Princess Leia's Bra

Has there ever been a more iconic vision than the sight of Princess Leia wearing that metal bra (and not much else) in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi? It has inspired many an adolescent fantasy and continues to do so today, more than thirty years after it appeared on the screen. You can find images of it, or artistic renderings of it all over the internet. On the one hand it is just another example of Hollywood sexploitation. Of course she appeared that way on the movie poster even though Carrie Fisher really wasn’t wearing it for much of the film, just two scenes. There are many examples of Hollywood sexploitation, too many to name. They have been doing this since the 1920’s and still are today. It is such a common feature of movies that movies without it are almost the exception. And it is not just the women (well okay, it’s mostly women) but from time to time they do put scantily clad males on display too.

The whole point of doing this is to get people into the theater. It must work because they keep doing it. And that is certainly why they put Leia on the poster. But apart from bringing people in, does it add much to the movie? Usually not much. I mean, I like to look at scantily clad women as well as the next guy (or whatever your preference) but in ninety-nine out of a hundred such films, the scenes would generally make just as much sense to the plot of the movies if the women weren’t wearing ridiculous clothes.

But it seems to me there is something different about the Princess Leia outfit. As I said, it still resonates with a certain demographic all these decades later. Other images have not had that kind of staying power. I remember when Raquel Welch performed in an otherwise forgettable movie called One Million Years BC (Yes I know there are fans of the movie who consider it a classic, but I am not one). There was a famous poster featuring her in an outfit that was just about as revealing as Leia’s. The Raquel poster was all the rage for a while, but I don’t think it had the staying power of Leia in her hardware. Why is that? Well, for one thing the first three Star Wars films were much more popular than One Million years BC, and they had their own staying power that spoke to each successive generation. People cared about the Luke, Leia, and Han. It wasn’t just about special effects or sexy women.

And that is the takeaway. Having scantily clad women on the poster is a successful marketing strategy. I am sure it has even drawn me in to a movie or two, but staying power comes from having a well written, well-acted film with characters you can care about.

(My novel Star Liner, is now available as an e-book through Copypastapublishing.com, Amazon, or the other usual online sources. For those who like to turn physical pages, the paperback will be out soon).

link to Star Liner

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