Star Wars is a popular franchise that consists of multiple popular films such as “A New Hope” and “ The Empire Strikes Back”. In this paper, I will mainly discuss how the film “The Phantom Menace” was influenced by the Bible, a book that is worshipped by many people such as those who follow Judaism and those that follow one of the many denominations of Christianity.
Star Wars: The Phantom Menace is an extremely popular film amongst many adults and children alike. The film grossed over a billion dollars which is really rare in most contemporary films, especially in the late 1900’s. The film portrayed an interesting dualistic theme which is popular in many contemporary films. The Star Wars franchise consisted of the Sith and the Jedi, where the Sith was trying to conquer the universe and have it support them, while the Jedi are trying to form peace throughout the universe.
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There are multiple evidence that connects the film to the Holy Bible. One piece of evidence would be the birth of Anakin. The birth of Anakin, according to the Star Wars canon, was a virgin birth, meaning that Shmi Skywalker (Anakin’s Birth Mother) gave birth to Anakin without the association of a male. As stated in the article by Amelia Hill (2019), who is a journalist and a life-long Star Wars aficionado, “In 'Episode I: The Phantom Menace,' Shmi Skywalker tells Qui-Gon Jinn that Anakin had no father, and she 'can't explain what happened.'”. This is parallel to the Bible because Jesus was also born without the association of a male partner, however, Jesus is adopted by Joseph the Carpenter to be his Step-son, just as Skywalker is adopted by Obi Wan Kenobi to be his Padawan. Christians believe that the Virgin Mary was conceived by the Holy Spirit, this similar situation occurred in “The Phantom Menace” just as stated by Hill, “Qui-Gon theorized that Anakin was conceived by midi-chlorians—microscopic organisms that help Jedi connect to the Force.” Richard Bruce (2018), who has a PhC (in the process of obtaining a doctorate in philosophy), claims that “the Force plays a role somewhat similar to God in the Star Wars universe this looks like a clear reference to the Virgin Birth of Christ”, which agrees to the argument that the birth of Anakin Skywalker was influenced by the Birth of Jesus Christ through the Virgin Mary.
Another piece of evidence that shows that Star Wars: The Phantom Menace shows parallelism to the Bible is that both Anakin Skywalker and Jesus Christ were both prophesied to be the “Chosen One”. The Jedi had a prophecy that “A Chosen One shall come, born of no father, and through him will ultimate balance in the Force be restored.” (Pearson 2019) Anakin was found in Tatooine by Qui-Gon Jinn who calls him the Chosen One, the one to bring balance to the world. Before his dying breath, in the actual script Jinn says “He is the chosen one... he will... bring balance... train him!” to Obi Wan Kenobi referring to Anakin Skywalker (each ellipsis is a pause, not a paraphrase). Jesus was also considered to be the Chosen One and fulfilled many prophecies such as in 2 Samuel 7:12-13, Nathan speaking to King David, 'When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever”. Which connects to Matthew 1:1, “This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham”.
Another piece of evidence of Star Wars being influenced by Bible is at Tatooine, when the Jedis Qui-Gon Jinn and Kenobi and also Queen Amidala visit Skywalker, that can be parallel to the visit of the 3 Kings and how both traveled long distances to meet a child, recognized as the chosen one (Bruce 2018). And also, the chasing down of Darth Maul and Herod’s persecution of all the children in Bethlehem in order to kill Jesus also shows some resemblance.
Another piece of evidence that The Phantom Menace is influenced by the Bible is that both Anakin Skywalker and Jesus had humble beginnings in their story, and as they went on, they formed a higher reputation through the use of their skills and talents. Anakin’s story begins similarly to Jesus’, he was sold into slavery with his mother and is owned by Watto, who forces Anakin to work at his shop that repairs machines. The Birth of Jesus also contains a humble beginning, Billy Graham (2016) states that “Jesus was born in the humblest place imaginable: an ordinary stable. After He was born His mother, Mary, had to place Him in a feeding trough; she and Joseph were too poor to afford a cradle.” The Man that is considered God by Christians was born in a place filled with animal feces. Anakin was a child prodigy who was really skilled and talented in pod racing as well as mechanic engineering, he even built a robot named C3PO which he later gifts to Padme Amidala. Similarly, Jesus obtains a high reputation at a young age using his intellect, in Luke 2:47 “ Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. ” Also, in Luke 2:52, “ And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.” A significant phrase in this verse is “in favor with God and man”, meaning that men that knew him grew to like him, because of his growth in wisdom and stature.
In conclusion, The Phantom Menace is a cultural film that has been heavily influenced by the Bible, and in fact even shows many examples of relativism such as the Virgin birth of the Mother Mary and in the film Shmi Skywalker, the prophecy of the Chosen One that becomes fulfilled by both Jesus and Anakin Skywalker, as well as the beginnings of their story is very humble.
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