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Should Mara Jade really have had a dancer’s figure?

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Should Mara Jade really have had a dancer's figure?

As someone who has spent countless hours immersed in the Star Wars universe, I must admit that Mara Jade, with her strength, feistiness, and Force talents, was undoubtedly one of my favorite characters from the old Legends books. However, upon learning more about the unhealthy lifestyle portrayed by actress Natalie Portman to achieve the “dancer’s body” for her role in Black Swan, I can’t help but feel a pang of disappointment.

As a devoted Star Wars enthusiast, I can confidently say that Mara Jade, a character from the legendary Expanded Universe books, stands out as one of the most cherished figures for many of us. When author Timothy Zahn set out to create a character fitting enough to wed the revered Luke Skywalker, the son of Darth Vader, I imagine he felt the weight of expectation. Yet, with her remarkable strength, unyielding spirit, and exceptional Force abilities, he crafted a persona that resonated deeply with fans. Truly, Mara Jade’s creator struck gold with her captivating character.

Indeed, she undeniably possessed striking features. Her captivating green eyes, luscious red tresses, and, naturally, a physique fitting for a dancer. In many Western cultures, a dancer’s form embodies elegance, charm, and poise.

For individuals who are unaware of the hardships dancers face to achieve the figures they do, Natalie Portman, who played Padme Amidala, learned this firsthand when she rigorously trained for her Academy Award-winning role as a ballet dancer battling mental illness in the 2010 movie Black Swan.

As reported by TheThings.com, former Metropolitan Opera Ballet dancer Robert Brace spoke with Today.com, stating, “Her physical appearance seemed authentic. While a dancer might show signs of not having trained for four years, she had to quickly prepare the role and she gave off a professional dancer’s vibe.” He elaborated, “It’s quite demanding. The diets can be unhealthy with many food and calorie limitations, heavy consumption of coffee and cigarettes to maintain weight. The body endures caloric restriction, competition pressure is high, and daily training is exhausting.”

In her reflections on the preparation process for that role, Portman admitted, “I wasn’t eating much, I was working for 16 hours every day. It seems like I was acting in a method-like manner unintentionally. Sometimes I ponder how people manage to take on such demanding roles while having a family.”

Reportedly, Mary Huhn from the New York Post, who examined Natalie’s exercise routine to shed weight for her wedding and tested it herself, found that she consumed approximately 1200 calories daily. It is also said that Natalie dropped twenty pounds to portray the dancer in Black Swan. Nevertheless, fitness advisor Alexandra Kovacs, with degrees in BsC and BA, suggests that at her height of 5’3″, Natalie typically weighs around 117 pounds. In her opinion, performing ballet, swimming, and stretching for eight hours a day on just 1200 calories a day is not healthy. She explains that this calorie intake is usually recommended for children, not active adults. Meanwhile, Mary Helen Bowers, the former New York City Ballet Corps dancer who coached Natalie, discusses her workout routine for the film here.

One may argue that the lifestyle of a real ballerina may be different since they’re watching their weight from their earliest ballet classes and not crash dieting for a movie role. However, “Some will not eat breakfast, then a small salad for lunch, a small amount of nuts, fruit and nothing in the evening,” Brace says of the women–real dancers–who surrounded Portman during the shoot. “If you desire it enough, you’ll make it work. It’s extremely common in that world and if she got wrapped up in the role, that’s the body image they have to portray. After a while, it’s going to take its toll psychologically.”

Indeed, as “Ruby,” a previous dancer with the New York City Ballet, who writes under an alias, affirms, this intense training and dietary restriction is not merely a temporary measure for actresses aiming to shed weight quickly, but rather a lifestyle that many stage performers must endure.

If you embody the graceful and elegant image of a ballet dancer, similar to how Mara Jade has been portrayed for years through images and drawings, then Mila Kunis, who co-starred in Black Swan with Portman and went through the same rigorous training, described her experience as follows: “I needed to appear like a ballerina and carry myself accordingly. By the end, I weighed 95 pounds, leaving only bones visible. It was unappealing, but it looked fantastic on camera. It took me five months to shed that weight.”

In 2009, Reddit user jujubee_54 had an encounter with Natalie Portman on a New York street. They walked alongside her for a whole block without noticing because they were too captivated by her legs. They found it hard to believe that such small legs could support a person. The incident left them feeling sad, prompting them to look up.

Reducing 20 pounds from a body weight of 117 pounds leaves a woman at approximately 97 pounds. This equates to a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 16. However, DanceIvy.com reports that an average five-foot-two-inch ballerina typically weighs around 85 lbs, while a five-foot-six ballerina usually weighs about 105.6 lbs. Interestingly, these weights for these heights do not appear on the BMI chart, suggesting that the average ballerina’s BMI is approximately 15, which falls well below the range considered healthy or normal by medical standards. This extensive research by Olga Leibrandt further supports this conclusion.

For reference, here is what a 15 BMI might look like and how dangerously underweight that really is. As I researched this piece, I wondered what the requirements for a Broadway dancer are. Certainly, they wouldn’t be as stringent as ballet. Maybe Mara Jade has a Broadway dancer’s figure? Sadly, apparently not.

Clearly implied is that the role of the ‘Former Emperor’s Hand, now Wife of the Galaxy’s Most Skilled Jedi’ demands physical attributes such as muscle, endurance, and power. It appears challenging to excel in this position when one is clinically underweight by twenty pounds.

In the realm of fandom, I can’t help but notice that the notion of the ‘ideal dancer’s physique’ continues to prevail, spreading unattainable body standards across various universes, including the galaxy far, far away in Star Wars.

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2024-09-02 23:22

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