The Slave Leia Toy may be Pulled from Shelves- Good or Bad?

Leia_gentle_giant statue

Due to some backlash over the depiction of Princess Leia in he iconic slave outfit from Return of the Jedi, her toy may be pulled from shelves. Currently Leia cannot be depicted in any sexy pose in the current Marvel Comic books, as stated by the current artist J. Scott Campbell. The artist stated:

You will NOT see an[y] future merchandising featuring the slave outfit again. Trust me. … I’ve heard it from two sources. We can’t even draw Leia in a sexy pose at Marvel, let alone in that outfit! We also had a 3-D SL [Slave Leia] statue killed at a major manufacturer because there will no longer be any SL merchandise.

Slave-Leia

Over at ToyBox.oi9.com, it was reported from Hasbro that the current slave Leia has been requested to be removed and erased from existence because of parents complaints of the sexual motivation to illustrate one of the leaders of a galactic civil war in a demeaning humiliating way while maintaining the male counterparts in a completely non-sexual form.

unleashed_slave_leia6

This is not the first time that Leia has had a toy depicting her in her dance outfit. There have been several toys that have been released in the last 30 years, as well as many statues. It is more than likely that these toys and statues are probably going to be more valuable if Slave Leia is pulled from shelves. Especially the current Star Wars toy line with multiple points of articulation called the Black Series. Everyone loves to hear that toys are pulled from shelves as they suddenly become collector’s items.

Chibi

It is unfortunate that toys and statues would be limited in scope of nature to what parents feel is appropriate. Many toys exist for adult collectors. Star Wars is especially a great toy line that adults collect more than any other in existence. My own father collected Star Wars toys when he was in teens and his early 20s when the Return of the Jedi came out. There are many toy lines that exist that give much more cause for sexual concern than Princess Leia in a sexy outfit. Look at Masters of the Universe. I love them, but the women are more clothed than the men are.

Slave Leia Toy 2

Regardless of the matter, I do understand parent’s point of view and I do believe that girls should have very positive strong women role models. However not all toys are meant for children and not all children should be given all toys. There are many different versions of Leia that have been created. Perhaps this toy should not be given to children and if a parent disagrees with the toy, there are other toys to be bought. Why should everyone be deprived of an action figure because of a select few that disagree with it. This is only harmful if the parent gives the toy to their child and does not explain to their children about the origin of the toy.

3 Leias

One last night, Slave Leia is loved by so many out there. Especially cosplayers. Many cosplayer men love this outfit too. Hopefully the toy will not go away. But it will not be the first toy to be removed from shelves at the request of parents. What do you think?

Male Slave Leia

3 thoughts on “The Slave Leia Toy may be Pulled from Shelves- Good or Bad?

  1. So we are back to revisionist history for fairy tales; where is Tipper Gore in this one? Do we have to cut the scene too? Lets replace all the blasters with walky talkies while we are at it. And lets not forget that Indy just shots the guy with swords in the market place; that is a non-proportional response Indy is bulling the guy of a different race.

    It is just a splakin’ movie.

  2. I think that what you’re missing is the slave part. It’s not merely that it’s sexual, it’s forced sexuality… She was forced by Jabba into that outfit, and there are rape implications.

    1. I’d argue that – within the context of the movie – it was all part of the plan to free Han Solo. I really don’t agree on the rape implications. This is Star Wars for God’s sake. There’s also the little matter of the fact that a component of that outfit – the chain – was a vital factor in the killing of Jabba the Hutt. It’s also rather ironic that no-one made a fuss over the other slave girl who appears in the movie….and she got eaten.

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