Star Wars and the Rise of the Image

This transition evokes a strong response from the audience – not of horror, but rather of sympathy. Anakin falls to evil defending what he loves, and doing what he believes to be right, certainly a fault that an accepting society can understand if not empathize with. But the principle it illustrates speaks volumes about the perception of evil of the society that produced the film. First, the ethical journey of Anakin mirrors that of the current threat facing America, Islamic Terrorism. The terrorists perform acts of evil which, to them, are done to defend their loved ones, homes, and ways of life. But to most directly grasp the concept of Anakin’s downfall, we must ask this: at what point does he become evil? We cannot truly answer this question, because there is no true good and no true evil in the newer trilogy. Even Obi Wan Kenobi (teacher of both Anakin and Luke, and the only character to appear in all six films) states that “only a Sith…deals in absolutes” (Sith being the followers of the Dark Side) (Lucas). Thus George Lucas himself is making a statement about the perception of evil in Star Wars: there is a gray area. To visually represent this, Anakin’s appearance changes. He begins as a young innocent youth. As he grows he gains a robe and hood, a slight bit of concealment of his humanity; later he gains a black cloak with a heavy cowl. Finally, after gaining a true hatred and loathing of all that he previously loved, he dons the mask of Darth Vader, and his humanity is hidden away until Episode VI. Anakin’s visual transformation thus illustrates the gray area that lurks between the polar opposites of good and evil.

Star Wars can thus be said to illustrate our perceptions of good and evil, but also to define them. Star Wars has given our culture irrevocable images which define who we are as a people. The face of Darth Vader is an undeniable symbol of evil, despite the alternate perspective presented by the new trilogy. The clash of lightsabers is seen as an epic confrontation of opposing forces or ideologies. But above all, it is the grandeur, scope, and scale of the films that other cinema, and certainly not the written word, have ever matched.

It can be clearly seen, therefore, that the image has a power very unlike – and in many cases superior to – that of the written word. The use posters and propaganda in the World Wars demonstrates the image’s power to stir sentiments, yet Star Wars demonstrates unarguably that images and video have artistic power above that of the word. The use of first visual impressions to easily characterize the good and evil sides of the films inspires love and hatred in the audience, which carries through all of the original trilogy and creating classic cultural sights which have inspired a generation. Nevertheless, such classic images of good and evil have become complicated by the shades of gray which the newer trilogy presents. Overall, though, Star Wars uses imagery with which the written word cannot compare. Fast paced lightsaber duels and space fights engender excitement which would be far too slow and ponderous to be properly expressed in text, and the films’ impeccable use of scale creates utter awe in viewers with sights which, if described in words, would be too difficult to comprehend to be awe inspiring. Star Wars thusly demonstrates that the image in many respects is superior to the written word, that a motion picture can be better than a novel, and that the scope of a grand image surpasses what any amount of words can accurately convey. It is no surprise, then, that the image is slowly surpassing the written word as our primary method of communication, and that video like Star Wars creates classic moments that even the best of books cannot.