How was Princess Leia able to save herself and Han Solo From Jabba the Hutt in Return of the Jedi?

Question

Ok, so she didn't FULLY save Han from Jabba. All she did was free him from the carbonite. But I am confused how she was able to do that if she is a Princess and a damsel in distress.Generally the female character needs to be rescued by the male knight in shining armor character! She also strangled Jabba the Hutt to death with a chain she was attached to that he was keeping her prisoner with.
I don't understand how she was able to overpower him if she was the helpless damsel in distress.

It would have been better if she would have tried to rescue Han but was UNSUCCESSFUL and she gets captured but he still stays in carbonite. Jabba would have still chained her up and made her wear that really pretty golden bikini she wore as his prisoner.Later, when Luke enters, then Luke could have figured out how to free Han from the carbonite.

Then later after Luke and Han escape being eaten in the Sarlaac pit, then they could have gone in and killed Jabba and rescued Leia.She could have kissed Han and praised him as her hero and gone back to normal clothes. I think that would have made more sense. Why did George Lucas do it the way he did? Any opinions?

Answer

While it is true that the damsel in distress is a common trope in movies, I don't think Lucas did it this way because I don't think he intended to portray her as dependent.  From her very first scene standing alone and toe to toe with Vader she was defiant and brave.  On Endor she fought as well as the men, at one point saving Han's life at the Imperial bunker.  Looking at her mother, Padme, we see parallels of this courage under fire,pulling her own weight in the group on Naboo.  I think Lucas chose not to follow the damsel trope because he saw these female characters as strong, capable people who added to a group rather than simply pdepending on it.

Answer

Leia is a jedi, untrained, but still the daughter of Anakin Skywalker, she is not normal, but very spirited as Han says, She's the General in episode 7 too. She's part of the Rebellion.

How was Princess Leia able to save herself and Han Solo From Jabba the Hutt in Return of the Jedi?

Responses (2)