5 Ways Star Wars Was Inspired by Asia

Hi, welcome to Off the Gridwall, I'm Mia, and today joining me is Chris Chappell from China Uncensored. Hi, folks. So, I don't know about you, but I'm pretty stoked about the new Star Wars movie. Yeah, me too. Actually, there are six upcoming movies, the sequel trilogy, and three spin-off movies. So to celebrate, we have a very special treat just for you. Star Wars has inspired generations of people, but what inspired Star Wars? Well, it turns out George Lucas got a lot of his inspiration from Asia. One of his biggest inspirations was actually Japanese film director Akira Kurosawa. In fact, Star Wars was originally supposed to be a remake of his 1958 film Hidden Fortress, before it underwent some pretty major revisions. Yeah, a lot of the shots are really similar, like these fight scenes. Even Darth Vader is modeled after the General from the film. But besides the influence of a Japanese filmmaker, Star Wars is also heavily influenced by various elements of Asian culture, especially Japan and China. So here are five ways Star Wars was inspired by Asia. Number five, the Force. Star Wars revolves around Jedi's mastering the Force. Here's the first thing we ever learn about it. The Force is what gives the Jedi his power. It's an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us, it penetrates us, it binds the galaxy together. That's a lot like the Chinese concept of qi. Yeah, see this guy? He's totally using the Force. Actually qi is a fundamental part of Taoism, the oldest native Chinese religion. According to traditional Chinese belief, qi is a substance that may be invisible in this dimension, but it surrounds us and can even be felt by people who are sensitive or train their skills. Mmm, like me. But in Star Wars, the Force has a dark side and a light side. That sounds a lot like the theory of yin and yang to me. Everything has its opposite, fire and water, light and dark, positive and negative. Though the whole light is good, dark is evil thing is more of a western concept. With yin and yang, neither side is better than the other. You need both for balance. Well technically, Anakin did bring balance to the Force. Number four, martial arts. Star Wars wouldn't be awesome without lightsaber battles. The lightsaber fighting style seems to be modeled after the Japanese katana sword fighting style. And the fighting stances too. Look familiar? Yeah, it was believed in the past that through proper training, a martial arts practitioner could develop what was called qing gong, or lightness technique. Though they say this technique was lost, kung fu movies and novels are full of people flying around. It's not lost. The Jedi use it. Yeah, but that was a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. Number three, costumes. From the very moment Darth Vader walks on screen, he looks like he means business. Part of the reason Vader looks so intimidating is his costume, which was heavily inspired by what Japanese samurai wore, only with a more spacey feel. With giant buttons on his chest for some reason. And then there's the robe Luke Skywalker wears, which totally looks like a karate gi. And let's not forget Queen Amidala from the prequels, whose outfit is inspired by geisha costumes. And Darth Maul, whose makeup looks a lot like a kabuki mask or a Peking opera mask. Number two, the master-disciple relationship. The relationship between a master and his disciple is very important throughout Asian history. Well, this happens in a lot of cultures, but especially traditional Chinese culture. There's this idea that a master would seek out the right boy to train and then take him on as his disciple, teaching him both fighting skills and spiritual concepts. Well, there's a reason why they went after Luke and not Leia. And this idea plays a central part with the Jedi in Star Wars. The council has granted me permission to train you. You will be a Jedi. I promise. When I first knew him, your father was already a great pilot, but I took it upon myself to train him as a Jedi. For a friend. I'm looking for a Jedi master. Jedi master? Yoda. You seek Yoda? You know him? In time, you will call me Master. And speaking of Jedi masters... Number one, Yoda. Who doesn't love our pointy-eared friend, Yoda? Uh, Senator Palpatine? Okay, besides Palpatine. Anyway, Yoda is totally inspired by Asian culture, specifically a Zen master. Speak in mysterious koans, he does. Do. Or do not. There is no try. I agree. Yoda is totally a Zen master. And what I like about Yoda is that he takes on the best aspects of Asian culture. The depth and the spirituality. As opposed to, say, the racist parts, like mixing up L's and R's? My lord, it's impossible to locate the ship. It's out of our range. Yeah, there aren't even any Asian actors in significant roles in the whole Star Wars series. To be fair, though, George Lucas did initially ask Japanese actor Toshiro Mifune to play Obi-Wan. But Mifune turned down because he thought it would be a kids' movie. Yeah, only kids like Star Wars. So those are 5 ways Star Wars was inspired by Asia. What do you guys think? And what do you expect to see from the new Star Wars movie coming out this month? Leave your comments below! I also want to thank Chris Chappell from China Uncensored for helping me with this episode and stepping in for Felicia. And be sure to check out his channel for an uncensored look at China today. Thanks for watching! Bye! Totally better than Felicia.