By Lydia Johnson
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, what began with one space opera in 1977 quickly grew into a media empire that today remains a global pop culture phenomenon. Star Wars has become a sprawling epic, spanning numerous planets, alien races, and massive cosmic battles, let alone the expanse of toys, comic books, video games, TV series, and memorabilia in every possible form that graces the shelves of most corporations. The complete universe may not have been explored yet on screen, believe it or not, but the Skywalker storyline has been concluded for the time being - especially since Rey isn’t really a Skywalker and doesn’t deserve to hold the Skywalker name and stand where Luke stood and…well…that’s a whole other debate I won’t get carried away with right now.
The lockdown of 2020 brought many things, one of which was the time, for me, to re-watch all the instalments of the Star Wars saga available to better understand the storyline, like any other 21 year old of course. The only thing I gained from this, though, was the realisation that the overriding theme and driving idea that the galaxy is founded on, potentially even recognised by those who have not been consumed by the universe, is a lie.
The Star Wars universe, due to it being told mainly from the perspective of the good guys, is shown to be governed by hope. Hope of the good ever prevailing against the bad, hope that people will survive, hope that no matter the bad that is occurring, the power of those pushing for the good will overcome and save the galaxy and it’s future. This is the story we are told; hope saves all and will prevail, always. But this just isn’t the case. It’s not hope that guides this galaxy, but everyone’s fear. There is no hope that drives the heroes and heroines of this universe. Nothing that is even one bit of a resemblance of hope is ever concluded in this state. Everything, eventually, loses the hope it had and is consumed by, or gives itself to, the fear that originally, and fundamentally, governed it.
So why is the underlying foundation of the Star Wars saga defined by one single, supposedly important word: hope? Why is the idea of hope still sold as the overarching promise that will not only save the universe, but will survive the universe and if applied to our own Force-absent lives, will help us through any obstacle? Well, it definitely sounds, and sells, better than the idea that an all-consuming fear of the bad will help you through any challenge.
Hope is different from faith, let’s be clear about that. Simply explained, ‘hope is the spark that ignites the fire while faith in the cause sustains it’[1]. There is an abundance of examples of faith throughout all instalments of the Star Wars universe, both from the light and the dark side, for it ultimately doesn’t matter what the cause may be, as long as one has faith in it, the cause will be sustained. Yoda may have had faith in the Jedi, but Darth Sidious had just as much, if not more, faith in the Sith. So yes, there is enough faith thrown around from one rebellion to the next for everyone to get their fill.
Most importantly, faith comes into play during the great redemptive turning point of Darth Vader back to Anakin Skywalker. Luke’s faith (not his hope) in Vader, and his impending death, leads to Vader’s rejection of evil and to the break-down of the Empire’s efforts in battle. Anakin Skywalker, the lost Jesus character of Star Wars, is finally redeemed and can now stand alongside Yoda and Obi-Wan as a Force ghost while Luke parties on with the Ewoks, how lovely.
So, Lydia, what’s the problem? If there is so much faith present in the galaxy, and hope is apparently the spark that ignites the fire that faith sustains, then surely hope must be the driving element in the galaxy? But, no, trust me, it’s still fear.
I’m not claiming that hope is never present in the Star Wars universe, of course not. Hope is ‘something of a blind belief’[2] held onto by every hero in any of the story arcs, that everything will turn out for the better even when you can’t come up with any real reason to support it. One of the films is even titled Star Wars: A New Hope, so ultimately it’s there, but people hold too much regard for this hope being what the galaxy thrives on. People place hope on this pedestal of greatness, as a guiding light that as long as one has hope nothing bad will every truly happen, and when ‘one hope is lost, as Yoda says, there is always another’[3]. I don’t like this, sorry Master Yoda.
The ability to charge into the darkest of times headfirst recklessly holding onto a feeling that we can emerge victorious despite seemingly insurmountable odds, is the very message Star Wars relies on for the audience to ever consider the events that take place as potentially acceptable or realistic. But, if people took a second to look just one step further, they will see that all the supposedly hope-filled endeavours, actions, decision, plans, whatever they may be, are actually propelled by the fear of the dark side and it’s abilities. It is therefore fear, the very all-consuming element that often leads people down the path of anger and the dark side, that rules the Star Wars galaxy, and there should be no issue in admitting this.
No matter the era or medium, fear is the strongest factor that propels the stories in Star Wars. The motivation of every character’s decision is fundamentally rooted in fear. All those who turn to exile, do so because of their fear, not because of their hope that it will lead to something better. Fear pushed Luke into self-imposed exile on Akh-To after his failure to help Ben Solo. Fear that pushes both Yoda and Obi-Wan to endure years of a solitary life while Caleb Dune is led by fear to abandon his identity in the aftermath of Order 66.
Fear also leads to the destruction of most relationships in the saga. Mace Windu is constantly fearful of Anakin and his potential (and he ends up thrown out of a window, hand cut off, severely struck by lightning). Fear is not only the very thing that stokes his desire for Padme, but ultimately fear of losing her that costs Anakin the love of his life. Fear of what the Jedi Order truly is turns Ashoka from it and from Anakin. Yoda splits the twins up in fear of what could happen should Darth Vader know they survived. The fear of the ever-looming power of the dark side turns Qi’ra against Han, leading to Han’s mindset of only trusting himself. Fear of the destruction the Death Star was potential of causing led to Galen Erso implanting the key design flaw. Fear of those wielding the dark side that causes Lando to hand over the Millenium Falcon and Han Solo to them. Vader, fearful that he is going to lose Luke to the light side, unveils his true identity as Luke’s father. Luke, so fearful of following in his father’s footsteps, would rather consider suicide than join him.
Leia senses the First Order threat and forms the underground Resistance movement in fear that the Republic isn’t enough. Both Han and Leia ultimately give themselves to fear, with their deaths being the only thing that had a chance to redeem their son Kylo Ren back to Ben Solo. Fear of having the past replayed that leads to Luke’s initial reluctance to be a master once again for Rey, but ultimately fear of her joining Kylo Ren that forces him to agree to help her. Fear of losing Rey that redeems Ben Solo and the life-ending sacrifice he makes for her. In fear of retaining her own family name, Rey takes the Skywalker name after finally defeating Darth Sidious.
You see, all decisions made throughout the many story arcs of Star Wars - and these were just the main ones I thought to mention, let alone all the more intricate actions and decisions taken - are fuelled by the fear that is constantly surrounding them. Whether the characters come from the pull of the dark side or the restraint of the light side, whether their decisions are detrimental or helpful to the narrator’s cause, everything is connected to the fear they are experiencing in the universe.
This isn’t a problem at all but is something that all protagonists are mindful to turn away from due to the bad connotations the idea of fear has in this universe. Fear leads to anger and anger leads to the adoption of a new evil-sounding name and the path of the dark side. It takes Yoda himself the years of hiding on Degobah to reflect on his blindness, especially during the Clone Wars, finally admitting to the young padawan Ezra that ‘In our arrogance, join the conflict swiftly we did. Fear, anger, hate. Consumed by the dark side the Jedi were…A long time, fought we did. Consumed by fear I was, though see it I did not…A challenge lifelong it is not to bend fear into anger.’[4] If Yoda can find it in himself to admit to this and to accept that their decisions were led by fear, not hope that they were doing the right thing, I think it’s about time we did too. Star Wars is a story propelled throughout all parts by everyone’s fear, not by everyone’s hope.
The story centres on the battle between the evil and the virtuous, which appeals for its action as well as the injustice that is being fought. It is to no detriment to the saga to admit that fear governs this storyline, for it still moves ‘beyond a conventional political and military fight to deeper considerations’[5] of character, friendship, technology, transcendence, and redemption. When faced with the same themes in our own lives, is it too negative a point of view to admit that if we were to truly look deeper into our own choices we would find that we too are governed by a general fear of succeeding and overcoming our challenges rather than the hope that we can achieve what we set our mind to?
Throughout the Star Wars saga, it is fear that inspires ‘heroes from all corners of the cosmos to take a stand and hold a candle to the darkness, binding the galaxy together every bit as much as the Force’[6]. Hope, although sometimes a consequence of this fear, is not the driving element nor the pedestal-worthy message that Star Wars is selling us, and I believe more people should acknowledge this. It’s alright to admit that fear governs us. We are no less protagonists of our own lives, overcoming our own challenges, succeeding in life, when we admit to being afraid. People find courage through fear, people face things they never thought themselves able to because we are strong enough to overcome feeling afraid. Hope is great, sure, but facing your fears head on with the faith of succeeding, while afraid of failure, seems a much more admirable and inspiring story than simply following some blind hope that things will just sort themselves out.
In my opinion Star Wars is a story of people facing their fears, eventually overcoming them and becoming stronger both in themselves and as a unit because of this, not a story of following an aimless, reckless hope in an unfounded belief that tomorrow will be better. It’s okay that fear rules the Star Wars galaxy because the ability to overcome one’s fear is much more admirable than following an unsupported, whispered promise of hope. ‘You can’t have Star Wars without fear.’[7]
[1] https://www.starwars.com/news/lessons-from-the-star-wars-saga-hope [2] https://www.starwars.com/news/lessons-from-the-star-wars-saga-hope [3] https://www.starwars.com/news/lessons-from-the-star-wars-saga-hope [4] Star Wars Rebels, (2014-17), Season 2, Episode 18, Shroud of Darkness [5] https://theconversation.com/star-wars-offers-enduring-themes-that-appeal-to-our-deepest-selves-40386 [6] https://theconversation.com/star-wars-offers-enduring-themes-that-appeal-to-our-deepest-selves-40386 [7] https://www.starwars.com/news/how-fear-is-the-path-to-hope-in-star-wars