Star Words: Episode V, Part 34

[matril]

Bespin is a gorgeous place, a city floating amid the clouds. Thanks to Luke's vision, however, we're already tensing ourselves for the horrors lurking beneath the beautiful surface. There are ominous glimpses: in the hostile words of the guards directing them to land, and in Lando's initial angry appearance. Then he breaks the tension with a delightful chuckle, and things are looking light-hearted again. Bouncy music, bright interiors, friendly chatter from Lando. Han is downright amused by his old friend's transformation into a responsible leader.

Lando pauses for a moment, his buoyancy settling into something more wistful and nostalgic. It's these little glimpses of Han and Lando's shared past that provide dimensionality to their characters, an implied history that gives their friendship depth and nuance. Of course, if you know the betrayal that's coming -- and even first-time viewers know that some sort of danger is approaching -- you could interpret Lando's wistfulness as more complicated, perhaps the guilt of someone caught between betraying his friend or losing his beloved city to Imperial control.

In any case, he shakes it off and replies to Han's earlier comment.

"Yeah, I'm responsible these days. It's the price you pay for being successful."

It's a simple line, but I think it says a lot about Lando. As we'll see later, he's much more than a con man who tricks Han and company into trusting him so he can hand them over to the Empire for profit. Whatever his shady past, he has become a respected leader, and he's learned to accept that role. And I don't think it's merely because he endures it for the sake of attaining greater financial success. When everything falls apart after Han is frozen in carbonite, Lando makes a point of warning the citizens of his city about the Imperials. There's no monetary advantage to that; it only further endangers him. His priority at that point is people, not possessions.

Of course I'm getting ahead of myself. I just really like this line and what it illustrates about Lando's unexpected journey into becoming respectable.

Next, more ominous warnings of treachery....

Comments

[krpalmer]

Not that long ago I saw someone theorizing the hostile welcome at Cloud City was Lando trying to irk Han to the point where he'd turn around and take off for somewhere else (regardless of where else he could go in the presumably short-legged Falcon), thus keeping him safe from Imperial capture. (The question not brought up then was whether Vader would see this as "Han's fault...") They then adding Han had mellowed enough from what Lando remembered to not be offended that way. I suppose that could be seen as having some bearing on Han's own potential for becoming as respectable as Lando... the problem is then those attached to "Han Solo is 'captain of the Millennium Falcon.'" The Disney Space Movies are the obvious target these days, but I have wondered about Timothy Zahn's "Thrawn trilogy" lapsing most of the characters back to a sort of "TESB comfort zone" years before.

[matril]

I agree. The idea of all the characters being stuck in a sort of stasis post-ROTJ has been around long before Disney's take -- which is why I never liked much the EU -- but having the original actors portraying that makes it all the more irksome.

[krpalmer]

I suppose I can imagine now, though, the rejoinder "I'd like to see you come up with an interesting story featuring competent, confident, mature characters that still has space for younger characters to find their own successes." (The first response I can think of would try to bring up Qui-Gon Jinn, although his own fate leaves room for further wondering.)

[matril]

I've thought about it, and my main conclusion is that it would be better to leave their story as it is, and have any new stories set long after their lifetimes with the implication that they established several generations of peace in the Republic. But of course people are so hungry for nostalgia, they refuse to leave it at that.

I was thinking the other day while watching an episode of Deep Space Nine that the idea of "scrappy rebel Bajorans are now the established leaders" is a lot like what the situation should have been for the Rebellion becoming the new republic -- exploring the conflicts inherent in those shifting identities and roles; what it means when the people in control are the good guys and the insurgent forces are bad guys. But we're too fond of rooting for the underdog. And that sort of story might be better suited for episodic TV rather than feature-length films.

[krpalmer]

I think I have imagined at times "the original actors could have been involved via flashback/setup scenes where their characters are preparing somehow for something that'll happen after they're gone," but as you said, "straight nostalgia" might overwhelm anything so complicated... I've seen that other idea of "shifting identities and roles" brought up before, too. Sometimes I wonder if "a final challenge is conquered using what's been learned" could indeed work well enough, but the really ambiguous point, perhaps, is that we've all heard of "George Lucas's sequel outlines" but in their remaining obscure a great many people are using their own imagination to make something they really want.