Is Star Wars The Modern Myth?

[Trixter]

So I posted yesterday asking if Star Wars was science fiction or fantasy. Really good discussion I think. So I was thinking and I thought of another question I feel we can get a healthy discussion out of. Is Star Wars the modern day myth?

I am referring mainly to George Lucas. Is George Lucas the modern Shakespeare and Homer for creating Star Wars? And is Star Wars a mythology that is comparable to the mythologies of Greek and the writings of Shakespeare?

So discuss!

My answer is yes. To both George Lucas and the story itself. To me, I find Star Wars to be such a massive and expansive lore that it can be considered its own mythology. The best example of this is in Episode III, when Palpatine tells the "legend" of Darth Plagueis. That moment put a mythology within the Star Wars universe which expanded it greatly just because it was something that isn't done that often in movies.

As for the creator, Mr. Lucas. George Lucas is, regardless of what he did with the edits and prequel trilogy (which really Episode II and III aren't that bad), a genius. He is a artist who has created something that will never die. I can't say that Star Wars will live forever, but it is something that so many people find close to their hearts and something that is so massive it won't die for a very long time.

And really the prequel trilogy, regardless of how bad Episode I is, is, in my opinion, a masterpiece of storytelling. I recently found a site that discussed "The Star Wars Ring Theory" which suggests that Episode I is a mirror of Episode VI, that II is a mirror of V, and the III is a mirror of IV. At first I thought this was crazy until I started reading and examining it. After seeing the many comparisons between the movies, it's hard to argue that Lucas was lazy or didn't think of the story ahead of time. It proves that he is a genius.

Again, all my opinion.

NOW! DISCUSS!

 

[Boethiah]

[member="Trixter"]

Star Wars is one of those things that gets debated day-after-day and in fact; I know it was actually a subject once in my school's philosophy course -- I didn't take it but I've had friends who did and found it to be a really interesting subject of debate...

First there's huge differences between the original and prequel trilogy that escape the typical criticisms (or in some cases praise) surrounding the plots and acting. Namely with the original Star Wars it was intended to be a single film, then many films, and then they gutted it into a trilogy but never thought they'd get a chance to make the next two. With that in mind you can guess that George Lucas thought as much about the film at the time as the people who watched it. It wasn't until that they decided to make the prequel series that they actually tried to find a deep and meaningful way to subject the lore...

It's a space opera. It's meant to be melodramatic, to be heroes vs villains, and to be cliche in some ways and original in others. Was George Lucas a Genius? I don't believe so; if he was he'd probably have had greater critical successes as a director and a writer. Let's not forget the original trilogy was only his conception, he did not write the screenplay, he just came up with the concept. Lawrence Kasdan is credited as being the main driving force between much of the storyline along with Leigh Brackett, of course he wrote much of it -with- Lucas he's also the one who's writing the new trilogy.

The thing about fan-theory is that it's just that... Fan theory. The expanded-universe, all the philosophy and debate, none of it was in the head of the creators when they conceived what was to them just a movie that was riding on too much for it to be successful. The fact it was successful allowed them to actually build it into a franchise and create the Star Wars we all know and love today.

 

[Trixter]

I totally love your post. However, and I don't mean to be mean, but you are wrong on one thing: the original trilogy was written as one script, by Lucas. However it was to long so he split it up and made it a trilogy and decided that, if the first film was a success, he would make the other two later.

The other comment I have is that, during filming A New Hope, Lucas almost had a heart attack from all the stress he was getting. Now this doesn't mean he should have given up directing but I find it noteworthy that he did have a good reason for not wanting to direct anymore.

Great post otherwise. I really love this site for discussion so far.

[member="Anja Aj'Rou"]

 

[Lief]

Yes and no.

My only real issue with this sentiment is that the SW-Universe was expanded by more people than just Lucas. Lucas gave us the foundations, but a great many authors took it upon themselves to build upon it. If you look at Star Wars in Literature, there are so many different books, authors and even clashing storylines, that we can't just attribute it to George Lucas even if he was the instigator.

 

[Boethiah]

[member="Trixter"]

Thank you and I am aware of the fact you listed above but that was the story he wrote, there were no scripts or screenplays until pre-production; just many concepts and a huge story dedicated to the conceptualized universe, characters, and plots. When they finally got the ball rolling they called in Lawrence Kasdan to co-write the next two films with Lucas who at that time mostly handled storyboarding -- which is of course no less important than deciding what people say or do.

 

[Ellie Mors]

I'd state that the Middle-Earth lore is far more mythological than Star wars is. The difference between a mythos and having a mythos implied is the implication itself. Star Wars has its own in-universe mythology, while the Lord of the Rings and such is a mythological tale.

 

[Via Dolorosa]

There has been a lot of debate as to what Lucas was trying to get across in his original trilogy. One that has been debated among certain circles was that the original trilogy was his aspect of World War II. The Empire was the Nazi party or Germany...though only a fraction of Germans actually supported the Nazi party. The Imperial's uniforms had an eerie resemblance to those of the German high command while the Stormtroopers represented the SS. The term Stormtrooper was used during WWII during the Blitzkrieg or The Winter War when Germany invaded the Scandinavian countries (Sweden, Finland, Norway, and Denmark).

The Rebel Alliance however was conceived by two sources. The first was the French resistance that was made up of not only French citizens but other citizens whose country was occupied by the Germans. The other was the Polish Resistance Movement, mainly made of Polish and Hungary Jews, who fought the Germans/Nazis using guerilla tactics. Both these Movements fought against impossible odds, outnumbered and poorly equipped.


but that is only one of a hundred theories....