The RebeLibrarian

Star Wars Romanceby ~katarnlunney

I know, it’s weird. “Mara Jade” was my SW nickname. But I never “shipped” them. And I can’t abide popular media insisting that when a woman says “get bent,” she and the man are destined for happily ever after. No, “get bent” means “get bent,” and I urge you to go do so!

Sorry. I got mad. I agree with Lucas’ original conception of Luke as the solitary monk, like Obi-Wan, not destined for starting a family and settling down. And OMG getting married is not the apex of life! Why is it no one will consider a story finished to satisfaction without everyone in it being knotted in some relationship?? Sorry, I got mad again. It just irritates me.

Mara Jade isn’t my favorite character by a long shot. I guess I find her too “on-purpose.” I always resist when there’s no subtlety about the way a character is presented — I’m supposed to accept Mace Windu as a badass because, well, look at him? (I guess?) And Mara Jade is cool because — well, she’s cooool!

It doesn’t work that way. I want evidence. And in reexamining the books, I’ve found there isn’t much. I don’t mind Luke having a crush on her (much) — in many ways, her Force sensitivity, her foil to his steel, her stubbornness, intelligence, beauty, lethal cunning, all these things would recommend her to him. But there is nothing about him to change her mind about her hatred of him. And as cute as it is the way he pursues her, the whole thing falls flat. And after I learned it was manufactured from the beginning — she was created as a character specifically to marry Luke — I was done.

The end of Vision of the Future is charming — as is Luke’s UNANSWERED marriage proposal. As it should be.

This entry was posted on 2 May 2013 at 4:50 PM and is filed under Challenges with tags books, expanded universe, Luke Skywalker, opinion, romance. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.