Kapell, Matthew Wilhelm, and John Shelton Lawrence,
eds. New York/Oxford/Wien: Peter Lang
Publishing, 2006. 308 pp. + viii. $29.95 (USD). ISBN: 0-8204-6333-7.
[1] Over the last three decades, no movie franchise
has been as financially successful or relentlessly pervasive in popular culture
as George Lucas’s Star Wars. This volume
edited by Kapell and Lawrence brings together authors from disparate
backgrounds to survey various aspects of the Star Wars phenomenon, including its mythic and religious themes
and socio-political subtexts, as well as its commercial dimensions. The
majority of entries are highly readable and engaging. Additionally, despite
their varied trajectories and points of departure, the chapters work well
together to make the overarching point that any narrative, especially one as
popular as Star Wars, can be read
and interacted with in many ways. Insofar as we may take this as the thesis of
the entire volume, the book is highly successful in providing this sense of the
material, and the work as a whole thus achieves its aim.
[2] While the volume’s diversity of approaches has
the virtue of encompassing multiple aspects of the Star Wars phenomenon, from history and ideology to consumer
culture, it also lends a certain unevenness to the presentation. Some chapters
are clearly stronger in their documentation and argumentation than others. From
the perspective of a scholar of religious studies, Jennifer Porter’s chapter on
Jedi religion is insightful and important, as she connects popular culture to
the creation of new religious sensibilities, and argues for expanded study of
such innovation. Her chapter in particular would make an excellent addition to
a syllabus on “New Religious Movements” (NRMs).
[3] Three other entries, by Stephen McVeigh,
Matthew Kapell, and Mark McDermott, respectively, also stand out as among the
most well-articulated in this collection. McVeigh demonstrates a discrepancy in
the portrayal of war between the first Star Wars trilogy and its more recent prequels, accounting for this divergence
by locating the first trilogy in the historical context of an America recently
defeated in the Vietnam War (a recurring theme in the volume as a whole) and
thus hungry for a narrative portraying the values of democracy and freedom as
victorious underdogs in an unambiguous struggle against absolute evil. The
prequel trilogy, however, which details the fall of a Republic, is released in
the climate of the so-called “War on Terror” and reflects Lucas’s suspicion of
the Bush administration’s erosion of civil liberties and accumulation of
power. Kapell also notes a
connection between ideology and the films, in this case through an undercurrent
of racist and eugenicist themes. The Jedi and members of the Rebel Alliance,
for instance, achieve their status as leaders not due to talents but birthright
and line of descent. At the same time, alien societies and worlds are often
portrayed as backward, or even through thinly veiled ethnic stereotypes (such
as the “Jar Jar Binks” character). Finally, McDermott discusses the phenomenon
of “textual poaching” through the lens of fans who, unhappy with various
aspects of the prequels, reedit the films to their liking. Such a trend raises
the question of how new technology affects innovation and appropriation of
narratives.
[4] Other chapters, while still insightful, are not
as well argued or conceived. John Lawrence’s chapter on Lucas’s infatuation and
possible disenchantment with the monomythic theory of Joseph Campbell relies
too heavily on conjecture. Similarly, despite their valuable efforts to
illuminate the gendered and homosexual themes of Star Wars, Philip Simpson and Roger Kaufman tend to overstate
their argument, which sometimes constitutes an over-reading of the events and
symbols in the films.
[5] It is important not to magnify the negatives,
however, since a volume with such a variety of authors and approaches
inevitably possesses weaknesses and offerings not to everyone’s taste.
Conversely, the multiplicity of approaches and topics ensures that various
readers will find something of interest. Fans of the Star Wars films and merchandise will find the book a thorough,
multi-angled, serious treatment of the subject. Those with an interest in film
studies and the relation of film to culture may also benefit from the work.
Readers coming from a religious studies background will have a more targeted
interest in the book, potentially restricted to the first two sections devoted
to “Myth” and “Religion” respectively, but will also benefit from the
overarching thesis of the polysemous nature of narrative.
Michael Nichols
Northwestern University
m-nichols@northwestern.edu
