Foreshadowing of Leia as Anakin’s daughter
Mar 9, 2017 17:49:28 GMT
Cryogenic, jppiper, and 3 more like this
Post by Subtext Mining on Mar 9, 2017 17:49:28 GMT
Not just foreshadowing, but also “like father, like daughter”.
I can't say which of these may or may not have been intentional, and a couple are only viable now that the PT is out, but here are some patterns, none the less.
First, she wears the expressionless breath mask complete with voice modifier.
She becomes a slave to a Hutt.
Leia killing Jabba foreshadows Anakin killing The Emperor.
Like Palpatine with Anakin, it was Jabba who brought Leia into his proximity. Anakin & Leia were what could be seen as sleeper agents or moles, and it was with their chains that they struck back against their overconfident oppressors.
I get the impression Jabba and the events of the first act of RotJ were meant to serve as a prelude to The Emperor and the 3rd act. Even the first few notes of their respective theme songs are the same. The only difference is, the 2nd note in Jabba’s theme is an octave higher than in The Emperor’s.
The symmetric contrast in the 1st and 3rd acts is that the heroes had to descend to the lowest low point of the galaxy to confront Jabba; what I refer to as “the bottom of the outhouse of the galaxy”. Then climb to the highest high point to confront The Emperor; the highest tower at the top of the “Castle in the Sky”. As above, so below.
There is also an interesting parallel between the death of falling into the Sarlaac Pit and The Emperor falling to his death in the Death Star reactor. Not to mention the death of 1000 years, and the 1000 year Sith exile. And isn't there something in The Book of Revelation about the devil being cast into a pit for a thousand years?
Both Leia and Luke go into Jabba’s Palace as Vader, or more specifically, as representatives of their father, Anakin, who went into the Empire as Vader and eventually destroyed it from within.
I remember watching RotJ for the first time in the theater in 1983 and thinking this figure entering the palace was Darth Vader, and I highly suspect that was the intention. Luke even Force chokes the guards.
In this case, Leia is Anakin the slave and Luke is Anakin the Jedi.
And just like Leia going in as true love and being turned into a sex object, Vader went in as a protective hero, but was turned into a mechanical villain. But it was the true inner nature within the two of them that remained, and despite the transformation, conquered all.
And why do Leia & Luke bravely risk their lives to infiltrate the galaxy’s vile filth pile? For their love for Han.
The same reason that Luke does what he does at the end of the film.
Much like the roots of the Lotus (Padme in Sanskrit) down in the muddiest muck, connected to the beautiful flower up above.
Only true love can free the frozen, ossified hero.
Leia & Luke are becoming heroes like their father.
And I think my favorite symbolism of all here is how Leia freeing Han from the Carbonite foreshadows Luke freeing Anakin from his suit and life as Vader.
Upon receiving his suit, Vader even originally had his hands up, much like Han in his frozen pose.
The crimes of Han’s past had finally caught up with him, which was also the case with Anakin. And it was Vader who put Han into the cold, dark slab, into the big dark blur.
Anakin and Han become extensions of each other. The good guy gone bad, and the bad guy gone good. Could one say Vader casting Han into stone was him reenacting his life’s tragedy? Or as psychologists might put it, Transference? (What's interesting is he was planning on doing it to his son).
Hibernation sickness temporarily robbed Han of his eyesight. Anakin wants to look upon his son with his own eyes, through his natural eye sight.
Which brings us to the theme of returning to Nature and it’s triumph over technology and industry.
Luke had to attain the Force while Leia & Han had to attain love, so they could bring it back with them, and carry it down into the underground; Hades - so that it can grow up through the muck. Like Andy Dufresne in Shawshank Redemption, they had to go through the sewer but they had brought with them love and knowledge (I love you, I know), and were able to use the wretched slimos they encountered as the fertilizer which in turn transformed the barren desert into a lush forest, metaphorically speaking. It’s the return of the beauty of Nature, of Naboo in a sense. Even the fish people (Calamarians, like the Gungans) come to help.
And what was the only thing that could get the twins to go down that far? The compassion to save a loved one. Which is what Anakin meant to do with his wife, but succeeds in with his son.
One could almost say it was Vader (& Palpatine) who burnt the woods down, with the Mustafarian fires. Demolished nature. But life always prevails. The seeds of hope planted by Padme rose from the ashes.
I can also see the Ewoks as representing the spirits of all the innocents who died through Palpatine’s plots. And since it was Vader who killed the Jedi Younglings, it’s fitting that it is Leia who finds the Ewoks and is lifted to the heights of their trees.
Now separated again, however, Man’s (Han & Luke) animal nature (Chewie) leads the into the trap of the Ewoks, just as they’re all heading into the trap of The Emperor. But, once reunited with Leia again, Luke uses what he’s learned to release the Ewok trap.
Plus there’s the etymological tie between the technologically made Clones and the Ewoks, in that the word clone shares it’s root with stick/twig. Han snaps the twig, which sets off the events on Endor, which lead them to the stick warriors, who eventually become grafted into the good cause and help the heroes. Only this time, in the natural, pure way.
And some bonus imagery:
Leia’s thermal detonator kind of looks like a Death Star. Or the interrogation droid Vader used on her in the original Death Star. RotJ of course ends with Death Star II meeting the same fate as it’s predecessor, blowing up.
I can't say which of these may or may not have been intentional, and a couple are only viable now that the PT is out, but here are some patterns, none the less.
First, she wears the expressionless breath mask complete with voice modifier.
She becomes a slave to a Hutt.
Leia killing Jabba foreshadows Anakin killing The Emperor.
Like Palpatine with Anakin, it was Jabba who brought Leia into his proximity. Anakin & Leia were what could be seen as sleeper agents or moles, and it was with their chains that they struck back against their overconfident oppressors.
I get the impression Jabba and the events of the first act of RotJ were meant to serve as a prelude to The Emperor and the 3rd act. Even the first few notes of their respective theme songs are the same. The only difference is, the 2nd note in Jabba’s theme is an octave higher than in The Emperor’s.
The symmetric contrast in the 1st and 3rd acts is that the heroes had to descend to the lowest low point of the galaxy to confront Jabba; what I refer to as “the bottom of the outhouse of the galaxy”. Then climb to the highest high point to confront The Emperor; the highest tower at the top of the “Castle in the Sky”. As above, so below.
There is also an interesting parallel between the death of falling into the Sarlaac Pit and The Emperor falling to his death in the Death Star reactor. Not to mention the death of 1000 years, and the 1000 year Sith exile. And isn't there something in The Book of Revelation about the devil being cast into a pit for a thousand years?
Both Leia and Luke go into Jabba’s Palace as Vader, or more specifically, as representatives of their father, Anakin, who went into the Empire as Vader and eventually destroyed it from within.
I remember watching RotJ for the first time in the theater in 1983 and thinking this figure entering the palace was Darth Vader, and I highly suspect that was the intention. Luke even Force chokes the guards.
In this case, Leia is Anakin the slave and Luke is Anakin the Jedi.
And just like Leia going in as true love and being turned into a sex object, Vader went in as a protective hero, but was turned into a mechanical villain. But it was the true inner nature within the two of them that remained, and despite the transformation, conquered all.
And why do Leia & Luke bravely risk their lives to infiltrate the galaxy’s vile filth pile? For their love for Han.
The same reason that Luke does what he does at the end of the film.
Much like the roots of the Lotus (Padme in Sanskrit) down in the muddiest muck, connected to the beautiful flower up above.
Only true love can free the frozen, ossified hero.
Leia & Luke are becoming heroes like their father.
And I think my favorite symbolism of all here is how Leia freeing Han from the Carbonite foreshadows Luke freeing Anakin from his suit and life as Vader.
Upon receiving his suit, Vader even originally had his hands up, much like Han in his frozen pose.
The crimes of Han’s past had finally caught up with him, which was also the case with Anakin. And it was Vader who put Han into the cold, dark slab, into the big dark blur.
Anakin and Han become extensions of each other. The good guy gone bad, and the bad guy gone good. Could one say Vader casting Han into stone was him reenacting his life’s tragedy? Or as psychologists might put it, Transference? (What's interesting is he was planning on doing it to his son).
Hibernation sickness temporarily robbed Han of his eyesight. Anakin wants to look upon his son with his own eyes, through his natural eye sight.
Which brings us to the theme of returning to Nature and it’s triumph over technology and industry.
Luke had to attain the Force while Leia & Han had to attain love, so they could bring it back with them, and carry it down into the underground; Hades - so that it can grow up through the muck. Like Andy Dufresne in Shawshank Redemption, they had to go through the sewer but they had brought with them love and knowledge (I love you, I know), and were able to use the wretched slimos they encountered as the fertilizer which in turn transformed the barren desert into a lush forest, metaphorically speaking. It’s the return of the beauty of Nature, of Naboo in a sense. Even the fish people (Calamarians, like the Gungans) come to help.
And what was the only thing that could get the twins to go down that far? The compassion to save a loved one. Which is what Anakin meant to do with his wife, but succeeds in with his son.
One could almost say it was Vader (& Palpatine) who burnt the woods down, with the Mustafarian fires. Demolished nature. But life always prevails. The seeds of hope planted by Padme rose from the ashes.
I can also see the Ewoks as representing the spirits of all the innocents who died through Palpatine’s plots. And since it was Vader who killed the Jedi Younglings, it’s fitting that it is Leia who finds the Ewoks and is lifted to the heights of their trees.
Now separated again, however, Man’s (Han & Luke) animal nature (Chewie) leads the into the trap of the Ewoks, just as they’re all heading into the trap of The Emperor. But, once reunited with Leia again, Luke uses what he’s learned to release the Ewok trap.
Plus there’s the etymological tie between the technologically made Clones and the Ewoks, in that the word clone shares it’s root with stick/twig. Han snaps the twig, which sets off the events on Endor, which lead them to the stick warriors, who eventually become grafted into the good cause and help the heroes. Only this time, in the natural, pure way.
And some bonus imagery:
Leia’s thermal detonator kind of looks like a Death Star. Or the interrogation droid Vader used on her in the original Death Star. RotJ of course ends with Death Star II meeting the same fate as it’s predecessor, blowing up.
