Twenty-first-century Star Wars

Author(s):  
Stacey Peebles
Author(s):  
Garret Castleberry

This essay examines the culture circulating around late twentieth century and early twenty-first century media franchising with special emphasis on the Star Wars film canon. It charts the emergence of fan studies as one way in which scholars may assess, investigate, and theorize about audience responses to film franchises like Star Wars. It places special emphasis on anti-fan behaviors, introducing the dualistic terms fascistic fandom and franchise fascism as ways to denote the increased intensity of industry practices and fan resistance. Ultimately, I contend that parodic entertainments like Mel Brooks's satirical sci-fi features Spaceballs use the lens of comedy to accurately predict the zealous movement of large Hollywood studios toward a franchise-based distribution model. Furthermore, Disney's acquisition and subsequent mass distribution of Star Wars as an inclusive and ongoing transmedia global franchise presents a twenty-first century case study in understanding franchise fascism as an important primer to anti-fan behaviors.


2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Perri Six ◽  
Nick Goodwin ◽  
Edward Peck ◽  
Tim Freeman

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-73
Author(s):  
Eliza Preston

This article explores what the work of Sigmund Freud has to offer those searching for a more spiritual and philosophical exploration of the human experience. At the early stages of my psychotherapy training, I shared with many peers an aversion to Freud’s work, driven by a perception of a mechanistic, clinical approach to the human psyche and of a persistent psychosexual focus. This article traces my own attempt to grapple with his work and to push through this resistance. Bettelheim’s (1991) treatise that Freud was searching for man’s soul provides a more sympathetic lens through which to explore Freud’s writing, one which enabled me to discover a rich depth which had not previously been obscured. This article is an account of my journey to a new appreciation of Freud’s work. It identifies a number of challenges to Bettelheim’s argument, whilst also indicating how his revised translation allowed a new understanding of the relevance of Freud’s work to the modern reader. This account may be of interest to those exploring classical psychotherapeutic literature as well as those guiding them through that process.


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