Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
Star Wars. Episode IV, A New Hope. Written and directed by George Lucas. Produced by Gary Kurtz. 20th Century Fox; Lucasfilm Limited production, 1977. 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment 2013.
A 2016 BBC article stated that “In the 2011 census, 177,000 people declared themselves Jedi under the religion section, making it the seventh most popular religion.” Converting people to the Jedi order may not have been George Lucas’s intentions when he created the “Star Wars” universe, but it is no secret that he intentionally tapped into the ethos of “the Hero’s Journey” and man’s longing to be part of something larger than himself. The Jedi Order was crafted to feel ancient and of great importance, making the movie feel more like a Greek Myth than paperback science fiction. Based on the sheer number of “Star Wars” movies, amusement parks and lunch boxes, it is clear that George Lucas created something that was more than a technical achievement or simply a well told and entertaining story - he created something people could believe in, something that helped a massive group of people feel like they were part of something bigger than themselves. Intentionally or not, he created a religion.
The Hero’s Journey has a curious relationship with religion. First, it is in a chicken-and-egg scenario with the collective imagination by being evident in almost every culture through all of history. Second the gospel story falls so well into the archetypal “Journey” that C.S. Lewis famously almost rejected Christianty as “too good to be true.” It was his friend J.R.R. Tolkien who argued that the gospel seeming to be so closely aligned with the story ingrained in the collective imagination meant that it might just be the truest story of them all. The Hero’s Journey is a powerful storyline that points to the gospel, when used well it can bring people to a better understanding of themselves and of Truth. There are many parallels between Star Wars and the Gospel, but the fact that so many people would choose to put “Jedi” in the religion category of a census is evidence that most people are more interested in the messenger than the message.
Why is it that Jedi Knight became a popular religion? I think the answer lies in the reason “Jediism” was rejected for charitable status in the UK, simply put “there was insufficient evidence that "moral improvement" was central to the beliefs and practices of Jediism” What Jediism offered people was the Hero’s Journey in a brown paper bag with a side of french fries: fast food for the soul. Star Wars’s “Force” offers a common mythology, a place to belong and a way to sooth the deep internal longings that created the myth of the Hero’s Journey in the first place, but in Jediism, no one is expected to be transformed. The path of Christianity is much more difficult than the path of the “Jedi,” Jesus asks that we die so that we may live, he asks for us to be transformed and to seek our satisfaction outside of the things of this world, all George Lucas was really asking for was our money.
Though I very much enjoy the Star Wars franchise, during my most recent viewing I asked the question: at what point do filmmakers and storytellers go from truth tellers to manipulators of the human soul? The unarguable success of franchises like Star Wars and the Marvel movies proves that Hollywood has tapped into the collective imagination, and what do so many of our most popular films offer? A gospel that asks nothing of us but to “believe” in something undefined and unknowable like The Force… and the $13.50 we paid to get our movie tickets (a solid $25.00 if someone wants popcorn and a drink).
I have hope that these cheap gospels can ultimately point people to the real thing when someone is ready to receive it, but I also see the danger in swallowing whole whatever it is pop culture is dishing out. And as much as I enjoy Star Wars, I am grateful that God is a knowable Person who loves me infinitely and not a “Force” that holds the universe together. Jesus demands much more of me than The Force ever could, but what he has to offer is living water and the bread of life, not just fast food for the soul.