In this essay, I am going to deal with the Star Wars saga movies. Basically, there had to be nine movies, only the first episodes (IV, V and VI released in 1977, 1980 and 1983)and the episodes I, II and III (released in 1999, 2002 and 2005) were shot, Georges Lucas decided not to proceed to shoot the episodes VII, VIII and IX. Through this essay, I am going to show that from many ways Star Wars saga is not a dark representation of our society like in most Science-Fiction films, but does send us a message of hope.
To demonstrate this, I will study, first of all the main story, then the different characters and the general atmosphere; and the use of robots. Finally, we will see how the well known music also builds “a new hope”.
First, one should not forget that Star Wars story does not occur in our world and time. In fact, it happens in the past: “A long time ago in a far, far away galaxy”. It is impossible to link our world with this one, although we may see what technology can make the world look like. The different movies tell us the story of a very powerful sith lord, Darth Vador, from his youth to his death. Along the story, we can see a very happy and peaceful world sink in war and darkness, also an efficient democratic institution, the Jedi Council, is overthrown by dark forces. Consequently, people have to hide in order to survive because Imperial army is ubiquitous. Rebels have to flee and e.g. have to leave their base in front of the power of this army which has a single aim, seek and destroy them, even if it includes slaying millions of people (annihilation of Alderaan by the Black Star, in the episode IV). We can compare such a situation with the one during World War II. Everywhere in Europe, people had to hide, and millions of them were slain. Leia and Luke are rebels and have to stand alone against all, the weak against the almighty Emperor. But, at the very end, even the darkest and most dangerous foe, Darth Vador, turns out to be capable of changing. Where weapons, technology, light sabers, the force, fail; feelings and love win. Wherever there is life, there is hope.
This shows us that Star Wars is a message for everyone. It tells us that whoever we are, however mean we are, we can change. Moreover, it also tells us that we have to be wise and careful about our feelings. The jedi’s mind is that there is a fate and things have to happen, so we have to let things go. “Fear [to lose your mother] is the path to the dark side... fear leads to anger... anger leads to hate… hate leads to suffering.” Master Yoda says to Anakin Skywalker in the Phantom Menace.
Many characters in Star Wars we can find, often very atypical they are, like Yoda. The strength in Star Wars universe is that there are many different peoples, they speak different languages, but they all live together. For example, in Coruscant, the universe capital, everybody lives with one another and it seems to work well. For instance, in the episode II, Attack of the clones, Obi-Wan Kenobi can be seen with an old friend who is a bar tender and who is everything but human. However he is a very good friend of Obi-Wan’s. Through this melting pot, this society seems really successful. There is no racism, no minorities exclusion. This is once again a message of hope.
If we consider now the atmosphere of the movies they are really different from one another. For instance, Naboo is a very green and blue planet1 and looks like a dream, a haven which is going to be caught up by war. Then, Taooine2 is a very dusty, hostile and dry planet. The clone army is raised on a no-land-planet, Kamino, there is only ocean and rain, this is a technique often used in movies to bring us to a sad mood, war is closing. Mustafar, a volcanic planet is where Darth Vador raises. The lava and volcanos represent Anakin’s wrath and anger. Dagoba, the planet Yoda hides in, represents a sauvage, primitive world, where Luke has to live to find out who he really is. And so forth, so on. Planets are often used in Star Wars to create a special mood and symbolism fitting the story need.
Before dealing with robots, it is important to notice that in the trilogy (IV,V and VI) there is far more humor than in the prelogy, in order to balance the sadness of the story and to highlight the performance of Harrisson Ford. It is still, a will from George Lucas, to build charming characters and to build hope.
Nevertheless, it is important here to make the difference between the 1970's-1980's episodes and the 2000's episodes. In the 1970's-1980s episodes, technology is often rusty, for instance in the episode IV a new hope, Luke Skywalker buys R2D2 to Jawas among malfunctionning robots. On top of that, the Millenium Falcon is not working very well even if Hann Solo and Chewbacca spend a lot of time fixing it. This is also part of the humor between the "cow-boy" Hann Solo and Leia. The point that links Star Wars with our society is the Black and Death Stars, which are the representation of the nuclear bomb and of the cold war. This weapon is so powerful, it can destroy anything. This is a mirror effect, like in THX-1138, we can see how far and how lethal can become our technology.
However, technology is not always a threat, it can also be very useful or "more human than human". For instance, C3P0 is pretty fearful whereas R2D2 is very bold. They even have arguments like in episode IV, because they are quite proud, and pride is a human feeling. Moreover, robots are essential for living organisms (not to mention dark grievous) and they help them even in tasks we would not imagine (in episode III, revenge of the Sith, it is a robot who is the doctor and explains to Obi-Wan that Padme is dying). In fact, in the 2000's Star Wars films, technology is much more efficient, "beautiful" and better designed. To my mind, there are two reasons for that. First, I think, our way of considering technology changed since the 1970's, we know more about robots, what they would be able to do. And, the special effects technology has also improved, therfore, it is easier to create beautiful robots than before when they were real and not computer generated images. The second reason why technology is more positive in 2000's films is, to my mind, because George Lucas wanted to shred the light on Anakin Skywalker and on his sinking in the dark side of the Force and not on technological threat.
Consequently, we see that mainly in the 2000's Star Wars films, technology is not a threat but a help. This makes 2000's Star Wars very optimistic, unlike films like I-Robot or Minority Report. And in 1970's Star Wars, the influence of cold war is obvious.
However, technology is not always a threat, it can also be very useful or "more human than human". For instance, C3P0 is pretty fearful whereas R2D2 is very bold. They even have arguments like in episode IV, because they are quite proud, and pride is a human feeling. Moreover, robots are essential for living organisms (not to mention dark grievous) and they help them even in tasks we would not imagine (in episode III, revenge of the Sith, it is a robot who is the doctor and explains to Obi-Wan that Padme is dying). In fact, in the 2000's Star Wars films, technology is much more efficient, "beautiful" and better designed. To my mind, there are two reasons for that. First, I think, our way of considering technology changed since the 1970's, we know more about robots, what they would be able to do. And, the special effects technology has also improved, therfore, it is easier to create beautiful robots than before when they were real and not computer generated images. The second reason why technology is more positive in 2000's films is, to my mind, because George Lucas wanted to shred the light on Anakin Skywalker and on his sinking in the dark side of the Force and not on technological threat.
Consequently, we see that mainly in the 2000's Star Wars films, technology is not a threat but a help. This makes 2000's Star Wars very optimistic, unlike films like I-Robot or Minority Report. And in 1970's Star Wars, the influence of cold war is obvious.
Finally, Star Wars would not be Star Wars without its music. It was composed by John Williams also known for Jaws, The Schindler's List or Harry Potter. It is essentially symphonic music, it highlights key moments -- like Duel of Fates one of the rare songs of Star Wars using voices -- Darth Vador’s meanness and power with The Imperial March. However, it also brings hope and for instance, it uses flutes, trumpets, and drums, which brings strength but not sadness like the famous Star Wars Main Theme and it can also be soft and deals with love like in Across the stars.
To conclude, it would be wrong to say that Star Wars is only an optimistic saga, it deals with our fear of the power itself. Greed is the main flaw of humans and Darth Vador wants more power, as he says in episode V : "Join me, and together we can rule the galaxy as father and son." Star Wars also tackles the fear of the ultimate weapon and how it can be misused. However, Star Wars saga, is full of hope, the darkest evil comes back from the dark side, technology is seldom a threat, jedis' attitude is wise and lots of different races of extraterrestrials live peacefully together. We should take in account the morale of this saga and may the force be with us.
To conclude, it would be wrong to say that Star Wars is only an optimistic saga, it deals with our fear of the power itself. Greed is the main flaw of humans and Darth Vador wants more power, as he says in episode V : "Join me, and together we can rule the galaxy as father and son." Star Wars also tackles the fear of the ultimate weapon and how it can be misused. However, Star Wars saga, is full of hope, the darkest evil comes back from the dark side, technology is seldom a threat, jedis' attitude is wise and lots of different races of extraterrestrials live peacefully together. We should take in account the morale of this saga and may the force be with us.
1: as a matter of interest, the scenes which represent Anakin and Padme in a castle and in fields in Naboo country land were shot in Lake Como, Italy
2: the scenes of Tatooine were shot in the desert in Tunisia
