I hear so many young people today talkĀ
about a world that's emptied of heroism,Ā where there are no more noble things to do. What do you say to them? The story of Star Wars means something to people. That's even true in Star Wars. But as for what that story means -- Well, there's probably as many answers toĀ
that as there are people watching this video. So it might be easier to focus on whatĀ
Star Wars means to its storyteller. After all, the reason C-3P0 isĀ
telling the Star Wars story isĀ Ā because he's trying to explain *who he is.* Which, in a sense, is whatĀ
George Lucas was doing, too But the most personal parts of this seriesĀ
probably aren't wrapped up in C-3P0 -- "Yes R2, I was just coming to that!" They probably have more to do with theĀ
character Lucas named after himself. Not that you would know fromĀ
the way people talk about him. Luke is often treated like he'sĀ
just a generic hero archetype. People will even refer to other charactersĀ
as the Luke Skywalker character, and what they mean is the sincere -- ifĀ Ā somewhat boring -- character theĀ
larger story revolves around. This is obviously a little insulting if you careĀ
about the Frodos and Katnisses of the world. But in fairness to the peopleĀ
who say things like this,Ā Ā Luke thinks of himself as a generic hero, too. It's just that what George LucasĀ
has in store for his namesakeĀ Ā proves to be much more uniqueĀ
and interesting than that. Luke starts off A New Hope stuck at the deadĀ
end of life on a basically empty planet. "Where are you going?"
"Looks like I'm going nowhere." When he meets Obi-Wan andĀ
receives his father's lightsaber,Ā Ā it turns his vague dreams of leavingĀ
someday into something much more concrete. "I want to come with you to Alderaan." Essentially Luke now has a destiny. "I want to learn the ways of the forceĀ
and become a Jedi like my father." And at this point it does seem like LucasĀ
is telling a generic hero type of story The rest of the movie could beĀ
almost any fantasy adventure. With Luke taken from humble beginningsĀ
by a wizard who gives him a magic sword to save a princess from a darkĀ
tower guarded by an evil sorcerer. Pretty standard stuff. As the story wraps up, it's hard to see what wouldĀ Ā separate Luke Skywalker fromĀ
any of a dozen other heroes. Until the next movie starts. In Empire, every single traitĀ
that led Luke to becoming a heroĀ Ā suddenly works against hisĀ
destiny of becoming a Jedi. You know, sometimes Lucas doesn't get creditĀ Ā for how clearly defined hisĀ
characters are. In this case -- Luke is loyal to a fault, "I'm not going to Alderaan, I've gotta getĀ
home -- it's late; I'm in for it as it is." Fearless when it's time for action, "The droids belong to her; she's the oneĀ
in the message -- we gotta help her!" And a little impatient withĀ
the people who doubt him. "Who's gonna fly it, kid? You?" "You bet I could; I'm notĀ
such a bad pilot myself!" Only this time instead of flying him to victory,Ā
these traits cause him to crash and burn. Which actually happens twice, justĀ
in case you miss it the first time. We're starting to see that Lucas's vision ofĀ
heroism is a lot more complex than it appears. When Luke's frustration boils over at theĀ
universe blocking his path to becoming a Jedi,Ā Ā he's told point blank: it's not theĀ
universe that has the wrong idea. "Adventure, heh. Excitement, heh. A JediĀ
craves not these things. You are reckless." His training is repeatedly sabotaged by hisĀ Ā refusal to understand whatĀ
he's seeing and hearing, no matter how strong of a warning he gets. Everything that happens on Dagobah suggestsĀ
that who Luke is and who he wants to beĀ Ā aren't the same person at all. "You want the impossible." It's not even surprising when Vader isĀ Ā able to use his fearlessness andĀ
loyalty to lure him into a trap. "I can't keep the vision out of my head;Ā
they're my friends, I gotta help them." "You must not go!" "But Han and Leia will die if I don't!" He can't see himself as anything other thanĀ
the hero coming in to rescue his friends. What's important to hammer home here is thatĀ
at no point in this self-destructive spiralĀ Ā is Luke ever acting "out ofĀ
character." This is who he is. It's just that being a hero is one thing,Ā
and being a Jedi is something very different. "The Force is with you, young Skywalker...
but you are not a Jedi yet." But whatever the dangers onĀ
Luke's path to "becoming a Jedi,"Ā Ā they're nothing compared to theĀ
dangers of becoming "like his father" "I am your father." This reveal isn't famous justĀ
because Luke's dad is the bad guy. It's famous because this is theĀ
moment Luke suddenly realizesĀ Ā that he's promised to turn into this man. He finally sees the otherĀ
path he might be going down. "Luke, it is your destiny." Turns out Luke's destiny hasĀ
a real, well, Dark Side to it. Lucas is telling a different sort ofĀ
story from most of his contemporaries. Not every hero deals withĀ
questions of destiny or fate,Ā Ā but when they do it usuallyĀ
means the hero has a feeling that they really ought to be someoneĀ
more remarkable, or more important,Ā Ā or just cooler than they already are. And meeting that destiny either meansĀ
becoming an awesome version of themselves,Ā Ā or just becoming ...themselves. Here's a specific example: The new version of Captain Kirk starts off asĀ
a very similar character to Luke Skywalker. He's a hot rodder who grows up aroundĀ
a farm, and never knew his fatherĀ Ā but feels the pressure to becomeĀ
a great pilot like him anyway, and can't escape this nagging feelingĀ
that he belongs among the star -- okay,Ā Ā jeez, this is like the exact same -- anyway. The big difference between them is thatĀ
his flaw is running away from his destiny. "Why are you talking to me, man?" His mentor figures spend the whole movie beggingĀ Ā him to follow that feeling that heĀ
was destined for something great and once he decides to go for it,Ā
things fall into place really quickly. It's a movie that looks quite a bit like Star WarsĀ Ā but is basically doing the oppositeĀ
of everything that Star Wars is about. You know... if anybody asks. Star Wars belongs to an older tradition.Ā
One in which the words "destiny" andĀ Ā "fate" meant the same thing as the word "doom." In those older stories, meetingĀ
your destiny might be inevitable,Ā Ā but it wasn't likely to be a pleasant experience. This isn't to say that thoseĀ
other movies are bad -- It's just to point out that theĀ
older tradition understood heroism,Ā Ā but it also felt that ambition wouldĀ
often have unforeseen consequences. "Because I think the core issues thatĀ
I'm dealing with are, if they were validĀ Ā 2000 years ago they've got to still be validĀ
today even though they're not in fashion." "And I think we've gone for a fewĀ
generations where a lot of theĀ Ā more basic stories have fallen by the wayside." Luke's doom is still undecided atĀ
the beginning of Return of the Jedi. Which is why, on the one hand, he's lookingĀ
and acting uncomfortably like Darth Vader... While at the same time, he'sĀ
back to the role of hero andĀ Ā even seems to have pickedĀ
up some Jedi-like traits. He's willing to be patient, and plan things,Ā
leaving Jabba to make all the impulsive mistakes. It's almost like Luke has gotten stronger inĀ
both of the conflicting halves of his destiny. His meetings with Yoda and Obi-Wan confirm that heĀ Ā hasn't chosen a path until he'sĀ
willing to face his doom head-on. "You must confront Vader. OnlyĀ
then, a Jedi will you be." The heart of the conflict Lucas is buildingĀ
is that either Luke has to kill his fatherĀ Ā or give up on his dream of becoming a Jedi. But Luke identifies too much with theĀ
man he now sees as Anakin Skywalker. "I can't kill my own father." He understands the connection betweenĀ
them even if Vader himself denies it. "That name no longer has any meaning for me." By the way, all of this is happening in whatĀ
is ostensibly a children's adventure movie. The increasingly internal nature ofĀ
the conflict in the Star Wars sagaĀ Ā is another thing that separatesĀ
it from most of its other peers. It's also why it's fine that theĀ
battle above the second Death StarĀ Ā is so reminiscent of the battle above the first. It reminds us that the conflictĀ
facing Luke is no longer out there... ...but in here. The confrontation with the emperor isĀ
where Lucas will resolve the questionĀ Ā of whether Luke will be able to vanquishĀ
the supreme avatar of the Dark Side while the alternative isĀ
literally staring him in the face. And of course, when GeorgeĀ
Lucas has a question like that,Ā Ā there's only one way it's going to be answered. The question of destiny hangs overĀ
every duel in the Star Wars saga. So Return of the Jedi featuresĀ
the last "duel of the fates." This final duel is about whetherĀ
Luke can escape his father's destiny. And though Luke is alwaysĀ
looking for the high ground,Ā Ā he can't ever stay above Vader forĀ
long. Because ultimately, he isn't. Whatever one of them is capable,Ā
of the other is as well. This is why it's misguided to think that the StarĀ Ā Wars movies' vision of good andĀ
evil is just black and white. Lucas isn't telling stories about good people andĀ Ā evil people, he's telling stories aboutĀ
characters who can choose good or evil. The Light Side and the Dark Side are theĀ
two paths these choices take them down. As long as Luke can't make this choice he's leftĀ Ā at the mercy of his emotions -- whichĀ
can take him to a pretty dark place. "Luke works intuitively through most ofĀ
the movie, until he gets to the very end." "He goes back and forth with his emotions, aboutĀ
fighting his father, not fighting his father." Luke's hatred of the idea ofĀ
following his father's destiny,Ā Ā leads him to try to destroyĀ
that destiny completely. Which is exactly the idea. "Fulfill your destiny, and takeĀ
your father's place at my side." In Star Wars, destiny is a trap. Destroying Vader, and becomingĀ
Vader, are the same thing. "Never." If Luke wants to decide his own destiny,Ā Ā it means he has to embrace theĀ
good still left in his father. "You failed, Your Highness. I amĀ
a Jedi, like my father before me." And then finally someone isĀ
willing to call him a jedi knight "So be it... Jedi." "Ultimately, doesn't it take a leap of faith?"
"Yes. You'll notice Luke uses that quite a bit." Luke doesn't find victory theĀ
way other heroes do either. At the end of each Star WarsĀ
movie, Luke has to surrenderĀ and allow someone else to save him. This time, there's only one person that could be." "Father, please..." The path Luke finds to his destiny is important, because if he can become a Jedi like his father, his father can become a Jedi like him. The ultimate irony of Luke beingĀ
talked about as a generic hero,Ā Ā is that at the end of the day, he'sĀ
not the hero of the story at all. And so ends the story of Star Wars. Well, okay, obviously, not exactly...Ā Ā but now the stories are told byĀ
someone other than George Lucas. What that ultimately means for StarĀ
Wars is probably best left for...Ā Ā another time. But at the very least,Ā
it changes what Star Wars means. It kinda has to change it. Since what Star Wars always meant for Lucas
was a way to tell all of us who he is. "I've discovered along the way thatĀ
happiness -- you live in two worlds here: Happiness is pleasure, and happiness is joy. Pleasure is short-lived. It lasts anĀ
hour, lasts a minute, lasts a month. And it peaks and then goesĀ
down -- it peaks very high,Ā Ā but the next time you want to get that sameĀ
peak you have to do it twice as much... ...it's like drugs. On the other hand is joy. Joy is the thing that doesn'tĀ
go as high as pleasure,Ā but it stays with you. JoyĀ
is something you can recall. The secret is, that evenĀ
though it's not as intenseĀ Ā as the pleasure, the joyĀ
will last you a lot longer. People who get the pleasure, they keep saying,Ā
well if I can just get richer and get more cars -- You'll never relive theĀ
moment you got your first car. That's it. That's the highest peak. If you're trying to sustain thatĀ
level of peak pleasure, you're doomed. just accept the fact that it's here andĀ
it's gone and maybe again it'll come back Pleasure is purely self-centered.Ā
It's all about your pleasure. It's a selfish, self-centered emotion, that'sĀ
created by a self-centered motive of greed. Joy is compassion. Joy is giving yourselfĀ
to somebody else, or something else. And it's a kind of thing that, in its subtletyĀ
and lowness, is much more powerful than pleasure. You get hung up on pleasure, you're doomed. If you pursue joy, you willĀ
find everlasting happiness. So with that, I'm gone. Bye-bye, thank you!" That's it for the Lucas saga! For now, at least. Subscribe or click around belowĀ
if you want to be first in lineĀ Ā when this channel tackles the Sequel Trilogy. "I've traveled too, far seen too much...Ā
to ignore the despair in the galaxy..."
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I've watched this guys vids in the past. Hes criminally underrated
The whole channel is truly amazing! From the Appreciation of Jar Jar Binks to the Star Wars in the Upside Down in TESB, it's really well crafted. I literally cried during this episode. He doesn't appear to be a massive fan of the sequels, so I'm interested in what he has to say about them.
Idk I'm pretty sure George Lucas was straightforward about how Luke isn't a different kind of hero. Its the classic epic format just different environment. OT Luke is meant to be a very cookie cutter hero.
Edit: watched the video, was proven wrong. My take only holds up to the first movie. George Lucas did say that it was heavily influenced by those classic hero epics.
I vote for the mods to pin this post; itās truly one of the best, if not THEE best, videoās out there dissecting and analyzing our beloved Luke Skywalker.
I just saw this video a few days ago. Yes it's fantastic to give Luke the credit he deserves as a truly unique and selfless hero.
There are a few minor issue there. The youtuber refers to an older tradition of heroism (making visual references to LotR after calling Frodo the standard hero Luke is mistakenly portrayed as, BTW), but fails to pursue the idea to it's conclusion. In that older tradition destiny, harrowing though it may be, is still a net positive to be pursued, and could very well mean the Hero becoming their more authentic self by the transformation for the better that Luke undergoes.
Another interesting thing, that I wonder if they'll include in the DT video is that Rey represents that newer tradition exemplified in the video by Elsa, Po and Moana/Vaiana in all the same ways as nuKirk. And not just in the Abrams films, but also in TLJ which is the apotheosis of the idea. The "legend of Luke Skywalker" is made to a lie, and his true act of heroism is to acknowledge his jedihood is a lie.
Can you tell Urine is fully in the "Luke is the shallow western hero" bandwagon, and didn't consider his source materials much beyond superficial references, including some rather obscure ones?
This guy's videos are way beyond incredible.