The Myth Awakens

Canon, Conservatism, and Fan Reception of Star Wars

Derry, Lyden

• Publisher: Cascade Books
• Year: 2018
• eBook ISBN: 9781498246262
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Film & Video

The trailers for Star Wars: The Force Awakens made a strong impression on fans. Many were excited by what they saw as a return to the spirit of George Lucas's 1977 creation. Others--including several white supremacy groups--were upset and offended by key differences, most notably the shift away from a blond, blue-eyed, male protagonist. When the film was finally released, reactions similarly seemed to hinge on whether or not The Force Awakens renewed the "mythic" aspects of the original trilogy in ways that fans approved of. The Myth Awakens examines the religious implications of this phenomenon, considering the ways in which myth can function to reinforce "traditional" social and political values. In their analyses the authors of this book reflect on fan responses in relation to various elements of (and changes to) the Star Wars canon--including toys, video games, and novels, as well as several of the films. They do so using a variety of critical tools, drawing from studies of gender, race, psychology, politics, authority, music, ritual, and memory.

Chapter 1

The More Things Change

Historical Political Context and The Force Awakens

John C. Lyden

Abstract: This essay suggests that, even with the great similarities in plot and structure that exist between The Force Awakens and A New Hope, the reception of each by their original viewers differed due to the differences in their respective historical-political contexts, so that the films conveyed different meanings to their respective audiences. In particular, the easy dualisms of the earlier film have been problematized by the war on terror which has raised questions about the innocence of America in an increasingly complex world. Plot and character elements in The Force Awakens also convey an impression of flawed heroes and complex villains, none of whom is totally at fault nor free of blame, supporting the greater sense of moral and political ambiguity that many Americans now have. In the end, the political sensibilities of the viewers color what they see in the myth, which was as true of the original films as it is of the newer additions to the canon.

It is now a commonplace to note that The Force Awakens replicates multiple elements of the original film, now known as Episode IV: A New Hope, which first appeared in theaters in 1977. These include not only the overarching narrative of a group of rebels’ desperate attempt to stop an evil empire that is intent on controlling the galaxy by violence and intimidation, but individual elements of the original film (or the original trilogy) are also reproduced such as: crucial information is hidden in the memory banks of a droid, which must be kept from the Empire; an orphan on a desert planet is soon entrusted with the droid, though not knowing its contents, and is enlisted into the battle with the Empire; this orphan soon learns that she (in 1977, he) has a mysterious ancestry linked to Jedi skills which she can begin to develop; the enemy is a family member turned bad, whose father (and in 1983, the son) tries to get him to turn back from the dark side; a rebel planet is destroyed by an Imperial weapon, which can itself be destroyed by disabling the shield generator and attacking it with X-wing fighters which have to fly through trenches; and of course, as one IMDb reviewer (sonofhades) puts it, an “epic villain wears a mask that distorts his voice and sadly, looks better with the mask on than without it.”53

Fan reactions to the film, positive or negative, were also largely based on whether they liked or disliked this resemblance to the original film. Looking at IMDb non-professional reviews—which admittedly is not a random sampling, but does show a group of dedicated fans willing to comment—out of about 4,000 reviews, most written within the first month of TFA’s release, 28 percent “Loved it” and 70 percent “hated it.” Here is a sample of the haters: “This movie is simply terrible. It has not depth at all. In the prequels with bad acting, terrible special effects and lack of real sets sucked yes, but at least they had a good story. The entire story is basically the original three films mashed together into 130 minutes of rehashed fan appeasement, no original story” (LiveFire1: sic). Or: “This felt like a parody” (TheForceWentBacktoSleep) and “The New ‘New Hope’ dies at the hands of the Disney Money-Making Machine” (elnaraniall). Or: “Star Wars is Dead. Bring back George Lucas! All is forgiven! Makes the prequels look like Masterpieces!” (magicbeatledel).54

And in contrast, there were those who loved it: “Yes, the plot and beats are VERY similar to A New Hope, but that was a great movie. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” (Guy2026). And to those who blame the film for too cautiously reproducing the original plot, one reviewer commented, “What happened last time somebody took a risk with the Star Wars Universe? The Prequels happened” (chaag-89951).55 So the real difference between the lovers and haters isn’t whether they thought it was original, but whether they liked that it wasn’t, or were disappointed that it wasn’t. It may also be that Disney and director J. J. Abrams decided on market caution in creating a product so much like Episode IV in order to guarantee financial success. Notwithstanding some of the haters, the movie has done well: with a worldwide gross of over 2 billion dollars, this puts TFA at #3 of all time, right after Avatar and Titanic. And even adjusted for inflation, at this writing it is still in 11th place for the top domestic gross of all time.56

But if one looks at Box Office for all the Star Wars films, we don’t see the prequels having done so much worse. They cost more to make, but all six of the first Star Wars films netted between 442 and 907 million US dollars after production costs. Noting that the average production cost of the prequel trilogy was 114 million as opposed to the average cost of the original films (20 million), and not adjusting for inflation, we can see a net box office profit (based on worldwide gross) of the 6 films, in millions of US dollars, in order of episodes I–VI as follows: 907, 534, 736, 764, 520, and 442. One can see that the prequels netted an average of 726 million USD as opposed to the original trilogy average of only 575 million, and that Episode I earned more than any of the others.57 So there was no overriding financial reason to so precisely mimic the form of Episode IV in making VII. Why then the duplication?

Perhaps, apart from marketing concerns, there was a desire to return to the structure of Joseph Campbell’s monomyth, which did provide the structure for the original storyline. As Campbell mapped it out in The Hero with a Thousand Faces, it includes these stages: the hero is called to an adventure, initially refuses it, receives supernatural aid, crosses the threshold of his or her world to enter the “belly of the whale,” is proven worthy through various ordeals, confronts a father figure, and finally conquers the monster and is reconciled to the father.58 I have elsewhere noted that there is much more going on in Star Wars than just the monomyth, as Lucas brought in a variety of religious, philosophical, political, and genre elements to construct Star Wars. I have also noted that Campbell’s understanding of the monomyth is colored by his own philosophy. He psychologizes the nature of myth, as he is heavily influenced by Jung, and reduces the hero’s journey to essentially a battle with one’s own inner demons, which leads to a monistic realization that all is one; we embrace our shadow side and find that there is ultimately no distinction between self and God.59 Political or historical action is then largely irrelevant to Campbell as it takes a back seat to the importance of personal psychological reintegration and self-discovery; there is no hope for redemption in the realm of history. Campbell did not view political action as very effective or as a realm of salvation; instead we must learn to live with conviction in our own times, regardless of the politics, as he pessimistically concluded that we probably cannot change them.60

I don’t think Star Wars can be reduced to this philosophy, however, as there is clearly a transcendent Force and the possibility of redemption and forgiveness through our actions, as well as a real universe and real people, external to ourselves, that can be saved through our efforts—basically Christian categories, secularized, with some colonization of East Asian philosophy and religion thrown in for good measure. It also appears that politics actually matters in all the Star Wars films, as it is the primary theater for the conflicts that o...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Acknowledgments
• Contributors
• Preface
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: The More Things Change
• Chapter 2: The Brightest Shadow
• Chapter 3: Leia “the Hutt Slayer” and Rey “the next generation badass boss bitch”
• Chapter 4: I’ve Heard This Somewhere Before
• Chapter 5: The Racism Awakens
• Chapter 6: Do, or Do Not: There is no Try
• Chapter 7: Ritual, Repetition, and the Responsibility of Relaying the Myth
• Chapter 8: Memory, History, and Forgetting in Star Wars Fandom
• Chapter 9: The Ion Canon Will Fire Several Shots to Make Sure Any Enemy Ships Will be Out of Your Flight Path
• Bibliography