Harrison Ford's opinions regarding Han Solo and "Star Wars" have been made very public over the years, as the actor famously bashed "Return of the Jedi" for not killing off his character. But in J.J. Abrams' "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," Ford finally got the on-screen death that he had been wanting for 30 years.
In a desperate attempt to reach his estranged son, Ben/Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), Han bravely sacrificed himself for something greater. Though anyone who has ever read or heard Ford's comments over the years could have seen this coming, the moment still carried a great emotional weight. Star Daisy Ridley, who witnessed Han's death first-hand, has a theory as to why it was such a powerful sequence.
Ridley, who plays Rey in "The Force Awakens," had this to say about the big moment:
"When you watch something you feel removed from, it becomes that incredible thing of it feeling very close and very far away. You probably have a bigger emotional reaction than reading a newspaper and just seeing facts and figures [because] instead you see someone's life play out, their soul, and the way they react and respond to the world around them...If everybody puts a piece of themselves into Han Solo and Han Solo dies - in the cinema, where it's dark - you can express it, and it alleviates some of the pain. His death is obviously not as important as actual lives that are lost, but people probably use it as some kind of carrier for the grief."
Ridley is on to something here. Think about other iconic deaths in pop culture in which fans lingered on the loss long past the project in question. Dobby in "Harry Potter" and the Red Wedding in "Game of Thrones" came as a shock to the system that some viewers still aren't quite over. Seeing these characters for an extended period of time, fans come to become familiar with them and grow attached. In that way, it's difficult for a showrunner or a director to make the tough call to kill them off. But when they do, it provides a significant emotional impact. It's no wonder that Han Solo's death left a mark, as he's been one of the most popular characters in cinema for almost 40 years.
