The Literary and Entertainment Sector - Research Paper Example

?Inset Introduction and Setting With the advent of the 21st century, the literary and entertainment sector has become increasingly spiritual, being laden with spiritual and religious undertones. Some attribute this trend to the fact that with the advent of the 2nd millennium after Christ, the world was bombarded with talks of a possible, imminent Parousia and the eschatology that would ensue there-from. On the other hand, the rise of spiritual and religious undertones in movies and literary arts is being attributed to the opinions that the world is going to reach its conclusive end in 2012. That literature such as Nostradamus’ Nabiru and the Mayan’s Doomsday Calendar abound and strengthen these ideas, is a matter that has further integrated religious ideas with movies. The movie or film series Star Wars is not at all an exception. Created by George Lucas on May 25th, 1977, the film was released by the 20th Century Fox to become a global phenomenon. The events that take place in Star Wars do so in a fictional galaxy, with the actors being humanoids or alien creatures and the area of residence and operation being the Galactic Empire. Force is among the prominent elements in the movie and acts as an all-present energy that knits the galaxy together, and can be tapped by those with the ability to do so. Through the force, the characters in Star Wars are able to realize the effecting of clairvoyance, mind control, telekinesis and precognition, among other supernatural activities. This force is seen to be amoral, in the sensed that while it can be used for good ends, it harbors a dark side that can instill hatred, malice and aggression when pursued. As far as the main characters are concerned and how they use the force, there are Jedi and Sith who use the force for good (to save the universe) and evil (to own and control the universe), respectively. There are several ways in which Star Wars is heavily laden with mythological, spiritual and religious symbols, as has been previously mentioned and shall be divulged upon forthwith. Analyzing Mythological, Spiritual and religious Symbolism in Star Wars’ Synopsis The manner in which symbolism plays out in Star Wars is so fundamental that it does not just merely fortuitously correlate with some remote aspects and characters of the movie, but it also forms a complex weave which threads the entire trilogy together to form a complete and colorful synopsis. Specifically, in Star Wars, Luke Skywalker is compelled to fight the temptations emanating from the Dark Side, as a way of succoring humanity from the enslaving grip of the evil emperor, Dark Vader, together with other evil actors such as Java the Hutt. At the same time, there abound Biblical and spiritual mysteries littered throughout the plot in Star Wars. This brings about a heavy sense of parallelism between the trilogy and Biblical accounts. In Star Wars, Darth Vader extends an olive branch to Luke Skywalker to the effect that upon accepting this olive branch, Skywalker would get to co-rule the galaxy with Vader, his father. This is seen in the Empire Strikes Back. This clearly brings to mind, the scriptural narration that is found in the Gospel of St. Matthew where standing on an exceedingly high mountain with Jesus, showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the world, the glory therein and offered to hand them to Jesus, should Jesus have paid him homage. This brings about the spiritual value of the importance of having the virtue of having focus and spiritual piety that will help one discriminate short-term conveniences for long-term good. Just as Christ forsakes the offertories being extended to him to do carry out a divine purpose of saving the world and its fullness from the devil’s, sin’s and death’s enslaving grip, so does Skywalker who refuses the overtures of Dark Vader, in order to save the universe from falling to slavery. The same idea is repeated in Jedi resisting the use of the Force in a negative manner as does Sith. Biblical or Mythological Imagery The quotations and the locutions that are sustained in Star Wars is also symbolic of religious values, particularly, Christianity. In the first instance, Obi-Wan Kenobi in A New Hope reiterates the promise that the Force would be with those he is speaking to. This brings to remembrance, the promise Jesus made to His followers that He would be with them always, even to the end of the age. According to Kramer (41), the place of religion is seen in the manner in which the episodes unfold. In Episode 4, in the conflicting discourse between Obi-wan Kenobi and Darth Vader, the former reminds the latter that Satan’s evil is inferior, compared to the goodness of God. To this effect, Kenobi warns Vader that should he strike him fatally, he is going to emerge more powerful and prominent. This is a revision of the idea that by using the evil designs of religious leaders of yore and the Roman rulers to put Christ to death, Christ emerged more prominent, having proved that He indeed had the power over death. It is important to note that this same Ben dies to extricate Skywalker and other people from the dangers and threat of Death Star. Hadden and Frankl (107) maintains that it is also imperative to learn that the borrowing or lifting of the concept of Christ is seen in the sense that even after dying for Skywalker and others, Ben continues to guide Skywalker and to provide him with all the necessary information needed. In Episode 5, religious themes, symbolisms and concept continue in it, Yoda reminds the Dark Side that the strength of evil and darkness is always weaker and inferior to goodness and light. All world religions attest to the superiority of good over evil and light over darkness. It is against this backdrop that all religions are emphatic on the need to be virtuous, since a day shall come when evil will be brought into capitulation for punishment, while goodness will be reinstated and rewarded. In Episode 6, Vader shows through action that there is still residual goodness in him when he disassociates from the Dark Side of the Force and subsequently destroys the evil Empire before returning to the Light Side. At this point, Vader ceases being a slave to the Dark Side or the evil Empire. This plot reverberates the idea that is mostly ubiquitously distributed across all religions that anyone, regardless of the extent of evil he has committed, can still make amends with mankind and change for the better. In this case, most analysts such as West (30) are categorical that the Dark Side is a symbol of sin or evil. In the 6th Episode, there is also the close representation of the Jedi with religious adherents in the real world. Just as religious organizations and associations are, the Jedi in Episodes I and II are shown to be imperfect through their innocent mistakes and actions. This is despite the fact that the Jedi have supernatural powers. For example, while the Jedi disserted Boba Fett, Obi-Wan are seen not to have been nice to the Anakin, at the beginning. Specifically, the Jedi are seen to closely epitomize Christians who are always accompanied with the omnipotent power and presence of Christ, but are weak, being mortals who are still accompanied with the realities and shortcomings of human nature. In Episode III, strong religious elements reemerge. While venerating the Jedi; Anakin maintains that the Jedi are selfless and were committed to totally caring for others. In a general sense, the statement rings as a reminder to other religions that they should care for their fellows. This standpoint may serve as very feasible and fundamental to religions such as Islam, which are totally sold out to charity. Actually, Islam has one of its five pillars being Zakkat: the giving of alms to the poor. This giving of alms normally requires that faithful give 5% of their income towards this provision. Specifically, the idea that Anakin floats while justifying the Jedi is a far cry of what St. Paul in the Letter to Philippians was telling the believers therein to adhere to. In this regard, St. Paul had instructed the Philippians and the rest of Christians that they were not to do anything out of avarice or pride, but instead, in meekness. To this effect, such Christians were to look out, not just for their interests, but also for their fellows’. This Christian community (like all others) is exhorted to have the same mind of humility that Christ had. Character on Heroic Quests Hadden and Frankl (94) continue that it is important to note that the Bible, as the most read book and Scripture, remains as the source of inspiration for Star Wars. That the Bible spiritually influences the synopsis is a matter that is further underscored by the inspiration it imbues on the characters in Star Wars. Particularly, the characters in Star Wars are directly drawn from key Biblical figures and personalities. In the person of Jedi, one sees a selfless and morally upright hero who uses the virtue from the Force to save the universe from being taken into slavery by Sith. In this case, one is able to see the Person of Jesus Christ who was inherently and in conduct, perfect. It is through Christ’s work that He was able to vicariously help mankind and the rest of the world from the bondage or slavery of Satan. The converse is also true that in the person of Sith, one can see the malevolent deeds and intent of Satan. This is because, Sith is the arch-foe who uses the dark side of the Force so that he can wreck havoc, calamities, misfortune and perpetual slavery of the universe to himself. Another way in which Star Wars is seen to derive its ideas and inspiration from the Bible is in the presentation of Death Star. Death Star is a gigantic fortress of evil that is shaped like a planet. This Death Star can be incapacitated by shooting photon lasers at the miniature opening that acts as the way to its central core. It is this Death Star that, is Darth Vader’s dominion. Clear analogy can be seen in this case to the effect that Death Star is seen as a reflection of Hell, which is given considerable mentioning in the Bible. Although Star Wars must have adopted the long held idea that Satan is the one in control over hell and that hell is his abode, yet, reputable theologians and analysts such as Bettis and Sternod (25) careful reading of the Scriptures reveal that the devil like anyone else is not in control over hell. It is most likely that George Lucas must have wanted to maintain a clear parallel and a clear identical point between the Bible’s hell and Star Wars’ Death Star but fell for the erroneous misapplication of Bible hermeneutics or wrongful exegesis. Allegorical meaning Another way in which the spiritual is seen to be closely playing towards Star Wars is seen in the presentation of the characters and personalities of key individuals. Sith is presented as a normal person but a closer look reveals strong and unique qualities. This is an adoption of the Person of Christ, who though looking ordinary because He had taken human form, had the fullness of God dwelling in Him. Conversely, Luke Skywalker is presented as someone who is mild and hailing from a lower incoming earning subculture. Moreover, he is presented as an adopted son, and thereby bringing about a deeper religious and spiritual symbolism of Biblical Scripture. This is because, the nativity of Jesus Christ, although being traceable to the royal lineage of King David and Judah the patriarch, yet He is born of a family that is not financially endowed. The head of the family that Jesus comes from is a carpenter, thereby making it plain that the family only dwelt on subsistence economy. In the same wavelength, the symbolism is further sustained when one considers that just as Skywalker was an adopted son, Joseph was only the foster father of Jesus. According to Istoft (396), other correlations make the audience be able to see the similarity between Star Wars and the Greek mythologies on the story of Perseus. Particularly, in Star Wars, Luke Skywalker fights Darth Vader to an extent of forming collusion with Satan and setting aside, 3,000 US dollars. This amount of money is meant for renovating an old van that had been designated to serve as the killing room. The van is driven throughout the country, while being used for kidnapping women. While fighting, Darth Vader wittingly avoids killing Skywalker because he is aware that he is the father to Skywalker. Skywalker on the other hands is unaware of this fact. The similarity between this above portion of Star Wars and the story of Perseus is seen in the fact that Perseus is the son of Zeus and Danae, though Perseus is not aware of this. In the Clash of the Titans, the large pantheon of Greek gods is seen to be fighting humans who are seemingly hell-bent on rebelling against it. Zeus, being aware that Perseus is his son, arms him with a Pegasus and the sword of Zeus against the Medusa and Gorgon. Gorgon, Hades, the brother of Zeus had lined up as the very nemesis to crush mankind. The inspiration that Star Wars derived from the Clash of the Titans is that in the latter, Perseus fights with his uncle who is filled with malicious ambitions to connive against Zeus, Perseus and the rest of mankind. The point of divergence herein is that while Darth Vader eschews the killing of his son Skywalker, Hades seeks to fight his blood nephew Perseus by proxy, in a desperate attempt to kill him. Characters That Battle Repressive Power Systems to Save Humanity As has already been seen, it is most obvious that most of the characters that are presented in the Star Wars trilogy bring about a reminiscence of Biblical characters. In the instance where Palpatine, with the dark side and in red streaks tempts Anakin, he represents Satan. This is especially the case since like the Biblical devil; Palpatine is shrewd, amenable to twisting the truth, lying, conniving and playing with emotions. In the same vein, through flattery, he is bent on filling Anakin with pride when he tells Anakin that he is the best of all the Jedi. In the same manner, Palpatine uses a strategy against the Jedi by making them more punctilious to matters relating to procedures than doing things that are most paramount. Conclusion It is a fact that; there is an increasing biasness towards trilogies such as Star Wars that are spiritually laden. While the world has seen people from all lifestyles queue long lines as to movie theaters to watch these movies, as others travelled camped on sidewalks to be the most primordial purchasers of Phantom Menace on May 19th 2011, this increased demand for such trilogies and movies became vividly apparent. More importantly, the demand has been seen to be global, given that the US entertainment sector has seen many people travel internationally to witness the opening of the movie on the American West Coast. Statistics are clear that by the start of July, Episode I had made over 375 million dollars, and thereby gaining the title of the 21st century’s fourth-most popular movie. Experts are in unison that the keenness that is leveled towards the movie surpasses the need to be thrilled by the movie’s special effects. On the contrary, it is observed that it is the spiritual themes, having been interwoven into a complex and rich plot of the epic that spark this great interest. As such, religious constructs such as prophecy, human destiny, mystery, trials, compassion, redemption, temptation and greed are the magnetic forces acting behind the attraction. It is therefore true that many people, especially the young are by watching Star Wars, confirming their thirst for religious experience. This makes it plain that this attendance to Star Wars the movie more of a statement about religion in the modern society than it is about entertainment. The manner in which religious leaders present religion and spirituality therefore is a matter that needs revisiting and redefinition, if curiosity for the spiritual is to be well managed and satisfied. Works Cited Bettis, Pamela and Sternod, Brandon. Anakin Skywalker, Star Wars and the trouble with Boys. Thymos: Journal of Boyhood Studies, 3.1 (2009): 21-38. Hadden, Jeffrey and Frankl, Razelle. Star Wars of Different Kind: Reflections on the Politics of the Religion and Television Research Project. Review of Religious Research, 29.2 (2011): 101-110. Hadden, Jeffrey and Frankl, Razelle. Response to Star Wars of Different Kind: Reflections on the Politics of the Religion and Television Research Project. Review of Religious Research, 31.1 (2011): 94. Istoft, Britt. Avatar Fandom as Nature-Religious Expression. Journal for Study of Religion, Nature & Culture, 4.4 (2010): 394-413. Kramer, Peter. Star Wars. History Today. 49.3 (2011): 41. West, Elliot. Soothsayer. American History, 46.3 (2011): 28-35. Read More