I am a Star Wars fan.

Let me get that out there right away. And, lest you think I’m one of the snobs who usually write blogs, I like all six Star Wars movies.

I have seen some surveys over the years in which sci-fi and fantasy fans were polled as to who their favorite all-time, or sexiest all-time sci-fi/fantasy heroine was. In almost every one of these surveys, Princess Leia (as played by Carrie Fisher) wins.

The commentators on these surveys usually point to the famous metal bikini Leia wore in “Return of the Jedi” as the reason for her winning the competition. To get people to read the article about their survey, they’ll usually accompany the article with a picture of Leia in said bikini.

Now, I’m not going to deny that Carrie/Leia looks really good in that outfit. Nor am I going to try to deny the myriad of websites dedicated to that particular costume, or the fact that you can purchase facsimile bikinis for yourself or your loved ones from a dozen different manufacturers.

As I was looking at Star Wars comic books the other day, I stumbled across a cover for a Dark Horse adaptation of “Jedi” that had Leia in the metal bikini. Artwise, it was good art, except that Leia was drawn not to look like Carrie Fisher, she was drawn to look like every other comic book heroine you can think of (and have snickered at). You know what I mean. Women who are too big in certain areas, too small in other areas, and not effected by gravity.

With apologies to Dark Horse—and, truthfully, just about every other comic book company or artist who have tried to capture Leia in 2D—I think they missed it. And I think the aforementioned commentators on the surveys missed it, too.

Yes, Leia/Carrie is sexy and alluring and attractive and all that in the metal bikini, but there have been lots of sci-fi/fantasy women who were prettier (no offense to Carrie, who I think is very attractive, but—on looks alone—there are and have been prettier heroines), who fit better into their space suits or who wore even less (or nothing at all). These women/characters might have even climbed to near the top of the surveys if the survey was taken soon after their movie or program came out, but then they have disappeared (eliciting the response of “Who?” when mentioned in conversation) while Carrie/Leia still tops the polls.

Why?

It’s because Leia/Carrie did so much more than just pose or look sexy (two things she did well). If you remember, Leia didn’t appear in that outfit until the third movie. She had already been established as a strong character. All of us pre-adolescents were in love with her long before we saw her belly-button because we were convinced she was smart, she was tough, she was vulnerable at times. She was everything.

And then, wow! We discovered she was really hot. See, if a woman character starts out as hot, too often she is never allowed to be anything else. But Leia was the perfect female character because she was established as a character before she was established as a—for lack of a better term—babe.

Let me add something else, something that I think a lot of the artists have missed. Maybe it’s just me, but I think one of the reasons Carrie Fisher looks so great in the metal bikini is because she’s not Pam Anderson. Carrie is in great shape for that picture, but she’s not overdone. She not too skinny; she’s got curves. In short, while most of us may have never met anyone who could have worn that metal bikini as well as Carrie did, we all think we could meet someone like that—whereas we’re pretty sure (and some of us are grateful) we’ll never meet anyone in real life who looks like Pamela Anderson.

And one final note: for those of you who read my comic book “Burt & the I.L.S.” (at www.destinyhelix.com), you will see the above philosophy depicted in the character of Raylynn Griffith. I have specifically set her out as pretty, but accessible. As someone we could meet in real life. Am I succeeding? Let me know. Email me at martha917@yahoo.com.