Mayumi De Leon 181503

COMM 20.03 - C

Princess Leia and the Gold Bikini: Was it Necessary?

A Critical Essay on Star Wars’ Princess Leia with the Hierarchy of Influences Model

Media is something that we see almost everywhere around us. As a member of Gen Z,

media has played an especially important role in my life. Kids my age grew up watching all kinds

of shows and movies, some educational, some for the sake of entertainment. However, as we

mature and learn more about the world around us, we question everything with “why?”. Why is it

that these things (TV shows, movies) came to be? Who thought it was a good idea to create such?

And why?

This is where The Hierarchy of Influences Model comes in. The model basically explains

the different factors that can affect media. It was mentioned that there was a close relation (with

little to no distortions) between the perceived media reality and the actual social reality which was

described as the Media Mirror Hypothesis. The different factors that were identified to affect the

actual content of media were as follows: 1) media workers' socialization and attitudes 2) media

organizations and routines 3) social institutions and forces 4) Content is a function of ideological

positions and maintains the status quo (Shoemaker & Reese, as cited in Griffin, Ledbetter, &

Sparks, 2019).

As I delve deeper into the theory, I realized that it mostly focuses on the journalism aspect

of media, and not much on the entertainment business. The theory proceeds to talk about the

different influences that can hinder the whole process of journalism or new reporting. However, I
also realize that some of these concepts can also be applied to the more “fictional” world like in

movies. To some extent, these movies and shows also depict our reality, if not, our ideal reality,

which also says a lot about our actual reality, that is why they’re always criticized for their ability

to be “realistic.” Also, if we think about it, we, as consumers, also shape the industry of

entertainment. One good example of this is the idea that sex sells.

In most movies, most of the female characters are seen to be wearing something revealing.

In the Star Wars franchise, one of the most notable female characters is none other than Princess

Leia. In the movie Star Wars: A New Hope, Princess Leia was introduced as a strong woman who

fought against storm troopers and did everything in her power to save her people. In the same

movie, she was dressed in a long white gown that covered her neck and her ankles that also hid

the shape of her body. However, as the movie progressed and the audience discovers that she is

actually Luke Skywalker’s sister (and daughter of Darth Vader), she was seen in Star Wars: Return

of the Jedi when she was captured by Jabba the Hut and turned into a slave. In this scene she was

wearing a sexy bikini and chains. Later on, we notice that she does not really play a more important

role than being Han Solo’s newfound love interest.

Though Star Wars is a movie that is very far from reality because of its genre, we can

assume that there are aspects of human reality that still applies such as social justice, love, sex,

friendship and camaraderie. Given this, we can continue to apply the concepts discussed above. I

believe that the uniting “media reality” and “social reality” in the specific context of Princess Leia

is how she was sexualized in the scenario, as well as her reduced importance in the storyline which

cannot not exactly be considered as a good example of character development. I also think that we

can apply the different factors that can influence the content. For example, for the first factor,

which was media workers' socialization and attitudes, we can see that the primary crew for the Star
Wars saga is dominated by men. We can then infer that there is a greater possibility that they do

not understand the current situation and issues of women. For media organizations and routines,

we must take a look at the context of the film. First and foremost, Return of the Jedi was made in

the year 1983. Many online articles will talk about the profound sexism that was prevalent in the

70s and up to the early 80s. This is seen in many movies and advertisements made during the era.

For example, in 1975 a body spray called “Love’s Baby Soft” was advertised to give off a scent

of “a cuddly, clean baby … that grew up very sexy” (Garber, 2015) This reimposes the notion of

women having to be innocent, but also very sexy at the same time. Women were “slut-shamed”

for wanting to have sex but would also be labeled as a prude for being too innocent. This was the

same theme found in Princess Leia’s character. Her innocence and being strong willed was

probably deemed too boring for the general male audience (which was probably the target market

of the Star Wars franchise) so they had to balance and neutralize it by making her sexier and more

submissive in the next movies. This can also be the possible explanation related to the fourth factor

which was the idea of content is a function of ideological positions and maintains the status quo.

For the third factor, on the other hand, which was social institutions and forces. There was a high

audience demand in that period for “macho” male-dominated movies as we can see in the list of

the top 10 highest grossing movies of the 80s featuring movies like Top Gun, Indiana Jones, and

Batman (Filmsite, n.d) which all shared the common theme of a strong white male lead with a sexy

lady love interest. Another concept closely related to this was the idea that the social system is the

foundation from which all media content is constructed. During the mid-70’s, the equal rights

amendment was proposed to the US constitution, but would fail ratification. This amendment

would ensure to “end the legal distinctions between men and women in terms of divorce, property,
employment, and other matters,” according to the equalrightsamendment.org. We can also take a

look at the fact that the third wave of feminism did not begin until the 1990s.

To conclude, it is safe to say that the presentation and overall character and persona of

Princess Leia in the Star Wars saga was heavily shaped by the context of the film, specifically in

the social state of the era. The prevalence of the patriarchy and the need for media to succumb to

the male desires contributed greatly to the sudden sexualization of the strong female character.

Later on, this proves to be successful as the Star Wars saga continues on with its success and how

Princess Leia is voted to be one of the audience’s favorite characters from the series (Hoffman et

al., 2018).

Bibliography

Garber, M. (2015 June 15). ‘You've Come a Long Way, Baby’: The Lag Between Advertising and

Feminism. Retrieved from

https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/06/advertising-1970s-womens-

movement/395897/.

Griffin, E. A., Ledbetter A., & Sparks, G.G. (2019). A First Look at Communication Theory [10th

Edition].

Hoffman et al. (2018 May). 50 Best ‘Star Wars’ Characters of All Time. Retrieved from

https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-lists/50-best-star-wars-characters-of-all-

time-145533/oola-156492/.
Lucas, G. (Executive Producer), Marquand, R. (Director) & Kazanjian, H. (Producer). (1983). Star

Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi [Motion Picture]. United States: Lucasfilm.

Sollee, K. (2015 Feb). 7 Feminist Moments From The 1980's — Because The Decade Wasn't Just

About Spandex And Hairspray. Retrieved from https://www.bustle.com/articles/65536-7-

feminist-moments-from-the-1980s-because-the-decade-wasnt-just-about-spandex-and-

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n.a. (n.d.) ALL-TIME BOX OFFICE HITS (Domestic Gross) BY DECADE and YEAR. Retrieved

from https://www.filmsite.org/boxoffice2.html.