The Hero's Journey in Star Wars: A New Hope
In Star Wars: A New Hope, the hero's journey is represented in the film through clever color choices and symbolism. The use of color in setting and props conveys the idea of the known world and the unknown world in Luke's journey over the movie.
Luke begins his journey on Tatooine, a planet covered in a single, massive, sprawling desert. He and his family make their living on their farm in the middle of nowhere. However, Luke has bigger dreams than just working on a farm for the rest of his life--he wants to become a pilot. By the beginning of the film, all of his friends have already enrolled into the Imperial academy, His uncle doesn't let him, though, and so he's stuck in the ordinary world.
Luke's call to adventure appears before him in a trash-can-shaped package by the name of R2-D2. While repairing and cleaning the droids, a message from Princess Leia calling for Obi-Wan Kenobi is his first encounter with the unknown world. This strange hologram is finally something different from the endless sand dunes he has seen his entire life. Everything on Tatooine is just a different shade of beige or brown or tan, but all of a sudden a bright blue droid and a glowing blue hologram from outer space have broken his monotonous life.
Luke seeks out the "Kenobi" mentioned in the message, and when he meets Obi-Wan, he is told stories about the Jedi Knights and his father, which motivates him even more to help Obi-Wan and find the princess. Luke's supernatural aid comes in the form of both Obi-Wan, and the lightsaber he is given. Both will serve him and assist him along his journey throughout the movie. The lightsaber also has a glowing blue aura, showing how it doesn't come from the ordinary world Luke resides in, but the unknown.
However, when Luke learns he will have to leave his planet, his home, all his enthusiasm turns to restraint. He tells Obi-Wan that he has to stay, he has to work on the farm, he has to be with his uncle and aunt, but deep down he knows he wants to leave, that he is dissatisfied with the ordinary world, and that he still hears the call of adventure. His refusal of the call isn't what he truly believes, but he feels he must stay in the ordinary world with his loved ones out of obligation.
But this internal conflict is only short-lived, much like his uncle and aunt, who are murdered by stormtroopers. His peaceful, monotone, tan, home is scorched and charred to black, and so Luke decides to leave his known world, and ventures out with Obi-Wan to Mos Eisley to leave Tatooine, his ordinary life.
Arriving at Mos Eisley, the setting takes a shift in tone. The dark and seedy location is unfamiliar to Luke, who comes from less dark colors, and is filled with all sorts of unfamiliar aliens. Meeting with Han Solo, entering the Millenium Falcon, and leaving Tatooine, signals Luke's departure from the known world for good. The film itself has left the sandy, muted aesthetic of Tatooine and has entered the vibrant and chaotic unknown world of a galaxy far, far, away.
Very interesting choice of topic to focus on. Storytelling depends on the medium, and even though the ideas of the Hero's Journey can be virtually the same in both book form and movie form, the movie has opportunities to play around with the visual element to pull specific emotions out of the viewer and characters and to symbolize the different stages of the hero's journey that books cannot rely on without illustrated images. It's cool to think about how all the designers had to actively plan all of the settings to create visual clarity between settings; I'm sure the story would have been much less interesting if everything took place in the beige desert. Honestly reminds me of what Hesse did with Siddhartha where he created very different tones in the settings Siddhartha visited (also depicting dif parts of the hero's journey) but without the obvious visual symbolism.
ReplyDeleteThe more I think about the strategic use of color in the movie the more of an importance it seems to hold. The contrast of the red and blue lightsabers or the contrast between Darth Vader's black outfit and the storm troopers in white, are key examples were color conveys something important about a character. Still I was pretty surprised by the connections you made with color in relation to the hero's journey. They are very cool to think about, and although I am not sure if they were a conscious choice by the creators, they still serve to show that the various steps of the hero's journey carry with them completely different feelings- represented with the colors used in each scene.
ReplyDeleteA very cool piece on the mise-en-scene of A New Hope in relation to the Hero's Journey! If we're considering how monotone the color scheme of the Empire is, it's almost as if its evil has drained away any sense of good and virtue that is represented by the colorful symbols of the Old Republic and Jedi Order. On Tatooine, not only color but moral direction is muted, with Luke aspiring to join the oppressive Empire as a pilot and his uncle disparaging the noble Jedi Order. The arrival of color in the form of symbols of the rebellion and Old Republic introduce Luke to a spectrum of not only colors but morality, with good and evil being sharp opposites.
ReplyDeleteA very interesting interpretation of color symbolism in the movie. I think this also can be connected to the idea of the ordinary and the unknown world. You've done a great job of showing how on Tatooine itself, the unknown world's colors make incursions onto the known world, which ultimately sparks the adventure that Luke takes. Perhaps even the various different color schemes in the unknown world (inside the Death Star, rebel bases, Millenium Falcon etc.) can be interpreted as different flavors of the adventure, or as confluences of the ordinary and the unknown.
ReplyDeleteThe first thing that strikes me in that subject is how the Millenium Falcon's crew, with their tan outfits seem so out of place while infiltrating the drab monotone of the Death Star.
This is a really interesting concept that I didn't even think of while watching! The use of color and symbolism in Star Wars: A New Hope is a really clever way of conveying the hero's journey and the character development of Luke Skywalker. The colors and settings of the film help to establish the known and unknown worlds, and I think these small details outside of the plot are part of what makes the Star Wars universe so rich and engaging for viewers.
ReplyDeleteThis is a really interesting observation about Star Wars. While I knew Star Wars uses a lot of visual representations (like the colors of the lightsabers, making Darth Vader black to make him stand out with the white stormtroopers, colors of the clones, etc), I never connected the color of the background with the hero's journey. After reading your blog, I also realized the "known" parts of hero's journey in Star Wars (beginning and end) had warm and saturated colors like the brown of the sand and green of the leaves, while the "unknown" parts had cold tones like the light blue/grey of the death star.
ReplyDeleteGreat focus on setting and scenery! I think that the non-verbal communication in films is just as important as what the characters are saying, and your blog does a great job of capturing these elements! I especially like your argument about how the shift from monotony to vibrance in the colors of the scene displays Luke's departure
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