While we are only at the very beginning of watching Star Wars, most, if not all, of us know already that Luke Skywalker is set to be a hero. What I found most interesting today was how the creators decided to enter Luke into the storyline. With his famous opening line of "But I was going into Tosche Station to pick up some power converters," Luke was not the guy you would expect to turn out to be a big shot hero. I think it is really interesting how the writers decided to create his personality, developing his inner hero as time goes on versus from the very beginning. They didn't start him out in a scene where he is saving someones' life or is blatantly displayed as a big hot shot. Rather, he entered the story as just an whiney teenage guy who didn't want to do his chores. So far in the movie, Luke is essentially just a typical teenager. For me, had I not already known that Luke Skywalker was the protagonist in Star Wars, I wouldn't have picked him out from the start. Clearly there could be controversy on who is the hero in the movie, or if the hero isn't in the movie at all, but rather the creators of the series. I am looking forward to watching the various characters develop throughout the movie, and most importantly to see Luke's transformation into this so called hero. Why do you think that the creators of Star Wars decided to portray Luke Skywalker as they did in the beginning of the movie? Do you think that this was important to his character?
Thursday, January 15, 2015
Luke Skywalker From the Start
While we are only at the very beginning of watching Star Wars, most, if not all, of us know already that Luke Skywalker is set to be a hero. What I found most interesting today was how the creators decided to enter Luke into the storyline. With his famous opening line of "But I was going into Tosche Station to pick up some power converters," Luke was not the guy you would expect to turn out to be a big shot hero. I think it is really interesting how the writers decided to create his personality, developing his inner hero as time goes on versus from the very beginning. They didn't start him out in a scene where he is saving someones' life or is blatantly displayed as a big hot shot. Rather, he entered the story as just an whiney teenage guy who didn't want to do his chores. So far in the movie, Luke is essentially just a typical teenager. For me, had I not already known that Luke Skywalker was the protagonist in Star Wars, I wouldn't have picked him out from the start. Clearly there could be controversy on who is the hero in the movie, or if the hero isn't in the movie at all, but rather the creators of the series. I am looking forward to watching the various characters develop throughout the movie, and most importantly to see Luke's transformation into this so called hero. Why do you think that the creators of Star Wars decided to portray Luke Skywalker as they did in the beginning of the movie? Do you think that this was important to his character?
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I think having heroes who start out as Average Joes helps the audience connect more with the hero and honestly makes for a much better story. If we all knew that Luke was the son of Anakin/Vader and was destined to become a famous Jedi who would save the galaxy from evil...what fun is that? It's a lot more interesting to see him grow and develop, just as we do in our lives. Kids see Luke become successful from humble beginnings and think "Hey, I might be able to do that too!", which is what I interpret a hero as: a model for one to live their life after.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Josh in regards to relating to a character who was not perfect the whole time. If he is in fact an average joe, we also see his transformation through the movie that plays a major role in the audience as well. As if we feel like we played a part of his transformation, it feels more personal going through his trials with him. I did not see the movie in class, but has seen the movie a few years ago. Luke, from what I remember, was the "hero" but the plot twists in there also changed your perspective of who is the hero and why. Again, I agree the humble beginning plays a huge role in the audience, and makes the movie feel more personal then we are actually aware of.
DeleteJosh makes a very valid point when he says "Heroes who start out as Average Joes helps the audience connect more with the hero". This statement is backed up by numerous other examples of film in that it is a very effective form of storytelling to allow for the "hero" of the story to show growth over time. Modern examples of this (Past year) Include the Lego Movie, where, over time, Emmet gains more and more heroic traits as he is faced with more and more adversity. Another example is Guardians of the Galaxy, where we see all of these criminals slowly take the form of heroes as they team together for the greater good.
DeleteI agree that the "Average Joe" hero can be the more interesting character when compared to the hero from birth character, but what really makes Luke different from the hero from birth character in his instance. Is it simply "bad luck" that his father was Darth Vader, or did his lineage have some effect on Luke that has been ignored? As a person who has only seen the 4th movie in the series, I cannot answer this question, but I believe that it is an important one to keep in mind when addressing Luke. Another factor that Average heroes have is that they often have no real stake in the plot or the happenings, and fall into the role of a person who just happens to be there. When make correctly however, the Average hero tends to be more interesting than the ideal hero since they seem more accessible and have unique characteristics that are not just determined by their villains.
DeleteIt also sets the scene for Luke to mature over the movies to come. Having seen all the movies and knowing how far young Skywalker comes in his journey of growing up, it is easy to see this whiney boy living in the deserts of Tatooine grows significantly over time. He is forced to make decisions that no one wants to make and dig deep within himself to align himself with the force. This goes along with what Josh is saying, and makes Luke more relatable to the target audience (whiney teens living with their parents).
ReplyDeleteI unfortunately have never seen all the Star Wars movies, only bits and peices. Crazy, I know. From the point we left off in class, with Obi Wan Kenobi defending Luke in the bar, it seems pretty unlikely that this kid is going to be any help at all to Obi in helping save this woman who left the message on the droid. I'm really excited to see the journey Luke will be going through and how in the world he is ever going to be able to learn how to be a jedi from old Obi Wan.
ReplyDeleteIn our class, we are pretty far behind this part, but I think that Luke's absence from the beginning of the movie as the some of the other characters and the world are established helps us understand what will really be needed from a hero and what Luke, as the underdog, will be up against. It also shows that there are more heroes in the story than just Luke, like Leia.
ReplyDeleteVery good point. By not introducing Luke in the first seconds of the movie, it not only allows other characters to develop, but it doesn't lead the viewer into thinking that Luke is the only important character. Don't get me wrong, Luke plays a crucial role in the film, but he should not be the main focus. Introducing characters before him brings more attention and, in turn, importance to the other things happening on the screen. Star Wars is an all inclusive space epic...not The Story of Luke Skywalker
DeleteI believe they entered Luke into the movie this way because they might have wanted to show that anyone can become a hero. I believe they were attempting to depict a regular teenager who discovers himself, changes through his experiences to become a hero. They seem to trying to stir away from the typical depiction of hero, to show us the growth of a hero from a normal teenage kid.
ReplyDeleteI agree, but I also believe the seemingly small, insignificant main character forms a relatable connection to the audience, as the movie has only had these strange robots that had previously never been seen or even imagined before. I also see they are trying to show that Luke is not born a hero, but is made into one.
DeleteAlthough our class has only seen 15 minutes of the film, I have seen the movie before and agree. Luke is introduced in this movie as a teen with many flaws to show a hero is not born, but rather created through his actions and decisions. I also think the beginning is interesting because usually movies present the main character first before giving the audience some context of what's going on. I believe in this movie it was done the other way to make the audience think about whether or not R2D2 and C3PO are heroes and what qualities are necessary to be considered a hero.
DeleteI think the creators portrayed Luke the way they did because they didn't want to give away immediately that Luke was going to be considered a hero throughout the film. By doing this, it allows the audience to think Luke could just be another part of the story rather than the main hero in the film. As a result, the audience is surprised when they find who the main "hero" is.
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't seem that weird for a hero to have a normal life before he became a hero. It is what Luke did with the power that he was given that made him a hero. Luke may still be a hero at this point, but most of his heroism is dormant inside of him.
ReplyDeleteThis reassures the point that heroes are made rather than born. I believe that heroes are made because of one or more pinnacle points in their life. This is the catalyst in the hero process where they can choose to step up and become the hero, or fall down and become average like everyone else.
DeleteI agree with this perspective. In fact I believe that the paramount reason Luke Skywalker is so successful as a protagonist is because he enables the viewer to believe that Hero, the plateau that was once seemingly unattainable, can be aspired to and achieved.
ReplyDeleteThis was in response to Brian Burke I had troubles Signing in and out and I lost my work twice.
DeleteI think the creators of Star Wards decided to portray Luke Skywalker the way they did in the beginning of the movie to show how the main hero in the story isn't necessarily who we think it is from the start. By making Luke a whiney teenager to becoming this hero at the end of the film also shows how anyone can be a hero it just depends on your own definition of a hero. I think his first introduction is important to his character because it allows the audience to connect better with him.
ReplyDelete