Star Wars Mythology: Joseph Campbell & George Lucas- Ep. 158

ArtHouse Radio

This week I went to my mother’s cozy little beach town for a visit, easily one of my favorite things about being a conscious creature. And I quickly did the most logical thing a sensible person can do: slam a questionable amount of Christmas cookies and watch “Star Wars: A New Hope” for the millionth time. Perhaps many people can think of a better utopia. For me, it doesn’t get any better than these moments of snack-filled Star Wars-ian couch adventures.

Watching it this time, however, my mind kept circling around all of the potential myths and metaphors about our culture and reality that clearly seem baked into the story, even though I was mostly unfamiliar with the story of its creation.

Afterwards I found this video online of George Lucas giving a speech where he talked about his inspiration for Star Wars. Sitting next to him during the speech was the great Joseph Campbell, who, as it turns out it was not only a fan of the movies but was also a big inspiration to Lucas for creating the whole story. This seemed like the perfect opportunity to explore where this story came from, and get some insight into a tale I’ve seen unfold so many times.

In this episode we will look at the sources for the creation of Star Wars by listening to clips of Joseph Campbell and of George Lucas; both clips are interviews with the great Bill Moyers. We’ll talk the power of myth, and hear the idea, impact and source for Star Wars from the aforementioned Campbell and Lucas. It’s the art of film and philosophy… It’s ArtHouse Radio!

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