Star Wars: A New Hope – A look at Joseph Campbell and the Search for the Holy Grail

Disclaimer: I am a Star Wars curmudgeon. I like to pretend the prequels don’t exist, that Star Wars is the title of Episode IV: A New Hope, and that Han shot first. Actually, I’m certain that Han shot first. I don’t like the “enhancements” Lucas added to Star Wars, Empire, and Return over the years.  These articles reference the unmodified versions as much as possible.

Campbell and the Force

I don’t know when I first watched Star Wars. I do know that I was younger than six years old and that I did not see it in the theater.  I don’t think I saw it on a VHS, since VCRs weren’t common where we lived in the early 80s. I probably saw it on cable- HBO or Showtime or a similar service.

Like many others both then and now, I wanted Luke Skywalker’s story to be my story.  My family comes from the Midwest (Kansas and Illinois in particular), and so Luke’s humble beginnings as a farm boy resonated. It didn’t hurt that Mark Hamill was thin and blond just like me, or that I happened to love robots, spaceships, and all things science fiction.  It’s no surprise that I grew up with a deep love for Star Wars.

That love waned over the years. Made-for-kids animated series like Ewoks and Droids bored me. The enhanced versions released in the 90s underwhelmed me- they didn’t have the magical spark I remembered. And the prequels… were disappointing.

Which brings us to today. The youth who loved the original three is still there, buried under 35+ years of experience.  And more than that, looking back, I think Star Wars has some solid Christian formational material, if you look at it right.

To find it, we should start by looking at Joseph Campbell and the Hero’s Journey.

If you’ve spent any time in Star Wars fan circles, then you’ve heard of Joseph Campbell and The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Campbell was a professor at Sarah Lawrence College, and he studied religion and mythology. Hero with a Thousand Faces, first published in the late 40s, is one of Campbell’s most well-known works. In it, Campbell develops his theory of the “monomyth”, or the myth-template that’s at the core of all heroes’ journeys, across all cultures.  Campbell believed that mythologies- religious and otherwise- followed a common pattern that could be discerned through careful study.

Campbell’s career spanned roughly 60 years, and much of it was highly intellectual and academic. Summarizing his monomyth is a daunting task- but the basic gist of it is that all religions and cultures are united at a primal level. Critics argue that this approach is overly simplistic- that differences between cultures should not be dismissed so quickly, and that all people deserve to be recognized for who and what they are, rather than be rolled into one uniform blob.

In addition to the problems with disrespecting difference and diversity, Campbell did not value a personal relationship with anything transcendent.  True, he spoke of spiritual qualities at times, but he did not discuss God in terms a faithful Catholic would recognize. God was a not a person to be known. Rather, if it existed at all, god was a thing to experience.

Campbell’s monomyth has issues- but it also happens to be a founding principle for Star Wars.

George Lucas built the three original films on Campbell’s theory.  Lucas wanted to make a modern mythology- something that went beyond itself to point at something greater.  Campbell came together with Lucas, just prior to Campbell’s death, and produced material that explicitly linked the monomyth with Star Wars.  Consistent with Campbell’s approach, the characters in Star Wars never discuss a god, but rather a Force.  This Force is a tool to be used, like a wrench or screwdriver.  There is no Higher Person- just an omnipresent thing that permeates everything.  The focus of all three films is on the characters and how they relate to each other, with occasional (and important) references to how they use this thing.

This is insufficient for Christians.

Why?

Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14: 6). Note the definitive statements- Jesus does not say, “a” way. He says, “the” way.  I’ll spare you the language debate, but this holds up in the Greek.  For Christians, God is a person to be known.  He is relational, loving, and responsive to our needs in a way that a thing or concept can never be.

If Christians, Catholic and Protestant, are going to approach Star Wars for spiritual formation (and I think they can & should) then they’re going to need an alternative framework.

There are many, so which one?

The Grail Myth

Grail myths began appearing in the 12^th century.  A common feature is that an ignorant youth becomes a warrior, and then seeks the Holy Grail.  Note: the Holy Grail was not always identified as the cup Jesus used at the Last Supper.  In some forms, the Grail (or Gral) was an object (cube, gem, or platter) on which a supernatural dove descended, and which would then provide supernatural sustenance for its owner.  In all forms, the Grail represented a touchpoint between God and humanity- a place where humans could interact with Him and be transformed.

My favorite Grail Myth is one of the earliest: Parzival by Wolfram von Eschenbach. The work dates back to the 13^th century.  Parzival begins with the story of Parizval’s father Gahmuret. Gahmuret’s story is relevant, but we’ll discuss it when we get to Episode 6: Return of the Jedi.

Parzival’s mother hides Parzival in the wilderness after his father dies in battle.  She instructs her servants not to speak of knights or anything courtly, lest Parzival learn of them and adventure off to his death as did his father.

Thus, Parzival is raised in total ignorance of knighthood and courtly manners.  One day, he’s out hunting and he meets some knights and believes they are god.  The knights correct his mistaken beliefs and encourage him to visit King Arthur, who will make him a knight.  Parzival leaves home and travels to Arthur’s court.  On the way, he makes multiple mistakes out of ignorance.  For example, he deeply offends a noble lady and steals a ring from her, without realizing the significance of his actions.  Parzival reaches Arthur’s court at Nantes. The King agrees to knight him- if he can defeat a rogue knight and take his armor.  Parzival goes to battle and defeats the knight easily, thus becoming a knight.

What’s the Star Wars connection?

Luke is raised in ignorance of his background.  He doesn’t know his father, Anakin, was a great Jedi Knight.  And like Parzival, the outside world breaks in to send him on adventure.  Where Parzival meets three knights, Luke encounters two droids that carry a message from a princess.  Luke then meets Obi-Wan Kenobi, who encourages him to travel to Dagobah, where he will receive instruction to become a Knight. 

Luke reaches Dagobah in The Empire Strikes Back. In this first film, he is ignorant, whiny, and bumbling.  He has yet to learn manners and become powerful.  Even so, he assists in the rescue of Princess Leia, and at the end of the film, participates in his first battle, in which he defeats the Death Star. 

To recap:

1. Luke/ Parzival raised in ignorance.
2. Begin their adventures as rude and ill-mannered youth.
3. Even so, they win their first battles and proceed to knighthood.

I’ve explained what the Grail Myth is and shown some parallels between it and Star Wars. But why does the Grail myth framework work better for Christians? And what about Han, Leia, and Chewie? I will take up these questions and more in the next article on the Empire Strikes Back. Stay tuned!