The Loveshade Family Blog

Did you know Star Wars is really about man's relationship with Christ? Obi Wan Kenobi represents Jesus and Darth Vader the devil. Princess Leia is Mary. Luke Skywalked is like the Apostle Peter. I don't know who the robots are.

So Obi Wan Kenobi comes back from the dead like Jesus. And Darth Vader falls from grace like the devil. Well, at the end of the first trilogy, Darth Vader gets converted back to good. So does that mean the devil becomes a Christian?

Okay, this is a long one.
I just finished watching "Star Wars: A Legacy Revealed" on the History Channel less than half an hour ago and the movies go WAY beyond the Bible or any other religion, for that matter. George Lucas was heavily influenced by Joseph Campbell's book on classic myths such as those of the Greeks, Romans, and Babylonians. The characters are archetypes that have been around in various cultures for thousands of years. The movies use events and motifs of myths, such as Luke being reluctant to answer his calling. It takes a massive event to make him change his mind; the murder of his aunt and uncle. Plus, he acquires a mentor, Obi-wan Kenobi. "Mentor" comes to us from Homer's second great epic, The Odyssey. Odyseus, before he leaves for the Trojan War, wants someone to guide his son,Telemachus, while he's gone. The guide's name is Mentor.
There is also usually a moment where the mentor gives the hero a gift to help him on his journey. In this case, it was Luke's father's lightsaber.
There is also usually a moment where the hero suddenly finds himself entering a world that's bigger than anything he's experienced before. In Episode IV, it's the cantina scene. Luke encounters a world that he had no idea existed and, of course, that lands him into trouble.
Other archetypes are more recent, like Han Solo, who is clearly a cross between a pirate and a cowboy.
And then there are the droids, R2-D2 and C-3PO, who are the comic relief and work as a team like Abbott and Costello or Laurel and Hardy. Additionally, because the droids are often outside observers making comments to each other about the other characters, they function like the Greek Chorus.
Princess Leia was clearly the damsel in distress, but with a twist; she was strong enough to hold her own in a fight.
In fact, Luke and Leia are more like the twin Greek gods Apollo and Artemis sent to save the earth.
Plus, there are clear parallels to our own history. Senator Palpatine becomes Chancellor of the Republic and then declares himself Emperor. Adolf Hitler became Chancellor of the Weimar Republic after the death of President Hindenburg and then became "Der Fuhrer." In the early days of Nazi rule, Hitler's personal bodyguards belonged to the SA, better known as "Stormtroopers". Sound familiar?
And then there was Napoleon, who crowned himself Emeperor of France after he seized power caused by the vaccuum left by the French Revolution.
Even after the American Revolution, there were officers in the Continental Army who tried to persuade George Washington to impose a military dictatorship over the colonies after overthrowing Congress. He said,"I did not fight a war against George the Third to become George the First."
In "Star Wars", Vader and the Emperor wore black; the stormtroopers wore white; and the Emperor's personal guards wore red. All three of those colors were Hitler's favorites and they can be found right there on the Nazis' "Blood Flag".
And then there is the highly technological warfare, especially by the Empire. Author James Jones, who wrote "Thin Red Line" and "From Here to Eternity", was a soldier in the South Pacific in WW 2 and in his non-fiction book simply titled "WW 2", he talked about how during the war, people back home would watch war movies, anticipating the final showdown between the hero and the villain, mano-a-mano. The REAL war was fought by machines. Yes, there were men operating them, but you rarely saw them. You saw a tank, a plane, or even a city. Even infantry fought impersonally due to the ranges of their rifles and machine guns. At 500+ yards, the enemy soldiers were just little figures. If one fell over, you were simply too far away to care.
The "Star Wars" movies clearly showed a war that was extremely mechanized and impersonal. Destroying a whole planet is an act of extreme callousness, without any regard at all to the suffering it would cause.
Going back to classic myth, the main element is the hero's journey. Over the course of the six movies, it's about the journeys of two men; first Anakin Skywalker and then his son Luke. Anakin chooses the wrong path while Luke chooses the right one. However, in a twist, Luke decides to help Anakin redeem himself, which is common in Japanese stories; the villain reforms. So, in the end, Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader ends up back on the right path.

Oh, one more thing. The rebuilding of Anakin into Darth Vader. His scene is VERY reminiscent of two pieces of modern fiction. First, there was the "Six Million Dollar Man" which was based on the novel "Cyborg" by Martin Caidin (who was a prolific aviation writer) which is exactly what Vader is; part man, part machine. But even more obvious is when Vader comes to "life". That's straight out of Mary Shelly's "Frankenstein". The name of that novel is "Frankenstein, or a Modern Prometheus". Prometheus was a Greek Titan who, along with his brother, created clay figures according to Zeus "in godlike images". Then Zeus blew life into the figures and made humans. Later, Prometheus would steal fire from the gods and give it to people, for which he would be chained to a rock where birds would eat out his liver every day, only to have it grow back the next day. If you need a Judeo-Christian analogue, look at Jewish mysticism and look up "golem".

I love Star Wars! My Mommy took me when it came out again she saw it the 1st time. Danacasso's report is awesome! Huggles Dan!

I love Star Wars. But I thought it was just a fun movie! lol

Apparently, I have to rewrite certain sections of my original comment on the first time I saw "Star Wars".
You see, from May of '75 to December of '76, my family lived first in Dillingham, then King Salmon, Alaska.
But, we're actually from Oregon and in December of '76, my mom, dad, brother, and I all returned to Oregon for the holidays.
It would be the last time my whole family would get together for Christmas.
Partly because, after that, all my relatives started going off and doing their own things but also because my own immediate family came down from Alaska as a quartet and went back as a trio.
So, my brother, dad, and I lived in Alaska until August of '77.
During the spring of '77, the woman who would eventually become my stepmother (and whom I would personally end up hating with a passion by the early '80's)came to live with us.
Then, that August, she took my brother and me back to Oregon to be with our mom.
Then, just a couple of weeks later, our dad came down to see us.
Now, in MY mind, I believe that my DAD took my brother and me to see "Star Wars" for the first time at a theater in one town, but my MOM is emphatic that SHE took us to see "Star Wars" first, in another town at a theater that I, for the life of me, can not recall. I have absolutely NO memory of that.
The reason I remember going with my dad is because I remember the briefing scene where General Dodonna tells the Rebel pilots that they will have to use "proton torpedoes".
I remember that vividly, because I had been taught about atoms no more than two years earlier.
After the movie was over, and we were outside, my dad made a comment about "photon torpedoes" and I disagreed, saying they were "proton torpedoes" and then my brother took my dad's side and, realizing I was outnumbered two-to-one, I gave up.
"PHOTON torpedoes" are from "Star Trek", NOT "Star Wars". Instead, THEY have "PROTON torpedoes."
But, the two DO sound similar, so I can see how they could very easily be mistaken.
Within one to two years, I would be vindicated, but now, of course, neither my brother nor my dad remember that little debate we had crossing a street that August evening in the old downtown thirty years ago. Hey, that's a LONG time.
But them not recalling that brief exchange is ONE thing; not remembering my going to the movie for the first time with my mom to a theater I can't even remember AT ALL is entirely something else. Altogether. And don't call me Shirley.
Is my mind going downhill? That would be VERY BAD, because I am only 42.
I would seem to be getting senile.

I know this was posted a long time ago, maybe in a galaxy far, far away, but....excellent story. Star Wars changed my life too. Without it, I might have been stuck in a meaningless job like computer programmer, biologist, physician or rocket scientist. Instead, I burned all my unversity degrees and now take tickets at a local movie theater. I may not have any retirement or medical benefits, I may be making minimum wage and living in poverty, but I get to see movies for free! Thank you, George!