Star Wars themes in science fiction cinema

Epics

Each era has its own epic, from the Anglo-Saxon Beowulf to the Grecian Iliad, the Hindu Ramayana, the British King Arthur, or the space age Star Wars. Yet it seems that certain elements remain the same, as if a single myth was repeating over and over again. These elements are the high ancestry or social status of the hero, the degree to which the hero's actions determine the fate of nations, his superhuman and courageous feats that uphold the standards of his culture, the presence of supernatural events and beings, the scope of the action involving many nations or a journey, heroes who make long and often philosophically important speeches, and the treatment of universal ideas.

As in Aristotelian tragedy, it is important in great epics that the hero be of noble birth or great social status. For example, Beowulf is a great hero and slayer of giants, but he is also a noble from a far-off country. In the Iliad, all the central figures are nobles or commanders, and the poet specifically says he cannot name everyone who went to fight but only the leaders. Achilles is the son not only of a kind but also of a minor deity. In the Ramayana, we also see a character who is deified to some degree. While Prince Rama's parents are both noble mortals, he is seen as an avatar of one of the greatest gods, Vishnu, who has taken human form. King Arthur, meanwhile, is not of divine birth but his birth was facilitated through magic. He is the child of King Uther, and true heir to the throne. This tradition of noble birth is also played out in the modern epic of Star Wars. Luke Skywalker is son of Anakin Skywalker, who we later find out was the greatest of the Jedi warriors and (according to Episode One) came from a virgin birth as a sheer manifestation of The Force.

Noble birth alone is not enough, though -- the character must also have an important impact. His actions determine the fate of his people. For example, Beowulf's killing of Grendel frees the entire region from living in fear. In the Iliad, the entire flow of battle depends of Achilles, and the Greeks lose without his help and win with it. His participation determines the fate of the Greeks and the city state of Troy. Likewise Rama's decisions make the fate of the nation over which he should be king, and his killing of Ravanna determines the fate of the demon's entire city as well as of all the holy men he has been persecuting. Arthur civilized Britain and protected it against invasion and kept the entire island at peace, without him it descended into chaos and civil injustice. It is the impact of the hero that is most important in Star Wars too. Luke Skywalker literally saves an entire planet of people on two different occasions, thwarts the evil emperor, and single-handedly saves the rebellion.

To have this impact, the hero must perform exceedingly courageous, or sometimes even superhuman, deeds that reflect the ideas and values of the era. Weapons bounce right of Grendel, so Beowulf must fight him barehandedly in an amazing feat of strength. Beowulf displays the virtue of the protection of home and hearth and of physical prowess. Achilles also fights with godlike skill, and is invincible in battle. He has a special shield made by the gods that show all the daily activities of his people such as farming and families and making war, and symbolically he carries those values with him in battle. Rama also has a supernatural ability in battle, and with just the help of his brother he is able to defeat thousands. He also wields a variety of special deific weapons including the powerful Brahma missile with which he kills Ravanna. He upholds the values of bravery, obviously, but also fights for family loyalty and structure (ie-his wife), and to follow his dharma. King Arthur is also highly skilled in battle, but differs from the others in that he is not the single best knight (that would be Lancelot). Still, he has superhuman abilities to draw Excaliber (his magic sword) from the stone, and with it to uphold the values of civilization. Much of his power is the power of diplomacy and of charisma -- he is not a solitary warrior, but rather gathers together an army of worthy warriors. This shows new emerging values of diplomacy and humanity, in addition to old values of honor and bravery. In the space age epic, Luke also has superhuman fighting abilities with The Force and is a great warrior. However, his Jedi abilities are not just for war, but also uphold values of spiritual awakening, freedom from tyranny, pacifism in certain circumstances, and other enlightened values. Of course, he is also brave and loyal and so forth. The light saber he wields, though, highlights the kind of spiritual aspect of his heroism.