The film, The Empire Strikes Back, has many parallels to a text. Most prominent is probably the massive amount of themes found in the film. The first being "Love is blind". Han Solo is the typical swashbuckler and Leia is the pristine princess. However they are undeniably drawn to each other. Although Leia doesn't want to love Han she has no choice. Han mocks her powerful position by calling her names like "princess", "your royal highness" and "your worship". Leia refers to Han as a "scoundrel".
Another important theme found in the film is loyalty and the different types. Han has a very rough exterior, however he risks his life to save his friend Luke. Princess Leia seems to hold her highest loyalty towards the Alliance, not leaving their base until she had to. Either way many of the characters in The Empire Strikes Back hold other's lives and causes above their own.
The film also has the redundant theme of good versus evil. Darth Vator dresses all in black his voice is low. Luke represents the good. He is honest and seems pure.
Another theme found in the film is the judgement of character by physical appearance . This process deemed the "Halo Effect", causes people to associate good looks with positive traits. The reverse effect is also true. Before finding out who Yoda the powerful Jedi master is, Luke calls him such derogatory nicknames such as "little fella".
Another theme in the film is the general impatience of youth. Yoda tells Ben that he has been watching Luke, and that his eyes were always to the future never where he was. Another important lesson Yoda teaches Luke is that in order to succeed you have to believe in yourself. Luke says, "I don't believe it" Yoda replies " That is why you fail".
Another interesting concept found in the film is the portrayal of machines having human qualities. C3PO has feelings of fear. And Luke has very fond feelings towards his droid R2D2.
The film was also influenced by mythology as well as biblical stories. When the millenium Falkin is inside the mouth of the creature it shares similarities with Jonas and the whale. Also, although the movie has not quite formed the relationship yet, Skywalker and Darth Vator directly parallel of Zeus and Cronus.
Finally like many texts the characters were given names that give insight to their character. Luke's last name Skywalker is pretty self explanatory. The Darth in Vator's name sounds suspiciously similar to "dark" And finally Han's last name, Solo means alone.
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3 comments:
excellent post, liz. you have some great thoughts about this movie. i, too, noticed the jonah and the whale similarity, but i missed the zeus/cronos comparison. nice!
what i would like to see, as an extension on your thinking, is what you think about some of the themes and the messages those themes present. for example, is youth always rash? you're youthful...do you agree with what the movie has to say?
nice also on the halo effect. i'm particularly fond of the way lucas plays on that.
I liked your post cuz it brought up some things i never thought of before. Comparing it to greek myth is what i mean, because the movie does have many connections between them.
Hey Liz,
I thought you made some really good points. I didnt even think of the theme "love is blind". It was very observent of you to refer to the Jonas and the Whale story as well as Zeus and Cronus. Well done :)
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