Leia's reaction to Alderaan being BLOWN UP!!!

It might be just me...but does Leia seem a bit cold about her whole family, friends, and planet being blown to oblivion!?


I mean she seems upset at first but when Luke rescues her she even cracks a joke..."Aren't you a little short for a stormtrooper?"

I dunno but if that was me I'd be a little more upset about everyone I ever knew dying because of me. She goes on having this sarcastic wit and humor the whole rescue on the death star. Anyone else catch this or bothered by it!??!?

 

People are used to the empire doing things like this by now. And Leia is very much the considerate thinker - when the chance arises to defeat the empire and destroy its flagship of sorts (the Death Star, iconic ship of the Empire) she shelves her personal anguish and comes back fighting. If she'd just mooked around being depressed, the alliance never would have got those plans, Han, Chewie, Luke AND Obi-wan would all be bantha fodder, and the Empire would be stronger than ever, with one key member of the Rebel alliance wiped out, Yavin 4 next on the list for destruction, and the last living force users not counting Yoda eliminated. She was thinking of the bigger picture. You can actually tell how devastated she was by the destruction of alderaan by her defeated attitude after that. She believed she had nothing left to live for.

 

This actually seems like a flaw in her character.

She witnesses the entire planet of Alderann blow up, her father, her mother, all her friends. Yet she doesn't seem too torn up about it the next time we see her.

She witnesses Han be frozen into carbonite and looks completely horrified and down for the rest of ESB.

I think it's more of a production error in the way that since we never really see or know about Bail Organa or anyone else on Alderaan, the movie and director act as if Leia herself had never known them, giving a gasp just for the sake of seeing a planet blow up. However, since we've known Han throughout the first two movies, it has more of an impact when he gets out of the picture. These movies seem to treat the moviegoer like the story was made for them. The people who write these stories probably feel that main characters should only really react emotionally to the characters that the watcher/reader most likely has a strong knowlege about.

Since we never know anything about Alderaan, the movie probably doesn't try to bog down the watcher with sad feelings about characters they know nothing about.

That's just my theory though.

 

Both twins suffer from innumerable flaws of character. However, what matters most is that as the story progresses, they grow together and come one step closer to their true destinies.

 

She gets that from Padme.

 

On the DVD making of they show Leia saying the line "And you call yourselves human" after they blow up the planet.

Maybe if that line was left in it would've helped a little more to show she is emotional over it?

 

Maybe... another bit of George Lucas' bad scriptwriting and directing? Of the Original Trilogy, he only did ANH personally.

 

Well she is able to let it go. Maybe she sensed it coming. The force is strong in her family you know.

 

maybe her attitude the rest of the time on the DS was a direct result of her feeling of remorse or faliure, thus becoming defensive and lashing out. This and her responsibilty for thier deaths(In her opinion)made her more set on making sure things were done her way from there on out. So she could feel she made up fpr the loss and gave her planets death a meaning. She was there representive in the Old Senate and had a responsibility to them.

 

I think that Leia's flippant remark to Luke ("Aren't you a little short for a stormtrooper?") was a front...these people were her enemies and I'm sure she didn't want to show weakness in front of them. Then, after Luke reveals himself, Leia is excited...she has a chance to escape and get the Death Star plans to the Rebellion, which at this point is all she has to live for. I'm sure that from then on she is just focusing on that and trying really hard not to think of Alderaan and all she has lost. Most likely, after the Death Star is destroyed she has her time to grieve.

 

Not bothered by it at all.
She's a fighter and did what had to be done.
How far would she get if she wallowed in her grief.
There is a time and place for everything and her main focus
was [and had to stay] on defeating the Empire.
If she didn't see everything through and see the Empire fall
Bail and the rest of Alderaan would have died in vain.

 

Most likely, after the Death Star is destroyed she has her time to grieve.

"There is no time for our sorrows, Commander"

Exactly. She feels the grief, but knows that if she cannot control herself then many billions more will die. She knows her duty.

 

I've always thought that scene showed just how strong of a person Leia is. She was able to stand up to their evil, not cower down and submit to their will.

 

In the Empire Of Dreams documentary, they show behind the scenes footage of them filming the destruction of Alderran. After it is destroyed, Leia says the line to Vader and Tarkin, "And you call yourselfs human." This is definately a reaction to what has happened. After seen that, I wonder why Lucas cut it out.

 

I've always imagined that being part of the Royal family she didn't really get to a form a relationship with many friends, and she probably disliked many of the stuck up rich people she met anyways. There were probably very few people which she really missed from Alderaan's destruction, and beingf the strong person she is, I'm sure she was able to force herself through it anyways. Who knows, maybe she let out a few tears in that prison cell and we just never saw it.

 

I would think that after being tortured for hours by Vader kinda made her reflexes a little slow, She's been through so much that I don't think it sinks in for a while. I figure that she thinks they'll kill her as well and then they don't and she's caught up with the rescue and the death star that she doesn't really allow herself to feel it.

 

Besides just beeing tortured, perhaps she was in denial? She knew -intelectually- that they were all gone, but she didn't saw the blood or the, corpses maybe the reality of it only struck later. People with missing relative have that problem.
Although, I've allways thought that Leia and Luke were a bit to happy in that final scene, having so recently lost their parents (I know, they were adopted, but they raised them)

 

George writes stories, not character depth. More a script flaw I would guess.

 

Same as Luke's reaction with Owen and Beru's death who were like his parents and his reaction when Obi-Wan was killed, a guy who hardly ever shows up in his life... come on!!!!

 

Carrie Fisher said that the day they filmed that she was just looking at a guy holding up a piece of cardboard. George told her that they would insert her planet being destroyed. This was early in the special effects age, maybe the actors had a hard time picturing what would show up on screen and didn't act accodingly. After seeing ANH, they saw the images on the screen and were better able to act around the special effects in subsequent movies.

Just a thought.

 

Even so...If they had a hard time picturing it they could just say...

"Just imagine everyone you knew just suddenly died!"

It just doesn't seem real to me.

Even if she was strong fighter that doesn't you mean you hafta be entirely cold about you home exploding in front of your eyes. I was hopping for a break down like she collaspes and they drag her off. So she would be in denial and deeply saddened...I was hopping for a more human reaction.

Is it George fault for writing it...or Carrie's for a not so human preformance?

Luke seemed more upset when he found his aunt and uncle dead. He just sort of teared up and stood silent.

I wish I would have seen a tear or two from Carrie. Maybe they will digitally put tears in like George likes to do. He loves his digital stuff...which is why I like the OT better, more real to me.

Anywho. Leia's reaction seemed robotic. Who can calmly deliever the line "And you call yourselfs human." after seeing your home go kaboom!

She should either have collasped and broke down crying as stormtroopers pulled her away.

Started trying to hit Vader and just start weeping and screaming....give me something!!!!!!

 

wasn't she still pumped full of truth-serum (or whatever the floating basketball injected her with)? you don't think that would have affected the way she reacted?

 

What? Was the word truth serum even mentioned in Star Wars?

I don't recall anything of that nature...that was a droid used for torturing not a interviewing the victim.

 

But how does one react when an entire planet is blown up? I would think it would take some time for such an atrocity to register on the mind.

 

jedi_master_ousley posted on 7/5/05 7:43am

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I've always thought that scene showed just how strong of a person Leia is. She was able to stand up to their evil, not cower down and submit to their will.[hr][/blockquote]

Nicely said. I agree.