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ABSTRACT
This paper examines how pop culture commentators, rabbis, bloggers, and others create commentaries on the implicit Jewish dimensions of Star Wars movies. These midrashic commentaries fundamentally challenge the conceptual divide between pop culture and religious life, and online religion and religion online. Commentaries examined here are grouped into three categories, including those created by commentators who link a range of points from Jewish theology to the Star Wars universe, events, and characters; see in Star Wars traces of Jewish historical experiences, from biblical episodes, Second Temple times, the Enlightenment, and the Nazi period, to the present day; and believe that aspects of the Star Wars story, particularly key scenes and characters from Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017), facilitate critical debate on Jewish movements today.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Note on contributor
Celia Rothenberg is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at McMaster University in Canada. A social anthropologist, she has carried out research with Palestinian Muslims and North American Jewish communities on a range of topics, including spirit possession, popular religion, and children’s summer camp experience.
Notes
1 Lucas, “National Arts Club, 1985.”
2 Ibid.
3 Larsen, Joseph Campbell, 541.
4 Zierler, Movies and Midrash, 14. Zierler offers her own commentaries on a range of films including, The Truman Show, Forrest Gump, and Stranger than Fiction, among others. Zierler’s work is the first book-length, scholarly treatment of “a distinctively religious, Jewish dialogue with film,” a marked and important departure from and addition to the many Christian theological works on the topic (10–12).
5 Engelke, “Religion and the Media Turn”; Stolow, “Religion and/as Media.”
6 E.g., Deyneka, “May the Myth Be with You”; Gordon, “Star Wars: A Myth for Our Time”; Henderson 1997.
7 Atkinson and Calafell, “Darth Vader Made Me Do It!”
8 Silvio and Vinci, Culture, Identities and Technology.
9 Shefrin, “Lord of the Rings.”
10 E.g. Feichtinger, “Space Buddhism”; Fielding, “Beyond Judeo-Christianity.”
11 Lyden, “The Apocalyptic Cosmology of Star Wars.”
12 Saiman, “Why the Last Jedi is More ‘Spiritual’.”
13 See Lyden, “Whose Film Is It, Anyway?”
14 Peleg and Kozlovsky-Golan, “Genres in Jewish and Israeli Cinema.”
15 Abrams, Stanley Kubrick, Desser and Friedman, American Jewish Filmmakers.
16 Krieger, “Does He Actually Say”; Bernardi, Pomerance and Tirosh-Samuelson, Hollywood’s Chosen People.
17 Zierler, Movies and Midrash, 18.
18 Campbell and Lovheim, “Introduction,”1087; Campbell, “Chapter 11 Internet and Religion.”
19 Campbell, “Introduction,” 9.
20 Helland, “Online-Religion/Religion-Online,” 205; Hojsgaard and Warburg, Religion and Cyberspace; Karaflogka, E-religion: 145.
21 Dawson and Cowan, Religion Online, 7–8.
22 Cf. Frost and Youngblood, “Online Religion.”
23 Schultes, “Any Gods Out There?” 25.
24 Chamary, “‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’,” n.p.
25 David, “Parashat Vayigash 5776.”
26 Barenblat, “The Last Jedi.”
27 David, “Parashat Vayigash 5776,” n.p.
28 E.g. Perez, “From Jediism to Judaism”; Barenblat, “The Last Jedi.”
29 Wise, “Judaism and the Force.”
30 Schwartz, “Judaism and the Jedi.”
31 Olitzky, “Star Wars and Jewish Thought.”
32 Finestone, “Star Wars and Judaism.” (n.d.).
33 Schwartz, “Judaism and the Jedi.”
34 Wolf, “Abraham Joshua Heschel.”
35 David, “Parashat Vayigash 5776.”
36 Bank, “May the Force Be with Jew,” 51.
37 Sacks, “Jewish Time.”
38 Finestone,“Star Wars and Judaism,” n.d.; Rishon, “Coming Full Circle.”
39 Krieger, “Loved the New Star Wars?”
40 Knopf, “On Chanukah and Star Wars.”
41 Berlatsky, “‘Star Wars’ Is Influenced by the Nazis.”
42 Shais Rishon, “Coming Full Circle.”
43 For more a critical feminist reading of the newly introduced female hero see Krieger, “Loved the New Star Wars?”
44 Weiner, “Judaism, Star Wars, and Feminism,” n.p.
45 Ibid.
46 Barenblat, “The Last Jedi.”
47 Leibovitz, “Reform Jediism.”
48 Singer “The New ‘Star Wars.”
49 Fink, “Jedi-ism and Judaism.”
50 Kestenbaum, “Is ‘Star Wars’.”
51 Klaven, “Yoda’s Yiddishkeit.”
52 Ibid.
53 Soclof, “Darth Vader’s Jewish Roots.”
54 Zaltzman, “9 Jewish Things.”