Warning! SPOILERS for Star Wars: The Last Jedi ahead!
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Star Wars: The Last Jedi has received some surprising backlash for the ways in which it evolves our understanding of The Force and what those sensitive to it are capable of doing. And while Rey and Kylo are calling each other like smitten teens and Luke is astral projecting across the galaxy, it's Leia's use of the Force to save herself from the vacuum of space that is causing the most uproar.
The Last Jedi marks Carrie Fisher's final appearance as General Leia Organa and her performance in the film is bittersweet. In some ways, Episode VIII is a fitting goodbye to the actress and the princess she so fiercely brought to life. Writer/director Rian Johnson chose not to let Fisher's untimely death affect how Leia is portrayed in The Last Jedi, deciding that fans deserved to see the whole of Fisher's final performance. While that's respectful, it has led to its own problems.
Leia Using The Force Makes Sense
Leia In Spaaace
The scene in question has become a divisive moment among fans. It occurs roughly a quarter of the way through the movie while the Resistance's cruiser, the Raddus, is coming under fire from the pursuing First Order fighters. The bridge is blown open - after some prevarication from Kylo Ren - and everyone on the Raddus' bridge is sucked out into space - including Leia.
Related: Carrie Fisher's Death & Leia's Star Wars Future
And here is where things get interesting. Instead of succumbing to a frozen death in the vacuum of space - which is, sadly, the fate of Admiral Ackbar - Leia's latent Force abilities kick in, allowing her to miraculously survive. She comes to as she floats above the Raddus and by tapping into her connection with the Force, pulls herself back towards the ship and through the destroyed bridge as an astonished Poe, Finn, and Lieutenant Connix (Billie Lourd, Fisher's daughter) look on. The scene is breathtaking, demonstrating how no one should ever underestimate Leia or what she's capable of.
Once back on the ship, it's made clear what a heavy toll the experience has had on her, and Leia is immediately placed on a gurney and sent to receive medical attention. For much of The Last Jedi, she remains in a coma as she recovers from her injuries, but in that one moment, Leia proves herself to be every bit a Skywalker.
Leia's Use Of The Force Is Well Established in Star Wars
The argument being made against this scene and why many find it laughable is that no Star Wars movie has ever shown Leia doing anything like this before, and therefore, the scene is dumb. The refute to that is easy: we never saw Luke reach out with the Force and pull his lightsaber to his hand until he did so in the Wampa's cave at the start of The Empire Strikes Back; yet we believe that it can happen in that scene because we know Luke is Force-sensitive. How is the scene of Leia in The Last Jedi any different?
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The Force is strong with Leia, who obviously shares in that Skywalker blood (it is from her, after all, that Ben Solo/Kylo Ren can lay claim his powerful heritage). In past films, she's shown an almost preternatural ability to read situations, and in certain moments has been able to clearly sense people's emotions or whereabouts through the Force - as she does with Luke as he hangs underneath Cloud City, or when she senses his conflict over Vader, or feels Han's death at the hands of her son. Despite no training whatsoever, Leia's strong connection with the Force has long been a part of her character. "In time, you'll learn to use it as I have," Luke tells her in Return of the Jedi, implying her power in the Force will only grow in the years to come.
Looking beyond the movies, there's even more evidence of Leia's untapped potential as a Force-user. In the novel From a Certain Point of View, Yoda expresses interest in training Leia over Luke, believing her better-suited to become a Jedi; in Life Debt, Leia communicates with her unborn son through the Force and uses it to guide her while piloting the Millenium Falcon; in The Force Awakens: The Visual Dictionary, it's mentioned that Luke believes Leia's strong will is a manifestation of her power in The Force, and The Last Jedi: The Visual Dictionary reveals that Luke wished to make Leia his first student, but she chose a life of politics instead.
With so much build-up, it was only a matter of time until Leia would come to exhibit more of her Force-abilities in the films. This scene from The Last Jedi gets to be that moment, finally allowing Leia to display some of the power she was promised decades ago. And it was so worth it.
Why 'Leia Poppins' Is So Powerful
George Lucas' original plans for Episodes VII-IX would have depicted Leia more overtly using The Force, and of course, the no-longer-canon Expanded Universe (now called Legends) explored Leia's path in becoming a Jedi at great length. And ever since it became in-universe public knowledge (in the novel, Bloodline) that Leia was the daughter of Anakin Skywalker, the man who became Darth Vader, there has been little doubt of Leia's deep connection to the Force in the new canon. But perhaps what makes it so fitting is how it builds Leia's character.
Related: Star Wars: The Last Jedi's Ending Explained
In addition to this scene from The Last Jedi being a logical progression of her Force abilities, that it enables Leia to save herself is the truest reflection of her character. Ever since she was introduced, Leia has been a princess who takes care of herself. In Star Wars, it's Leia who gets her own rescuers safely out of the Death Stars detention block ("Somebody has to save our skins!"), and in Return of the Jedi, she frees herself from Jabba the Hutt by strangling the crime lord. No matter how dire the situation, Leia isn't one to sit around waiting to be saved - she rescues herself.
So when she finds herself sucked out into space, floating in a vacuum, Leia would never give up or look to others for rescue. She fights back and in this most desperate moment, uses the only option left to her - the Force. Johnson calls the moment an "instinctual thing," likening it to, "a drowning person pulling herself back," and that is exactly how the scene is meant to be read. The situation is do or die, fight or flight, and in that moment, Leia allows the Force to flow through her and pull her safely back to the ship. It fits the logic of the world and the character, and is incredible it's been a point of controversy when there have been much greater steps from canon in The Last Jedi.
The Leia in space scene is riveting, not laughable. It isn't dumb or unbelievable, it's empowering. This scene - the one being derided as a hokey, "Mary Poppins" moment - is the moment where the "another" of which Yoda spoke finally gets to shine. In The Last Jedi, Leia not only proves herself just as capable of pulling off amazing feats with the help of the Force as any Skywalker, she does so in order to rescue herself - just as she always has.
More: How The Last Jedi Changes Star Wars Forever
