47 Years Later, Mark Hamill Celebrates The “Effortless Feminism” Of A New Hope

At Fan Expo Chicago, Star Wars legend Mark Hamill had very high praise for A New Hope, specifically pertaining to the representation of Princess Leia and the movie’s feminist story arc. A New Hope remains one of the most beloved additions to Star Wars movies and TV shows. In fact, despite the nearly 50 years since the original trilogy debuted, A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi are still frequently regarded as being Star Wars’ best movies. Now, Hamill has specifically called out the arc of one of Star Wars’ best characters, Princess Leia.

In his Fan Expo Chicago panel, “Mark Hamill Live,” Hamill highlighted the “effortless feminism” of A New Hope. Specifically, as revealed in a video posted by va.va.vera on TikTok, Hamill joked about how Princess Leia made chumps of Luke Skywalker and Han Solo and had no fear whatsoever when she faced off against Darth Vader.

Although this perspective will undoubtedly be controversial to some, as even the term ‘feminism’ has become loaded in this fandom and beyond, Mark Hamill’s assessment of both A New Hope and Princess Leia’s role in the movie is absolutely perfect.

Princess Leia Blazed The Trail For Sci-Fi

As Mark Hamill correctly pointed out, Carrie Fisher’s Princess Leia was a brand-new type of hero for movies like Star Wars—and this was in part because it was such a massive deviation from how women were typically depicted in stories of this kind. Specifically, Hamill identified Leia not as a damsel-in-distress stereotype but rather as a take-charge hero in her own right, willing to mock Tarkin to his face in front of the terrifying Darth Vader. This was clearly quite different from the role many women characters had played in science fiction thus far.

Leia’s incredible arc only continued from there. In The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, Leia proved to be absolutely essential to both the Rebellion and the future of the Jedi, as she not only served as a leader in the fight against the Empire but also consistently helped (and at times saved) Luke. The sequel trilogy then proved that even after the Empire fell, Leia remained a major player in the galaxy. Ultimately, she was also a huge reason the First Order was able to be defeated as well.

Truly, there are very few characters as impressive, influential, and beloved as Princess Leia, despite decades of new characters being introduced. Again, while Hamill’s choice of words might sadly stir the pot, his description of Leia’s role throughout the Star Wars franchise was entirely accurate. A New Hope really was a beautiful representation of a feminist story arc, and that comes down to how brilliant a character Princess Leia was.

Source: va.va.vera

Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope

5.0

The film that began the Star Wars franchise, Episode IV – A New Hope tells the story of wistful Force-sensitive Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), who longs to leave his home planet of Tatooine to fight the evil Empire. After inheriting his Jedi father’s weapon, a lightsaber, Luke sets off under the tutelage of Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guinness) with smuggler Han Solo (Harrison Ford) to join the Rebellion and face the evil Darth Vader.

Release Date

May 25, 1977

Distributor(s)

20th Century

Cast

Mark Hamill
, Harrison Ford
, Carrie Fisher
, Alec Guinness
, David Prowse
, James Earl Jones
, Frank Oz
, Anthony Daniels
, Kenny Baker
, Peter Mayhew
, Peter Cushing

Runtime

121 Minutes

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