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Comment
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avalondeb
Registered User
(5/22/05 11:28 am)
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Star Wars Question
With the new Star Wars movie out this weekend, the discussion on how Star Wars may or may not relate to mythology and folklore came up, but I'm sure there are more connections than what we discussed.
Is there a link to a previous thread (searched but didn't find) or any publications anyone can provide a link to that fully discusses Star Wars? Thanks!
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Heidi
Anne Heiner
ezOP
(5/22/05 12:00 pm)
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Re: Star Wars Question
I actually can't think of any discussion we might have had about Star Wars over the years. There is plenty of stuff on the web, of course. I would try searching for George Lucas and Joseph Campbell in a combined search to get better results consider the glut of information about the films. Almost any discussion of Star Wars I have heard or seen over the years has focused on Lucas' relationship with Campbell and the his usage of Campbell's theories. I also remember seeing a long interview--might have been with Bill Moyers-- featuring George talking just about that topic for about an hour that was made in the late 1990s, not part of the original Power of Myth series. Or maybe my memory is wrong about that. I had recorded for a friend
Some quick finds:
Wikipedia:
Joseph Campbell
And on the other side of things:
Salon.com:
Galactic gasbag
Heidi
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DerekJ
Unregistered User
(5/22/05 5:05 pm)
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Re: Star Wars Question
I'm generally of the opinion that however much Campbell Lucas read in college, fact is, George was a true-blue Kurosawa nut (we would never have had "Kagemusha" and "Ran" if it wasn't for Lucas and Coppola), and classic-SW was a remake of "Hidden Fortress".
(The fact that Lucas originally wanted to cast Toshiro Mifune in the Alec Guinness part would be rather a dead giveaway...)
Later, of course, PBS fueled Campbell-mania in the 70's/80's, and
George was ready with the celebrity endorsements, but it strikes
one as his talking a great game after the fact, and there's
a lot more film-buff in the first movie than of Masks of God.
And speaking as fellow Kurosawa/Mifune nut, who can blame him?
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Aer
Unregistered User
(5/22/05 7:51 pm)
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Re: Star Wars Question
Lucas had many influences on Star Wars, and really did a beautiful job in pulling them all together I think (I just watched the entire original Trilogy tonight... 6 hours and 20 minutes, but completely worth it (earlier in the week I watched the prequel trilogy back to back ending with going to Episode III in the theatre... yes I am kind of insane, hehe)). He used many archetypes in his stories... that of the young naive kid who is destined for great things when a sudden change of events changes his world, and a mentor enters his life. The father son relationship also is a vital component, and the father willing to give his life for the son, while the son is willing to risk everything for the father's redemption. The thing that I've always loved most about Star Wars is the theme of redemption. It really is beautiful.
One of the strongest influences that I see in the Original Trilogy is Tolkein. I see many parallels between Luke and Frodo, Gandalf and Obi Wan, Vader and Gollum, the Force and the Ring and actually I think that the Original Trilogy tells the story better than Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings Movies (but that is up to debate I guess, hehe).
The Prequels are heavily influenced by Roman history, and actually I am one of the few people who find the Politics in Star Wars interesting.
Return of the Sith is a very Faustian story really, with Anakin trading his soul basically to gain knowledge in return. I have only seen that one once though, so I will refrain from making too many sweeping statements until I've seen it a few more times.
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gigi
Unregistered User
(5/22/05 9:09 pm)
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Star wars and myths
I remember when my 8th grade class did a unit on Arthurian legend we watched a video in which George Lucas mentioned that Arthur greatly influenced Sw.
The parallel is between Luke and Darth battling each other. It relates to King Arthur and Mordred. They contest each tother for the power and the Kingdom (The empire, I guess)
Gigi
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