Page 106 - Star Wars Insider (Special Edition 2019)

success of Star Wars, it didn’t take latter category it helped if you

long for other filmmakers to latch were a princess, and if you
onto its potential, and in 1985, were looking for wider social
studio storytelling consultant representation… Well, it helped
Christopher Vogler set out a if you were a Wookiee or a droid.
Hollywood moviemaking formula The civil rights campaign of the
in a memo entitled “A Practical 1950s and the subsequent feminist
Guide to Joseph Campbell’s The movement had destroyed their
Hero With a Thousand Faces.” fair share of Death Stars, but
Today the internet is home to the struggle to right wrongs
a dizzying array of articles on the —or simply to change people’s
Hero’s Journey, but few do a better perspectives—was only
job of explaining the elements of just beginning.
mythic structure and how they fi t As an advocate for
together than Vogler. He expanded better representations
his memo into a bestselling of women in science-
book (see sidebar), and—in both fiction and fantasy

works—he doesn’t simply analyze stories, I have
the nature of stories; he explains sometimes felt like
the mechanics of making them. Finn in The Force
Awakens, bemoaning
ALWAYS IN MOTION, everyone’s desire to
go back to Jakku.
THE FUTURE IS

It’s possible to envision Vogler
as the Maz Kanata to a Star Wars
fandom weaned on Campbell’s
monomyth. But as Maz tells Rey
to look ahead for the belonging
she seeks, Vogler reminds us to
look behind. Throughout history,
storytelling has served as a tool
to help model society and to
inculcate ways of behavior. Stories
have been used to keep people
in line, to reinforce notions that
only some people are destined
for greatness, and to warn against
rocking the boat. For every story
that serves as a rallying cry or a
trigger for social change, there
is another that perpetuates
the status quo—even if it does
so unintentionally. In 1977,
Star Wars reminded moviegoers
that individuals could rise up
against oppression—and that
their number could include
farm boys, down-at-heel
hustlers, and independent
women. However, in the

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