I'd Just as Soon Kiss a Walking Carpet
George Lucas said that originally he wanted to show Chewbacca being jealous of Han and Leia's budding relationship in ESB. That story element was dropped because there wasn't enough movie time. This leaves us with little interaction between Leia and Chewie. The closest thing they have to a conversation in the whole trilogy, as far as I can tell, is their exchange while Chewie is strangling Lando. That isn't much to work with. Even if we assume that Chewie is jealous, as George planned but didn't show, we still don't know how Leia feels about Chewie.
Or do we?
Leia does have a few things to say about Chewie. Or, more accurately, about Wookiees in general. They aren't particularly nice things, either.
Death Star corridor: Leia snaps, "Will someone get this walking carpet out of my way?" before shoving her way past Chewie, who hadn't really done anything offensive. Granted, Leia was having a bad day, but that was inexcusable. It's not exactly Chewie's fault he's furry, is it? If you think about it, Leia insulted all the sentient furry races in the galaxy with that remark. This is how a responsible public servant from a tolerant, peaceful planet behaves? Of all the things she could have said, why did she choose to comment on one of the distinguishing attributes of Chewie's species rather than say, his behavior? Her problem was that he was walking in front of her and not his furriness, right? Even more disturbing is the fact that Leia did not direct her remark at Chewie. She could have said, "Hey, walking carpet, get out of my way," which would have at least acknowledged that Chewie was capable of understanding her, but instead she talked about him, in his presence, as if he were a badly trained dog to be gotten out of the way by its master. Leia sounds scarily like the detention block officer who asked, "Where are you taking this...thing?"
South Passage: In response to Han's "goodbye kiss" remark, Leia exclaims, "I'd just as soon kiss a Wookiee!" Why a Wookiee? Hutts are far more loathsome than Wookiees by human standards of beauty, and they seem to be universally nasty characters. They certainly don't live by the same sort of honor code Wookiees do. So why not, "I'd just as soon kiss a Hutt?" Furthermore, Leia has known Han for three years by this point, so she must know that his Wookiee copilot is also his friend. By using "a Wookiee" as the last possible thing she would want to kiss besides Han, Leia is insulting Han's friend--and Wookiees in general--at least as much as she is insulting Han, if not more. No wonder Han doesn't want to talk to her after that. It is possible that "I'd just as soon kiss a Wookiee" is a common expression and has more to do with Wookiee tempers than Wookiee appearances, but either way it's a nasty thing to say.
Then there's Cloud City: "Oh, so we understand, don't we Chewie?" Finally, Leia treats Chewie more like she treats everyone else. Which is to say, she puts words in his mouth and orders him around a bit. But it's something. At least they really are in agreement in that scene.
But then she shows up at Jabba's holding a chain attached to Chewie's neck. We know how Chewie feels about being restrained--remember when Luke tried to put binders on him? Chewie must have concluded it was the best way to rescue Han, or you know he would not have gone along with it. Whose plan was this, anyway? When it came time to divvy up duties for the rescue mission, did Leia get that role because she was the only one available or because the others were thinking, yeah, she'd be pretty convincing dragging Chewie around on a chain?
There's another interesting tidbit in the Jabba sequence: "At last we have the mighty Chewbacca." To Leia, Chewie is a "walking carpet," but to Jabba, Chewie is "mighty." Jabba's willing to pay pretty good money for Chewie, too: thirty-five thousand. Luke got, what, two thousand for his speeder? Ten thousand is almost enough to buy a ship. Seventeen thousand "could really save [Han's] neck" from Jabba. So a small ship is more valuable than a landspeeder, a shipment of spice (plus some interest?) is more valuable than the ship, and Chewie is more valuable than all three put together. Sounds like Jabba has a pretty high estimation of Chewie's abilities.
In fact, the only characters who seem to have any problem with Wookiees (besides Threepio, who has problems with everything) are the Imperials and Leia (an ex-Imperial--hold that thought). Luke doesn't spend a lot of time with Chewie either, but he treats him like he treats everyone else. Chewie seems to think Luke is a good friend at any rate, judging by the hug he gives Luke in ESB. Lando treats Chewie like he treats his other friends too, teasing Chewie about "still hanging around" with Han. Han is grouchy toward everyone, Chewie included, but when it comes down to it, Han trusts Chewie, and he listens to him. Remember who was working on Han in ANH, saying they should stay with the Rebellion instead of leaving with the reward?
So what's Leia's problem?
It could be a coincidence that almost everything Leia has to say about Chewie makes the ordinarily heroic princess sound like a bigot. But whether or not George intended it, that's what we have. So let's pretend it's supposed to be that way. Why would Leia be prejudiced against Wookiees? You would think that Bail, who knows how loyal the Wookiees were to the Republic and its ideals, and how much the Wookiees risked to help Public Enemy #1 Master Yoda, would have raised his adopted daughter to respect the Wookiees. Or at least not to toss out racial slurs in casual conversation.
But maybe Leia's political involvement is the answer. While Han and Lando have spent their lives operating outside the law alongside thousands of other species, and Luke, despite growing up in an apparently all-human settlement, doesn't have any particular reason to dislike nonhumans (except maybe Jawas and Sand People), most of Leia's experience with nonhumans was probably in her capacity as a member of the Imperial Senate. She would have been surrounded by anti-nonhuman rhetoric there. She was involved in politics for years before becoming a senator, too, and most likely dealt with many Imperials who spouted the party line at every opportunity. And this was all during her formative years. Bail might not have been able to speak out against this as much as he wanted to for fear of losing his position and thus his ability to aid the Rebellion. So it could be that despite her (probable) conscious beliefs in the equality of sentient beings, even Princess Leia, defender of freedom and justice for all, did not escape absorbing some of the Imperial attitudes toward nonhumans.
If that's the case, it's a very powerful demonstration of just how thoroughly the Emperor imposed his twisted ideals on the servants of his New Order.
(Crossposted from my starwars.com blog.)
Or do we?
Leia does have a few things to say about Chewie. Or, more accurately, about Wookiees in general. They aren't particularly nice things, either.
Death Star corridor: Leia snaps, "Will someone get this walking carpet out of my way?" before shoving her way past Chewie, who hadn't really done anything offensive. Granted, Leia was having a bad day, but that was inexcusable. It's not exactly Chewie's fault he's furry, is it? If you think about it, Leia insulted all the sentient furry races in the galaxy with that remark. This is how a responsible public servant from a tolerant, peaceful planet behaves? Of all the things she could have said, why did she choose to comment on one of the distinguishing attributes of Chewie's species rather than say, his behavior? Her problem was that he was walking in front of her and not his furriness, right? Even more disturbing is the fact that Leia did not direct her remark at Chewie. She could have said, "Hey, walking carpet, get out of my way," which would have at least acknowledged that Chewie was capable of understanding her, but instead she talked about him, in his presence, as if he were a badly trained dog to be gotten out of the way by its master. Leia sounds scarily like the detention block officer who asked, "Where are you taking this...thing?"
South Passage: In response to Han's "goodbye kiss" remark, Leia exclaims, "I'd just as soon kiss a Wookiee!" Why a Wookiee? Hutts are far more loathsome than Wookiees by human standards of beauty, and they seem to be universally nasty characters. They certainly don't live by the same sort of honor code Wookiees do. So why not, "I'd just as soon kiss a Hutt?" Furthermore, Leia has known Han for three years by this point, so she must know that his Wookiee copilot is also his friend. By using "a Wookiee" as the last possible thing she would want to kiss besides Han, Leia is insulting Han's friend--and Wookiees in general--at least as much as she is insulting Han, if not more. No wonder Han doesn't want to talk to her after that. It is possible that "I'd just as soon kiss a Wookiee" is a common expression and has more to do with Wookiee tempers than Wookiee appearances, but either way it's a nasty thing to say.
Then there's Cloud City: "Oh, so we understand, don't we Chewie?" Finally, Leia treats Chewie more like she treats everyone else. Which is to say, she puts words in his mouth and orders him around a bit. But it's something. At least they really are in agreement in that scene.
But then she shows up at Jabba's holding a chain attached to Chewie's neck. We know how Chewie feels about being restrained--remember when Luke tried to put binders on him? Chewie must have concluded it was the best way to rescue Han, or you know he would not have gone along with it. Whose plan was this, anyway? When it came time to divvy up duties for the rescue mission, did Leia get that role because she was the only one available or because the others were thinking, yeah, she'd be pretty convincing dragging Chewie around on a chain?
There's another interesting tidbit in the Jabba sequence: "At last we have the mighty Chewbacca." To Leia, Chewie is a "walking carpet," but to Jabba, Chewie is "mighty." Jabba's willing to pay pretty good money for Chewie, too: thirty-five thousand. Luke got, what, two thousand for his speeder? Ten thousand is almost enough to buy a ship. Seventeen thousand "could really save [Han's] neck" from Jabba. So a small ship is more valuable than a landspeeder, a shipment of spice (plus some interest?) is more valuable than the ship, and Chewie is more valuable than all three put together. Sounds like Jabba has a pretty high estimation of Chewie's abilities.
In fact, the only characters who seem to have any problem with Wookiees (besides Threepio, who has problems with everything) are the Imperials and Leia (an ex-Imperial--hold that thought). Luke doesn't spend a lot of time with Chewie either, but he treats him like he treats everyone else. Chewie seems to think Luke is a good friend at any rate, judging by the hug he gives Luke in ESB. Lando treats Chewie like he treats his other friends too, teasing Chewie about "still hanging around" with Han. Han is grouchy toward everyone, Chewie included, but when it comes down to it, Han trusts Chewie, and he listens to him. Remember who was working on Han in ANH, saying they should stay with the Rebellion instead of leaving with the reward?
So what's Leia's problem?
It could be a coincidence that almost everything Leia has to say about Chewie makes the ordinarily heroic princess sound like a bigot. But whether or not George intended it, that's what we have. So let's pretend it's supposed to be that way. Why would Leia be prejudiced against Wookiees? You would think that Bail, who knows how loyal the Wookiees were to the Republic and its ideals, and how much the Wookiees risked to help Public Enemy #1 Master Yoda, would have raised his adopted daughter to respect the Wookiees. Or at least not to toss out racial slurs in casual conversation.
But maybe Leia's political involvement is the answer. While Han and Lando have spent their lives operating outside the law alongside thousands of other species, and Luke, despite growing up in an apparently all-human settlement, doesn't have any particular reason to dislike nonhumans (except maybe Jawas and Sand People), most of Leia's experience with nonhumans was probably in her capacity as a member of the Imperial Senate. She would have been surrounded by anti-nonhuman rhetoric there. She was involved in politics for years before becoming a senator, too, and most likely dealt with many Imperials who spouted the party line at every opportunity. And this was all during her formative years. Bail might not have been able to speak out against this as much as he wanted to for fear of losing his position and thus his ability to aid the Rebellion. So it could be that despite her (probable) conscious beliefs in the equality of sentient beings, even Princess Leia, defender of freedom and justice for all, did not escape absorbing some of the Imperial attitudes toward nonhumans.
If that's the case, it's a very powerful demonstration of just how thoroughly the Emperor imposed his twisted ideals on the servants of his New Order.
(Crossposted from my starwars.com blog.)