People who know the saga well, including prominent anthropologist and academics, are fond of describing Star Wars as mythology. Mythology is collection of "stories dealing with supernatural beings, ancestors, or heroes that serves as a fundamental type in the worldview of a people, as by explaining aspects of the natural world or delineating the psychology, customs, or ideals of society." Fantasy is "fiction characterized by highly fanciful or supernatural elements" (American Heritage Dictionary). So might the mechanics of a story, i.e., how the characters overcome obstacles and make accomplishments, and their relevance to real world life make the difference between fantasy and mythology?
In a fascinating narrative twist, Padmé's dialogue turns the mythological nature of this encounter in upon itself. Her argument against Anakin is to point out, "We live in a real world. Come back to it." Of course, they don't live in a real world. They are characters in a grand mythological epic. Just about any time a character in Star Wars makes an appeal to being "realistic" or "sensible," it's the riskier course of action that ends up being taken — and ends up being right (3).
If we accept D. Tull's analysis that the right choice of action for SW characters being something like 'the riskier the better,' then we may view the mechanics of Star Wars as fantastical. That the actions of a story's heroes are completely unrealistic and insensible would be seen as promoting an escapist ideal, or at least appealing to people who espouse an ideology that goes far beyond progressiveness; and therefore pure fantasy. With the exceptions of Padmé and Leia, the central characters are essentially archetypal super heroes and super villains with super powers in a grand epic. (And even Leia, we are told, will in time learn to use those powers, too.) There's no reason we should expect them to abide by earthly logic in the galaxy far, far away, surrounded by spaceships and monsters and always new, undreamt of worlds to explore.\
But if we want to accept Star Wars as an authentic cultural mythology, it needs to contain truth that pertains to our world—a world not entirely without borders and boundaries. Fortunately, Lucas has created rich characters with everyday psychological motivations. Analysis of the character development yields social relevance.\
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In a way, SW is about appropriate limit-setting and healthy risk-taking, and the consequences of failing to provide those. Anakin needs much more the former. Podracing is not a healthy way to push your comfort zones, but he can do it. This is highly unusual—unique, we're told, among humans. So he needs to be made aware for himself that he is "not all-powerful," and that he doesn't really want to be. He knows what he's got, but it's not enough. He represents the ambitious personality. He is kinetic energy.\
Luke, on the other hand, needs to go beyond his awareness in order to find his talent and realize his potential. He represents potential energy. And he needs help to find it.\
On yet another hand (hey, this is SW universe and there are many species with more than two hands), Padmé and Leia are self-actualizing personalities, and there is nothing in their nature that would allow them to lord over others. However, Padmé is reticent with her feelings, and Leia has abandonment issues and is understandably recalcitrant toward the male influences on her life.\
These very different personalities require separate sensitivities and individual guidance. Anakin needs a lotus to cool his flaming passions; Luke needs to get out there and rescue that princess, darn it; Padmé needs to heal from the ways in which she has repressed herself; Leia needs to heal from the ways the world has oppressed her. And all require the consistent presence of support. This is a family that needs community if ever there was one.\
Like a gifted artist, Anakin's skills were recognized early on. Like an exceptional talent, not everyone knows how to teach and guide him properly. Most would let him languish rather than try. It's that whole Do or Do Not attitude. Luke also needs a patient teacher, but in his case to help him work through his self-doubt. I discussed other interesting similarities and crucial differences between father and son in section 4.\
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But Star Wars is appealing on an atavistic level, as well. We needn't look hard for the mythological elements, what with all that business about the Force and the Dark Side, good and evil. Because every culture views itself as being on the side of good, delineating what makes for evil and how stay on the side of good and defeat evil elsewhere is essential to sustain that culture. Star Wars does this. And it just so happens, also, to do a particularly good job of blurring the line between good and evil, providing an alternative to the traditional dichotomy. \
That blurring of good and evil invites us to do critical thinking about the active paradigms in our own culture, perhaps even to foment a shift in that culture—the very culture it is sustaining. Star Wars is a modern mythology for a culture that recognizes the importance of change, cultural evolution, and revolution.\
As I said before, for those of us who live in a real world, it is important to be grounded in it. But progress here in the real world is made when dreams become reality. Progress is the grounding of the realm of fantasy in everyday life. Over time, the stuff of imagination may find earthly expression. Science-fiction writers used computers in their stories decades before the titan ENIAC was conceived.\
So are all myths fantasies? No. The great thing about the definition given above is that it does not explicitly nor implicitly confine the realm of mythology to the real or unreal. A mythological story can be a story of reality or imagination. If it is to be effective it will contain elements of both.\
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"There is some fiction in your truth. And there is some truth in your fiction. To know the truth is to risk everything" (The Animatrix, "Kid's Story").\
Dreamers are pioneers, the heroes who depart the familiar to explore the fantastic and bring it home to share. The trouble comes when pioneers become colonists, fulfilling avaricious fantasies with deleterious effects on the braved new world. Instead of bringing the seeds of diversity into the heroes culture to grow organically, the colonists lead their culture to the new land and force it to provide for them. Differentiating between the two is exactly what we established a myth is supposed to do. In the face of adversity, this being the setting of all myths, the heroes must often make do with what they have got. Imagine the power of the family described above if they had been able to collaborate, instead of being separated from one another.\
The mechanics of a post-modern myth would have to provide the framework for deciding what of the present is good to keep and what's good for change, and what from our fantasies we want to ground and what's best to leave to that realm. And it would do this without being confined to the conflicts of good and evil. We can imagine this is what episodes VII, VIII, and IX would be about... or are about—remember, the future exists, just waiting to be realized. :-)
