historical (and literary) influences on star wars, by todd proa
TRANSCRIPT
Father-Son Myths
• There are stories throughout Indo-European mythology where a father and son fight each other in battle.!
• In the medieval German epic “Hildebrandslied”, two champions meet each other on the field of battle, when the older one realizes the younger one is his son.!
• In Irish mythology, the hero Cu Chulainn is forced to fight his son Conlai in battle, and ends up killing him.
• The “mythic hero” is a concept coined by scholar Joseph Campbell, which appears throughout mythology: somebody (often raised by foster parents) is called to adventure, finds a supernatural mentor and then goes out to face trials before returning home!
• George Lucas drew heavily on the concept for creating Luke Skywalker.
Mythic Hero
Nazi Germany
• Both the Nazis and the Galactic Empire employ “stormtroopers”.!
• In the Star Wars prequels, the rise of Palpatine from chancellor to emperor is strongly reminiscent of Hitler’s own rise to power.
Richard Nixon
• George Lucas was originally inspired to create Star Wars in reaction to Nixon’s presidency, and how democracies can get turned into dictatorships.
Vietnam War
• Star Wars was released not long after the Vietnam War, when an underdog nation defeated a major world power. !
• George Lucas admitted that the Ewoks, a technologically primitive force that defeats a powerful opponent, was inspired by the Viet Cong.
Ancient Rome
• Rome, much like the Galactic Empire, was a republic before becoming an empire.!
• Many Star Wars characters, such as Valorum and Palpatine, have Latin names.!
• The planet Naboo from the Star Wars prequels was inspired by Imperial Rome.
Knights Templar
• Jedi Knights were inspired by a combination of Samurai, Shaolin monks and the monastic military orders of medieval Europe, specifically the Knights Templar.!
• The Templars were austere, morally pure and shunned materialistic goods (on paper, at least).