Uhm...
"Just...images, really. Feelings. She was very beautiful. Kind, but...sad. Why are you asking me all this?"
Are these the "sparkling details" you refer to?
Keep in mind, also, that Yoda and Palpatine, arguably far stronger in the Force than Luke, missed crucial details of the future. Vader, born of the Force, didn't notice his daughter right in front of him TWICE, and almost shot down his own son!
You expect far more of Force use than it has ever observed to be used in the films.
"Even if they were feelings, the term memory implies that they're not recurring hallucinations of some beautiful woman she can't identify,"
First of all, what do you know about force visions? Considering wht you call "sparkling details", any other conclusions you might come up with about the implication of certain terms are suspect. She calls them "memories" because that's what they seem like to her. Immediately after this, she states
LEIA: I know. Somehow...I've always known.
Are these the "sparkling details" you refer to?
Keep in mind, also, that Yoda and Palpatine, arguably far stronger in the Force than Luke, missed crucial details of the future. Vader, born of the Force, didn't notice his daughter right in front of him TWICE, and almost shot down his own son!
You expect far more of Force use than it has ever observed to be used in the films.
"Even if they were feelings, the term memory implies that they're not recurring hallucinations of some beautiful woman she can't identify,"
First of all, what do you know about force visions? Considering wht you call "sparkling details", any other conclusions you might come up with about the implication of certain terms are suspect. She calls them "memories" because that's what they seem like to her. Immediately after this, she states
"You have a power I--I don't understand and could never have." ...so why on earth would she call them anything other than what they appear to be to her? You are completely ignore her frame of reference here.
We, the audience, know they are Force visions. She does not.
"She wouldn't even know who that woman was unless Padme could talk to leia."
Sigh.....
LUKE: Leia! Leia's my sister.
BEN: Your insight serves you well.
LUKE: Yes. It's you Leia.We, the audience, know they are Force visions. She does not.
"She wouldn't even know who that woman was unless Padme could talk to leia."
Sigh.....
LUKE: Leia! Leia's my sister.
BEN: Your insight serves you well.
LEIA: I know. Somehow...I've always known.
The clues are RIGHT THERE in the dialogue. Just as she "knows" Luke is her brother, she also "knows" that the visions of the woman she sees are of her "real" mother. The Force gives knowledge, but the user may not always be aware of where the knowledge is coming from. This is what gave Anakin his "fast reflexes" in pod-racing - he received glimpses of the future.
I might also remind you that Luke sensed something "familiar" watching him on Dagobah. Since the PT makes it abundantly clear that Luke was not born on or taken to Dagobah prior to ESB, then the familiarity was with Yoda, who later explained he'd been watching Luke for a long time. (Thank God that little theory got put to rest.)
The point being, Luke "knew" something, but didn't know exactly what it was.