Anghus Houvouras on the Star Wars franchise…
With the release and massive worldwide success of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Star Wars has once again proven itself the most popular franchise in the history of cinema. People really seem to enjoy Rogue One. Most notably for the more grounded, realistic elements. The darker war story seems to resonate with fans who appreciate this story of sacrifice. I’ve heard people say ‘it’s the darkest of the Star Wars movies’.
However, when you think about it, Star Wars is a pretty morbid franchise. Especially when you consider how much of the fan base is made up of kids. Even without Rogue One’s realistic depiction of intergalactic war, Star Wars was already a pretty morbid franchise.
The original Star Wars was an uplifting film. Obi Wan sacrifices himself for the cause, Luke learns to use the Force, Darth Vader is dispatched and the Death Star is destroyed. Medals are awarded (unless you’re a Wookie, the filthy buggers) and everyone is happy.
That is until The Empire Strikes Back when we learn the rebellion is still on their heels running from the rest of the Empire who still has their white Stormtrooper boots stepping on the necks of A Galaxy Far, Far Away. Empire is often referred to as ‘The Darkest Installment’, though to be fair with each subsequent film they have all been made pretty dark.
Empire spoils the happy ending of A New Hope. Once you realize your heroes had about ten minutes to celebrate before hauling ass out of Yavin IV, it doesn’t seem like that much of a victory. That ripple effect goes right back to Rogue One. Then Return of the Jedi comes along and creates a whole new wake.
The sacrifice of Jyn Erso and her rag-tag crew of rebels feels a lot less epic when you realize the Empire just built another Death Star a few years later. Sure, the Rebellion blew that one up too, thanks to some Bothans who gave their lives to get those plans. Maybe that’s what Rogue Two will be about.
Return of the Jedi gives us another happy ending of sorts. Death Star 2.0 is blown up good. Anakin Skywalker finds redemption. Luke, Han, Leia and some smelly looking teddy bears celebrate. Everyone’s happy, right?
Oh wait. Star Wars: The Force Awakens came out and tells us that happy ending was also short-lived. Han and Leia have a few years of wedded bliss before their son goes rogue. Luke’s attempt at training new Jedi goes sideways. For all their sacrifice and attempts at doing right by the galaxy, everything ends up pretty shitty for our heroes.
After everything our heroes did to stop the Empire, The Force Awakens shows us that the Empire won. 20+ years after Luke, Han, Leia, Lando and the rest of the Rebellion blew up Death Star 2.0 and killed the Emperor, the Empire is still running the show. Palpatine is dead, but there’s an even bigger dick in charge and an even bigger Death Star which can lay waste to entire solar systems.
How exactly has the Rebellion done anything other than slow these assholes down? The Force Awakens exposes a futility to the Original Trilogy which makes the entire thing kind of tragic. Every act from Rogue One on exposes a hollow futility. No matter what our heroes have achieved, the villains ultimately recover and do subsequent damage which leaves even deeper wounds in our heroes.
The death of the Rogue One team is supposed to be heroic: the ultimate sacrifice which allows them to set a series of events in motion that helps take down the Death Star. But the Empire just builds another one. And then another one. Instead of their sacrifice being the lynch pin moment in helping save the Galaxy, it becomes just another sisyphean task undertaken by protagonists in a very dark, very depressing series of movies.
Galen Erso is supposed to be this super genius required to build the Death Star, but even his death doesn’t prevent two more Death Stars with two more obvious exploits from being designed by an Empire who seems to recover from these setbacks remarkably well.
The prequels are depressing on a whole other level. When you take into account that we’re already painfully aware of the fates of Anakin, Padme, and Obi Wan before The Phantom Menace begins, the idea of any happy ending over the course of three films is ludicrous. It’s merely another attempt to show us that being a hero in the Star Wars universe is a brutal slog without any kind of redemption for our heroes.
Even death can’t free them from their depressing servitude. Obi Wan serves the Jedi loyally and still ends up with an apprentice who slaughters everyone he knows and holds dear. Then, after sacrificing himself to inspire Luke, he has to hang around as a ghost watching all these terrible things happen again and again for eternity.
If you thought the end of The Empire Strikes Back was depressing, just consider where our heroes are now at the end of The Force Awakens: Luke’s a hermit who no longer believes in anything. Leia is an old spinster still stuck in that 9 to 5 Rebellion gig. Han’s cold, lifeless body is floating through space with a surprised expression frozen on his face. Nobody got a happy ending. There’s still time for Luke, I suppose. But I’ll be damned if Star Wars isn’t a giant downer. Every potential happy ending has been scrapped by subsequent installments.
It might not be the most depressing franchise ever. There are others, like the Alien franchise, which end with so much brutality and tragedy for the characters that the Blu-rays should come with sample packs for klonopin. But for a major four quadrant family friendly franchise, Star Wars has the most depressing arc for its main characters.
After watching eight Star Wars movies, maybe it’s time for the protagonists to question the will of the Force. It certainly hasn’t done them a lot of good.
Anghus Houvouras
