Posted in: Movies, Star Wars | Tagged: film, HRL, star wars, star wars: the last jedi, The Last Jedi
Star Wars: The Last Jedi – Leia Organa Is Defined By Loss, But Keeps Hope
The world has seemed a little darker in the last year for many different reasons for many different people. One of those reasons was the sudden loss of the legendary Carrie Fisher at the end of last year. She has left a hole in the world of pop culture and mental health awareness. It's a void that will never be filled, and it's made the release of the upcoming Star Wars: The Last Jedi feel that much heavier. The Last Jedi is how people the world around are going to say goodbye to Fisher and her character of Leia Organa. Director and writer Rian Johnson has talked to Entertainment Weekly about Leia's role in this universe and in this movie:
"Her character to some degree or another has been defined by loss through this whole saga, starting with the loss of her home planet. She's just taken hit after hit, and she's borne it, and she focuses on moving forward and the task at hand."
Leia started out the series as an orphan raised as a Princess who has to watch her home planet and everyone she has ever loved die in front of her. She went through hell through this series and things are not going to get easier. Leia has lost her husband, her son, and the Republic has been destroyed, which has left everyone vulnerable.
While a lot of people remember Fisher for her role as Leia, she was also an accomplished writer that Johnson often went to with help on the script. He made sure to consult with Fisher when it came to Leia's character:
"[Leia has] suffered quite a bit. While I was figuring out what her deal was going to be in this film, it's one of the things I talked about with Carrie before I started writing: where the character would go."
This movie is going to be a goodbye to one of the most influential female characters of all time, as well as the amazing actress that brought her to life. They had no way of knowing this when the movie was shooting, but Johnson hopes that the story they tell for her will move the audience in an emotional way:
"There's no way that we could've known this would've been the last Star Wars movie she would be in, so it's not like we made the film thinking that we were bringing closure to the character. But watching the film, there's going to be a very emotional reaction to what she does in this movie."
I think we can all agree that it's going to be emotional no matter what happens.
Summary: Having taken her first steps into a larger world in Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), Rey continues her epic journey with Finn, Poe and Luke Skywalker in the next chapter of the saga.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi, directed by Rian Johnson, stars Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Mark Hamill, Oscar Isaac, Carrie Fisher, and Adam Driver. It will be released on December 15th.