In a galaxy far, far away; there is a story of refusing to keep a hope just to be a hope, a story of the Force that often goes unnoticed, a story about Leia Organa.
She talked to a droid called R2-D2, and commanded him to forward a message asking for help from the only one hope, Obi Wan-Kenobi. There were two buns on her head, kind of funny yet unforgettable hairdos. Her dress was not fancy, a long white dress without pretty cutting.
Darth Vader was after her. She did not throw any kind of superhero moves while she was carrying that mission. And without taking too much time, she became a Vader’s prisoner. She indeed did not kick him, but she did not give up on him too. That was my first hello with Leia Organa.
She was a princess, a different princess. The only one princess I wanted to be. I always refuse all the ideas about princesses that fairytales offer. I never watch Cinderella, have no idea about whatever a girl’s name in Beauty and the Beast, give no care about what exactly Tinkerbell is and already feel sucky to hear about Snow White.
I have no problem with someone’s imagination of being a princess, which becomes so normal to stay in the wildest woman’s fantasy. I just never want a prince charming –someone who wakes me up from my long sleep by kissing or someone who chases me after being a dance partner in a huge ballroom. I never agree that true love requires magic, it requires strength and some witty banters. And I’m not touched by life-changing fairy magic dust.
That is why there is always a room for Leia, even though watching all the Star Wars episodes gets me so easy to root for Han or Vader. Leia was a princess who carried a Blaster, instead of a flower. A princess who chose not to sit on a throne, but in a cockpit together with two men and a Wookie she just met. She indeed fell in love, not with a prince charming on a white horse, but with a rogue-ish smuggler who flew the Millennium Falcon.
She did not get “I love you too” for her “I love you”, a minute before her love was getting carbonized by Vader. She got an “I know” for it–something I have always wanted to get for my “I love you” and something I have always wanted to give for his “I love you”.
To me, it felt relieving to find an off the chain princess like Leia Organa. But as the time goes by, every kind of princess figure is swept away. I want to keep a room as big as the early times I knew Princess Leia. But apparently, everything changes, including a room for her. It is still there, but with the smaller size.
The last Leia I know is not Princess Leia, she is General Organa. Instead of choosing to live happily ever after, Leia chose to live badassly ever after.
I’m thinking of her path to be a general. She is a twin for Luke, which logically, the Force is with her too. I had always thought that the Force had to be something magical, just like in Obi Wan, Yoda, Luke or Vader. It is idyllic to control someone’s mind or to choke someone without touching.
I remember what Han Solo said to her when they met again in The Force Awakens. He told her that she already changed her hairstyle. But I’m sure she did not turn it into something really new. That was the same hairstyle she wore when she led the Rebel Alliance for the first time: The time when she might think the Force would choose her to have a lightsaber and keep the way clear for her.
Leia’s relationship with the Force is something unnoticed, it is not a spotlight darling. Leia’s Force is not about magic, it is about something human.
Her connection with the Force has always been about her sense of empathy. It appeared when she reached Luke’s call after a fight against Vader. Luke was in a critical situation, and Leia together with Lando, Chewie, R2-D2 and injured C-3PO were about on their way to leave.
Surprisingly her Force made her able to reach Luke’s call. She knew Luke needed her help. She pushed them to fly back and finally they found Luke.
I guess that was similar to what happened in The Force Awakens. That kind of heart-breaking fragment when she sensed the death of Han Solo. A sense about another big loss after losing her son, Ben –who gave himself to the Dark Side- and her brother, Luke, who buried himself in grief and guilt.
She has fought for Rebellion through her whole life. During her fight, there are people like Luke, Han and Ben. But in the end, she has to lose them. Years before, her planet and home were destroyed. Her adoptive parents were killed, her biological mother died after giving birth for her and her biological father chose to be a monster before he died.
People may get surprised because through those merciless losses, she turns to be a general without the fancy Force. But the Force is not bigger than Leia herself. The Force makes her sense as a thing she needs to understand and accept, even though it hurts. And together with the Force like this, there is always a melancholy she has to swallow.
Some epics end violently. Others push themselves not to end at all. Perhaps her tartness is just too huge to take, but she has seen that she is not the only one who lost everything. She doesn’t quit. And somehow, this decision reminds me that a choice to be General Organa has always existed -even through the time I thought strength could not exist.
Sarang Senang 