That's the great thing, Jase, they all can! The original trilogy had simple, uplifting storylines told through basic, easily recognisable characters. Leia the princess, Han the rogue, Luke the heroic farm boy. They weren't groundbreaking, but that's not a bad thing. We've been telling each other stories since the ice age, we know what works. Star Wars wasn't the next Great American Novel, it was space opera. They're still the only films to do it right, but that's a topic for another thread. The characters were well grounded and followed a pleasing, satisfying development arc, making them some of the best loved icons of the twentieth century.
Consider Leia. She's a strong female character, who saw a full story arc in the original trilogy and had great potential for a spin off series of her own. (Now that's something I'd pay money to see... or would have, before Disney rocked up and set about destroying anything and everything to do with the original franchise.
)
Leia is a princess. We first meet her as an entitled aristocratic brat, running errands for the grown ups and without the first clue about just how eveil and dangerous her captor was. She cheeks up to Darth Vader, sneers at her rescue party and damsels to the nearest responsible adult, General Kenobi. She also develops a painfully obvious crush on the bad boy smuggler. She overcomes many setbacks and great personal loss, matures enormously, becomes much less self centred and gives her all to her cause and the people she loves, eventually earning the title she was given free, becoming the leader of the Rebellion and the soon to be re-instated Republic.
She doesn't achieve any of this by being mysteriously able to out perform every character in the movie at every skill they demonstrate, or by being instantly loved and adored by literally everyone she meets!
George Lucas has always been a cutting room type of film maker, able to create amazing visuals on a shoestring budget, but not that clever when it comes to dialog. His young cast got a great deal of input into what their characters said and did, which worked out stunningly well for the first three movies. Naturally, Kathleen 'artistic differences' Kennedy wasn't letting any mansplaining get in the way of her propaganda masterpiece, so that went out the window in the latest picture. Take in a few of Mark Hamils recent interviews; he had absolutely no input whatsoever into the development of his character. Which goes a long way toward explaining why Kennedy's Skywalker is a complete stranger to anyone who's seen the original three.
No actor worth their salt should want to play a Mary Sue. I actually feel quite sorry for filmakers these days, given the outrage and kickback they get whenever they try to portray any kind of weakness or flaw in their heroines. It's no excuse, though. Taking a few pelters on twater is sod all considered next to the slings and arrows most people face in their daily lives. The glitterati are extremely well paid to entertain us mere peons- crack on, luvvies!
Not quite the case, mate. Luke was a farm boy raised on Tatooine. His whole existence was based around using high technology to raise crops in the desert. Some of that tech involved fliers and Luke was already an accomplished pilot before the film started. Remember these lines?
Biggs Darklighter: "
T-16s are a lot like the snubfighters we're using."
Luke Skywalker:
"I know, I looked one over. I'm sure I can handle it."
A T-16 is a small 'tropospheric' craft. Biggs again:
"
You may be the hottest bush pilot this side of Mos Eisley, Luke, but those little skyhoppers can be dangerous. They move awfully fast for tropospheric craft—faster than they need to. Keep playing engine jockey with one and someday, whammo! You're going to be nothing more than a dark spot on the damp side of a canyon wall."
Luke used his T-16 to shoot Womp Rats in Beggars canyon- 2m long native wildlife, in a trench, at high speed, in a craft very similar to an X-Wing. (Both craft were allegedly manufactured by Incom; the X-Wing was the T-65).
Tbh, Luke was probably better qualified for the mission than most of the Rebel pilots he flew alongside! [hotas]
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4591/24510567377_2cae9b421c_b.jpgT-16 by
William Clement, on Flickr
The 'real' T-16 didn't feature in the film for budgetary reasons. That's the model they were going to blue screen in Mark's hand.
![24510567377_2cae9b421c_b.jpg](http://[URL="https://flic.kr/p/DkV4Kg"][IMG]https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4591/24510567377_2cae9b421c_b.jpg)
