CT Do you think Leia seemed out of character as Jabba's slave?

I was watching RotJ with the commentary from the actors and Lucas and Carrie Fisher mentions how she hated that Leia suddenly shuts up once she is enslaved. Only once during her period as his captive does she speak, "I'm here". The Leia we know would talk down to Vader and give Tarkin a mouthful.
When Jabba speaks to her on the barge she doesn't reply and aside from struggling a bit too watch the Rancor battle she is pretty tame until she kills him.

So do you think Leia was out of character or acted as expected?

 

I figure she's smart enough to know to keep quiet, to lull Jabba into a false sense of security.

 

The second she could, she acted. Almost immediately she cut the power inside the sail barge, and choked Jabba to death. Leia was a lot more quiet in Jedi in general.

 

Leia strikes me as a bit off in that manner as early as ESB, when she needs to be herded by two men to get to a ship during the Hoth evacuation. I picture the ANH version of Leia pulling away from Han and saying "thanks buddy, but I'm capable of getting to my own ship."

 

If Leia had been her usual smart mouthed self, she would have ended up winning a one way trip to the rancor pit, before Luke showed up. Leia is smart enough to act when the time is right.

 

Maybe she learned to shut her mouth after what happened to Alderaan?

She didn't say much when she was captured on Bespin, either. She sure didn't have anything to say to Vader the second time around.

But the real answer is that her character was very much there to be seen, not heard. I don't blame Carrie for not caring for the character there.

 

^ Agreed. Leia was strong throughout the trilogy.

Staying on topic, I agree with other posters who said Leia acted as quickly as she could and would not leave without Han and Luke. Plus, she kills Jabba (a total win right there. Hey buddy, I can kick your slug tail with the very tool you mean to control me with.)

While it may have been a bit uncomfortable for Carrie to go there, I think it proves that Leia is strong in a variety of areas and can adapt to circumstances no matter how unpleasant they might be.

 

In the novel, Leia's basically thinking "I survived being tortured by Vader - I can survive this":

"Don't stray too far, my lovely. Soon you will begin to appreciate me." He pulled her very near and forced her to drink from his glass.
Leia opened her mouth and she closed her mind. It was disgusting, of course; but there were worse things, and in any case, this wouldn't last.
The worse things she knew well. Her standard of comparison was the night she'd been tortured by Darth Vader. She had almost broken. The Dark Lord never knew how close he'd come to extracting the information he wanted from her, the location of the Rebel base. He had captured her just after she'd managed to send Artoo and Threepio for help - captured her, taken her to the Death Star, injected her with mind-weakening chemicals ... and tortured her.
Tortured her body first, with his efficient pain-droids. Needles, pressure points, fire-knives, electrojabbers. She'd endured these pains, as she now endured Jabba's loathsome touch - with a natural, inner strength.

 

I never really understand the term "out of character" when it comes to movies, particularly when it comes to humans.

We are all complex creatures, and sometimes we do things that we wouldn't normally do. Then there is character growth, circumstances and different experiences to consider too.

 

Agreed, my friend. Plus, Leia's manner to Tarkin isn't something to be lauded anyway.

 

why would it be out of place? It's not like she did it willingly...it be different if after she was rescued she continued to parade around in the Slave outfit..and what could she possibly say to get her out of that situation...she had to keep quiet because she knew the real plan...if she spoke out of term Jabba would have pimp slapped her...

 

I think the idea is that making remarks about his personal hygiene is uncalled for.

 

Tarkin's a big boy with his very own Death Star. I'm sure he can handle a little gentle ribbing from the captive princess he just had tortured.

 

And the Cantina! And the Cantina, too.

 

As aforementioned by others, lulling Jabba into a false sense of security was part of the plan.

Does anyone know if having Leia kill Jabba was part of Luke's plan or if it was improvised?

 

I think Leia made that decision herself. Either way it was a good thing to do since Jabba loves sending bounty hunters after people.

 

I would say Leia killing Jabba was improvised, especially with all the chaos that was going on around her. I think only the very beginning of what happened was planned out,and the rest was improvised. After all the whole rescue of Han itself was so chaotic, and they probably knew all wasn't going to go as planned, that's probably why Luke hid his saber in R2, as a back up.

 

Luke says, "Jabba, this is your last chance. Free us or die!"

If Jabba refused, Luke's plan involved killing Jabba. So this makes me think one of two things.

(1) Luke planned to kill Jabba by blowing up his ship while he was still inside.

(2) Luke planned to have Leia kill Jabba since she was right next to him.

Tarkin's Fuzzy Slippers: I don't know if the rest was improvised. That "everyone nodding heads" moment makes me think that everyone knew their part in the plan. On the other hand, they could've had a contingency plan or are really good improvisers.

 

Well I've always found it improvised from after the point Luke is dropped into the pit and has to fight the Rancor.

 

Jabba has that hypnotic, sultry way about him, don't you know.

 

Leia knew the plan. Everything was being done to move people into the palace, once she was in there she had to play her part.

I always felt that Luke foresaw enough of what was going to happen to know that Leia would be close enough to Jabba to kill him, that he (Luke) would need to hide his light saber in R2. That is why Luke gives Jabba that last cryptic warning before the **** hits the fan. Luke knows what's going to happen if Jabba doesn't take his offer.