Initiation of a Young Skywalker
In Campbell’s The Hero With a Thousand Faces, the hero embarks into a journey
consisting of three phases; departure, initiation and return. Star Wars: A new
Hope is the first of a trilogy of Star Wars movies, where a young Luke
Skywalker is made into a hero. In the initiation phase, Luke is faced with
doubt. He wonders if the force actually exists and if he should aid the
rebellion against the empire. After his aunt and uncle’s death and the
recording of princess Leia he accepts to aid Obi-Wan Kenobi.
The first step of his initiation begins in Han
Solo’s ship, when he is practicing deflecting the droid with the light saber.
At the beginning he has little success deflecting the rays, he’s even mocked by
Han that the force is a joke. When Obi Wan puts the helmet on Luke’s head, Luke
takes a “leap of faith” by blindingly believing in the force. The audience
hears a (disguised) sound of Obi-Wan’s voice prompting Luke to blindly trust
his instincts. After a couple of tries, Luke succeeds in deflecting
the rays and deflecting any doubt that the force existed. While this scene only
lasts a couple of minutes it serves to further propel the hero’s journey.
Luke’s meeting with Leia affirms that Princess
Leia is both the Goddess and the Temptress. While she is the final test of
talent and the gold medal she is also an obstacle due to her good looks, which
pray as a weakness on Luke. Successfully rescuing Princess Leia dictates Luke’s
success or failure to become a hero. Thus after Han, Chewie, R2, C3P0 and
Princess Leia are able to escape, Luke feels as if he is truly a hero. While he
might have lost Obi-Wan, Luke was aware of the risks the mission entailed. The
scene in where Luke aids Han in destroying the empire fleets after their escape
shows the end of initiation. Luke understands that he is now on a journey
greater than himself.
Even during the creation of the actual film,
both the director and the cast have a hard time making the movie. Harrison Ford
describes the experience as incredible he remarks that he was “one of the few
people who thought it was going to work” (67). A film that was thought to burn
a crash finds itself creating a new hero and a new culture. The initiation
stage for the actual film began with the authorization of 20th century
Fox films, granting Lucas the necessary monetary bed in which he set afoot his
entire process. Just as Luke had
doubt that the force existed, Lucas had doubt that the film budget would ever
cease to increase. In a similar manner to Luke the mentorship of 20th
Century Fox film gave it the necessary faith it needed to soar and fly. Making both the film and the making of
the film a representation of Campbell’s work.
Jonathan Lam
ReplyDeleteI agree that the rescue attempt on Princess Leia was monumental in determining whether Luke Skywalker became a hero or not. After all, if he did not succeed, the film's plot would have ended immediately on the spot. I think it is interesting that you bring up that Luke had to feel like a hero because as most of us are largely concerned with his actions to become a hero, we often forget to take into account that the character must also be invested into becoming the hero him/herself. However, I feel that Princess Leia is not your ordinary or orthodox Goddess or Temptress. While she does unknowingly seduce Luke, she does not really fulfill the other requirements of the Goddess or the Temptress. Luke does not exactly conquer Leia either. Upon review of the further movies, one will find out that Luke cannot conquer Leia due to their destinies. I do also agree that Luke definitely began to understand that he was part of a journey that was greater than himself, but I think it is also important to note that Luke did not have much other choice because he had no home to return to. Instead, he created a new home as part of the rebellion.
Miller, Michael D.
ReplyDeleteBlog Response to Star Wars: A New Hope
Initiation of a Young Skywalker
The initiation of a young Skywalker on his road of trials not only begins with the scene on the Millennium Falcon with Luke using the “force” to train with the light sabre, but also the entire journey leading up to the successful destruction of the Death Star.
Luke has to prove himself worthy of being a hero. Luke assumes the identity of a stormtrooper after their ship was captured by the Empire. They infiltrate the Death Star control room. Luke learns that Princess Leia is being held captive in the detention center. Luke accepts the mission to rescue the Princess with the help of Han and Chewie. It is Luke who enters the cell where Leia is being held and is seen as the hero rescuing the damsel in distress. The many fight scenes where Luke and Leia are making good their escape. Luke’s ingenuity in using the grappling hook and their breath taking swing across the bottomless pit of the bridge is missing to escape capture. Luke’s trial of flying into the trench of the Death Star and eventually shooting the protons into the seemingly impossible target are additional evidence that supports Luke in the role as the hero. Let’s face it, after all that has taken place, he has certainly earned it for being a farm boy from Tatoonie.
The meeting of the goddess, or rather the rescuing of the goddess, fulfills Luke’s role with regards to the second requirement of the initiation. However, Luke does not win Leia’s affection in the way that Campbell suggests. Leia does appreciate being rescued; however, she shows Luke very little attention. While Luke certainly has a high degree of admiration for Princess Leia, the affection is not reciprocated. Leia seems to be portrayed as more of an equal or even exercising little attention toward Luke. In many scenes she fights as Luke’s equal, she turns her back toward him in favor of Han, and in the final scene she is obviously elevated to her royal status whereas, Luke remains a soldier among the masses only to be singled out for a brief time for his heroism.
There is almost no evidence of the atonement with the father in this movie. In the framework of this movie alone and not knowing or aware of the numerous sequels to follow, Luke never confronts his father in any way in this movie.
Luke does not realize in this movie the full power of the “force” in order to fulfill the apotheosis requirement. Luke is aware that there is an all-powerful “force” but is still a bit skeptical during this film.
The ultimate boon is also not realized in this film. The miraculous power of the “force” is again not fully realized in this film. That too would come later in the following sequels.
I agree with your convictions about each of the characters along Luke's journey to become a hero. Leia's explanation, especially, was a new and interesting point that I had previously not considered. Her role as the temptress as well as the gold medal is exactly right and Campbell might agree that this is how a woman in a hero's journey can represent some semblance of a hero, without being male. Alternately, I don't think that Obi-Wan's death was necessarily a bad thing; in fact, I would argue that his death was imperative to Luke's journey to becoming a hero. First, Obi-Wan was able to, after death, transcend the boundaries of the Force and help guide Luke along a path to success. His death was also important to Luke's realization of the importance of the force. Also, Luke may not have realized the power of the Force without Obi-Wan's death occurring. Seeing his body dissipate likely led Luke to believe that his body transcended the galaxy's boundaries and entered into the Force so that he could act as an aid to Luke's final steps in becoming a hero. It also sets the stage for Luke to completely finish his hero's journey in the two films that follow.
ReplyDeleteCody Kellogg Blog Response
ReplyDeleteVery well written analysis. I too believe that Luke’s initiation began aboard Han’s ship when Luke is practicing the ways of the Force by defending himself from the simulated rays. This is a pivotal scene in the movie because it shows that Luke is capable of learning the ways of the Force, which allows him to hold his own on the frontline of war against the Empire. Luke’s ability to “feel” the force rather than just see it ultimately helps him to destroy the Death Star space station at the end of the film, when Luke impulsively decides to shut down his computer and trust his natural instinct. Additionally, Luke demonstrates his heroic qualities by rescuing the Goddess and the Temptress, Princess Leia. However, Luke’s attraction to Princess Leia shows a sign of weakness in him. While his feelings for Leia do not prevent him from successfully defeating the Empire, one can assume that his love for Leia will inevitably cause problems sometime in next two films. I do believe that Luke did a good job at demonstrating his heroic like qualities in A New Hope, but I think he still has much to prove to fully earn the respectable title of a hero.