Cultural Changes created by Star Wars

When Star Wars showed in thearters in 1977 the world had seen nothing like it. It's story was something new and characters like Vader and C-3P0 became cultural Icons. The movie and the four films that followed have been some of the most watched films in the world. What do you think are the cultural changes caused by Star Wars. For one the theme of space is much more popular in films for example (Mission to Mars, Men in Black,Independance Day, and many others.) Lucas changed our very ideas on how to travel through space and many Science fiction writers have been influenced. What are you ideas on the topic.

 

I think it kind of introduced the idea that a movie can be a fun film for kids, but at the same time have really deep character journeys and stories that the kids won't fully comprehend. There might have been things like that before but... I think SW was the first big movie that everyone in the family really could enjoy for their own reasons.

-sj loves kevin spacey

 

"cultural changes caused by Star Wars. For one the theme of space is much more popular"

What about Star Trek? It predates Star Wars by a decade.

 

Space movies and serials were extremely popular in the 50s and 60s. I think that´s just something that comes and goes.

Perhaps Star Wars has made more people spiritual in different ways?

 

It's fairly obvious how Star Wars influenced other movies, or the movie industry or the toy industry. I thought this thread might want to analyse how SW influenced other areas of culture, for example fashion or language or popular beliefs. Would that be interesting to discuss?

 

Yes this thread is Star Wars and it's affect on global culture, fashion, morals and beliefs and anything else which has to do with culture.

 

Popular culture? A significant impact.

A long term look at American and/or world culture? A one sentence footnote, if that.

Also, many/most of the ideas about space and space that appear in Star Wars existed prior to it. What Lucas did was bring them together in an interesting way, before a large audience, in the right way at the right time, just when techonolgy was good enough to handle it.

Still though, as I hope can be seen by the size of that sentence, its an incredible accomplishment. But let's not blow it out of proportion.

 

I agree with Jabba-wocky.

If anything, Star Wars created a few fads when first released. I seem to recall some women with "Leia hair" for a little while, & some would be saying "may the force be with you", but just like pet rocks & disco jeans, these soon went the way of the dinosaur.

You'd really have to look at the film, special fx, & toy marketing industries to see any long lasting impact.

 

Anything can be discussed, movies, fx, toys, go ahead!

 

It also changed and revolutionised the way films are made in terms of technology etc.... and thus paving the way for future film production.

 

Well, as far as the toy industry goes, Star Wars revolutionized the way toy companys handled licensing movie rights. I can't recall any movies at the time with a toy line based on them, with the exception of Disney.

There were Planet of the Apes, but I'm not sure if they were based on the movies or the tv series. Most lines of action figures (see Mego) were based on tv series (star trek, happy days, ect.) or super heroes. If I'm not mistaken, I believe Mego took a pass on the Star Wars license, which was the beginning of the end for them.

 

Space movies and serials were extremely popular in the 50s and 60s. I think that´s just something that comes and goes.


One trend about space movies I remember reading/hearing somewhere is that Star Wars changed the appearance of space travel. Before, in movies like 2001: A Space Odyssey, spaceships were squeaky clean and brilliantly lit. The Star Wars introduced the Millennium Falcon, a beat up old freighter, and gave outer space a certain lived-in, grungy feel to it.

Looking back at the spaceship in the movie Alien, would you guess that Ridley Scott was more influenced by Stanley Kubrick or George Lucas?

 

"What do you think are the cultural changes caused by Star Wars."

I think the fact that there are lots and lots of people in this forum and other discussing Star Wars is pretty significant. We would be doing it even if the PT had never been made.



"What about Star Trek? It predates Star Wars by a decade. "

Star Trek the Motion Picture benefited extremely well from the FX technology created for Star Wars. Also without the box office success of Star Wars I doubt Rodenberry would've been able to get a studio behind a full length feature film of a show that was cancelled three times. As a matter of fact, STTMP was originally another TV series called Star Trek II.

 

""cultural changes caused by Star Wars. For one the theme of space is much more popular"

What about Star Trek? It predates Star Wars by a decade. "

Yes. And Star Trek was cancelled due to poor ratings only to be resurrected after Star Wars success.


Too many people concentrate on 'merchandising' when talking about how Star Wars revolutionised cinema.

Star Wars was a cinematic watershed. Movies would never be the same after 1977 in more ways than I have time to go into right now.

 

It defiantley helped make "Hollywood" regard Sci-Fi as something that could be well done and serious, not like the previouse cheesy B-movies. Soon after ANH Alien hit the scene, adding Sci-Fi to the Horror scene, and was partially regarded seriously because of ANH.



Oh and just so it's clear, I love Star Trek too, I just don't admit it in public
In it's own defense the fans did get the show put back on the air twice before it was gone.

 

Star Wars grew into a mythological series, but it began as a spoof-like movie of 50's sci fi movies (farmboy, princess, dungeon, scary bad guy...)

 

but it began as a spoof-like movie of 50's sci fi movies (farmboy, princess, dungeon, scary bad guy...)

Actually, Lucas consulted with Joseph Campbell before making the original SW, so the mythical dynamic is built-in.

 

It is in no way a spoof of 50's sci-fi.

 

"It is in no way a spoof of 50's sci-fi."

You're right. However, GL did intend for Star Wars to have the "serial flavor" of the old Flash Gordon series, one example, from the 40's and 50's.

"Star Wars grew into a mythological series, "

I watched a special on PBS w/Bill Moyers, I think it was Bill Moyers, interviewing GL. It was titled The Religion of Star Wars and GL starts out by saying way back when when he came up with the idea for Star Wars he wanted to give myths back to a generation that didn't have them. That was true too, as far as cinema went. The day of the Western was over, the closest thing America had to a myth, but I think GL's goal has been amply acheived in the mythology sense.

 

Another cultural change is in language.

How many Star Wars words or phrases are now part of peoples vocabulary? Words that didn't even exist before.

'may the force be with you'
'the dark side'
'the force'
'lightsabre'
'padawan'
'Jedi'
'Death Star'
and many more.

 

I remember that after ROTJ, bib shirts had a brief (thank goodness!) comeback. I also think Michael Jackson started wearing one glove because of Luke in ROTJ.

 

Well, I still do this (wearing one glove) sometimes...

 

After AOTC was released a number of celebrities were getting their hair cut like Obi-Wan.

 

I know that a SDI Defense System that Ronald Regan wanted to developed was dubed "Star Wars"

With the recent events, I would place the Death Star as one of the Weapons of Mass Destruction. To bad that there was not a George Bush-like character in Star Wars :lol:

 

I think Tarkin is a Bush-like character... they both want to use fear to control people...