II. A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…
Artifact Analysis: Star Wars
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At the turn of the 20th century, the world was introduced to a new eccentric universe that would capture the hearts of many around the world. It is impossible to hear words like ‘The Force’, ‘Jedi’, ‘Light Saber’, ‘Droid’, and ‘Clones’ and not think about the world-renowned Star Wars universe. The start of the franchise is owed to George Lucas who created the series of films that captured society’s need for a futuristic and technological narrative. Through strong analysis of the Star Wars, it is evident that this artifact demonstrates Forbes and Mahan’s typology of Religion in Popular Culture and Popular Culture as Religion [1].
The film series reflects Joseph Campbell’s hero journey, which makes the messianic hero a symbolic language of the sacred. Luke Skywalker’s character demonstrates an archetypal hero who’s journey correlates with Campbell’s monomyth. Another main protagonist in the series is Obi-Wan Kenobi, who portrays a main mentor figure with Christ-like qualities. Lastly, there exists a ‘force’ that encapsulates the mysticism in the good and evil Star Wars universe. It is evident through recent headlines such as the new title The Force Awakens, the Disney acquisition, and effervescent fandom that the franchise has a very strong impact on mass culture.
There is ample evidence in the Star Wars film series for having religious themes within popular culture. The first subject of analysis is the character of Luke Skywalker. His character is described as an archetype of Joseph Campbell’s hero journey. Campbell’s work has primarily focused on monomyth, which is where George Lucas drew his inspiration from for Star Wars [2]. From Campbell’s “The Hero with a Thousand Faces”, he structures the hero journey into three acts: Departure, Initiation, & Return — comprised of several steps [3]. The following image outlines Luke Skywalker’s hero journey in the first Star Wars film.
Mythology has had a very close relationship with the religious sphere of ancient civilizations. According to Mircea Eliade, myths have been linked with the sacred, hence their value and importance [4]. For example, Hercules was an important figure in Greek and Roman antiquity. His actions like the famous labours created a fascination that warranted cult worship [5]. Since Lucas used the same hero journey narrative for Luke Skywalker, it gives his character a religious undertone. Luke Skywalker becomes symbolic and sacred in a religious context because it is able to manifest itself through his hero journey.
Another character of great importance to the series is Obi-Wan Kenobi. His character portrays a mentor to Skywalker, which also happens to be a common mythic element. Through analysis, it can be determined that Kenobi depicts a Christ-figure. Archetypical Christic patterns can be categorized within twenty-five structural characteristics, which include tangibility, centrality, source of divinity, discipleship, and much more [6]. They serve as a checklist in identifying the manifestation of a Christ-figure in a film.
#12 A Decisive Death and Resurrection
“Christ-figures are commonly involved in some form of sacrifice, usually involving bloodshed, suffering and death” [6]
#13 Triumphalism
“Christ’s death results in triumphal victory, even if it seems a Pyrrhic victory at the time” [6]
#15 A Willing Sacrifice
“Christ-figures are frequently empowered to choose sacrifice out of their newfound knowledge, status, position, mission requirements” [6]
In Star Wars, Obi-Wan Kenobi sacrificed himself to be defeated by Darth Vader to allow Luke Skywalker to defeat the Empire. His death (Video at 2:10) allowed him to become more powerful in his ethereal form: “If you strike me down I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine” (Video at 0:57). Then, in the battle to destroy the Death Star, Obi-Wan’s ghost reveals himself to Luke to aid him in the firing of the torpedoes, much like a Christ-figure with his disciples.
Obi-Wan’s ghost was able to communicate with Luke through the power of the Force. William James describes how religion is more individual and psychological [4]. The Force reflects James’ definition of mysticism as ineffable, transient, passive, and has a noetic quality [27]. In the series, the Force becomes a state of consciousness and awareness between good and evil. The Star Wars universe requires a balance to the Force to prevent the darkness from taking over, which mimics the yin-yang of Taoism [7]. Similarly, the Force is also a representation of Manicheanism, which is a religious system in which the world has opposing light and dark, good and evil [28].
There exists a notion that mass culture is created by powerful members of the elite for the working class. This is best described through Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer’s Marxist Approach at the Frankfurt School; where this culture industry is produced by those in power to maintain cultural authority and economic privilege against the lower class [4]. Such ideology correlates with Antonio Gramsci’s Theory of Hegemony in which a top-down hierarchy exists where the elite’s best interests are made the norm [8]. These concepts make it very important to recognize the main contributors in the production of popular culture artifacts, such as Star Wars.
The creator, author, and director of the first movie in the film series, Star Wars, was George Walton Lucas, Jr. He is well-renowned for founding his own film production company, Lucasfilm Ltd. LLC, in 1971 producing blockbusters like the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises. George Lucas’ interest in mythology, which inspired the Star Wars films, commenced upon his discovery of the book “The Hero with a Thousand Faces” by Joseph Campbell during his studies of anthropology, sociology and psychology at Modesto Junior College in California [9]. The mass culture resulting from the Original Trilogy (Episodes IV, V, & VI) and the Prequel Trilogy (Episodes I, II, III) of the Star Wars franchise have been heavily controlled by George Lucas himself and his team through direct ownership of Lucasfilm.
It is also important to note that the distributor for the Star Wars films is the Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, currently a subsidiary of 21st Century Fox. Its predecessor was Fox Film Corporation, which was founded in 1915 by a Hungarian Jew, William Fox. The empire of the Hollywood Jews was created by Eastern Europeans vying for the American dream who would later largely shape American values through their movies [10]. The Wall Street Crash of 1929 saw the collapse of Fox Film requiring a merger with Twentieth Century Pictures in 1935, hence creating Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation.
In 2012, George Lucas sold Lucasfilm to The Walt Disney Company for $4.06 billion giving them ownership rights for the Star Wars franchise [11]. This gave the Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures the control for the production of the franchise’s anthology films and sequel trilogy, such as the 2015 Episode VII — The Force Awakens film. According to Business Insider, Disney is one of the six media giants that own 90% of American media [12]. The other companies on the list include Comcast, News Corp, Viacom, Time Warner, and CBS. Back in 1983, 50 companies broadly controlled American media, but reduced down to six through vertical integration [12]. This puts into perspective the immense control these large corporations have over the television, movies, news, and radio of the American people.
The largest stakeholders of The Walt Disney Company are chairman and CEO Robert A. Iger and the general counsel Alan Braverman, holding 1.26 million and 155, 485 stock shares respectively [13]. Robert Iger became the CEO in 2005 after being involved with The Walt Disney Company since its purchase of the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) in 1996, which Iger was the president of until 1999. He directed many major acquisitions including Pixar Animation Studios in 2006, Marvel Entertainment in 2009, and the Lucasfilm acquisition in 2012 [14].
Forbes ranks The Walt Disney Company as #71 of The World’s Biggest Public Companies as of May 2016 [15]. Since Robert Iger became CEO in 2005, he has grown the company’s market capitalization to 169.3 billion (as of May 2016) from 48.4 billion [16]. Robert Iger has a very strong impact on the media produced by The Walt Disney Corporation as well as its conglomerates, including the Star Wars franchise from its Lucasfilm acquisition.
Marshall McLuhan of the Toronto School has coined that “the medium is the message”. This means that the form or characteristic of the medium used by the message has a strong influence in its perception [4]. A particular medium has distinctive features that imbed themselves into the experience of receiving the artifact. The Star Wars franchise has introduced consumers to a new and exciting universe through film. According to Box Office Mojo, the initial release of the first Star Wars film grossed $775, 398, 007 worldwide at the box office [17].
“At the time, every child in America wanted a light-saber or, if his parents could afford something far more expensive, a Darth Vader helmet.” [7]
The Star Wars film was highly successful and currently ranks #9 for all-time domestic box office and #62 worldwide [17]. The film has also been given a critic score of 93% by Rotten Tomatoes [18] and a metascore of 92 by Metacritic [19]. In addition, the franchise has won seven Academy Awards and three Special Achievement Awards, where seven of the awards were won at the 50th Academy Awards in 1978 by the first Star Wars film [20]. The first Star Wars film was well-received by the world ingraining itself into mass culture. The sentiments are best expressed through the development of cult worship of the franchise.
“Parents who had first fallen in live with Star Wars back in the late 1970s and early 1980s brought their own children to see revised versions of the first three films, newly enhanced with state-of-the-art special effects, on their re-release. Or to the prequel trilogy when it (finally!) appeared, equaling and in some cases even outdistancing the commercial if not necessarily critical impact of the three initial movies. In time, going to see Star Wars with one’s kids became a ritual. And, like all rituals since the beginning of time, it conveyed religious aspects of cult worship.” [7]
The Star Wars universe has ventured into different mediums from books, computer and video games, television series, comic books and all sorts of merchandising.
The Star Wars franchise developed into a prime example of pop culture as a form of implicit religion. They have blossomed fan communities of audiences from a broad spectrum around the world. Fandom ensues when fans are within social and cultural environments of their own construction [21]. Just this past summer at Fan Expo Canada, Mark Hamill, actor who played Luke Skywalker, attended as a notable celebrity guest. Fans of the franchise paid up to $195 just for an autograph or another $195 for a photo op [22]. In Theorizing Fandom, the fan is a member of an audience that appreciate and admire the object of their attention [23]. The reaches of the Star Wars franchise have even made its way into the White House in Ronald Reagan’s rhetoric of the Soviet Union as an ‘Evil Empire’ [24].
In extreme cases, a pop culture artifact can form such deep roots into popular culture, forming a hyperreal religion, seen through Jediism. The following doctrine is obtained from the Temple of the Jedi Force:
“Jedi apply the principles, ideals, philosophies, and teachings of Jediism in a practical manner within their own lives. Jedi seek the Living Force for guidance. Jedi follow what is considered to be the Light Side of the Force, and adhere to the ideals and philosophies of the Jedi religion. There is no absolute or universal consensus among the world’s scholars as to the definition of religion, but the following is a good one, and is the official description of the religion of Jediism we adhere to at The Temple of the Jedi Force.” [26]
Its presence was first felt when it was able to infiltrate several censuses around the world in 2001 as a religious belief. The religious themes of Jediism reflect those of other well-established religions like Hinduism, Confucianism, Buddhism, Gnosticism, Stoicism, Catholicism, Taoism, Shinto, Modern Mysticism, the Way of the Shaolin Monks the Knight’s Code of Chivalry and the Samurai warriors [25].
The use of the Star Wars artifact is ideal for the study of Religion in Popular Culture and Popular Culture as a Religion due to the vast use of religious themes in the franchise that has strongly impacted audiences around the world. Star Wars is well-known for its usage of the archetypal hero journey emerging many endearing and relatable characters. The film is able to encapsulate itself into something sacred, which drives its influential attraction. The fascination with the Star Wars films has created a religiosity of fans that make it a ritual to participate in the phenomenon. It is now a timeless addition to society’s mass culture that will continue to capture hearts of audiences as they embark on a new space journey in each film.
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