Myth, Media, and Culture in Star Wars An Anthology

Edited by Douglas Brode Leah Deyneka

THE SCARECROW PRESS, INC. Lanham • Toronto • Plymouth, UK 2012 Contents

Acknowledgments VB

Introduction: "Of That Time, of That Place" IX Douglas Brode

1 "Cowboys in Space": Star Wars and the Western Film Douglas Brode 2 Is Star Wars a Modernized Fairy Tale? 13 Arthur Berger 3 From Disneyland to Modesto: George Lucas and Walt Disney 21 Craig Svonl

4 May the Myth Be with You, Always: Archetypes, Mythic Elements, and Aspects of Joseph Campbell's Heroic Monomyth in the Original Star Wars Trilogy 31 Leah Deyneka 5 Not So Long Ago nor Far Away: New Variations on Old Themes and Questioning Star Wars' Revival of Heroic Archetypes 47 Dan Rubey 6 From Sky-Walking to Dark Knight of the Soul: George Lucas's Star Wars Turns to Tragic Drama 65 John C. McDowell

v vi Contents

7 Under the Influence of Akira Kurosawa: The Visual Style of George Lucas 83 Michael Kaminski 8 Balancing the Force: How Media Created by Star Wars Now Defines the Franchise 101 Crystal Renee White 9 A Long Time Ago on a Newsstand Far, Far Away: The Mythic Comic Book Hero in Marvel Comics' Star Wars 113 Jon Hogan 10 The Jedi Network: Star Wars' Portrayal and Inspirations on the Small Screen 127 Eric Charles 11 Gaming in a Galaxy Far, Far Away: The History of the Expanded Worlds, Canon Conflicts, and Simplified Morality of Star Wars Video Games 141 Seth Sommerfeld 12 Quentin Tarantino's Star Wars?: Digital Cinema, Media Convergence, and Participatory Culture 153 Henry Jenkins

13 Star Wars and the Technophobic Imagination 169 Cyrus R. K. Patell

Index 185

About the Editors 189 About the Contributors 191