Star Wars' Saga

IN LUKE MORE THAN LUKE: FAMILY ROMANCE AND NARCISSISM IN THE 'STAR WARS' SAGA Blue Aslan Philip Profitt A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS May 2019 Committee: Erin Labbie, Advisor Jeff Brown © 2019 Blue Aslan Philip Profitt All Rights Reserved iii ABSTRACT Erin Labbie, Advisor The Star Wars epic has been important for popular culture since its emergence in 1977; it is relevant for film and popular culture analysis (both of which I tend to in this thesis), and it is a crucial epic tale that contributes to a model of literary and psychoanalytical history. In the four decades in Star Wars’ debut, fans and scholars alike have been interested in the saga’s ostensible depiction of incest and the Skywalker family romance, but I maintain that incest has become a more palatable metaphor for the characters’ respective narcissisms, and that these narcissistic affects in fact provide evidence of little-to-no erotic interest in one another and do not support the incestuous metaphor that is common to readings of the films. In this thesis, I engage the original Star Wars film trilogy as well as the work of Sigmund Freud, Jacques Lacan, and other prominent psychoanalysts to offer my own critique of psychoanalysis’s overreliance on the Oedipal complex: In order to effectively de-Oedipalize psychoanalysis, we need to first recognize and reconcile the problem and ugliness of narcissism. I apply this paradigm to examine the character of Luke Skywalker and his relationships with his father, Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader, and his twin sister, Princess Leia Organa, though this framework can be used to de-Oedipalize other literary and filmic texts. Part One of this thesis traces Luke’s relationship with Darth Vader through Lacan’s concept, the “Name-of-the-Father,” to argue that Luke’s superficially Oedipal desire to become his idealized father is a disguise for his narcissistic desire to turn his father into a facsimile of himself. Similarly, Part Two examines Luke’s relationship with Princess Leia through Lacan’s “The Agency of the Letter in the iv Unconscious” to argue that the twins rely so heavily on the signs and signifieds of sexual difference that they fail to recognize that they are in a narcissistically competitive dialogue. v “Unknowingly he desires himself, and the one who praises him is himself praised, and while he courts, is courted, so that equally, he inflames and burns. How often he gave his lips in vain to the deceptive pool, how often, trying to embrace the neck he could see, he plunged his arms into the water, but could not catch himself within them! What he has seen he does not understand, but what he sees he is on fire for, and the same error both seduces and deceives his eyes.” - Ovid, Metamorphoses vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS My grandmother, Debbie Frankovich, likes to remind me that we are of the same tribe, and that as I learn, grow, and experience more than my home, I will find others to join it, too. After two years of graduate study, which were often troubling beyond campy films, theoretical texts, and coming to terms with my own writing and research, I want to thank the tribe that has come together to support me through these two years and through this project. I cannot say that this thesis exists only because of them—after all, I wrote it. But without their love and guidance, I would never have become the kind of thinker and woman capable of undertaking this task. Firstly, I owe a great debt to Erin Labbie, whose mentorship and friendship has been a gift, both to this project and to my life. Thank you for teaching me that theory is a form of self help, for listening to me when no one else seemed to register that I was speaking, for helping me to realize that I am a psychoanalytical thinker and to stop pretending I was anything else, and for standing by my scholarship even in its most hideous and clichéd mutations. You know that too often I doubt the sound my voice and measure it against the sounds of others’. You have always been there to remind me that my voice is mine, anecdotes and all, and I can stop apologizing. Most importantly, you and Sophia have become my family in a place where I could have been alone. I am so grateful to count the two of you as part of my tribe. Thanks as well to Jeff Brown, whose guidance on film theory and popular culture analysis has been invaluable. His recommendations of Mary Ann Doane, Christian Metz, and Steve Neale helped me to develop a new, more complex understanding of the gaze on film and the role of gender difference in the Oedipal complex. His feedback has helped me to see the difference between film and story more clearly than before, which has shaped this thesis and will continue to shape my future scholarship. vii I don’t think even I quite know how much I owe to Debbie Frankovich. Gugu, you are one of the bravest women I have ever known—possibly one of the bravest women in the universe. Thank you for valuing women’s education and for encouraging your daughters and granddaughters to be well spoken and well read. Your constant belief in me is what has always kept me going in my research, and I hope this thesis makes you proud. Without your support, I don’t know what I would have grown up to do and be. My sister, Tex Profitt, is an incredible feminist thinker, fellow queen of satire, and friend. Her brilliant readings of texts I thought I knew intimately fuel this thesis and my career whether or not she realizes it. Tex, you are my favorite person in the world. When I was four, I wished for you to be born, but I never could have imagined I would meet someone as funny, artistic, and wise as you. Lastly, I need to thank my parents for their unwavering involvement in my life and career, even if I did keep them up one night as a small child reciting every word I knew (Imagine how long we’d all be awake now.). Thank you for driving me to and from Bowling Green so that I could still spend time with all of you, and especially thank you for that time we drove all the way to my apartment in Ohio only to discover that I forgot my keys on your couch in Michigan. Thank you, Daddy, for reading every Harry Potter book for me, for making me watch Star Wars just a couple months before I started my master’s program, and for offering wonderful feedback on my ideas and analyses during our car rides to and from home, and thank you, Mom, for teaching me how to read twice, stressing the importance of naming, for letting me make smart-alecky comments in eighth-grade literature class, and for never letting me forget the etymology of the word passion. When I am especially funny, you joke that you never should have encouraged me to speak. You have no idea how grateful I am that you’ve always taken the time to speak with me. viii I am who I am because my tribe has taken the time to hear me, to speak to me, and to listen. Let’s keep listening. Let’s keep speaking. I’ll start. ix AUTHOR’S NOTE Since the Star Wars saga is a non-linear temporal beast, I want to note the way that Star Wars, as a title, is used in this study. I acknowledge the fact that upon its initial theatrical release in 1977, the film that is now called Star Wars: A New Hope, was simply titled Star Wars. This thesis respects George Lucas’s 1981 re-titling of the saga’s inaugural film. Thusly, I will refer to this individual film as A New Hope in my discussion. A proceeding glossary will further explain the uses and abbreviations of the individual film titles. Moreover, I reserve the title of Star Wars as a blanket term to describe the entire film franchise. On a related note, this thesis concentrates solely on filmic installments in the Star Wars saga. Although I recognize that books, comics, and games from Star Wars Legends (1976-2012) and Disney (2012-present) provide supplementary material on the characters and events in and surrounding the films, I have limited my discussion to what are arguably the most famous texts in the Star Wars mythos. x GLOSSARY The following glossary contains the full and official titles for the ten currently released and one impending live-action Star Wars films as well as the abbreviated titles I will use in this thesis. The films are listed in linear story order, not alphabetically or in order of their theatrical releases. As Disney and Lucasfilm eliminated the official usage of episode numbers in mid-2017 (e.g. “Episode V”), I will eliminate episode numbers from this glossary as well. In this thesis, I will refer to a given film by its complete title only the first time I reference it. In all proceeding occurrences of that title, I will use the abbreviation noted here. Star Wars: The Phantom Menace…………………………………………...The Phantom Menace Star Wars: Attack of the Clones……………………………………..…………..….Attack of the Clones Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith……………………………………………………….Revenge of the Sith Solo: A Star Wars Story……………………………………………………………………................Solo Rogue One: A Star Wars Story………………………………………………………………..Rogue One Star Wars: A New Hope………………………………………………………………….……A New Hope Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back………………………………………….The Empire Strikes Back Star Wars: Return of the Jedi……………………………………………………..……Return of the Jedi Star Wars: The Force Awakens……………………………………………………..The Force Awakens Star Wars: The Last Jedi……………………………………………………………...…….The Last Jedi Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker………………………………………………..The Rise of Skywalker xi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION.

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