A long time ago in
a galaxy far, far away a young man had a dream for a movie franchise that would
take the galaxy by storm. Well, more accurately, it was only 40 years ago in
California, the young man was George Lucas and the movie franchise was Star Wars. The sci-fi war story was
developed as a story for young teenage boys, but soon fell into the hearts of
people of all ages. 40 years, and nine completed films later, the franchise has
become one of the most beloved in the world’s history.
Although it is a
well-beloved sci-fi action franchise, the story is wholly about war, and the
products of war. Which means that many of the themes discussed in true-to-life
war novels are also discussed in these films to some extent. It seems almost
impossible for a sci-fi franchise for children to adequately explore some of the
heavier themes of war, yet Lucas manages to do so with a light hand, managing
to show the true effects of war in a way that is not overwhelming, yet also
captures the true nature of war.
Throughout novels
of true-to-life war there are themes that rise to the surface: the broken
warrior; the maltreatment of women, including rape and sexual slavery; the
subjectivity of bad and good; the reality of duty or honor as the driving force
for military enlistment; the development of super weapons; the change in a
soldier from eager, curious citizen to sober, battle hardened warrior; and so
many more. These themes play out in the Star
Wars films to a lesser extent.
In the interest of
time and space, this analysis will only talk about three themes found in the
original trilogy (A New Hope, The Empire
Strikes Back, and The Return of the
Jedi) in comparison to the themes found specifically in the books Fear, The Sorrow of War, Catch-22,
and Shoot Like a Girl. The three
themes explored will be as follows, the change from citizen to warrior, the
fractured warrior, and the treatment of women in war.
The Eager, Curious Citizen to Battle-hardened Warrior
In Fear, Jean Dartemont heads to war “not
to fight but out of curiosity: to see.”[1]
In some ways, this young man is the epitome of young and naïve. He simply wants
to experience what war might be like. Dartemont notes that the last war was so
long ago that the newest generations don’t know what it is like. War is a
curiosity to those who are not actively involved. However, as the war
progresses Dartemont becomes more and more of a cynic, commenting on the
seemingly futile nature of shooting at the Germans on the front. For Dartemont,
the war is no longer a curiosity, but a dreaded nightmare with seemingly no
purpose. In fact, it becomes almost a badge of honor among the troops to be so
badly injured that one can no longer fight[2].
This
second attitude is also showcased in Catch-22.
While we never actually get to meet Yossarian before he goes to war, by the
time we do meet him he is a cynic and has definitely espoused this
battle-hardened, sober warrior who would rather be at home or in the hospital
than fighting a war that doesn’t seem to have a purpose[3].
This theme in Star Wars is most obviously found in Luke Skywalker himself. He is
the epitome of eager, curious and naïve citizen. If one were to read literature
found in the extended universe they would discover that when Luke asks to go
away at the very beginning of the film, he is asking to go train in Empire
flight school[4]. However,
Luke is somewhat unwittingly recruited by R2-D2, C-3PO and Obi-Wan Kenobi to
join the light side. Once they leave Tatooine Luke is thrust into a fight he
didn’t necessarily want to be a part of, but joins anyway, mostly because there
is nothing left for him on Tatooine[5].
By the later films of the series
Luke has seen so much death and loss that he has become the battle-hardened
warrior. He doesn’t quite cross the bridge into cynicism, because it would be
difficult to have a film for young teenagers in which the main character was
not eager to be a part of the fight, but he does seem to be tempered a bit in
later films as he becomes a Jedi and a leader among the rebel alliance[6].
War changes a person. A person who
has gone to war is never the same when they come home, and this is a theme that
is still portrayed in Star Wars as it
is in books written about our historical wars.
The Fractured Warrior
If war changes a person, then we
have to account for all those who come home from war broken, both spiritually,
physically, and mentally. More than any other war novel, Sorrow of War, encapsulates the mentality of the warrior who
returns home so very, very broken. This novel details the experiences of one
North Vietnamese warrior who was witness to terrible actions and experiences.
This young man, Kien, starts as a naïve and innocent young man. He and his high
school sweetheart grow up in a world where war is going on but hasn’t yet
reached them. By the time they have reached their majority, Kien is sent off to
fight in the war. However, by the time he reaches his unit he has already
witnessed his friend being raped, a train being blown up and many other
horrible things. This was just in the first few days of Kien’s war[7].
When the war concludes, Kien is the
only remaining man alive from his unit. He returns a completely fractured man,
unable to fully function as a person. He sits in his apartment furiously
writing, a little bit scary as an individual and worrisome to his neighbors. Sorrow of War is written from Kien’s
perspective, and it is fractured with abrupt shifts from one time and space to
another. One is never quite sure of the timeline of events and memories
interrupt the daily goings on without clarity of the change in scene and time.
This warrior, returning from the battle is fractured. He is physically broken,
he is mentally gone, and his spirit has been wounded irreparably[8].
Kien is not the only soldier to return from war broken, this is common among
veterans who have witnessed atrocities they never could have imagined.
In Star Wars this fractured warrior is represented through the
characters of Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi. Through the back story of the prequels,
and the animated TV show The Clone Wars[9],
it is clear that both these crucial characters were involved in the Clone Wars
which were the events that precipitated the rise of the Empire.
In Obi-Wan, we can see the warrior
who has secluded himself. He hides himself from the world partly because of
necessity, but also because he might be hiding from the people he had to kill
and the things he had to see. In his duel with Darth Vader he simple stops and
surrenders as a distraction for the rest of the crew to get away from the Death
Star, but it seems to also be a relief for him to surrender and to be released
from the torture of the things he’s seen and done[10].
In essence, Obi-Wan’s sacrifice is an act of suicide, which we are seeing in
unprecedented numbers from American veterans as well[11].
The Star Wars representation of
suicide must be seen as noble, but nevertheless, the hopelessness of the
fractured warrior is clear when examined beyond the narrative.
In Yoda, the soldier who is simply
tired is showcased. Yoda is tired of war, he is tired of violence and atrocity.
When Luke first arrives on Dagobah, the viewer is pretty well convinced that
Yoda is crazy. He is certainly not the calm, sedate, wise Yoda one comes to
know in the prequels. He is jumping off of everything and talks strangely, even
for him, who structures his speech object-subject-verb. War changes a person,
and sometimes breaks their ability to be calm and collected. Yoda is broken a
little differently from Obi-Wan, but he is still broken, just as every soldier
who comes home from combat is broken differently from their compatriots. The
one thing that Yoda is able to do, even in his broken state, is focus on his
duty and train the next Jedi, Luke[12].
Even the most broken soldier,
according to Star Wars, has some
measure of honor. Star Wars is teaching
the martial values of honor and doing one’s duty, even while it is
acknowledging, to some extent, that being honorable may have a cost.
Maltreatment of Women in War
It is a well-accepted fact that
women, civilian and military alike, are not treated well when there is a war.
In the novel Shoot Like a Girl, Mary
Jennings Hagar details her experiences in the Air Force. Including the systematic
discrimination, disrespect, and even sexual harassment and rape[13].
These are not uncommon for women in the military forces, and many are stepping
forward to make a change. However, maltreatment of women in the military forces
is not the primary violence against women during a war.
Rape is, unfortunately, a common
occurrence in war and is often mentioned in novels about war. To not talk about
this reality in a novel of war would be disingenuous. In The Sorrow of War, Kien refers to several instances of rape he
witnessed. First was the rape of his own girlfriend by a fellow soldier on the
train to the battlefield. Then he watched as his fellow countrywoman offered herself
up to be gang raped and killed by a group of Americans to distract them from
the presence of Kien and his troops[14].
These are far from being the only
instances of rape and maltreatment of women during war. War is a time when the most
basic self-control is shattered as actions that are usually prohibited, like
killing, are all of the sudden acceptable and encouraged. Naturally, this means
that other forbidden impulses slip by the carefully guarded gate. If one
forbidden fruit is allowed, then it is hard to keep the other forbidden fruits
out of reach.
This theme is tricky for Star Wars to handle, and while it doesn’t
show any actually rape, the original trilogy are all rated PG, they still address
the mistreatment of women in the films. Anyone who has ever seen Return of the Jedi has seen Princess
Leia in that famous gold bikini, but what people never seem to remember is that
that gold bikini is accompanied by chains around her neck and a grotesque
creature who puts her into uncomfortable positions. In addition, there is
little memory of her predecessor, a young female alien who was also forced to
wear a skimpy outfit, wear chains and dance upon command. When this young alien
refused and rebelled, she was killed[15].
If one looks beyond the sexual appeal of Leia wearing a gold bikini one will
see a representation not only of rapists as ugly, fat and terrible people, but a
representation of the maltreatment of women during war in Star Wars.
Conclusion
While Star Wars is a movie franchise created to appeal to teenagers, its
broader impacts are in addressed the very real impacts of war. The movies are
most often called a ‘space opera,’ but it truly does address, at least to a
certain extent the terrible things that take place in a war. It is true that to
a certain extent the films glorify war, there is no getting past that, but what
these films do accomplish is to bring attention to some terrible effects of war
in times when it is unlikely that a realistic war film would be well received. Star Wars was directly referencing
problems from the Vietnam War when the war was barely over, in today’s popular
culture we are just now finding it appropriate and acceptable to talk about the
effects of that war.
Pop Culture has the unique
capability to bring attention to valid and appropriate concerns in real time. Star Wars not only does so effectively,
it does so will lovable and timeless characters, meaning these stories and
lessons will be shared across generations, and maybe eventually the lessons
will be learned.
Works Cited
Chevallier, Gabriel. Fear. New York, New York:
New York Review of Books, 2008.
Heller, Joseph. Catch-22. 50th Anniversary. New
York, New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2011.
Kershner, Irvin. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire
Strikes Back. Action, Adventure, Fantasy, 1980.
Lucas, George. A New Hope: Star Wars: Episode IV,
2008.
———. Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace.
Action, Adventure, Fantasy, 1999.
———. Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones.
Action, Adventure, Fantasy, 2002.
———. Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith.
Action, Adventure, Fantasy, 2005.
———. Star Wars: Episode IV- A New Hope. Action,
Adventure, Fantasy, 1977.
———. Star Wars: The Clone Wars. TV Series,
Animation, Action, Adventure, 2008.
Marquand, Richard. Star Wars: Episode VI-Return of
the Jedi. Action, Adventure, Fantasy, 1983.
Mary Jennings, Hegar. Shoot Like a Girl: One
Woman’s Dramatic Fight in Afghanistan and on the Home Front. New York, New
York: Penguin Random House LLC, 2017.
Ninh, Bao. The Sorrow of War: A Novel of North
Vietnam. New York, New York: Riverhead Books: The Berkley Publishing Group,
1996.
Shane III, Leo, and Patricia Kime. “New VA Study Finds
20 Veterans Commit Suicde a Day.” Military Times, July 7, 2016. https://www.militarytimes.com/veterans/2016/07/07/new-va-study-finds-20-veterans-commit-suicide-each-day/.
[3] Joseph
Heller, Catch-22, 50th Anniversary (New York, New York: Simon &
Schuster Paperbacks, 2011).
[6] Irvin
Kershner, Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back, Action,
Adventure, Fantasy, 1980;
Richard Marquand, Star Wars: Episode VI-Return of the Jedi,
Action, Adventure, Fantasy, 1983.
[7] Bao
Ninh, The Sorrow of War: A Novel of North Vietnam (New York, New York:
Riverhead Books: The Berkley Publishing Group, 1996).
[9] George
Lucas, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, TV Series, Animation, Action,
Adventure, 2008; George Lucas, Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace,
Action, Adventure, Fantasy, 1999; George Lucas, Star Wars: Episode II -
Attack of the Clones, Action, Adventure, Fantasy, 2002; George Lucas, Star
Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, Action, Adventure, Fantasy, 2005.
[11] Leo Shane
III and Patricia Kime, “New VA Study Finds 20 Veterans Commit Suicde a Day,” Military
Times, July 7, 2016,
https://www.militarytimes.com/veterans/2016/07/07/new-va-study-finds-20-veterans-commit-suicide-each-day/.
[13] Hegar
Mary Jennings, Shoot Like a Girl: One Woman’s Dramatic Fight in Afghanistan
and on the Home Front (New York, New York: Penguin Random House LLC, 2017).
No comments:
Post a Comment