Cinema & the Arts as Sermons: Star Wars - The Will to Power

Video from Empire of the Mind Analyzing the Philosophy, Psychology, Myths & Archetypes of the Saga

Star Wars - The Will to Power

I was 21 yeas old when the first Star Wars hit the theatres. Now I am 65 years old which makes that 44 years ago. At the time I went to the theatre and watched it 25 times. That of course was years before the rise of personal computers and the internet.

The technology used for the Computer Generated Effects helped make Star wars a plateau movie, setting the standards for movies to come. Of course the computer effects has only become more spectacular and widely available, we in fact see them now in many TV commercials.

just as we all have changed and matured, just as our story moves forward the story of Star Wars moves forward in its fictional universe as developed by many others, mainly Disney Studios.

But with this in mind then how has Star Wars changed? How has the story evolved and the characters old and new changed? How does the story relate to religions, to Christianity in particular? Lets have a look!

"A long time ago in a galaxy not far away...before the empire struck back and Jedis returned — there was a young Padawan director named George Lucas who had a crazy idea for a space opera that almost never made it to the screen.

From Mel’s Drive-in to the Mos Eisley Cantina

In 1973, Lucas was living in a one-bedroom home in Mill Valley when he directed a low-budget film called American Graffiti, based loosely on his youth in Modesto, California, and his love for hot-rod culture. Although it cost less than $1 million to produce, it became a blockbuster teen-culture classic, earning $50 million and five Oscar nods, including Best Director.

Emboldened by his early success with Graffiti, Lucas was determined to follow through on an idea for a “space opera” he and his partner, Gary Kurtz, had been noodling around since 1971. The story was based on outer-space adventures like those of Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers—stories Lucas adored as a young boy growing up on his family’s walnut farm.

There was no shortage of sci-fi in Hollywood at the time. But most were dark, dystopian tales like Rollerball, Logan’s Run, or THX 1138 (Lucas’s 1971 feature-film debut). Lucas was determined to make a different kind of sci-fi movie—something fun that was aimed at 14- and 15-year-olds..." from the article: George Lucas and the Origin Story Behind 'Star Wars'

9 Ways Star Wars Parallels The Bible

The Bible is one of the greatest proclamations of God’ s love for us. It is full of promises and advice given with love. It marks new beginnings and helps us to believe that after every storm, your life will clear up. Paul Kent, the author of several books dedicated to making the Bible seem interesting to readers of all ages, has managed to draw some interesting parallels between the Bible and Star Wars, the American space epic. Here is a list of the parallels he drew: The parallel between humanity and Tatooine, the deserted planet: Genesis 3:19 talks about how humanity is made from dust and will return back to dust. Humanity is a lot similar to the planet Tatooine. It is dusty and often, is not considered to be respectable. Yet, Tatooine is a place for heroes, changed lives, and forged relationships. Similarly, God sees a lot of potential in us, His children. If we obey him and bow down before him in respect and the fear that is born out of respect, we can become pure in the midst of a crooked and corrupted generation. Philippians 2:15 says that in this way, we will shine like stars in the sky... from the article: 9 Ways Star Wars Parallels the Bible

"When filmmaker George Lucas was asked in 1999 about the religious aspects of the Star Wars story, he didn’t deny that the legendary films borrowed elements from the world’s faiths. In fact, he said it was intentional.

“I didn’t want to invent a religion,” he told Bill Moyers. “I wanted to try to explain in a different way the religions that have already existed.”

This meant it wasn’t easy for Christians to use the films as a parallel to biblical beliefs. In the midst of the good-vs.-evil story were elements borrowed from Hinduism, Eastern mysticism and even Greek mythology.

“When I was 10 years old, I asked my mother, I said, ‘Well, if there’s only one God, why are there so many religions?’ … I’ve been pondering that question ever since,” Lucas said. “And it would seem to me that the conclusion that I’ve come to is that all the religions are true, they just see a different part of the elephant...” from the article: The Worldview of Star Wars: Its Similarities to (and Many Differences from) Christianity

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