Star Wars and Religion
Methodology
In conducting my research on Star Wars, I wanted to make sure that I kind of found a variety of sources. I decided to do my field report on Star Wars originally because I was aware that I needed to include an interview component in this report. I immediately thought of my R.A., who just happens to be an incredibly huge Star Wars fan. I knew that I would have to investigate some element of the movies and religion has always been a very controversial topic within the Star Wars "universe". To research the topic I went through the IU Libraries Database and retrieved articles about Lucas and his beliefs about religion and about pop culture spirituality and the movies in general. I also held an
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Lucas is not longer in control of the form that it takes on and the ideals that it expresses, whether those ideals were meant to be expressed or not. His ideals expressed consciously or not through his movies have been called everything from "new religion" (Johnson) to "spirituality" (Moyers).
Analysis
"A long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away..." (Lloyd) is the infamous beginning of one of the biggest, if not the biggest pop culture phenomenon of our time. Star Wars is a famous trilogy well known for it's action-packed scenes and technological achievement. The movies center around the all-powerful, all-controlling "Force". With all that we have come to know about Star Wars, we have yet to discover the true meaning of "The force" and if it is really a representation of some thing much bigger and much closer to us than we think.
The "new religion" that Star Wars is said to provide what has been called a "bland, generic spirituality" as one philosophy professor called it (Johnson). Those who argue that pop culture is our "new religion" say that it allows for society to be able to call themselves "spiritual" without saying that they are also "religious" (Johnson). Advocates claim that though Lucas might provide "an impression of spirituality", "You get lost in the noise and images" as one priest states. Some prefer to say that this turn to pop culture for religious fulfillment is because of "a spiritual vacuum created by
to destroy the Death Star is made. Luke is chased by Vader and Solo comes to the
Close connections can be made from Greek Mythology into pop culture, especially into fictional stories such as Star Wars. Introduced to the world in 1977, Star Wars was a cultural phenomenon that took the whole world by storm. It broke new ground in cinematic storytelling, visual effects, and what a director could do with a film, paving the way for many other great films to come. The world of Star Wars is also rich with history and lore, and a lot of that can be connected to Greek Mythology. Two main characters in Star Wars are Luke and Leia Skywalker, twins who are separated at birth but eventually reunite on their journeys to defeat the dark side.
Popular culture is culture found in a large, heterogeneous society, that shares certain habits despite differences in other personal characteristic. Popular culture can consist of: a popular song, performer,movie or tv show, comic trip, “super hero”, etc.
Can two items be drastically different, but still attract a large audience? Most people would say yes, but is this limited to television programs? It’s definitely not, nor is it limited to the ownership by the same company. Star Wars productions with completely different aspects receive a great amount of popularity all the time. Star Wars the Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels, while similar in many ways, are vastly different programs. Star Wars the Clone Wars is an animated television program that was released in 2008 on cartoon network. While Star Wars Rebels is also an animated program, but was release in 2014 on Disney Channel. Despite their differences, the two shows are immensely popular and will create a legacy in the Star Wars universe. Most notably, the Clone Wars and Rebels differ in animation, improvement as time went on, and their length, yet the two come together to form a fan favorite production.
There is a long shot of a man crouching in an alcove of a corridor. He
Through the ages there have been constant struggles to resolve disputes. However, as we can see through our history, sometimes peaceful resolutions are not possible because of misunderstandings, corruption, power, or greed. In these cases, one alternative to settling the dispute is war. Technology plays an extremely important role in war, and this is clearly demonstrated in Star Wars. Star Wars possesses similarities to our own culture and with the vast amounts of technology represented in the film, it is an ideal choice to better understand our own society.
"Star Wars" was arguably the first in a new breed of high concept, high budget sci-fi action films. It was directed by George Lucas and originally released in only a few cinemas in 1977. However, the buzz around the film grew, and it is now one of the highest grossing films of all time, and along with its sequels, prequels and re-mastered re-releases, has a large cult following. I feel this is because of Lucas` ability to engage the audience through careful use of sound and camera technique;
What movie franchise has been the most powerful film franchise in history? Who could forget traveling through space fighting evil, using the force, and defeating the empire? Yes I am talking about Star Wars. The franchise includes 6 movies and countless games, toys, and books. Now I know y'all must be thinking “she only thinks star wars in so important cause it’s her favorite movie or she’s a geek or something like that” Well to be honest I have never in my life seen any of the movies. I’ve seen bits and pieces but none of them the whole way through. Although that it true Star Wars has influenced my life. Star Wars is and will be for years to come the most influential, powerful, and profitable franchise in history.
Episode IV was set during a time of war between the Rebellion, the good side, and the Empire, which is considered the evil side. The science fiction story is about a young man, Luke Skywalker, who travels into space to fight against the Empire. Luke is from the planet Tatooine, a desert, where he farms water with his uncle. Luke’s uncle buys two droids, R2D2 and C3PO, who happen to have been involved in the war and worked for the rebellion. Luke discovers a recording in one of the droids of Princess Leia saying she needed help, and that sparks the beginning of his journey. He meets Ben, also known as Obi-Wan Kenobi, who becomes his mentor, and teaches him how to use “the force”. In Star Wars, “the force” is a magical way for people to control things using their unconscious minds. Luke sets out on a journey into space to rescue the princess and join the Rebellion in the war effort. Luke and Obi-Wan meet Han solo, a pilot, and ask him to take them into space. They plan to go to Alderaan, Princess Leia’s home planet; however, they are unintentionally sucked into the Death Star, the spacecraft and weapon of the Empire. They find out that Princess Leia is being held in the Death Star, and they plan to help her escape. While Han and Luke try to help Leia, Obi-Wan is fighting Darth Vader, the evil leader of the Empire. Unfortunately, Obi-Wan is killed by Darth Vader; although, Luke, Han and Leia escape the Death Star. They go to a Rebellion headquarter and find the weak spot of the Death Star.
The creator and director of Star Wars, George Lucas, was incredibly successful for his movie series, but even more successful for its overall purpose: to sell toys to ten-year old boys. The use of ethos, pathos, and logos are very abundant in this movie. Ethos, Greek for “character”, is anything referring to or relying on the author’s credibility. Pathos, Greek for “emotional”, is anything that makes you feel emotion. Logos, Greek for “word”, is anything that makes you think. By using these he was able to persuade the audience into thinking, feeling, and loving Star Wars, making the audience want to purchase figurines.
George Lucas or the man I hope we would know by now as the creator of Star Wars, in various occasions has credited Campbell’s theory of the monomyth as the inspiration for his intergalactic series of films. It is quite easy to pick out many of the structures of a monomyth within the films. Often this popular example is used in classrooms when teaching the monomyth since it makes it easily relatable to younger audiences. By 1975 George Lucas had written two drafts for Star Wars and even though they were already written up and completed he felt they were lacking. He knew his drafts lacked
All 9 Star Wars movies combined have earned a total of $37 Billion Dollars all over the world! The First Star Wars Episode came out on May 25, 1977. They are still continuing the saga to this day with the release of Episode 8: The Last Jedi. Disney still has plans for at least 2 more Star Wars movies with Solo: A Star Wars Story and Star Wars Episode 9. This would make Star Wars one of the longest running movie series.
Politics and religion in the world of today aren’t subjects that generally go hand in hand in our own society. This was not always the case however; in Europe the two were synonymous up until relatively recently, (recently meant in the loosest sense of the word,) and are still closely tied in foreign parts of the world, the most obvious example being the Middle East. The duos intimate relationship was exemplified during the late sixteenth century, extending into the seventeenth century, during a series of wars which would later on come to be called “the wars of religion.” But is this title completely appropriate? For wars claiming to be centered on religion, they seem to carry an awfully heavy load of political baggage. In fact, one
Motion Pictures have always had a strong influence in today’s culture, but maybe none as prevalent as Star Wars. Originating with Episode 4 A New Hope, the series boomed from 1977 to 2005 with yet another addition coming in 2015. The strongest of the series was the original trilogy episodes 4, 5, and 6, all generally released in the 1980s. As one of the strongest film francaises still today, it’s impact within the 1980s was only the tip of the iceberg. Children and adults alike still anticipate the new edition of this seemingly endless journey. If any singular film series still holds prevalence in its future decades it is Star Wars: Original Trilogy.
George Lucas' film Star Wars There are many different theories to Star Wars, which attracted millions of viewers. These theories made Star Wars what it was, and to some people still is. Made in1977, it was the first of it's kind by being new, using aliens and special effects, Star Wars created a large audience. Then it was re-released twenty years later, after improvement in special effects and another character was added.