Mos Eisley as Sodom and Gomorrha

Do you think one example of symbolism in ANH is the city of Mos Eisley. Perhaps Lucas based it off of Sodom and Gomorrha.

Your thoughts.

 

In what way? Mos Eisley isn't destroyed. Are you making this comparison just because some people in Mos Eisley are unsavory?

 

Never even thought about it. Then again, I hardly ever see symbolism in films anyway unless someone points it out, and even then I hardly still see it.

 

Mos Eisley is just a bad neighborhood. No more, no less.

Sodom and Gomorrah incurred God's wrath, and destruction ensued. There was nothing to suggest anything like that in ANH.

Yes, I know Obi-Wan said the scum and villainy line, but really, do you think he MEANT it? It was just an amusing, memorably over-the-top one-liner such as Lucas is fond of writing.

The most scumlike, villainous action that occurs in Mos Eisley is a freakin' bar fight. It's probably no worse than a bad neighborhood on Coruscant.



Rick McCallum loves you!

 

I never thought of it as a place of sin that needed to be destroyed. It just seemed like a tough, frontier town.

 

Mos Eisley is more like Harlem than Sodom and Gomorrha.

 

No way. Harlem isn't a "bad area," it's just predominantly lower class. The people who live there are familes trying to get by.

If you said Mos Eisley was like the Bronx, I might agree with you.

 

As a throwback to old serials and matinees, Mos Eisley is a wild town to place a dangerous tavern in, an Old West hangout so to speak.

As a mythological symbol Mos Eisley is a gateway, it shows that we are looking at a place that is truly alien to us, yet familiar enough to follow the happenings. Anything could be possible as the hero Luke passes through this threshold.

I can't think of a biblical referance off the top of my head that would apply.

 

If you said Mos Eisley was like the Bronx, I might agree with you.

The Bronx is much worse.

 

The Bronx is much worse.

HEY! I go to school there!




...and I agree.

 

Well, I suppose we could always get a couple of AT-ATs to stomp it flat. Then maybe the biblical symbolism will be there. Other than that, Mos Eisley is more like any of the cities mentioned than Sodom and Gomorrah, except for the architecture. There were basic Middle Eastern influences about the whole thing--which makes sense, because that's where the Tatooine parts were filmed. Maybe Tunisia isn't exactly the Middle East, but it's close enough.

 

If you want a biblical perspective, Tatooine is similar to Jerusalem/Judea from the perspective of the Republic/Empire. It is a desert land on the edge of the civilized world, barely of concern to the government, unless there is a disruption. From here a messianic figure arises who comes to alter the history of the central government, its institutions, and religion (if one considers the Jedi a religion). Because of the actions, as well as the death and redemption, of this person, a new governing, and perhaps spiritual, order arises.

 

That was insightful Palpatine.



The similarity that came to me from S&G was from the 'villainy' line uttered by Obi-Wan. I suppose Capernaum might the closest Biblical reference, at least during the time of Jesus walk on Earth.



Interesting comments all around.

 

Every little nuance of Star Wars does not have hidden meaning!

 

If the Bronx is so bad why doesnt the NYC Police Department assign more police officers to The Bronx and place more substations there which add a Police presence and reduce crime? in Tampa,FL in Yebor City they have Security Camera's throughout the entire area which are heavily monitored it doesnt stop crime but it has improved the area,and it makes it easier to identify criminals and stop crimes.

The Bronx is a dump because New York City doesnt care about law enforcement there as much as Manhattan, heck Harlem has improved only because of Bill Clintons office being there and increased security needed in the area for him,put security cameras in bad areas and hire and train more police to patrol dangerous areas,thats what they should do,Brooklyn is a pretty rough place too but it isnt out of control like the Bronx is.

Can someone explain why New York City allows one Brough to be a haven for crime and criminals and it refuses to take steps to crack down on crime in that area and improve the quality of life for city residents living there?

 

I think you're really reaching on this one. Go back and read the Bible account of Sodom and Gomorrah, the town was beyond disgusting. Every male in the city including very young boys wanted to rape Lot and his family AND the angels sent to help them. Even when God blinded them they STILL tried to get at them. Yecch. Makes Mos Eisley look like a muppet schoolyard scuffle in comparison.

As others said it's just a fun throwback to the old Western saloon scenes with lots of crazy, rowdy characters and the scum and villainy line is nothing more than good old GL pulp writing.

 

Can someone explain why New York City allows one Brough to be a haven for crime and criminals and it refuses to take steps to crack down on crime in that area and improve the quality of life for city residents living there?

You said it yourself. Manhattan is the only borough the city cares about because that's the one the tourists see and that's the one that brings in all the money.

A less cynical explanation is because the clean-up really only started less than a decade ago, the Giuliani-led move towards a more fascist police force hasn't radiated out to the other boroughs yet.

Additionally, Harlem has been undergoing gentrification for some time, as realtors have started to think properties there have values after all.

*clears throat* Anyway... as for what this has to do with Star Wars. Maybe Mos Eisley is someone's forgotten borough? Is there a cleaner analogue nearby?

 

I don't believe that Mos Eisley is the Sodom and Gomorrha of Star Wars.

Maybe... Babalon.

First off, if you know your Bible (Old Testiment) you would know that it was destroyed for far more reasons than what is going on in Mos Eisley.

Star Wars was / is a family type film. I see Tatooine as a lightly patroled planet that has problems and issues that need to be resolved. Not a den of iniquity.

If I remember correctly Sodom and Gomorrha were rampant with adultery, homosexuality, beastiality and a slew of other immoral and whacked out issues. It was a haven for bad behavior.

If I recall, Obi-Wan told Luke to watch himself in the bar. Not that the city of Mos Eisley was safe, it was just not as seedy as Sodom and Gomorrha.

 

No one has ever quite been sure what evils were brewing in Sodom and Gomorrha. Earliest biblical translations simply state that the people there were misbehaving (specifically that 'wickedness' was going on, for which two angels were sent to investigate). Wickedness might have meant breaking any of the laws in the Talmud. It wasn't until 1st sentury A.D. that the wickedness was interpreted as anything sexual - over 700 years later.

Hence if we're looking for comparisons between the two cities, it's best to set aside notions of adultery or whatever have you (the slew of immoral and whacked out issues), since they technically are not in the Bible.

That there is some wickedness in Mos Eisley would not be in question.

However, I agree with whoever said it up there. Beyond both cities both having some sort of crimes, we're missing any substantial corellations between the two. (I.E. Angels sent to investigate, a city rife with such evil it is beyond redemption, and ultimately, complete and utter destruction.)

I think better comparisons could be drawn between Mos Eisley and the old wild West. I've always seen Tatooine as one of the last frontiers in the GFFA.

 

The Old Western town is what I agree with.

Items have two symbols by definition; what they are and what they stand for.

Mos Eisley is first and foremost....Mos Eisley, seems tright, but that's the first thing.
Secondly, it is an Old Western frontier.
I still like the idea that Mos Eisley is a threshold that Luke must cross, this then falls into the relams of multiple symbology like many things in Star Wars.

Darth vader is multy symboled as well, he is DV, he is The Black Knight, A Vile Gangster, Chronos of greek Myths who tried to consume his children and so on.

Ya know, I have a delivery to the Bronx on occasion. When I first went there the thing that struck me as odd were these elderly men who kept riding by on 10 speed bikes wearing full blown biker exercise gear....this was at 3am in the middle of The Dreaded Bronx! I just heard a report today that crime in the Bronx is down 6% from the previous year.

 

How about Jabba's palace? He's got Gamorrean guards after all.

 

No, other than being full of lowlifes, they have nothing in common.

 

Ivylore,

With reply to Sodom and Gomorrha and it's relation to Mos Eisley the poster a few posts above you was correct...

If I remember correctly Sodom and Gomorrha were rampant with adultery, homosexuality, beastiality and a slew of other immoral and whacked out issues. It was a haven for bad behavior.

The word Sodomy is a direct corolation from the root word Sodom. I wouldn't want to live in a place that sodomy was named after. Or partake in the practice there of.

God wouldn't destroy a whole city and then another without a valid reason.

I must agree with GoodFellas...

No, other than being full of lowlifes, they have nothing in common.

Peace

 

If I remember correctly Sodom and Gomorrha were rampant with adultery, homosexuality, beastiality and a slew of other immoral and whacked out issues. It was a haven for bad behavior.

The word Sodomy is a direct corolation from the root word Sodom. I wouldn't want to live in a place that sodomy was named after. Or partake in the practice there of.

I'll differ again. While he word Sodom in the last few centuries B.C. did become something of a portmanteau for wrongdoings, it initally suggested pride, abuse of hospitality and having an irreligious spirit. It was not until 1st Century A.D. that Philo of Alexandria 'suggested' or interpreted the story with homosexual references. This was six or seven hundred years AFTER it had been written (you might say he coined the word sodomy). Philo was using the story of Sodom and Gomorrah to warn his fellow Alexandrians of the fates which might befall them. At that time, Alexandria was teeming Romans and Greeks who are famous for openly practicing homosexuality, so given the social circumstances and times, it makes sense that he tied it all together for political purposes. What's noteworthy is that until Philo made that comparison, NOTHING in the Genesis tale actually suggested sexual lavaciousness. Many modern day bibles eventually re-worded themselves to 'fit' his recounting of the tale. Purist versions (closes to the original texts) do not at all.

Regardless, I agree. It's not a strong comparison to Mos Eisley.

Ivy