What do you do when your young daughter proclaims her love for Princess Leia’s metallic slave bikini? You have it animated, of course…
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In 1983, I have vivid memories of seeing Return of the Jedi in the theatre nine different times and, almost every time, when Carrie Fisher would emerge in her Jabba the Hutt slave bikini—the outfit that has long become a geek fetish icon, even before Ross from Friends admitted that it dominated his romantic fantasies—my seven-year-old face would turn bright red and I’d hide behind the seat in front of me, hoping that the princess (or my parents) wouldn’t notice I was staring.
While my first reaction to the Slave Leia outfit was unabashed shame and excitement, UK comedian Adam Buxton’s five-year-old daughter had almost the exact opposite reaction—she LOVED IT.
Buxton recorded his daughter talking about Princess Leia’s slave get-up and the Brothers McLeod animated their conversation. It’s beyond adorable.
There’s just so much going on there that I love. I think it’s amazing that his daughter just finds the metal slave bikini, complete with chains and shackles, to be so much more flattering than Leia’s other outfits. (“It’s actually a pretty good look for her,” she tells her dad.) I love that her father does his best to explain why some people find the costume to be exploitative (he asks “Do you know what the word ‘demeaning’ is?”), I love his explanation of “demeaning,” and I love that, after hearing it, his daughter carefully considers it and pretty much says, “I see what you’re saying, but yeah, I still like the outfit.”
(I couldn’t stop smiling when I heard his daughter’s argument that, while she would hate being a slave, she’s just escape and then ask nicely if she could keep the slave costume.)
I have a small bit of experience when it comes to talking with young daughters about Princess Leia’s costuming choices and, I have to say, Buxton handled the situation perfectly. He didn’t tell his daughter that she was wrong, he didn’t try to press his opinions onto her, he spke his mind and told her both sides of the issue, and his daughter made up her own mind. THAT’s some great Star Wars parenting right there. AND he recorded it all—and even had it animated for our benefit! What a great dad!
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Thank you! Very well put!
The animation is very cute. The little girl’s very innocent perspective is very sweet. But it is imperitive to keep in mind that while her perspective at this age is a very innocent one, she is still absorbing very firm ideas around Princess L’s role as a woman in Star Wars vs the male characters that are not subjected to displaying their bodies for others viewing pleasure. I do not think Buxton handled that situation “perfectly”. I do think he was trying and that’s a great step forward. But I really, really, really hope he talked a lot more about… Read more »
Thank you, Erin! Very well put! (I accidentally posted as a general reply but meant it as a reply to your comment.)
Thanks Anat! It’s nice to know that I’m not the only one that sees it that way.