Disney May Ban Leia's Gold Bikini From All Star Wars Merch

[PatrickJS]

Disney May Ban Leia's Gold Bikini From All Star Wars Merch

Editor's Note: This article has been updated to reflect the facts of the story, instead of the opinions of the author. The Escapist apologizes for the unnecessary and undisclosed opinions included in the original story.

The iconic, audacious, and probably uncomfortable golden bikini worn by Carrie Fisher in Return of the Jedi may soon be a rarity on toy shelves.

Many bothans may have died to bring us this information, but for now consider it just a rumor: Disney plans on banning Leia's slave bikini from all future Star Wars merchandising plans.

In Return of the Jedi, Leia is captured and imprisoned by Jabba the Hutt while she was attempting to infiltrate his compound on Tatooine. Once in his clutches, the princess and rebel leader is humiliated by being forced to wear a gold bikini while she serves the slug crime lord - until she kills the beast in perhaps the most brutal death scene in all of Star Wars.[footnote]Rumor has it that one of Fisher's high heels punctured the Jabba puppet in the chain-choking scene, injuring an animator working inside him.[/footnote]

Carrie Fisher, Leia Organa herself, once described the outfit as "what supermodels will eventually wear in the seventh ring of hell. [http://screencrush.com/slave-leia-retired-star-wars-merchandise/]"

Artist for Marvel, J. Scott Campbell, said on Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1033808203349553&set=a.196402160423499.52469.100001611481886&type=3] that sexy depictions of Leia in comics are discouraged. "Disney is already well on its way to wiping out the "slave" outfit from any future products period. You will NOT see any future merchandising featuring the slave outfit ever again. Trust me," he went on.

Disney and the Star Wars crew have been trying to make the universe a little bit more inclusive over the years. The novels (though many of them are no longer canon) are largely kinder to their female characters; portrayals of Leia in modern board games [https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2015/8/1/leaders-and-assassins/] display her as a bad-ass rebel leader, for example.

For Interview [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/142901-Star-Wars-The-Force-Awakens-First-Full-Trailer#&gid=gallery_4893&pid=1] magazine: "Don't be a slave like I was."

What do you think? Should Slave Leia stick around as an iconic memory, or is Disney on the right track?

Source: Screencrush [http://screencrush.com/slave-leia-retired-star-wars-merchandise/]

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[Lightknight]

One of the earlier examples of a damsel literally saving herself by taking out the planets biggest known crime lord and they want to wipe it out? Is it that sexy stuff makes their special places feel all funny and they don't know what to do with those emotions?

Just doesn't make too much sense. It's a much beloved and emulated costume.

 

[ecoho]

seems stupid, petty and driven by political correctness, so yeah bad move Disney.

 

[Legion]

I do not think that by no longer creating merchandise around it they are "confining it to nerd history". Unless they decide to edit the scene in all releases of the film from now on, it still exists as canon within the story line after all. Everyone who decides to watch the films is still going to see it.

 

[Darth Rosenberg]

It's not exactly a big deal. Star Wars has generally treated its few female characters in rather notably iffy ways (see Padme getting her outfit swiped into a DIY bikini in Shitty Prequel Part 2), so playing down 'slave Leia' is probably a net gain.

As the above [when I started posting] poster said; the scene's still in the film. Ergo nothing's lost.

 

[Ukomba]

Strange, she's wearing nearly the same amount of clothing as Jasmine, and more than Ariel, and isn't underaged.

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

I, for one, do not care. One skimpy bra, i'm sure it won't disappear from the movie dvds, in case a particularly sweaty fan starts having a panic attack that their first boner memory will be wiped from all official records. (Exaggeration used for porpoises of humour, please don't kill me!)

 

[Fappy]

Who cares? It's iconic, sure, but it made for a fairly dumb action figure anyway (applies to most Star Wars merch, honestly). As long as they're not going back and changing the movies like Lucas did why does it matter if they pretend the bikini never happened?

 

[Soviet Heavy]

They could just ban it from their Star Wars day celebrations costumes at Disneyland and world. They pissed off a lot of people when they outlawed EU costumes.

 

[synobal]

It was a totally ripped off Dejah Thoris anyways.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

God dammit. Its really just stupid, it never was a controversy before someone decided to bring it up and complain... fucking hell. I mean it doesn't remove it from memory or the movie but its really dumb IMO. I said something earlier that "Slave Leia" was in no way demeaning to women, and actually when taken in context to the whole character arc (from IV-VI) makes Leia an empowering character, even with the "slave" scenes as she ends up being the one to take out Jabba with just the chains of oppression (literally). But hey, whats context mean to people being offended, right?

 

[Casual Shinji]

This would make little sense seeing as one of Disney's most popular characters wears a seashell bikini.

 

[Trucken]

For <a href="http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/142901-Star-Wars-The-Force-Awakens-First-Full-Trailer#&gid=gallery_4893&pid=1
">The Force Awakens star, Daisy Ridley, Fisher had this to say in Interview [http://www.interviewmagazine.com/film/daisy-ridley#_] magazine: "Don't be a slave like I was."

Wait, wasn't Carrie Fisher the one that wanted some sort of outfit to show of her body? I think I read somewhere that it was more or less her idea, though I might be mistaken.

It does feel like Disney is overreacting and honestly got the whole thing wrong. Let's look at the whole situation: Leia tries to free Han Solo, someone that Jabba absolutely hates. So when he captures her he decides to belittle and embarass her 'cause, well, he's a dick. So what does Leia do? Does she just sit there obediently and wait for the men to come and save the day? No. Well, she waits until Luke and Han causes a distraction, and then she strangles the fuck out of one of the most feared characters in the entire universe. Jabba sure tried to make her weak and powerless but she was way too much of a badass to let that shit happen.

 

[Sniper Team 4]

I honestly never found Leia in that outfit all that attractive. Yeah, the outfit is meant to be sexy for sure, but on Carrie Fisher it just didn't work for me. I was too busy watching the action I guess.

That being said, I don't think Disney should go around wiping the outfit out. It is iconic, after all. Sure, you don't have to make it so that that outfit is ALL Leia seems to be wearing in merchandise, but there are people out there who still want it.
And I'm kind of tired of the argument, "It demeans Leia as a character!" That's the point. Jabba had a thing for humanoid females. And no, that's not just from the E.U. Keep in mind that he had a Twi'lek slave girl with nothing but FISHNETS for her top. Jabba viewed these girls as his property, and thus he dressed them the way that pleased him. Did wearing that outfit take away any of Leia's abilities? Sure didn't look like it. She saved herself, using the very outfit that she was wearing. Then, she helped blow the whole barge up. Now, if Leia kept wearing that thing afterward, then okay, we have a serious case of a character being nothing but eye candy now, but in the context of where she was and what had happened to her, the outfit fits.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

Yeah! And while they're at it, ban those Light-sabers. Too phallic. Can you say micro-aggression?!?

 

[Clive Howlitzer]

I think people really need to learn about context. Leia is taken prisoner by an intergalactic gangster who has a thing for humanoid females. Leia then later kills him with her own chains to escape, no one had to 'save' her. Get over it. Leia never was a damsel in distress. She took charge from the moment she was on screen.

 

[Scow2]

Eh... I can see the value in discouraging unnecessary proliferation of the outfit. I think they went too far if they remove it from ALL merchandise.

But on the subject of the stormtrooper's armor - Why do only the guys get sculpted chest plates?

 

[Chairman Miaow]

One of the earlier examples of a damsel literally saving herself by taking out the planets biggest known crime lord and they want to wipe it out? Is it that sexy stuff makes their special places feel all funny and they don't know what to do with those emotions?

Just doesn't make too much sense. It's a much beloved and emulated costume.

This pretty much. The abundance of merch with her wearing the outfit is pretty bad but the outfit fits the scenes it's in and it certainly doesn't turn her into a "disempowered sex object".

 

[Redd the Sock]

Realistically it isn't much of a problem. There's plenty of merch out there already with the gold bikini, and frankly, who wants to see Carrie Fisher in it now?

In more idealistic levels, just another break in the line: no one wants to take your toys away. You don't need to have zero tolerance for the sexy to make and market the more pragmatic, and yet, here we are.

Forget that some women like it

https://www.facebook.com/leiasmetalbikini/

Forget that in context, it was never bullshit as anything but the result of Jabba's odd fetish for humanoid females.

Forget that she was her most badass in the Jabba arc.

Nah, sexy - anti-wmoan these days.

Next, should C-3PO wear pants?

 

[synobal]

Realistically it isn't much of a problem. There's plenty of merch out there already with the gold bikini, and frankly, who wants to see Carrie Fisher in it now?

In more idealistic levels, just another break in the line: no one wants to take your toys away. You don't need to have zero tolerance for the sexy to make and market the more pragmatic, and yet, here we are.

Forget that some women like it

https://www.facebook.com/leiasmetalbikini/

Forget that in context, it was never bullshit as anything but the result of Jabba's odd fetish for humanoid females.

Forget that she was her most badass in the Jabba arc.

Nah, sexy - anti-wmoan these days.

Next, should C-3PO wear pants?

If men find anything attractive it's automatically demeaning and eye rape for women. Who cares if women enjoy looking sexy and like the costume, they are just degrading themselves for the attention of men and thus are race I mean sex traitors.