#these luke/anakin and leia/padmé parallels are so tragically overlooked
Okay, the joke is funny sometimes, but the “Luke is a baby uwu who wouldn’t hurt a fly and Leia is so much like Anakin and would have killed Darth Vader instantly with the sheer force of her awesomeness and rage” fanon take irks me sometimes. Like, did Luke going absolutely lava-rage-monster insane on Vader, beating the living daylights out of him, hacking his arm off, and just barely holding himself back from chopping his head off or slashing his breathing apparatus open or sending him plummeting into the chasm below for even mentioning Leia and just barely holding himself back from giving into that darkness mean nothing to you? We all think of Luke as this sage-like bastion of light, which isn’t necessarily incorrect, but I think we all forget how hard-earned that is. The entire point of Luke’s arc in Episodes 5 through 6 is just how easily he could fall to the dark side. Yes, Luke is kind and sees and brings out the light in others like Padme, but he is so much like his father! That’s the whole point! He grew up wanting to escape a desert planet, he’s a mechanic, he’s an incredible pilot, he connects to the Force so easily it’s like breathing, he’s impatient, he’s reckless, he develops attachments too easily and they run too deep. He runs out on his training in Episode 5, and from that point on, he’s standing at a precipice—he could fall so easily. He could fall like Anakin. He saw his own face in Vader’s mask in the cave even before he knew the man was his father—he knows it. He has all that darkness in him, but the difference is that he conquers it. Luke is supposed to be what Anakin could have been if he had not fallen; he is Anakin’s chance at redemption. But ignoring all of this beautiful parallelism between the two for the sake of a “haha baby Luke girlboss Leia” take is a severe disservice to both Luke and Leia’s characters, as well as the main narrative arc of Star Wars as a whole.
I am a WHORE for “the love is requited, they’re both just idiots”
"if i was orpheus i would simply not turn around" yes you would. if you were orpheus and you loved eurydice, you would. to love someone is to turn around. to love someone is to look at them. whichever version of the myth — he hears her stumble, he can't hear her at all, he thinks he's been tricked — he turns around because he loves her. that's why it's a tragedy. because he loves her enough to save her. because he loves her so much he can't save her. because he will always, always turn around. "if i was orpheus i would simply —" you wouldn't be orpheus. you wouldn't be brave enough to walk into the underworld and save the person you love. be serious
i think what bothers me about a lot of "girl power" narratives is that they function on the implicit idea on the idea that women can become worthy of respect. and i happen to think that really caring about women means believing they already are worthy of respect. that historical seamstresses and soccer moms and forgotten sisters and sweet polite little girls and someone's weird grandma matter just as much as the warriors and politicians, even if they, personally, never accomplish anything "cool."
Some idiot: "Why are you reading your own fic, that's shallow and stupid"
All fanfic writers and writers everywhere: "Who the fuck do you think I wrote it for?!"
Current status: overwhelmed with love and appreciation for Padme Amidala.
tatooine boy discovers not all planets are covered in sand, will need an hour or so to process this
(commission info // tip jar!)
Samantha Mathis and Christian Bale in LITTLE WOMEN (1994) dir. Gillian Armstrong
““I will find you,” he whispered in my ear. “I promise. If I must endure two hundred years of purgatory, two hundred years of without you-then that is my punishment, which I have earned for my crimes. For I have lied, and killed, and stolen; betrayed and broken trust. But there is the one thing that shall lie in the balance. When I shall stand before God, I shall have one thing to say, to weigh against the rest… Lord, ye gave me a rare woman, and God! I loved her well.””
—
YOU SHOULD ALL REALLY READ OUTLANDER
I think Peter Pan (2003) did the best version of George Darling, especially with regards to the dual-casting tradition.
Not only did it let Jason show off his acting range but the explorations of masculinity were really fascinating to watch. George Darling is a nervous wreck who is constantly trying to prove himself as a 'proper' gentleman. "I must become a man that children fear and adults respect!" While he certainly scared the hell out of Wendy then, she still responded "Father? Brave?" to her mother's claims.
So, when Wendy goes to Neverland, she meets a man who is, as Jason Isaacs said, "strangely alluring yet repulsive at the same time, and looks like her dad". Captain Hook is the nightmare version of Wendy father. He's confident, he's aggressive, and he is a cruel, selfish asshole. But the sad thing is, he'd probably be more respected in Edwardian society than George.
Going back to George, when he finds out his kids are missing he literally sprints home out of pure fear and desperation to bring them back. He ran! That is a HUGE 'proper gentleman' no-no! Then when the kids do come home, he practically knocks himself out sprinting into the nursery and smashing his body against the door frame! He tries to put on the gentlemanly persona. Stiff upper lip, manly-man handshake, keep your emotions buried deep inside... but he can't do that. But that's a good thing! He breaks down, embraces his children, and their family is whole again. Rejecting Edwardian social norms was the right thing to do.
So, what I love about this version of George Darling and Captain Hook is how effectively they portray the best and worst forms of masculinity.