The Far Far Reach of Star Wars

Star Wars is extremely popular. Sometimes it can even seem as though everyone around you has seen the films. To quote Marshall from How I Met Your Mother, “The only people in the universe that haven’t seen Star Wars are the characters in Star Wars.” While this is not entirely accurate, Americans, and other people in the Western world, would be hard pressed to find someone who didn’t recognize the opening score by John Williams or the line “Long ago in a galaxy far far way…” As we are gearing up for another round of Star Wars films, it seems only right to look back on how they have influenced the world we live in today. Not only was Star Wars simply popular with the masses, it revolutionized special effects and merchandising.

Marshall talking to Ted about Star Wars in How I Met Your Mother.

Arguing that Star Wars is not one of the most popular film series of all time would be a waste of breath. Even if someone hasn’t seen Star Wars, they have heard of it, and they could probably describe what a lightsaber looks like to whoever was asking. The sheer number of fangirls and fanboys would make it nearly impossible to go through American life without someone engaging you in a conversation about Star Wars at least once. You certainly wouldn’t get out of such a conversation if you socialize with me. Outside of causual viewership, there are also those who love Star Wars so much, that they attend Star Wars conventions like the one that took place last month at the Anaheim Convention Center. To me, and my fellow fans, Star Wars in an ingrained aspect of our culture, but it doesn’t end with us. After 38 years of attention, it has bled completely into pop culture. There a references everywhere: in TV shows, music, and other movies. Referencing Star Wars is nearly as legitimate as reference the fact the sky is blue. It’s not everyday that something comes along and makes that kind of a splash.

Cosplaying fans at 2015 convention.

One of the major, if not the biggest, reasons why Star Wars was so wildly popular lays with its special effects. Before Star Wars, things had been kind of stale in the area of movie magic. When the first film came out, it was literally like nothing audiences had ever seen before, at least not on the big screen. Now when we have advancements they are impressive, but this film was revolutionary. Due to the demanding innovation the film required to be made, George Lucas created his own special effects company, Industrial Light & Magic. ILM has now had its hand in helping create over 300 hundred other movies. Even if one doesn’t like Star Wars, they probably like something that Star Wars helped make possible. It’s common to see films today heavily incorporate CGI. Many would visually link other popular effects heavily trilogies like Lord of the Rings, The Matrix, and even the very contemporary Marvel films, right back to what Star Wars did for the industry.

ILM’s animation director Hal Hickel.

One needs to look no farther than my closet to see the Star Wars has quite a lot of merchandise for the public to snatch up. In my possession alone, I have numerous posters, eight plastic toy lightsabers (all different models naturally), and one very expensive metal lightsaber. Star Wars helped exemplify for the world that there were huge amounts of money to be made on the things people would buy that are related to the film, and not only the film itself. Star Wars has generated more revenue from their related products than from the films themselves, which is saying quite a lot considering how much the movies have made. While this is not uncommon for films, the sheer amount of profits blows nearly everything else out of the water. This kind possibility has made other franchises see the potential they have for making large profits in this area as well.

Star Wars changed the word, both in the context of cinema, but also in a cultural sense. The original film, as well as the rest of the saga, have been hugely popular and the impact of the films is evident in other types of media that we consume. Star Wars also opened the gates advancement in special effects in all movies, not only within its original trilogy. It also showed the rest of the industry just how profitable film merchandise could be, when it made more off of its secondary products than the actual films. The same can probably be expected from any future Star Wars films, but I eagerly await to see how the influence of those to come will differ from the previously released. On top of everything else Star Wars did for the rest of the world, it most importantly influenced my Halloween costume for four years in a row.

The Women of Star Wars

The original Star Wars movie, A New Hope, was hugely popular and opened with much fanfare on May 25, 1977. This led George Lucas to create two additional movies The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. When talked about together, these films are often referred to as “the original trilogy.” Following the original trilogy by twenty-two years are the prequels, episodes I – The Phantom Menace, II – Attack of the Clones, and III – Revenge of the Sith. Star Wars wowed audiences with its cutting edge effects in both the late 70s and early 80s as well as with the second trilogy in the early 2000s. While the original films may have been visually stunning and wildly entertaining, there was a huge lack in sufficient female representation throughout all three of the movies. Lucas later improved upon this the second wave of movies, but they are still far from ideal in their execution.

Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford as Luke, Leia, and Han in 1977 Star Wars: A New Hope.

Many would argue that Leia is a good representation of a strong female character in the original trilogy; these people are looking at the extremely surface level aspects of her character. First and foremost, she has many redeeming qualities. Leia is a politically active, independent, and self-sufficient character. However, she completely abandons the rebellion to go after a carbonite-preserved Han Solo in Return of the Jedi. Even while Leia’s character is supposedly motivated by her obligations and compulsions of her station, she chooses to rescue Han, who, while certainly not in a healthy condition, is not immediately imperiled. This is a seemingly out of character action, where she places her own personal interests and that of her love life, ahead of the galactic revolution of which she is in charge. This is shown in comparison to Luke who, in the same film, goes on to fulfill his role as “the chosen one” and bring down the Empire. Not only does this display the lack of care taken with this female character, as it shows her being easily swept up in the romantic plot line instead of staying true to the original trajectory of her character, it also highlights the fact that women who should, in all senses, be equal to other male characters, like Leia’s twin brother, are relegated to supporting characters with a huge importance placed on their romantic potential. There is absolutely no reason why we should assume that Leia, the child of Darth Vader, should be any less adept at using the Force and becoming a powerful Jedi in her own right — a fact that is even later acknowledged by the characters themselves. The only difference between her and her brother, Luke, is that he is a man. “Naturally,” this makes him more capable as a hero. Lucas’ disregard for Leia’s potential is clearly wrapped up in her gender.

However, all of this is largely overshadowed by the fact that she is the only female character that is anywhere close to fleshed out in the original trilogy. The only other women that easily come to mind are those that are prostitutes and/or slaves for Jabba the Hut. There is also the matter of Luke’s aunt, but she is only seen very briefly and is quite flat overall, given that she is only seen onscreen for a matter of minutes. It is ridiculous to think that there are no other women in the galaxy that would play an important, or any, role in this story. There is a wide range of male characters like the golden boy hero (Luke), the bad boy with questionable ethics but a heart of gold (Han), the wise mentor (Obi-Wan and Yoda), smooth and lovable characters that play just outside of the rules, but for the greater good when it counts, Lando Calrissian, the loyal sidekicks (Chewbacca and C3PO). There is even R2D2, who is droid, and by default should be genderless, but is referred to as “he.” This being said, it is by no means a comprehensive list. There is a wide range of minor male characters with a variety of occupations and personalities seen throughout the original trilogy. For women, there are two: a princess or a hooker.

Padmé Amidala played by Natalie Portman in 2002’s Episode II: Attack of the Clones.

Zooming forward twenty-two years, there is the second wave of Star Wars film. Although these definitely have their problems, the treatment of women is much improved on the whole. These films brought with them Padmé Amidala. Not only is Padmé seen as a powerful women, first as a queen and then as a senator, she is very intelligent and is also capable of holding her own in a battle, as seen in Attack of the Clones on Geonosis. While her character also falls into the love above duty plot hole, she has nice run before it leads to her demise. In addition to Padmé, we also see many female Jedi, such as Aayla Secura, in both battle and around the Jedi Temple, including positions on the Jedi Council. This is a refreshing change from the original trilogy when it is not even hinted at that there could be female Jedi. It is only logical that there would be, so this is a new bit of information being integrated into the Star Wars universe with the prequels is often overlooked by the average viewer. There are also a few background character that would have almost certainly been men in the original trilogy, such as Sam, the bounty hunter and Taun We the tour guide on Kamino. While many of these women are still not main characters, it is still a step up to have women even be in the background of the storytelling rather than nowhere to be seen.

While Star Wars is a fantastic and noteworthy franchise is many ways, these six movies will never be praised for their portrayal of women. That being said, the prequels, although questionable in their overall quality, certainly do blow the original trilogy out of the water in one sense. Lucas’ turnaround with women is most likely attributed to the changing and more accepting attitudes put forth by society. One can only hope that the next set of movies, now out of the hands of Lucas, will take even greater leaps in the modern era of inclusiveness — or maybe not.