Leave it to kids to sum things up simply, even when discussing the fashion details of Princess Leia's gold bikini, aka the slave outfit, in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.
So when someone asked a five-year-old girl about the outfit after seeing it in a book, she did what kids do best, she spoke her mind. And her father captured audio of the conversation, which was then turned into this cute video, animated by The Brothers McLeod.
So what does a five-year-old think about Princess Leia's slave outfit? Instead of finding it demeaning (after admitting that she doesn't know what that word means), this girl thought it was "actually a pretty good look for her."
This takes the saying "out of the mouths of babes" to a whole new level, right? Her father, comedian and actor Adam Buxton attempted to explain that some found the costume distasteful, but he received an honest response to that, too.
At the end of the video, the girl sums up that being a slave isn't good, but that she would like Leia to get rescued, but still keep the outfit. Interestingly enough, once she watches the film, she'll see that Leia takes that one step further and not only rescues herself, but also kills the bad guy still dressed in that costume.
The slave Leia costume has often received lots of criticism, particularly for women, because many feel that it's sexist and demeaning to the character, so what this video says about young girls and what they find acceptable could add fuel to the fire, especially since the girl is expecting Leia to be rescued, rather than Leia rescuing herself (which is what she does in the film).
In 2012, that gold bikini costume created a controversy for actor Simon Pegg when he got into a Twitter spat with feminists after posting a photo of himself with a group of cosplayers dressed as Slave Leia.
Carrie Fisher, the actress who portrayed Leia, was also not fond of the costume, once referring to it as "what supermodels will eventually wear in the seventh ring of hell." Interestingly enough, Lucas ordered the costume after Fisher complained about the lack of interesting costumes for her character in the previous films.
[Photo Credit: Adam Buxton/YouTube]
