I find it difficult to overstate how much Star Wars means to me. The Original Trilogy was released before my birth, but I watched rented VHS copies of them at an early age. I am of the generation that grew up with the prequel films, and I saw each of them in their original theatrical run. The Phantom Menace was possibly the first live-action blockbuster I ever saw in a movie theater—I don’t remember seeing any before that—so it left an impression. After that film’s release, my grandmother bought me a VHS copy of it that included “The Beginning,” a behind-the-scenes documentary, which played before the feature, oddly enough. I always insisted upon watching the documentary whenever I watched the film, to the annoyance of my friends and siblings, who would rather have watched only the film. Before that, I had never given much thought as to how artworks came into being; I watched films, read books, and played video games, but, as far as I knew, these artifacts simply descended from the heavens. But “The Beginning” showed me that films were created by human beings, and this realization changed me. As a child, I was very taken with George Lucas; incidentally, I still am. That someone could imagine something as amazing as Star Wars and then bring it to life on screen inspired me as few things had before, and this thought continues to uplift me.
Given all this, it should be come as no surprise that I think a lot about Star Wars, and I expect I will write many articles about it for this blog. Since this is my first such article, I thought I should start with a question: what is Star Wars? Star Wars has made such an impact on pop culture that this is rarely asked. Star Wars is Star Wars; this is the only answer most people need. Nevertheless, I shall provide my nuanced or perhaps merely longwinded answer to this question.
So, what is Star Wars exactly? On one level of analysis, the answer is simple: it is an American film series, as well as a multimedia franchise that accompanies those films. But this answer only addresses form, not content. In regard to content, the question is not, what is Star Wars? Rather, it is, what is Star Wars about? In answer to this question, I suggest that Star Wars has actually been about many different things throughout its history.
In the beginning there was a science fiction film titled Star Wars, released on 25 May 1977 and later retitled Star Wars: Episode IV—A New Hope. At this stage in the franchise’s development, Star Wars consisted of a single story, so defining Star Wars at this stage is not difficult. Simply put, A New Hope tells the story of how a young farm boy named Luke Skywalker destroys a space station known as the Death Star. There are other ways to sum up the film, of course, but my attempt isn’t too bad.
After the film’s success, original Star Wars stories began to appear in other media. With its seventh issue, the ongoing Star Wars comic book series published by Marvel Comics starting in 1977, which had up to that point adapted A New Hope, began to feature original material. A Star Wars syndicated newspaper strip appeared between the releases of Episodes IV and V, and Del Rey published the first original Star Wars novels during this period, as well. Most of this material focuses on Luke and his companions, often detailing their further entanglements with the Galactic Empire. At this phase, Star Wars expands from being a particular adventure featuring Luke in a starring role to being a collection of stories defined by its central character, namely Luke Skywalker. Indeed, the cover to Splinter of the Mind’s Eye, the first original Star Wars novel, bears the phrase “From the further adventures of Luke Skywalker,” indicating Luke’s primacy in the franchise.
In 1980 The Empire Strikes Back graced the silver screen. This film’s release signified the beginning of a new phase in the franchise’s development. For this is perhaps the earliest stage at which one could identify the Star Wars Saga, the film series that serves as the cornerstone of the larger Star Wars franchise, as an entity related to but distinct from the Star Wars Expanded Universe, the umbrella title for the various Star Wars stories apart from the main film series, although the franchise itself did not yet use these terms. With this distinction, the premises of the Star Wars Saga and of the larger franchise first became differentiated. Perhaps I can only do so with the benefit of hindsight, but I view the Original Trilogy as being principally about Luke’s relationship with his father, Anakin. Episode IV depicts Luke’s “first step into a larger world,” the world of the Jedi Knights, the world of his father; Episode V depicts Luke’s discovery of his father’s identity; and Episode VI depicts Luke’s final confrontation and ultimate reconciliation with his father, a reconciliation that involves Anakin’s death, thus bringing Luke and Anakin’s relationship to a close.
After the release of Return of the Jedi the premise of the Star Wars franchise once again changed, transforming into its current and probably final state. While certain stories released before Episode VI featured stories that did not involve Luke Skywalker, the franchise’s willingness to explore the lives of other characters expanded after the Original Trilogy concluded. The Droids and Ewoks television series, The Adventures of Lando Calrissian novel series, and many of the stories published by Dark Horse Comics do not star or even feature Luke. At this point the Star Wars franchises ceased being about a specific character and came to be about its setting—a galaxy far, far away—and seemingly anything or anyone within its confines is liable to be depicted. But though the premise of the Star Wars franchise has not changed since the 1990s, the premise of the Star Wars Saga certainly has.
In 1999 Lucasfilm released The Phantom Menace, the first episode of a new trilogy of Star Wars films. The prequel films do not focus on Luke but rather on Luke’s father. This produces a profound change on the saga itself, for while it had previously focused on Luke, the addition of the prequel films places the saga’s focus on Anakin. When viewed as a whole, the first six episodes of the saga chronicle the rise, fall, and redemption of Anakin Skywalker. This new schema recontextualizes the Original Trilogy as a phase in Anakin’s development in which Luke plays an integral role.
This brings up to the current state of the saga. The release of The Force Awakens in 2015 seemed to alter or at least complicate the most recently held previous premise, but exactly what this means largely remains to be seen. If Episodes VIII and IX drastically alter my perception of the Star Wars Saga, I may revisit this article. But for now, I wait expectantly for the future of the Star Wars franchise, a future I hope will be as enthralling as its past.
