Star Wars Essays

The purpose of this thread is to list all the essays about SW. Since this is the SW Saga forum, these essays should feature a serious discussion of the SW saga or any part of it, rather than just a lighthearted discussion. Also, I would like to avoid critics reviews about the saga. This is for essays that analyse the deeper meanings of the movies, which most movie critic reviews fail to do (well, in a detailed way at least). These essays might have been written by college students, authors, etc. THese essays can portray either a positive or negative view of the movies, as long as they give an in depth analysis of the movies.
Please feel free to list the web address of any SW essay that you find on the internet.

 

Here are some essays:

www.suite101.com/articles.cfm/16739 - this is a great in depth look at the mythology of AOTC.

www.aslan.demon.co.uk/phantom.htm - informative review of TPM

www.aslan.demon.co.uk/clones.htm - informative review of AOTC

www.aslan.demon.co.uk/mask-of-god.htm - a very interesting and enlightening analysis of the two trilogys and how they comlplement one another, and about the SW saga as a whole.

www.lardbiscuit.com/starwars.html - a very well written positive defense of TPM, he will have an AOTC review in the fall of 2003.

www.salon.com/ent/movies/feature/1999/06/15/brin_main/index.html - negative analysis of SW and the moral that SW is trying to send. Also compares SW with Star Trek.

www.salon.com/ent/movies/feature/1999/06/15/brin_side/index.html - negative review of TPM.

www.davidbrin.com/starwarsarticle1.html - a defense of his TPM review.

 

For school, we need to do an in-depth book essay discussing author's techiniques ina book of our choice. I'll be doing Shatterpoint. I'll let you know when it's finished

 

Here are some more:

www.space.com/sciencefiction/movies/episode_one_death_hip_000425.html

www.space.com/sciencefiction/movies/dismantling_jedi_order_000418.html

www.space.com/sciencefiction/movies/jar_jar_holy_fool_000414.html

www.space.com/sciencefiction/movies/starwars_raceblind_000211.html

www.space.com/sciencefiction/movies/rainbow_starwars_000209.html

www.space.com/sciencefiction/movies/lucas_award_000114.html

more to come

 

While I disagree with much of the essay for which the URL is provided below, the author did eerily foreshawdow some of Anakin's political beliefs in ATOC. To quote the author of the essay, "Many share his belief that things might be a whole lot more vivid without all the endless, dreary argument and negotiating that make up such a large part of modern life." This approximates Anakin's ATOC lines, "We need a system where the politicians sit down and discuss the problem, agree what's in the best interests of the people, and then do it." The author continues, "If only someone would take command. A leader." This is similar to Anakin's, "Then they should be made to" by "someone wise."

While the author of the essay wants the reader to think these are Lucas' views, the author encapsulates, without intending, Anakin's views well. If the movies are about the fall and redemption of Anakin, then the ATOC dialogue serves to show how Lucas believes Anakin was wrong in his political views, within his own context, and later acted "correctly" by, literally, overthrowing the Emperor. Although that act was singularly personal rather than political, it served political ends outside the context of Anakin's personal journey. If you read the essay and see the entire arc of the Star Wars films, it is quite evident that the author is wrong: Lucas desires democracy, but realizes the effectiveness and efficiency, i.e, order, that are possible in a dictatorship. This is similar to his comment that the Dark Side is more powerful, in contrast to Yoda's denial of the superiority of the Dark Side. Dictatorship, like the Dark Side, is more powerful, easier, and brutally and ruthlessly capable of achieving its ends, in short, pragmatic. However, it is not desired by most because, through its very virtues of power and efficiency, it eliminates or makes unnecessary or undesirable the qualities which makes life desirable and rich, despite their inefficiencies and hardships. That is why Jedi stay with an order of subservience that, while difficult, constraining, harsh and inefficient, brings rewards of service, skill and insight. A Sith would not willingly endure the Jedi regimen, seeing it as unnecessarily ineffient and lacking in personal power. Similarly, people fight and die for democracy, despite its many drawbacks, while dictators and those who thrive under a dictatorship despise the inefficiencies of democracy seeing in it a limitation of their ability to order society and to advance their visions.

P.S.: I despise democracy and I despise republics.

www.salon.com/ent/movies/feature/1999/06/15/brin_main/index.html - negative analysis of SW and the moral that SW is trying to send. Also compares SW with Star Trek.

 

My Hinduism in Star Wars essay can be found via the URL in my signature.

 

Here are mine:

A New Style? Cultural Influences on Jedi Style Sword Fighting.

On Becoming A Jedi: The Relationship Between Master and Apprentice

Jedi Style: Sword Fighting in Star Wars and the Phantom Menace

And, of course, my book Shimmering Sword: Samurai, Western, and Star Wars Sword Fighting is a big essay on swordsmanship and the Jedi.

 

I humbly add two of my essays, posted here long ago, which have since sunk into the murky depths ...

Mythology & SW

Jung & SW

 

I did an essay on a Star Wars book in fourth grade I can't remember which one though.

 

My site, which is Anakin-centered, has over 20 Anakin/Vader-related essays. You can check out the essay section here -- click.


Here are a few of the essays I have housed on that page...


The Podrace as Paradigm, by FernWithy - TPM's podrace as a metaphor for Anakin's journey.

Anakin Skywalker: The Early Years -- Protagonist, by Julia Lam - Thoughts on Anakin's origins, his fall, and his place as an archetypal hero.

Love and War, by Paul McDonald - A study of the Anakin/Padmé love story, based on AOTC.

Chosen One: The Hero Myth of Anakin Skywalker, by Lady Kenobi - A detailing of Anakin's hero's journey, as defined by Joseph Campbell.

We Are Anakin Skywalker, by yodaman - A look at Anakin as a reflection of the potential evil -- and the potential for redemption -- within each of us.

 

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By the way, great essays guys.

 

Here's an essay about Luke and his importance in the GFFA. Luke Skywalker: Dork by Fate



Here's another one about R2-D2.

R2-D2: Fulcrum of the Force