Star Wars and its ties to the Monomyth
Star Wars is considered a quintessential and timeless example story. A classic journey of the young farmer boy finding a great boon of strength to take down the galactic threat that threatens not just his world, but every other as well. This is a riveting tale for several reasons- reasons that can be explained by its adherence to the Monomyth. A satisfying tale, we learn, can follow a fairly simple formula to evoke the same feeling of joy when reading it. Because Star Wars follows this outline particularly close, we can use it as a lens to examine the more granular steps of the Hero's Journey within the film. In this blog, that step that we wish to examine will be that of the temptation, and Leia's role in the movie.
As a quick summary: while the core group fights their way through the Death Star to free Leia, they eventually find themselves pinned down by laser barrages from all sides. Trapped with seemingly no escape, Leia leads them towards a vent in the side of the ship. She tells the group its either a risk through this vent, or certain death to the onslaught of lasers that await them at the end of the tunnel. With no other options, the group follows her through the vent and ends up in a dark lagoon of trash deep within the bowels of the ship. And this is not just a room: Not only does there seem to be another creature in there with them, the walls begin to close in as well. In the nick of time, C3PO is able to disable the walls and allow the group to escape. This scene, as we discussed, was that of the temptation. I found that to be an interesting reading, so these next paragraphs will be devoted to explaining the reasoning behind that.
One thing we did not touch on in class is how this scene takes over the entire flow of the story. At this moment, all is lost and the heroes are surrounded by what feels like insurmountable odds, nothing matters besides their escape. I think this plays in well to the theme of temptress, since it almost replaces the main mission of the gang as they nearly succumb to the despair of the desperate circumstances they find themselves in. This provides more compelling evidence still for the compactor as the temptress: blindly following Leia has led to their most precarious situation yet, one which takes precedence over everything else they have encountered.
Overall, I think reading the trash compactor as the temptress is very interesting for this movie, and not something I would have found for myself while watching. But when discussed in class, the pieces just fell into place and I wanted to write an extended blog on it.
David, 2/25
Hey David, this is a great blog post! I like how you focused on the temptation stage in Luke's journey, a stage which I was confused about when we discussed this in class. Your in-depth explanation of the temptress stage as the trash compactor scene was interesting and helped me further understand this confusing stage. Specifically, I like how you compared the hopelessness of the trash compactor scene to how a traditional main character might feel when encountered and seduced by the temptress. In addition, I like how you directly quoted Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey so that us readers can easily draw the connections you were making. Great blog post!
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ReplyDeleteYo, David, you did a really nice job setting up your analysis of the temptress in Star Wars with a good description of the dire situation the protagonists were in. Initially, I was not sure how to describe the compactor scene but looking at it as part of temptation seems to be the correct move. I agree that this is quite interesting and your points throughout this blog are strong. Good work!
DeleteGreat post, David! I never really thought about the trash compactor scene as the temptation stage, but your breakdown makes a lot of sense. The idea that the compactor itself represents a false sense of salvation is super interesting, especially since it completely shifts the focus from the main mission to just surviving. I also liked how you tied in Campbell’s definition while keeping it relevant to Star Wars, this efinitely gave me a new perspective on this scene.
ReplyDeleteI think your explanation of Leia's role as a temptress is plausible, however I personally remain unconvinced that Star Wars has a true temptress. While the quest to save Leia does distract Luke and Han from their primary objective aboard the death star, Leia is not intentionally luring them to her rescue. Additionally, in the trash compactor scene, Leia's quick thinking ultimately leads to salvation in a seemingly perilous situation. From the beginning, Leia has no ill intent and does not hinder Luke's journey, and thus I find it difficult to view her as a temptress.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, David. You created a different argument than one argument discussed in class. Leia promises salvation from Luke's hard times, but instead leads Luke to a trap that almost killed him. In many Hero's Journey stories, temptation usually promises an easier life, a short-cut, or salvation, but falls short of promises. The trash compactor scene resembles this representation of temptation and the temptress.
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