“Like My Father Before Me”The Myth of the Masculine in Star Wars

IntroductionHero’s Journey? Greek Tragedy? You bet!

Moreso, the story of two young men in crises of masculine identity. One falls to the dark side, and the other flourishes in the light.

This presentation seeks to examine the Skywalker epoch as it relates to gender roles and identity, exploring the role gender expectations play in the fall of Anakin Skywalker and the subsequent rise of his son.

Anakin Skywalker: The only Star Wars character to have an official psychiatric diagnosis.

Call to Action: Luke is presented with not only his father’s weapon, the symbol of his masculinity, but also with the myth of Anakin Skywalker.

Anakin during the Clone Wars: Soldier, pilot, teacher, and friend.

Displays of physical strength and bravado are a mask to hide the fact the “Hero With No Fear” is actually quite fearful.

Padmé the nurturing mother archetype, gives birth to Luke

and Leia and serves as Anakin’s maternal figure when his own

dies.

Hayden Christensen and Matt Lanter as Anakin Skywalker

The combination of their portrayals produces a distinct portrait of a young man in crisis.

Anakin presents Padmé with his lightsaber…

… And then proceeds to get in trouble without it, mistakenly assuming that punching a robot in the face is a viable alternative.

Anakin seeks Master Yoda’s council after a series of nightmares, and is told to bury his emotions and “Rejoice for those around [him] who transform into the Force” – not exactly the guidance Anakin needs.

Anakin and Obi-Wan near the end of the Clone Wars.

Obi-Wan personifies the Jedi ideal of masculinity, despite not being as physically imposing as Anakin.

Not Anakin anymore, but not quite fully Vader yet.

Anakin sacrifices any chance of a solid identity in exchange for the supposed power to save his pregnant wife from his belief she will die in childbirth.

“Rise, Lord Vader”

Anakin Skywalker goes from reliance on phallic symbols to a phallic symbol himself, the manifestation of pure imposing masculinity.

Luke, like his father, dreams of a “life of significance, of conscience.” In Luke’s case, it involved looking “to the future, to the horizon – never his mind on where he [is], what he [is] doing.”

Luke fights the manifestation of his fears about his own identity during his Jedi training. He fears he will become the man who destroyed his father, while not living up to the man his father once was.

“Obi-Wan never told you what happened to your

father.”

Darth Vader reveals the truth and implores Luke to join him on the dark side.

“You’ll discover that many of the truths we cling to

depend greatly on our own point of view.”

Luke and Obi-Wan disagree on a fundamental point: whether or not there is anything redeemable in Darth Vader.

Darth Vader and Luke stand before Emperor Palpatine. Luke is comfortable enough in his identity and masculinity that he does not give in to taunts and promises to be given the power to save his friends; Luke knows he is capable of saving his friends himself, no need for dark side intervention.

Luke’s balanced masculinity saves, in the end, not only himself, but the soul of his father, whose legacy Luke no longer feels the need to live up to. Luke will go on to create his own destiny, and live his own life, an example of what manhood can, and should, be.