I'm still angry about this. They ever give a reason?
Okay. Those are all good reasons but "It was the 70s and he wasn't white" is definitely my favorite.
Okay. Those are all good reasons but "It was the 70s and he wasn't white" is definitely my favorite.
George Lucas Explained Why Chewbacca Didn't Get A Medal In 1977
"Chewbacca wasn't given a medal because medals don't really mean much to Wookiees. They don't really put too much credence in them. They have different kinds of ceremonies. The Wookiee Chewbacca was in fact given a great prize and honor during a ceremony with his own people. The whole contingent from the Rebel Alliance went to Chewbacca's people and participated in a very large celebration. It was an honor for the entire Wookiee race."
That is such a last minute scramble of an answer. "Fuck we forgot to give the furball a medal and people noticed... WAIT I GOT IT! They actually went over to the Wookies planet and they all partied and it was dope. Chewie didn't want a medal because he got an awesome party instead. The whole race was honored. It was amazing. You had to be there."
Anytime a filmmaker says that things happen off screen they making it up.
If they say it was cut and left on the cutting room floor: then it's probably true.
There's a bunch of goofs on IMDB for various Michal Bay films, every goof has a reply along the lines of "there is no reason that [X] couldn't have happened off screen to [resolve gaping plot hole]".
Don't Hollywood types always say "show, don't tell?"
Seems kinda like when JK Rowling made Dumbledore gay as an apparent afterthought..
No no no clearly the actor was told to show the emotion of someone who finds the whole show laughable and is already warming to the idea of the much better celebration that's being prepared on his home planet. You can see the sparkle in his eyes, especially in the remastered edition
Arguably, that's actually plausible
No one claimed the Alliance were free from casual racism. They may be trying, but their personal culture was formed by decades of imperial rule.
Those medals are for "command staff" only. Han is the captain of the MF and Luke is the acting squad leader of Red Squad (you might notice that the veteran, who missed his shot but survived, doesn't get a medal, either.)
I know this is a meme, but I think the simplest answer is filming. Chewy is really tall, if he stands on a lower step, the main cast is all in the same shot.
Pets don't get medals!
Except...
Apparently dogs DO get medals, but Chewie gets passed over. Chewbacca has sub-pet status.
I've seen the argument that since the average wookiees lives for 400 years and humans around 80, that Han could be considered Chewie's pet.
"There there, Han, me boy. Well done! Look at you! You got a medal and everything, from your little friends! You're such a good little scoundrel, yes you are."
Han is the captain. The captain of a ship makes the calls as to what it does, and the Millennium Falcon came back.
I think a better question is why Luke gets special recognition versus the other pilots. I mean, he happened to be the one to make the final shot that blew up the Death Star, but everyone else in the squadrons went in too.
He is the master of ceremonies or something in that one, doing the shout at appropriate times
Bureaucracy.
The ceremony takes a few days to put together and due to a mishap the medal for Chewie doesn't arrive. Obviously they can't delay the giant ceremony but Chewie still officially receives a medal.
Being a rebellion and largely on the run Chewie's medal is eventually lost in "the system", sent from rebel base to rebel base. Eventually even Chewie forgets about it and when the New Republic is formed and the filing system updated it truly is lost to "the system".
Eventually when the new rebellion, the Resistance, starts up they fall back to the older rebel filing system. Chewie then finally receives he medal, at the end of Rise of Skywalker.