The book views such matters as empathy, hope and balance in contemporary politics through the lens of the Star Wars universe. As a political commentator and PR strategist who has witnessed the breakdown in basic civility in recent years, Kent suggests that a way for society to begin again is to use the Force. Stephen Kent is the author of How the Force Can Fix the World: Lessons on Life, Liberty, and Happiness from a Galaxy Far, Far Away, and hosted the Beltway Banthas podcast from 2016-22. Given the presence of many other types of art in Star Wars movies, how can we explain this?
They are not talked about, reflected upon or even alluded to, at least not in the ways that we usually engage with this form of art. While I freely admit the possibility that a more eagle-eyed reader will be able to point to a painting that slipped my attention and appeared briefly in one or more of the big-screen Star Wars films, there’s no question that paintings have never been important to the stories. While these images are utilitarian rather than purely artistic, they demonstrate the ability of the residents of this galaxy to conceive, execute and understand abstracted, two-dimensional representations of real-world, three-dimensional objects. Meanwhile, maps of secret locations are used to similar effect in Attack of the Clones, The Force Awakens and The Rise of Skywalker. The schematic drawings for the moon-sized weapon appear on screen and fuel the plots of both Rogue One and A New Hope. The most famous example of this is the set of plans for the original Death Star. In many of the Star Wars films, drawings and illustrations serve as MacGuffins to advance the story. “I like Captain Solo where he is.” Of course, Jabba’s decoration is not really a statue, but something more akin to displaying the head of one’s defeated enemy on a pike. “I will not give up my favorite decoration,” Jabba comments, in response to a hologram message sent by Luke Skywalker. In Return of the Jedi, Jabba the Hutt refuses to release Han Solo, who has been frozen in carbonite and is displayed hanging on the wall in Jabba’s palace. These demonstrate the character’s greedy acquisitiveness, showy taste and tendency to violence, but they also serve as “Easter eggs” for hardcore fans, who know the origins of these objects from sources outside the films themselves.Īrguably the most important piece of sculpture in all of Star Wars, and the subject of possibly the only scripted reference to visual art in any of the films, isn’t really sculpture at all. In the origin film Solo (2018), statuettes and other objets are displayed scattered about on illuminated stands in gangster Dryden Vos’s space yacht, the First Light. Theed’s interiors, which were shot at the grand, Baroque-era Caserta Royal Palace outside of Naples, occasionally give glimpses of the real building’s sculptural decoration, such as marble statuary or carved bas-reliefs. For example, massive statues on plinths appear to guard the entrance to Theed Palace on Naboo in The What is surprising, however, given their glaring omission from the films, is that the man who created the Star Wars universe happens to be a major collector of art - including paintings - and is due to open the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles by 2025.Ĭertainly, sculptures appear in the Star Wars films. Over time, my interest in Star Wars has shifted into something akin to nostalgia, so it may not be surprising that this question never struck me before. I’m old enough to recall seeing A New Hope in a drive-in in summer 1977, as well as the infamous Star Wars Holiday Special on television in 1978. The question occurred to me recently, rewatching The Rise of Skywalker. Why are there no paintings in Star Wars movies?
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