Haven't some film critics accused Lucas of being derivative?
Sure, but this says more about the illiteracy of film critics than about Lucas. The well-educated critics of the previous century would read The Odyssey, for instance, and think "Ah, here's an idea from Gilgamesh, another from Egyptian mythology, and this character is from a folk tale the Semites popularized in Greece for hundreds of years before Homer was born." They wouldn't therefore dismiss Homer as "derivative," but judge him by the craft he displayed in weaving these basic, timeless story ideas together. The modern critic rarely recognizes the literary sources behind most great movies because they're typically not well-read. But they have seen lots of movies, so they're quick to spot the riffs Lucas borrows from classic films and, misunderstanding the creative process, accuse him of being "derivative."
Don't get me wrong, if a story feels like a blatant rip-off to you, trust your instinct to avoid investing in it emotionally. But if you're hesitant about a story you love because a naysayer points out the story's sources, relax: even the Bible, Shakespeare and the Greek tragedies were strongly grounded in earlier stories, along with all the great epics, folktales and religious scriptures from all over the world. Even our oldest written stories, dating back from the time writing was first invented around 3,500 BCE, were based on oral stories composed probably tens of thousands of years before. All great stories have deep roots. Don't let the insecure project their fear of appearing uncool onto you, bamboozling you away from what rings true in your heart. To learn best from stories you've got to trust your gut to decide which stories nourish you most, no matter how goofy they seem to anyone else. Tinky-Winky Uber Alles.
The next time a critic makes dismissive comments about a story you love, remember this: For nearly the entire history of literary criticism, from Aristotle's Poetics (340 BCE) through Horace's Ars Poetica (13 BCE) through Torquato Tasso's Discorsi dell' Arte Poetica (1587 CE), the merit of a critic's opinion was measured by the number of years they had worked successfully as an artist.
What is science fiction?
That's a tough question! No two science fiction authors, editors or fans seem to agree on a single definition. For the purposes of this study I found it most useful to divide stuff into four broad categories:
1. Hard Science Fiction (or "Gadget SF"): These are stories about incredible inventions presented as scientifically plausible. Hard SF is identifiable by a strong focus on the technology rather than the characters, who may be little more than ciphers. I think of Jules Verne as the father of Hard SF, beginning with his 1865 novelFive weeks in a balloon. Hard SF fans tend to be bright, linear-minded, male and generally not focused on socializing. Hard SF is nearly the exact antithesis of Hollywood, so it's almost never filmed, and when it is it's always changed into something else. Several Hard SF authors have argued that it's the only "real" SF, and although my affections lean toward science fantasy, I must concede there's some truth to that. The best Hard SF authors tend to be scientists, and the best Hard SF can actually become reality (like Heinlein's waterbeds or Wells' nuclear reactors).
2. Science Fantasy: Includes most SF which has reached the mainstream in an enduring way: Star Trek (The Original Series),Star Wars, E.T., Close Encounters, Alien, etc. The father of science fantasy is H.G. Wells, who deliberately created a new "mythology of the Industrial Era" with his 1895 book The Time Machine. He meant to restore a shred of plausibility to myth ("Hrm... those fancy-pants scientists recently invented the "automobile"; Maybe next they'll invent a time machine!"). Wells saw his new genre as the Industrial Era version of what might be called the world's first genre, the fantastic quests which reach back to King Arthur through The Odyssey to Gilgamesh. Science fantasy can be identified by the presence of gadgets which no one tries to explain, but the story couldn't work without. How does a lightsaber work? Or a hyperspace drive? "Who cares? Let's go defeat the dark lord and save the princess!"
3. Science Fiction as Allegory: Nearly all "literary" science fiction falls into this category, in particular Aldous Huxley's Brave New World and George Orwell's 1984. If a story has science fiction trappings but is a direct analog for some aspect of the real world, it's allegory. In general this is the only kind of science fiction allowed out of the SF ghetto.
4. Mixed-Genre Science Fiction: In the last thirty years (roughly since science fiction became profitable again) we've been seeing more and more stories which resemble science fiction on the surface but narratively belong to a different genre. These stories can be identified by asking if the story would still work if all the futuristic elements were removed. For example, several episodes of Star Trek; The Next Generation could have taken place aboard a battleship of the British Navy during the early 1800s without changing anything in the script but a few proper nouns. Mixed-genre SF used to bug me; why do the popular kids need to play in our sandbox? Lately, though, I've begun to understand that nongeeks share the same hunger we geeks have for the hope of a better tomorrow, and that's a good thing.
What is The Force?
The Force probably borrows some ideas from Carlos Casteneda's Don Juan books and a few other places, but I think it's mostly a combination of the Chinese idea of Ch'i, especially as used in martial arts, and Joseph Campbell's idea of the transcendent.
Campbell spent his life studying the way different cultures thought of the divine: In the West divinity is usually anthropomorphized as a human-like god, goddess or pantheon of gods. In the East divinity is often represented as a "vital energy which pervades the universe," called Prana in India, Ch'i in China and Ki in Japan. Campbell's studies of myth revealed that although cultures often have different ideas of what shape divinity takes, they all seem to agree on the same basic underlying ideas. This led him to conclude that "All religions are true, but none are literal." That is, the divine cannot be experienced except through metaphor, and the important thing is to remember that any word, name, image or other representation of the transcendent is only a metaphor, not the transcendent itself.
Campbell believed that the purpose of myth is to help us figure out how to live in communion with the transcendent. Doing so gives us a sense of our place and purpose in the world, brings us into inner balance, removes our fear of death and teaches us how to treat other human beings with dignity and compassion, even when they want to hurt us. Campbell's message is valuable because, as he points out: "There are countries going to war because they have different names for the same god."
How can I learn more about The Force?
To understand The Force as spirituality, I suggest starting with the work of Joseph Campbell. His books are brilliant, but may be a little dry for the nonacademic, so you might begin with any of his excellent video or audiotape interviews, then move on to his books when you're ready to go deeper. You might also read some Jung, Campbell's main inspiration (Campbell edited a Jung collection, so that's probably your best bet to understand the Jung-Campbell-Lucas evolution).
If you learn best through stories, you might try reading the books of Carlos Castaneda, beginning with Teachings of Don Juan; A Yaqui Way of Knowledge. Castaneda's brilliant work created a quiet spiritual revolution in the Western world in the 1960s and was a direct influence on the Yoda character. If you learn best through movement, I recommend studying a martial art with a focus on directing Ch'i.
If you consider yourself a Christian, Jew, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist or member of any other religion, then the best way for you to learn about The Force is probably for you to study your own religion: read the canonical scriptures, attend the rituals, and spend time with spiritual leaders who earn your respect. If Campbell's theories were correct, then the more deeply orthodox you become (spiritually orthodox, honoring the original spiritual message over the political system which has sprung up around it), the more you will appreciate that your path toward communion with the divine is one of an infinite number of correct paths, and yours feels "right" because it is right for you.
If I learn enough about The Force, can I become a Jedi?
Um... sort of. Communion with The Force cannot give you magical powers! Those parts of the movies are a metaphor! But you can become the hero of your own life, by learning to listen to "The Force" speaking through your heart. If you work hard enough you might even be the next Mohandas Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Mary Lyon or Joan of Arc. That's pretty darn close to being a Jedi, I think.
On the other hand, there's no reason to feel embarrassed or childish if you enjoy stories about superheroes. All primary myths involve a moment of apotheosis (becoming god-like), in which the hero's sacrifice is rewarded by making her in some way superhuman. Superhero metaphors are just another way of exploring and understanding the relationship between humanity and the divine. As with all metaphors, the trick is to not get stuck in the metaphor! Keep in mind that other ways of seeing the world are just as valid, and don't be afraid to move on to the next metaphor once superheroic stories have stopped teaching and become merely a comfortable escape from the disappointments and hardships of real life. At some point you have to stop dreaming about becoming a hero, get out there and do it. The stories are only the roadmap, not the road.
If you want to learn more about the superheroic aspects of The Force from Star Wars, try reading some of Lucas' inspirations: Frank Herbert's Dune, E.E. "Doc" Smith's Lensmen series, and Marvel comics from the 1960s.
Is there really Hebrew writing on Darth's chestplate?
Amazingly, yes! A handful of fans have even attempted to translate this into English, one hopeful cautiously suggesting "His deeds will not be forgiven until he is deserving." Unfortunately for us romantics, Daniel Kurtzman of the Jewish Bulletin of Northern California reports that it's meaningless gibberish, probably intended to look like exotic alien writing from a distance.
Did George Lucas come up with every idea in Star Wars?
Nope. Lucas wrote the stories and oversaw every aspect of production, but of course a lot of credit goes to the people he worked with. Particularly significant contributors include Ralph McQuarie, whose paintings created the "look" of the original trilogy, Lawrence Kasdan, who cowrote The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, and John Williams, who composed all the music.
Where can I find more information on the origins of ideas in Star Wars?
- L. Mangue's expansive nerf-herders-anonymous.net includes Reverse References, an essay on films and books that have influenced Star Wars (and also Raiders of the Lost Ark). Mangue's site includes a hugeamount of material not covered here, so go check it out!
- Davide Canavero's incredibly comprehensive Star Wars Athenaeun is well on the way to becoming the #1 resource in the world for Star Wars scholarship. His Italian-language essay L'attacco dei registi mutanti from outer space (Attack of the Mutant Directors From Outer Space) is particularly helpful. The images alone are worth a visit, or make what sense you can of a robot translation courtesy of Babelfish at Altavista.
- Julie Lim has graciously allowed us to host her Star Wars Name FAQ. She points out connections between character names in Star Wars and the Christian Bible, Japanese, classic science fiction and more! Ms. Lim also writes Star Wars fan fiction.
- Influences and Inspirations; The Making of a Saga, by Patrizia DiLucchio. A great alternate perspective on the same basic material covered here, plus some of the non-story innovations developed for Star Wars, like the Dykstraflex camera.
- The Star Wars Portfolio, by Ralph McQuarrie: McQuarrie's concept paintings were originally used to pitch the film studios and later to guide the people who worked on the first three films.
- Starkiller; The Jedi Bendu Script Site: This includes all the scripts, the original treatment, and some unusually well-considered essays plus lots of information not included here, mostly about how the script was pitched.
- The Development of Star Wars, as seen through the scripts, by Jan Helander: Analyzes the original "treatment" (2-page proposal) and all four drafts of the scripts for the first movie. Reads like a thesis, so non-academics may find it slightly dry.
- Star Wars; The Magic of Myth, by Mary Henderson: A decent primer, though be warned that this book presents only about 30% of Lucas' real sources, and overstates the degree to which Lucas was influenced by specific myths to the point where the book is slightly misleading. Lucas based his story mostly on the structure of myth, not (for instance) The War Against Tiamat.
- Bill Moyers videotaped interviews with Joseph Campbell and George Lucas.