Home » Film & TV » Star Wars » When All the Galaxy Was Young - Page 3

When All the Galaxy Was Young - Page 3

© Paul F. McDonald

Allusions to classical myth abound. Anakin Skywalker is very much like a post-modern Osiris, being continually dismembered and resurrected. Padme Amidala is every bit as beautiful as Helen of Troy, a woman who might prompt Christopher Marlowe to once again ask, "Is this the face that launched a thousand ships,/ And burned the topless towers of Ilium?" The slaughter of the Tuskens is evocative of divine Old Testament wrath. The Force still brings with it that feeling of what Rudolf Otto called the "numinous," or the otherworldly and mysterious. And certainly the love story itself will eventually be as tragic as the myth of Pyramus and Thisbe.

Of course, all this would be worthless if not for the inner significance they bring with them. The real genius of Star Wars is in how it harmonizes the outer world with the inner one, as Lucas takes us to a galaxy far, far away that nevertheless manages to be closer to us than we are to ourselves. That constitutes a real mythic experience. Life is the true hero's journey, and this is played out in the film as Anakin and Amidala try to grow up, and face the age old struggle between the passion of the individual and the dictates of society.

The film is basically about procreation, and it is a supreme irony that neither the great clone armies produced on Kamino nor the droid armies being manufactured on Geonosis provide the galaxy with salvation. At a time when the Republic is being torn apart, it is ultimately the union of the young lovers on Naboo in a small, quaint wedding ceremony that bring about a new hope.

The copyright of the article When All the Galaxy Was Young - Page 3 in Star Wars is owned by Paul F. McDonald. Permission to republish When All the Galaxy Was Young - Page 3 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.