The Irony about the Twins, Luke and Leia

I was just mulling this over in my head as I watched all 6 films now, how ironic it is that Luke has no memory of his mother at all, and yet his personality is the mirror image of hers to a tee, and yet he looks physically like his father Anakin. I think this is one of the reasons why Luke always was kind of sad or depressed a bit in his life, and for Leia, it is ironic that she for a long time depises and loathe Darth Vader even when she knows that he is really Anakin Skywalker her father, it took a long time for her to reconcile and forgive him, and yet her personality is the splitting image of her father's personality in both his good points and bad points, though she always had more self control and strength and yet physically she looks like her mother.

Seeing all six of these flims brought this point to home for me, especially after watching ROTS.

I wonder if this was intentional on Lucas' part to make it this way.

I will be curious to know your opinons and thoughts on this, my fellow Star Wars fans.

 

Great post

I also think the same thing about the twins.

Whilst Leia has a visual memory of her mother and resembles her visually, her personality is more like that of Anakins. With Luke, it is the opposite (lets not forget Luke had a vision of his father on Dagobah before ever meeting him).

I believe this point is integral to the story because if Luke had his father's personality, he may well have turned to the dark side as Anakin did.

It is no coincidence Lucas chose to have Padme "echo" Luke's words about there being good in Anakin as her final words with Luke & Leia present, just as it is no accident Luke's eyes were pressed closed whilst Leia's appeared open.

Also note the way Leia reacts after hearing Luke say there is still good in Vader, remembering what she heard her mother say 23 years prior.

 

by pure coincidence, a blog i just read on the OS:

Mama's Boy, Daddy's Girl


Why Leia takes after her father, while Luke is his mother's son.



When comparing one Skywalker generation with the next, it's easy to find similarities between mother and daughter, father and son. Looks-wise, both Padme and Leia are short, dark-haired and dark-eyed, and apparently share a genetic disposition for bunned hairstyles. Both Anakin and Luke are blond and blue-eyed (though Luke clearly got his mother's height). The two sets of Skywalkers also chose the same career paths, with the women opting to pursue politics at young ages, and the men joining the ranks of the Jedi.


Without discounting those and other similarities, it's worth pointing out that there are significant connections between the twins and their parents that cross gender lines. This is a subject that's come up before more than once on my fourms (here and here, for example) because it's an interesting way to explore the Skywalker family dynamic.

Even looking at appearances, beyond the hair and eye coloring, Leia looks more similar to Anakin and Luke is closer to Padme in terms of facial structures and features (Anakin/Leia have more rounded faces -- especially TPM Anakin and ANH Leia -- while Padme and Luke have more delicate features).

And careers? It's very different being a Senator and a Jedi during the OT compared to the prequel era. Leia is a leader in an underground Rebellion and her "formal" political duties cease to exist by the time of ANH (the Senate is disbanded and Alderaan is detroyed). Luke is a Jedi without an Order and is trained in a very unconvential way. Would Leia have been as well-suited to a life of formalized politics as Padme was? Would Padme have flourished in a life on the run with a rag-tag Alliance? We all know that Anakin couldn't avoid a fall as Luke was able to, and it's arguable that Luke might have done better within the strict structure of the prequel-era order than Anakin did.

That's all related to some important characteristics in personality and nature that Anakin-Leia and Padme-Luke share. It's hard to imagine Luke and Padme giving off the same level of snark that Anakin and Leia sometimes do (i.e., "Somebody get this walking carpet out of my way" "General Greivous -- you're shorter than I expected"). It's also difficult to picture Anakin or Leia using non-aggressive ways to win a battle (such as Padme choosing to beg and humble herself before the Gungans in TPM, or Luke choosing not to fight/kill Vader in ROTJ). Anakin and Leia are also more impatient than Luke or Padme (Anakin is "always on the move" while Leia takes over her own rescue in ANH and initiates the speeder bike chase in ROTJ, while Luke barely catches up with her, among other examples). Luke and Padme clearly share a compassionate nature, which is what allows Vader to be saved, as they both believe he's capable of and worthy of redemption, despite evidence seemingly to the contrary and the differing opinions of others. There's little evidence of a generally forgiving nature in Anakin or Leia, though they are both kind and caring.

None of this is absolute, of course, but now that we've seen the prequels, I love looking at the ways these related characters were developed. Luke and Leia are a very interesting mix of their parents.

 

Some interesting points there that I hadn't thought of before.

I do remember how Anakin made fun of Grevious's height, and how in ANH Leia stood up to Vader. Both were captives at the time but obviously not easily intimidated.

 

Great blog, thanks for sharing it and I think it is spot on.

I also think that Luke and Leia complement each other very well. Luke is always for the most part the calm one, the gentle one **just dont threaten his sister or friends**, and I think he would have a calming effect on Leia, claming her emotions down,a nd in the same fashion, I think Leia have a great effect on Luke, to help him loosen up, not be so sad and brooding all the time, have fun, enjoy life, cause I think at times Luke would tend to be depressed and a wee bit serious in life at times and Leia ould help him in that way.

In this fashion I can see how they mirror their own parents, because that is exactly how Anakin and Padme were to each other, Anakin tended to try to be fun, help Padme loosen up, not be so serious and sad all the time (that was evident in AOTC, especially during the garden sequence on Naboo) and Padme will have a calming effect on Anakin, be the voice of clarity and reason, be comforting when needed, always listen and genuinely want to help him in any way she could.

Unlike what some think, I think that their marriage was great for awhile (inevitably though they were doomed to "destroy" eacxh other, not wanting too at all cause I still feel that true love was there between them two) and if left alone without the politics, war, and interference from others, they could have had a happy marriage and rasied their children. But it was not to be.

 

Somewhat of a tangent for this topic, but I see Anakin as a greedy squirrel, chasing the next nut with all of his attention only to tuck it in his cheeks and move on to the next one. It's a theme throughout each of the PT films. In TPM when offerred an education and freedom from slavery by the Jedi, he took it -- but if he loved his mother, he could have stayed with her and grown up a normal child; he could have also washed out from Jedi Academy and returned home to her in the intervening 10 years. In ATOC when he found unconditional love with Padme, he could have left the Jedi order to be with her, or he could have denied himself love to maintain his professional discipline; instead he insisted on having both. In ROTS he used his love as an excuse to pursue forbidden power, and then fell in love with his new found power while still trying to keep Padme; he could have set her free once he set on his new path; or he could have turned back, leave the Jedi, and raised his children.

Think Lucy stuffing chocolate in her bra; that's Anakin. And in the end, he is what he was -- a slave with no hope of escaping.

 

I think it?s interesting that the twins return to the same social status as their parents.
Luke ends up a pheasant on Tatooine -a lot better than a slave mind you.
Leia ends up in the royal court though it?s Alderaans court not Naboo?s.

Leia looks more like Anakin. Carrie and Hayden both have long faces, stubby noses and faces that lose baby fat ( ANH Leia TPM &ATOC Anakin).
Luke has Padmes round face but a clef chin like Ani. Hayden in ROTS does look like he could be Lukes father.

It?s one of those things that makes the saga fit together. Leia in ANH is acting as arrogant, sharp witted and bossy as Anakin would. Luke Whines like Ani but is generally calmer.

Lucas is a very creative & clever man. Even though he thought up his saga backwards( no big deal writers do this all the time) he put a lot of thought into what he was doing and managed to weave the two half?s together as if it was planned that way from the start.

 

"You're way too short for a stormtrooper--and why do you have wings and a tail?"
Would he hold his lightsaber in his beak, then?

But yes, that's a great blog. The main difference between Leia-Anakin and Luke-Padme, the way I see it, is that both kids have much more self-control and emotional strength than their parents (Luke doesn't give up his dream like Padme does, and Leia doesn't throw fits of rage like Anakin). I can't really see Padme succeeding in Luke's situation, or Anakin in Leia's.

There's a real continuum here. Anakin and Padme are almost complete opposites, and Luke and Leia are closer to one end in some ways and closer to the other end in others...

 

Luke? A Pheasant? That is powerful Sith Magic at work there! [image=http://www.nargc.ie/images/pheasant.jpg]

I got your meaning. It just reminded me of the "What if Obi-Wan was a pretzel thread" and I had to laugh.

Carnage

 

Damn Microsoft word spell check!

 

I believe this point is integral to the story because if Luke had his father's personality, he may well have turned to the dark side as Anakin did.

I don't think it mattered whose personality Luke had inherited. Despite inheriting his mother's traits, he came very close to becoming a Sith Lord. Very close. The whole point about Anakin's story is that just about anyone - regardless of his or her personality traits - has a strong potential to be overwhelmed by his/her darker self.

 

And the whole point of Luke's story is just about anyone can instead make the right decision.

I dislike the theory we should excuse Anakin for his dark acts because he had a hard time before them.

 

Hehehe. Sorry. I ain't tying to demonstrate my l33t grammer skills hear for you and make you uphere dumb or anything. Your not the only won to fall victim to spell cheque.

I wanted to let you know that I wasn't being purposely malicious, Its just won of those things that maid me laugh.

 

No offense taken.

 

A pheasant? lol

Gee wiz, am I tired.

Now I'll go giggle myself to sleep.