Mythology in Star Wars
From Wookieepedia, the Star Wars wiki.
Star Wars is best known for its exciting and involved story line and its escapist science fiction and fantasy universe; perhaps less well known is the seriousness with which George Lucas went along with researching his initial idea for a "Flash Gordon " like script. It is no accident that some of the themes in Star Wars may seem familiar to the mythology aficionado. Mythological influences have always been an important part of Star Wars.
- " Among his influences were the writings of scholar and educator Joseph Campbell, in which he explored the origins of myth and world religions "
- ― Narrator, Star Wars Trilogy (DVD release) [src]
George Lucas consulted Professor Joseph Campbell, an expert in mythology. Lucas was already interested in Campbell's writings and brought him into the production of the script and film.
- " When Lucas was writing the script of Star Wars he was heavily interested in Joseph Campbell. What Joseph Campbell was interested in was to see the connections between myth, the myths of different cultures, to try and find out what were the threads that tied all these disparate cultures together "
- ― Leo Braudy, Professor and Cultural Historian, University of Southern California [src]
Lucas was trying to introduce themes that would be universal in their reception and that would be popular in any culture.
- " I did research to try and distil everything down into motifs that would be universal. I attribute most of the success to psychological underpinning that had been around for thousands of years, and people still react the same way, to the stories as they always have. "
- ― George Lucas [src]
The technique of creating stories common to all people goes back for thousands of years and is reflected in the numerous myths that all cultures have.
- " George is nothing but a good reporter, and when he sets out to do his work, he starts reporting from the best sources he can gather. He bought Campbell into the process of looking at his work on Star Wars and saying ... 'Is this right ?' ... 'Am I getting it down ?', or 'Is this the right emphasis ?' or, 'Is this the right character ?'. Joseph Campbell said to me the best student he ever had was George Lucas. "
- ― Bill Moyers, Journalist [src]
- " Like such epics as the Odyssey, Beowulf, and the Legend of King Arthur, Star Wars drew from a shared pool of mythic archetypes. "
- ― Narrator [src]
The Jedi's role as hero of and center to the Star Wars Universe may be familiar to most people, but few probably realize how deliberate those themes really are.
- " It's the traditional, ritualistic, coming of age story, and when I went into the mythological side of what I wanted to do, that's a key factor with heroes. "
- ― George Lucas [src]
While the mechanics underlying Star Wars are not always apparent, these mythological themes are always there for those who want to dig deeper.
- " Another aspect of these films that sometimes gets lost is that these films are vaguely light hearted in terms of the fact that they don't take themselves that seriously, [they] try to be really realistic and everything but mostly it's to have a rip roaring adventure and a good time. Sometimes people try and put more into them than should be there, [or] right them off as no consequence, but the reality is, I think, somewhere there in the middle."
- ― George Lucas [src]
[edit] Notes and references
- ↑ Empire of Dreams, Executive Producer Kevin Burns, Producer Edith Becker, Directed by Edith Becker and Kevin Burns. Part of the Star Wars Trilogy - Bonus Material DVD, Lucas Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox 2004.
