During my junior year in college, my Psychology of Personality professor, Dr. Ahlm, asked her students to write a paper on Freudian symbolism within The Empire Strikes Back. �What an awesome assignment!� I thought. The idea of writing a dry analysis of the movie, with bland statement after bland statement of what each element of the movie could possibly symbolize within Freudian theory, left me cold, though. So I decided to take the assignment to the next level. Inspired by the tongue-in-cheek Freudian interpretation of �The Cat In the Hat� that had been floating around the Internet at the time, I decided to write the paper as though Lucas had been intending the movie to teach his own, personal, neo-Freudian theory to the audience. This paper was a blast to write, and I hope others will enjoy reading it half as much as I enjoyed writing it.

�The Lucas Contribution to Psychoanalytic Theory�

George Lucas is known to most people throughout the world as a first rate Hollywood producer. This front is known by only a handful of individuals to be false. In fact, Lucas has simply through the years been employing the medium of theatrical film to teach psychoanalytic ideas to the general public in a manner less intimidating than those which were generally used by psychiatrists of earlier ages. Although a relative newcomer to the field, Dr. Lucas has contributed much to the psychoanalytic theory through his revisionist Freudian teachings.

The revolutionary methods Lucas has adopted to teach his theory to the general public are often mistaken to be a true attempt at Hollywood movie making because of the masterful disguises Lucas employs to make his ideas easier for people to grasp. From the outset, Lucas attempts to set the anxiety of his laymen audience at ease through the soothing words at the beginning of each of his trilogy of educational films. �A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away�.� This phrase allows the audience to distance themselves from the events depicted such that they are unaware on a conscious level of the applicability of the Lucas Theory to themselves. Audience members generally leave unaware that they have attended the screening of a symbolically loaded educational film, one which will influence their understanding of themselves and their world on an unconscious level for the rest of their lives.

The second in his trilogy of analytic films, The Empire Strikes Back, is widely considered by experts to be the prime example of Lucasian psychoanalytic theory. In this film, the relationship between the primary protagonist, Luke Skywalker, and the primary antagonist, Luke�s father Anakin Skywalker (most often referred to as Darth Vader) is further developed and explored, symbolizing the Freudian phallic psychosexual stage of development. The father-son relationship, the interpersonal relationship of primary importance in Lucasian theory, at this point in the trilogy and for the remainder becomes the primary focus of Lucasian ideas. All other events in the film serve to set the stage, so to speak, for the final confrontation between father and son.

Before a synopsis of the film can be presented through the Lucasian analytical theory, the differences and similarities between Freudian and Lucasian ideas must be clarified for the reader who may not be as familiar with Lucasian theory. Freud�s psychoanalytic ideas centered upon the interaction of three parts on several different occasions. Two prime examples of such triangular power struggles lie within the organization of the mind, and the interactions of the immediate family.

The mind, in Freudian theory, is divided into three different sections, each of which plays a roll in the observable behavior of the person. Conflicts between these sections will result in feelings of anxiety which will interfere with the proper functioning of an adult on the mental, emotional, and behavioral levels. These sections of the mind are the id, the ego, and the superego.

In short, the id is concerned with getting immediate gratification of its sexual and aggressive desires, while the superego is concerned with maintaining behavior in accordance with a strict and inflexible moral code. Neither of these two sections can directly control the behavior of the person, however. The ego is charged with making decisions which will allow for the gratification of the id�s impulses within the bounds of what is possible, but at the same time, the ego must deal with the demands of the superego to do what is prudent. It is when either the id is receiving too little gratification, or when the superego is receiving too little gratification, that anxiety develops which the ego is then also charged to deal with.

In Lucasian theory, the three sections of the mind are externalized into the entire universe, such that the demands of the id-structure and the superego-structure are both competing for expression with the ego-structure on a universal level. In Lucasian theory, the concepts of good and evil, of superego and id (1), are manifested in a universal structure known as the Force, the Lucasian revisionist concept of the libido, the sum total of life energy.

As explained in the first film, the Force is divided into two parts of equal strength, a light side (the manifestation of the superego) and a dark side (the manifestation of the id). These two parts of the Force share an equal portion of the life energy (unlike in Freudian theory which places all of the equivalent libido within the id) and must compete for their expression or gratification within people. In Lucasian theory, the individual is the ego in a universal mind, being tugged at from both the light side and the dark side of the Force. Anxiety arising from this conflict is repressed in day to day life, but often manifests itself later, as we shall see in the synopsis.

An important distinction between Lucasian and Freudian theories lies in the interaction between the three structures. Although in Freudian theory, too little gratification of either the id or the superego will result in anxiety for the person, in Lucasian theory, total denial of the dark side of the Force is the only way to achieve peace in a sort of nirvana of the soul. Those who have supposedly denied all gratification of the light side, such as Darth Vader, are proven later on in the trilogy to still have a residual anxiety to come to the light side. The only exception to this rule lies within the Emperor, who is the Lucasian symbol of Carl Jung�s Shadow, the archetype of the �dark half� of the human psyche. In a very real sense, the Emperor is the physical manifestation of the dark side of the Force.

The second Freudian triangle addressed by Lucasian theory is that of the Oedipal triangle in the immediate family (2). According to Freudian ideas, the Oedipal triangle arises during the late preschool years of children. In this, the phallic psychosexual stage of development, a male child first discovers the presence of a penis, and in this, he takes great pride. Soon afterward, the male child develops a strong sexual desire for his mother, which causes competition between father and son for the attention of the mother. The male child fears that the father will take away his penis in order to win the competition, a term known as castration anxiety. This anxiety causes the male child�s ego to repress feelings for his mother and to attempt to identify himself with his father, in order to vicariously obtain his mother.

The Lucasian view on the Oedipal triangle is a more straightforward competition for power between fathers and their sons. There is little mention of Luke Skywalker�s mother throughout the trilogy, as she serves little purpose in the development of the hostile feelings between father and son. Rather, their hostility arises from the universal struggle between the light side and the dark side of the Force. Lucas has developed the idea of competition between father and son over the affection of the mother into a model for the competition between the universal id-structure and superego-structure. The competition between father and son which Lucas sees as perfectly normal only becomes a true struggle for power when one is controlled by one side of the Force, while the other is controlled by the opposite. Thus Lucas rejects the idea of a sexual attraction to the mother (3), while explaining male child � male parent conflicts as arising normally unless accompanied by a dichometric alliance to opposite sides of morality.

These two examples will help in the analysis of Lucas�s masterpiece, The Empire Strikes Back.

The film opens showing a fleet of Imperial Star Destroyers as they launch a large number of probes into space in an attempt to find the rebels and their hidden base. This, (an obvious symbolic reference to Luke�s conception as his father seeds the galaxy with sperm-shaped instruments which then land on egg-shaped planets in order to locate Luke) is a good example of the way in which Lucas has hidden the true father-son struggle behind the shield of Imperial-Rebel struggles in order to buffer the audience.

Meanwhile, Luke and his friend, Han Solo, are exploring the frozen wasteland of Hoth, looking for signs of life other than the TonTons they are riding. Just as Han and Luke part, Luke is attacked by a large while creature, an attack which symbolizes the anxiety caused by the struggle between his father and him, anxiety Freud would call castration anxiety. Luke succeeds in defeating this manifestation of anxiety through the use of his light saber, a phallic symbol which in the Star Wars universe is the Lucasian symbol of power.

When Luke failed to return to the base on time, Han went out on a TonTon to help his friend, and upon finding him, placed him within the belly of the TonTon which had just frozen to death in order to �keep [him] warm.� This, an obvious symbol of regression and the desire to return to the womb, is the only instance of maternal imagery to be found in Lucasian theory. The Jungian mother archetype fails to be represented within Lucasian theory beyond the initial prenatal stages, while the Freudian attraction between male child and female parent is limited to a desire to return to a less anxiety-filled time within the womb of the mother.

Upon returning to the base the next morning, Han and Luke meet up with Princess Leia. Luke is greeted with a passionate kiss from Leia which she uses to humble Han Solo (4). The relationship between Han and Leia provides a wonderful example of both the Freudian concepts of male phallic fixation, a concept Lucas accepted in a manner slightly different than Freud, and ambivalence in relationships.

According to Lucas, a male develops the character traits Freud attributed to phallic fixation only when the conflict between father and son is unfulfilled, either through separation or avoidance of any conflict. Han provides the perfect example of these traits, and can do so according to Lucas since his father is no where around. The resulting anxiety from father-son conflict deprivation then becomes displaced onto women. While Freud would say these traits would arise due to an improper or incomplete identification of the male child with the father at age five, Lucas maintains this struggle will continue for the span of the child�s life. Inadequate expression will result in anxiety which will then cause the energy to shift onto women. Han Solo is the only character in the trilogy to actively flaunt any form of sexual behavior, which he does through his interactions with Leia.

Han demonstrates his strong phallic nature through his interactions with Leia on several occasions. His continual insisting that Leia must love him (or at least want to sleep with him) shows a need of constant recognition, while at the same time he demonstrates a great deal of pride (especially in his ship, the Millennium Falcon, which could be said to be a mental extension of his penis) and blind courage in the face of the enemy.

The second Freudian concept mentioned, that of ambivalence in relationships, is manifested primarily in Leia�s interactions with Han. Despite her continual expression of distaste for all of Han�s characteristics, Leia still finds herself drawn to him. She kisses him passionately once and later tells him she loves him (to which Han replied �I know,� showing further phallic tendencies). Leia demonstrates a simultaneous hatred and love for Han, which is the Freudian concept of ambivalence in relationships (5).

Later, after one of the Imperial Probe Droids / sperm cells succeeds in uniting with the correct planet and finding the rebel base, Luke�s father Darth Vader moves the fleet toward Hoth, which causes the rebels to evacuate their base. Once they have escaped, Luke continues on to a planet known as Degobah, where he meets with the one person ever to truly reject the dark side of the Force and quell his anxiety, the Jedi Master, Yoda.

Meanwhile, the Imperial Fleet chases the Millennium Falcon in order to kidnap Han Solo and use him as bait to lure Luke into a confrontation with his father. The Millennium Falcon enters an asteroid field, and eventually, Han decides to land the ship on a large asteroid and wait for the fleet to give up the chase. Han then pilots his ship / penis extension into an organic cavern, the throat of a giant alien, which serves to symbolize Leia�s vagina in Han�s unconscious mind. In this manner, even before he succeeded in �conquering� Leia, he has already obtained a form of carnal knowledge of her through sublimation (6) which would serve to quell the anxiety of gratifying the id�s sexual impulses. In Lucasian terms, Han has relieved some of his anxiety by mentally gratifying the dark side of the Force a little bit in sexual terms.

At this point, Luke has begun training with Yoda to learn how to ignore the demands of the id / dark side for gratification. During this training, he is told to enter a cave which is �possessed� by the dark side of the Force. While there, Luke encounters an image of Darth Vader which he proceeds to behead with his light saber / phallic symbol. Vader�s head comes to a stop and explodes, revealing Luke�s face. The scene is highly symbolic of the unity between the father and the son, even though Luke is ignorant of the relationship at this time. His presence in Vader�s helmet serves to illustrate the control the id / dark side still has over Luke.

Later in the film, Han and Leia are captured by Darth Vader and are used to bring Luke to a confrontation with his father. During their battle, the clash between father and son, between id and superego, is shown in a dramatic and visually stunning clashing of phallic symbols. As the battle wages on, it becomes obvious to the viewer that Luke has yet to reject his id, as he begins to use anger to attack his father. During his blind rage, Luke becomes unfocused, and Darth Vader seizes the opportunity, using his light saber to sever Luke�s hand from his body�along with Luke�s phallic symbol. Darth Vader has succeeded in symbolically castrating his son, and the conflict may well be over.

At this point, Darth Vader tells Luke that he is indeed Luke�s father. In a classic example of denial, Luke cannot believe what he has just been told, and chooses to jump to a possible death rather than join his father. �I�ll never join you!� he shouts at his father, �Never!� as if to say, �I would rather die than give up the struggle between us, between the id and superego. I will never give into my impulses!�

Luke jumps, but catches himself at the bottom of a long tunnel symbolizing the birth canal hanging from the cloud city where the confrontation has taken place. In this manner, Luke has been reborn to again engage his father in the struggle and to try again to control the impulses of the id, or to deny the dark side of the Force. He is rescued from the bottom of the city by Leia and is given an artificial hand. Soon, he will regain his confidence, construct a new light saber, and confront his father again.

Lucasian psychoanalytic theory revises Freudian views into a more universal conflict between good and evil, something that applies to everyone and connects everyone, rather like Jung�s collective unconscious. While most people only see the Star Wars movies as expressions of a talented producer, the careful watcher and trained psychoanalyst can�t help but see the Lucasian view of the human mind and the universe shining through.