The appeal of simplification

Finally, I would like to come back to the initial question of what it is that makes the Star Wars saga so extraordinarily successful. As I wrote in the introduction, I cannot, of course, answer that question in all of its complexity, but I do believe that I have examined an important factor with the Monomyth. While, as mentioned earlier, any claims to universality should be taken with not only one but a couple of grains of salt, I would nevertheless argue that the various elements of the Monomyth are able to speak to most humans on a very basic level that goes somewhat beyond the very close connection to distinct historical, social and cultural formations most other works of art usually require to develop significant resonance with their audiences. Joseph Campbell has, after all, correctly identified a number of motifs that are recurrent in nearly all cultures because they originate from basic stations of human life – stations that, in their essence, are part of the lives of nearly everyone and therefore accessible to most of us, especially in such a simplified manner that eliminates unpleasant contradictions and the unsettling chaos of real-world complexity. Even if Campbell’s generalizing arrangement into one universal plot structure misses the point from a scientific, analyzing point of view, it proves very effective as a guidebook after which to model a story that, at one point or another, connects with our very basic human experiences and desires.

Therefore, I would like to argue that part of the success of the original Star Wars trilogy is down to the fact that George Lucas followed this effective plot pattern of the Monomyth almost to the letter, boiling the water of various mythic tales from all over the world down to filter out the essential salt that connects them all, thereby creating something accessible to the greatest possible audience over a rather impressive span of time.

On the other hand, the prequels' deviation from this straightforward pattern probably contributed to their somewhat diminished acceptance by the audience. The descent from a clear hero’s tale into murky relatives robs the audience both of the pleasant simplicity of good versus evil as well as any character that could serve as a role model. Postmodern stories are certainly better at capturing the dynamic of real-life complexity, but only because they reproduce its unsettling chaos – making them a lot less enjoyable to consume for a broad audience.

Nevertheless, the entire Star Wars saga, telling the story of a life, remains more than enough of a Monomyth at heart to make even the prequels acceptable, accounting for the fact that despite some reservations, the overall popularity of the franchise has managed to survive any postmodern influences – probably also partly due to George Lucas's ability to press even the postmodern onslaught of relativism into a palatable simplicity.

Page 9/9