The Empire Strikes Back 3 | Resolving Your Han/Leia Sexual Tension | Stuff You Like

And that's your lot! Body language, intensity, sexual tension, changing your dynamic, and That Kiss.
Enjoy!
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[@dedf15]

Another cool contrast between the two of them: Anakin to jedi council: "I don't care about your rules (which I just agreed to follow to the letter one scene ago), I'm gonna be Padme's boyfriend" Han to Leia: "I'll go away (because I thought Luke was your boyfriend and not in fact your brother) so you and Luke can be together" It takes a real maturity to know that the other person's happiness is more important than their own satisfaction, and original Han really got that.

[@MilsteinRulez]

As to Anakin and Padme's chemistry (or lack thereof), I distinctly remember when watching it on opening night, we got to the retreat-above-lake-Como-thing scene, and Padmé says (well, in German) "Ich kann es nicht mehr ertragen" (something to the effect of "I can't take it anymore"), and someone in the audience replied "Ich auch nicht!" ("Me neither!"), with many chiming in.

[@brydon5721]

Love the blow-by-blow of the kiss scene, can't stop chuckling.

[@danieldosso2455]

well the "I hope Han and Leia don't break up in the Force Awakens" didn't age well...

[@JillBearup]

Just call me Nostradamus 😁

[@LadyEmilyNyx]

and yet even broken up, they have 10,000x the chemistry of anakin and padme

[@snuffles504]

Big oof

[@perjohanaxell9862]

If only for ones a cool film couple could be allowed to stay together.

[@littlebluepanda394]

@@LadyEmilyNyx I didn't much care for the sequels, but the line "you changed your hair" gets me crying like a baby every time.

[@werelemur1138]

Deep down I'll always be an EU/Legends girl because Han/Leia is still my Star Wars OTP and I can't make myself emotionally invest in a story where they didn't end up together.

[@nicobones9608]

I'm not much of a fan of Han and Leia's relationship. I feel like people like Han, in real life, generally turn out to be fairly bad fellows once the war/crisis is over. Even so, I love your analysis and how you show that it makes sense how they work together as a couple, especially when juxtaposed with Anakin and Padme, whose relationship always made me uncomfortable.

[@add-dyetiger9282]

yeah, Han + Leia is like the perfect lovestory ever... Gotta love Disney for all that EU stuff thei totaly did not kill...…..

[@ew6483]

Personally I didn’t like the boiler/repair room scene in ESB because it felt like Han was forcing Leia into a corner... I may have to rewatch the scene but I never felt the chemistry was there until the final episode.

[@samwallaceart288]

RIP Han+Leia

[@derekbroestler7687]

I think this is also sometimes more character then chemistry (though 100% agree on creepy Ani) The thing about Leia and Han that makes it SO much more believable for me is... They're different, but similar enough to understand each other.. They respect each other, but get aggravated by each other's choices. Leia's a senator, an ambassador, BUT, she IS also "a part of the rebel alliance and a traitor" ... So she's both been brought up with, and has learned the whole thing of, "sometimes you have to break the rules for the greater good, or what suits the situation now" but she KINDA struggles with it in ANH and Empire, before going full on badass "Look at me, I am your general now". Han's just been like "whatever gets the job done" for as far as we know, and he's GOOD (enough) at it, even though it isn't USUALLY NOT for the good of everyone... But Han sees Leia as both skilled and capable, and while he's attracted to that, it irritates him that she's committed to this cause... Leia in turn is attracted at how good(ish) he is, but aggravated that he doesn't have a cause other than himself. So it's kinda like "game recognize game" deal which makes it believable that these two would hit it off... As for the believability of Padme and Ani??? Like what do they have in common other than meeting when he was a kid? Which, really makes it all REALLY creepy, even before Ani goes full stalker mode...

[@IHaveAVeryCommonName]

I had a very different read on Han's "I know" - he's pushed to the wall, and he's experiencing a lot of stress from the dissonance of who he is (General Solo, freedom fighter) and who he thinks he is (smuggler who cares about #1 and maybe Chewbacca). In that moment, I don't think he really knows if he loves Leia - she's fun to wind up and she's hot as hell but *love*? The debonair devil Han Solo? And now he's probably going to die and she is really sad and he does... care about her. So he gives her something he never has before: unfiltered honesty. By saying "I know" and not "I love you too", he's saying "I'm not sure if it's love but I care about you too much to lie and I want you to know that." Which is really really sad and really quite sweet.

[@setablaze1802]

And then his feelings are fully realized when in the next episode the tables turn and its him saying "i love you" and Leia "I know"

[@estherfu6288]

Also he's probably about to die (though he lives). If he dies, better to just "die and let Leia believe that I don't actually love you instead of breaking her heart." Signs that Han does love Leia, albeit very subtly.

[@Quotheraving]

Sexual tension is more about the actors than the plot because there's more information in a moment of body language than in pages of script.

[@El_oh7199]

Also, by ESB we know that Han and Leia have known each other for awhile. They've been on other adventures and saved each other's skin. Padme and Anakin really only know each other for a couple of weeks (?) separated by ten years.

[@annaaquitaine4225]

It helps the chemistry that Carrie Fisher mentioned actually having a crush on Harrison Ford

[@Richard_Nickerson]

Just a crush? They had an affair.

[@annaaquitaine4225]

@@Richard_Nickerson really? I guess that’s not up my alley, I had no idea. I just saw one of her speeches where she mentioned that was part of her first impression lol

[@Richard_Nickerson]

@@annaaquitaine4225 Yeah, they were straight up in a relationship for at least ESB and RotJ.

[@annaaquitaine4225]

@@Richard_Nickerson well. That IS good chemistry lol

[@c.w.8200]

Even as a child I noticed that the romance in the prequels is off, it was so weird. I admired Padme and I thought she felt sorry for Anakin or something. I like the take that he manipulated her into the relationship with his jedi powers.

[@tenkenroo]

This is really great. please keep up the good work. Also your hair is really cool.

[@kendramalm8811]

Was it deliberate to echo Leia's hairstyle?

[@tenkenroo]

@@kendramalm8811 probably

[@Armaggedon185]

Have to say, you kind of contradict yourself here. The first time Han kisses Leia, he literally backs her into a corner with her retreating every step of the way until she has nowhere to go, at which point she pushes herself into the wall to get further away. If that scene were cut and the first time anyone did anything was her declaration of love before he gets iced, it’d be much more meaningful and less creepy.

[@meowtain9566]

Yes, I ship Han and Leia, but the fact that this is how they got together always made me feel uncomfortable. There's so many ways in which it could have been done better

[@xCorvus7x]

3:28 You know, maybe the people who enjoy Anakin and Padme's love story (or the prequels in general) just catch the fundamental themes in the story and fill in the gaps themselves, so that the scenes they see have the effect they (probably) should. What doesn't happen on screen happens in their mind maybe even after the fact whenever the narrative they believe in is questioned: they retcon the story for themselves (e. g. assume that there was a considerable amount of time between Episode 2 and 3 so that Anakin and Padme could grow together, deepen their relationship a bit). Maybe such people subconsciously want the story to work out so much that at least for themselves they make it work (whatever that tells about them). In that sense, the prequels might be like the first season of Sword Art Online.

[@Richard_Nickerson]

Yeah, that's basically what it comes down to. Most people can't articulate what makes things good or bad, I find. When I debate the quality of the PT, I have people waxing poetically about the love story and how emotional AotC and RotS are. When asked to point to proof of these things, they point to the same scenes that people rightfully call poorly done. They see what they're told is happening, but we see what's being shown to us instead. They're told "they fall desperately in love here," Padme says "you're breaking my heart" and these people just go "yup, that's what's happening" rather than seeing that that's not what's actually being portrayed.

[@cameronlapp9306]

Starting Anakin so young was the biggest prequel mistake: starting him closer to Padme's age would have allowed our understanding of Anakin, and his relationships of brotherhood with Obi-Wan and romance with Padme, develop properly in Phantom Menace. It would have contextualized why he was "too old" to train, and would have removed the sting of over-precociousness in major parts of the action. It's really unclear why they didn't make this choice.

[@Aiijuin]

Agree. Such a choice would have saved the psychological scarring of Jake Lloyd as well if Hayden had been cast from the start. Poor Jake. He was just a kid and was picked on to the point that his life is pretty screwed up now. I feel bad for him.

[@faiyoake]

Apparently Anakin’s fear for Shmi didn’t play as well with an older Anakin? Cuz he was originally 12.

[@andreagriffiths3512]

It got changed because GL really wanted little Jake in the film - screw the fact that Anakin was supposed to be older.

[@sandal_thong8631]

Lucas did everything to make this character unlikable. He made him 10-15 years too young. He chose Jake over the kid who read his lines better, with the casting director gnashing her teeth and holding her tongue. He made Anakin and his mother slaves instead of rugged settlers. And he had the character we know best call two other characters "pathetic life forms".

[@scarredchild]

As a Han/Leia shipper, I still appreciate that they ended as just exes. That people who love each other a lot can still not make it as a couple and still be friends is a powerful lasting message for anyone to internalize, and I for one applaud the bold move! GG

[@andrealok2604]

I mean, your only child ends up as a prototype Sith lord, almost murders your brother, and ends up working for the Space Nazis while you still are trying to bring democracy to the galaxy. All while your husband is still playing at being a hotshot pilot white you try to run a political and military position. It's amazing that they just ended up as exes - even though Leia is still the hotheaded, easy to wind up Princess at heart. (She says this to Poe, basically saying that she had enough of "hotshot pilots".)

[@Feralhyena]

Gosh yes, just give Annie and Padme something solid to bond over in AotC that can be reinforced in RotS.

[@tapware8149]

Wow! So I am happily married for the last ten years, but, I would have given anything 15 years ago to have heard your ESB series and the wisdom of...idk, knowing if "she is in to you." Would have saved me much sorry.

[@Rachel-fi4sc]

I know I'm late, but I vehemently disagree about the scene where Ham and Leia kiss. That has always squicked me out and made me just as deeply uncomfortable as Anakin and Padmé's AotC scenes. This video says it best, I think: m.kzbin.info/www/bejne/rYjSgWuMpcejj6s

[@stvdagger8074]

Sweet, a memory from when it was still possible to believe that Disney Star Wars wouldn't be a putrid pile of Bantha turds.

[@kelseadirmann3434]

There's a theory that Anakin was subconsciously manipulating Padme with the force, and that the lack of on screen chemistry is to highlight the abusive nature of their relationship

[@Richard_Nickerson]

Didn't she mention that idea in these videos? I'm pretty sure I've heard her say it somewhere.

[@elinefrit]

Now that the clone wars has ended, have you seen it? What do you think of Anakin and Padme there? I know there are a lot seasons to watch for such video but I think it may be interesting idea for a video and it all cannon (yet). To me they work there... And yes I am total Han and Leia stand. And don't fancy movie Anakin and Padme.

[@Ciborium]

I'm very surprised that Padme doesn't report Anakin to Jedi Human Resources.

[@mirthfulArtist]

I still don't like the "sometimes you think I'm alright" scene. The cramped space and the body language feel really creepy to me...or at the very least, "clearly written by a man in the 70s who's never been at the receiving end of this arrangement."

[@emilymoran9152]

Your point about the subtle differences that can tip a scene from romantic to creepy (eg. is the other person moving forward or back?) is really good. You can have essentially the same scene on paper that looks VERY different depending on how it is acted. And it is also why taking romantic tips from movies is often a bad idea! In real life, if someone has said no or told you to back off multiple times (as Leia does in that scene) DO NOT KISS THEM. In that moment you don't have the movie audience's more objective perspective on the situation, and are likely acting way more like creepy Anakin than Han.

[@brandyloutherback9288]

I could go on all day with examples where good chemistry between actors sells love stories!

[@Ciborium]

"We are not.... eh, screw it. (smack)" "Bla bla lba" (Together) "Dammit 3PO!" 🤣🤣🤣

[@Jedi_Vigilante]

I honestly think the whole love story could have been salvaged if instead of the whole movie being Anakin 2 inches from predatory stalking, Padme had just shut him down right from the start. Then, after Anakin takes the hint, they proceed towards more of a friendship relationship. Perhaps instead of romantic sets and awkward touching on Naboo, Anakin actually behaved like a bodyguard, but also helped Padme in material ways like friends do, offering valuable counsel and such. Put in a few scenes that show them catching each other up on their lives, telling stories, debating things, whatever. Just being friends. Then when the movie heats up, it isn't just Anakin pining for Padme. They both honestly care for each other as more than just attractive members of the opposite sex. As the movie progresses, the two should have more interactions like the Death Star escape, where they save each other's necks multiple times. Padme should also be there at the movie's climactic action ending to help and be helped by Anakin. Then, after they've forged this friendship and faced down death together, the passion of the moment leads to Padme reciprocating Anakin's initial feelings, even if only for a moment. This sort of "we saved each other's lives, now sleep with me" type interaction is actually fairly common in high-risk jobs and such, so it is a believable scenario, especially after they spend their entire part of the movie developing an actual friendship. After that, they may both attempt to withdraw from the relationship due to its problematic nature with their lives, but at least the start is more believable. The struggle to stay together can then be a plot point of the next movie.

[@ClericOfPholtus]

Woof Yep They did indeed break them up likely much to your chagrin And just so they could have a broken home to have accidentally created Jedi Baby Hitler in, not a good purchase.

[@johntabler349]

Han and Lea's supposed break-up was publicly staged to give Han plausible deniabilty for his connection to the resistance if captured undermining the first order by his smuggling campaign. That's not in the movie I made it up otherwise I can't enjoy it

[@ДмитрийЗеленский-ж7х]

"Gentle"? The scene literally startled me as a child (I watched all episodes together in 2005), I was ready to shout "why don't you push him away". And doch, "I know" is exactly declaration of "of course you love me, but I am not going to reassure you", even if hiding his conflicted feelings behind it (the original script had "I love you too", but Harrison Ford - correctly - felt that this does not fit Han).

[@thisislydiarae]

As a side note, I’ve always considered the extended kiss scene between Han and Leia to be canon. Look it up if you haven’t seen it. It adds so much more passion on Leia’s side as she reciprocates the kiss and removes some of the forcefulness from Han’s side that I’ve always kinda hated.

[@katiehelms8903]

Leia did not love Han at first I don't think... I think his appropriate towards her was extremely inappropriate. Fortunately she developed feelings for him, but if she didn't, he wasn't going to stop.

[@Zeroless]

Is it bad if I learn about human interaction through these videos?

[@prospero4183]

Well han/leia happy ending, wow that doesn't go well

[@mpsmith9913]

Great, now I have to go watch the carbonate scene and pretend I’m not tearing up. THANKS.

[@sandal_thong8631]

Episode 1 was changed from his 1-page idea of the pilot Anakin following Obi-Wan on a crusade, to Anakin as a child meeting Obi-Wan to Qui Gon taking over Obi-Wan's part for the first half of the movie. Then the character we know the best said, "Why do I sense that we've picked up another pathetic life form?" which told us to hate those characters. The prequels were hopeless after that.

[@sandal_thong8631]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/a2mtqJWHeNOjo6M

[@perjohanaxell9862]

Great analysis. Han and Leya are two strong characters coming together. They can stad up to each other, they meet as equals, and the sparks fly. The other pare is as you say awkward, insecure and a bit scary.

[@alexandermrkich8734]

It’s a really well done video. Thank you.

[@chandramas]

Did you know that "I love you" "I know" was an idea of Carrie Fisher? She was an AMAZING script doctor !

[@katiehelms8903]

No actually it was Ford's idea, he planned it against the script because it was better for the character

[@FilmScoreandMore]

@@katiehelms8903 A few years ago I read a book about the making of the Indiana Jones movies, and Spielberg credits Ford as a great "closet writer" who will re-write lines to make them better or improvise new ones entirely that add to the character.

[@jlynn9451]

It’s was Ford’s idea - Carrie was pissed it was changed without her input.

[@darthhodges]

The way I heard it they filmed the scene several times with Han saying different versions of "I love you, too" and none of them feeling like it worked. Then Harrison Ford suggested he improv a response in character. No one knew what he was going to say until he said it and that's the take they used.

[@GardeningLadybug]

Fantastic videos.

[@mumblbeebee6546]

Browsing your back catalogue from before I … no, let’s be honest, before KZbin’s Uncle Algo found you for me, and - darn, you made amazing stuff even then! These videos show so much understanding of both storytelling and filmmaking (and of humanity, obviously) - a pleasure to watch!

[@Vinemaple]

This made me consider a weird dramatic retcon, if someone were ever to remake the entire series... what if Anakin and Padme always had a truly horrific, controlling-abusing dynamic, and for some tragic reason, the seasoned adult senator Amidala, who can take on an entire senate and not be intimidated, can't bring that strength into a personal relationship with an overpowered teen who keeps staring at her and hulking over her? People have flaws like that in real life... what if there never was a genuine romance? I think that would be a darker, less family-friendly, but potentially more interesting arc. There's your "darkness was already in him," too... Everything Jill/Ursa points out about Anakin and Padme makes me think, "this is a controlling-abusing relationship that the movie is trying to claim is a romance." It would be nothing new in drama... look at Bizet's Carmen: when you think about what the characters actually DO, it's creepy and horrific, not romantic at all. But I've only ever seen Frederica Von Stade acknowledge that on stage. Or the Twilight novels: delusion and self-harm depicted as romantic, lovely...

[@Maverick8t88]

Ok, have you seen the videos by Belated Media “What if Episode 1 was Good”? Vastly hugely immensely improves on the love story, as well as basically everything else in the prequels. His storyboard presentation brought me to tears when Duel of Heroes had me chuckling ruefully

[@aliciaaltair]

All the different people involved in the process of filming and editing Padme and Ani's "romance" and every one of them was like "oh yeah, totally believable, perfect romance arc, such passion, audiences are going to love it". Some one must have seen what a cringe it all was.

[@amyhull754]

I. Love. This.

[@frankharr9466]

I didn't see any of the prequils, so I'm about to say something totally stupid. Let's look at it the other way around, is the tortured aspect of Anikan and Padme's relationship the point? And if so, did they sell it or was it just weird? And did Padme like Anikan or did she just get tired of saying No all the time? I can see making a toxic relationship the point, but you don't want to write as if it's supposed to be normal.

[@Skye_Writer]

💕💕💕 I love, love, LOVE the way you broke down the dialogue in Han and Leia's kiss scene. So well done!

[@Teatime7771]

By now you have seen Force Awakens and you know they are broken up unfortunately.

[@biffstrong1079]

Wow Love this content.

[@paddykriton3475]

He Darth Vader after all

[@LairdErnst]

Good video.

[@docstockandbarrel]

Nice

[@mountainjune]

You're speaking to my heart.

[@Ocker3]

Have you seen "What if Star Wars Episode 1 was Good"? They've done some really interesting things to the story! kzbin.info/www/bejne/jJisdKGYeJdglbs

[@calicolyon]

I had never thought of the love scenes. It makes more sense now about everything seeing how their parents started out.

[@hannahmotley1863]

5:32 Who’s gonna tell her

[@caseyoung1527]

"you can call me" what???

[@Shutterbug5269]

Between 1977 and 1982 there were people who very earnestly shipped Luke and Leia. A ship which wrecked and sunk to the bottom of the ocean in 1983 after Return of the Jedi came out. Something you would need to keep in mind before you read "Splinter of the Mind's Eye"

[@sandal_thong8631]

I don't like the second half of RotJ. (He won in court against the Canadians who said he stole their Ewoks idea.) Maybe if he'd postponed making the movie another year, he could have saved his marriage, written it better and had the wherewithal to make 3 more movies?

[@Shutterbug5269]

@@sandal_thong8631 He originally wanted them to be wookies, but lacked the budget. (Plius Peter Mahew size people are hard to find) Ewok is just "Wookie" phonetically backwards.

[@sandal_thong8631]

@@Shutterbug5269 That's what he says. But it's possible they submitted their idea to him (not as a request for them to be in Star Wars) and he took it, name and all. But they lost in court, so.... Meanwhile, it came out that J. Michael Straczynski shopped his Babylon 5 to Paramount; they sat on it, then rejected it, then created Deep Space 9, even using the name Leeta for the Dabo girl, when he had Lyta the telepath in his B5 pilot. I think he won a settlement.

[@sandal_thong8631]

I think the big reveal of the prequels should have been that Padme had twins by two different fathers: Anakin and Obi-wan. Maybe they both "romanced" her, or Obi-wan "comforted" her after thinking Anakin was dead.

[@katiehelms8903]

Anakin and Padmé had lots of happiness in the middle. And they couldn't display their relationship... forbidden love.

[@jakepullman4914]

Even when they were completely alone, neither of them ever seemed happy.

[@TK_Brainslug]

I honestly wished they would film the prequel trilogy today. The advances of the special effects over the 20 years are amazing, like the volume which they used in the Mandalorian show. I think that would help Hayden and Nat quite a lot.

[@sandal_thong8631]

I've been waiting over 20 years for an Episode 1 remake or reboot. Oh well.

[@jakepullman4914]

THe special effect weren't the problem.