that's why I find it plausible that Leia and Chewie didn't greet each other on the landing strip. While I agree that having them pass each other by was not the best blocking decision, that's what we have and what we need to work with. For what it's worth, we see the scene from something of a distance. So, if Leia and Chewie hand exchanged a look or something, we the audience wouldn't have been able to see it.

Also, as mentioned before on this thread, Chewie seemed to be involved with getting Finn to the infirmary. It's been awhile since I've seen the movie, but if Chewie was helping in a critical way (pushing the gunnery, carrying the patient, or something), then he had a more important priority. Anyone with a better memory able to collaborate or correct this?

I guess that, unless another movie or other piece of material offers more insight, all we can do is "no-prize" it as best we can, and since we're dealing with sentient beings, who often behave irrationally, I don't see this so much as a filming mistake, but an odd choice the characters made. How many of us have done equally strange stuff?

Has anything been established about this? I recall from a Legends novel that Wookiee funerals had a non-public portion, but I'm not sure if this was carried over into canon, like the use of claws in combat was.

 

It was indeed the intent for this scene that Chewie is essentially finishing the job of rescuing Finn by rushing off with Finn and the medical truck. He's still in the "saviour" mode that he's been in since saving Finn and Rey with the Falcon on Starkiller. He's the only one who can get him on the Falcon (on Starkiller), and he's the only one on the Falcon who can get him off (which we see in the film). I don't think Chewie is needed physically after he puts Finn on the truck; I think the idea is that it speaks to Chewie's determination and sense of loyalty to ppl he cares about.

This has been clarified by Abrams' recent comments, and is confirmed by the screenplay which in fact describes a slightly different scenario: that the medical personnel meet Finn and Chewie and "usher them inside" (exact phrasing). What this "inside" is remains unclear, but presumably some sort of medical field tent. Based on the screenplay, Leia and Chewie aren't really supposed to be in proximity to each other at all in this scene; Chewie has already rushed off with Finn, and so the end result in the film ( "continuity error wookie") is somewhat sloppy.

As to Chewie looking out for Finn: Beyond him just helping out one of the good guys, I think Chewie cares for Finn quite a bit, and this goes right back to Finn dressing Chewie's wounds on the Falcon. And despite Cheiwes protestations at the time, it's Han himslef who thanks Finn sincerely for looking out for Chewie. Also Han and Finn build up quite a rapport throughout the movie, with the "big deal" stuff, the back and forths, and Han saving Finn on Takodana, which will have been noticed by Chewie. And of course Chewie himslef has been through quite a lot with Finn in a relatively short space of time.

 

Chewie is an emotional character, perhaps more so than most humans we've seen so far in TGFFA. Also doesn't explain Leia's part.

So nope, not buying it.

If the scene had featured Luke dying, I do wonder if the same excuses would be made to explain Han and Leia just walking buy each other without acknowledging a mutual loss.

 

Agree, which is why Chewie isn't supposed to be in that shot at all (which has been admitted). Really, based on the screenplay and the intent of this scene, Leia shouldn't be in the immediate proximity of Chewie/the medical truck. So this one shot really just screws the pooch. I don't have a problem with Chewie still being in the state of mind of caring for Finn and rushing off with the medical truck first, (before possibly approaching Leia a bit later on, or vice versa) but the shot in the film of course messes this up. Sloppy.