Why Is 'Star Wars' Called A Space Opera?
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What does the word “opera” mean to you? Does it conjure up images of orchestral music, with singers giving it their all? Does it imply complicated storylines with numerous twists and turns? If you're thinking about literal operas and soap operas, you’ve come to the wrong place. We here at Culture Slate are going to ask a simple question, one that has been in our minds for about a week: Why is 'Star Wars' called a space opera? We think we can give you an answer. Before we can, however, we should probably explain what a space opera is.
According to Wikipedia, a space opera is, “a subgenre of science fiction that emphasizes science fictional space warfare, with use of melodramatic, risk-taking space adventures, relationships, and chivalric romance.” This subgenre developed in the first half of the 20th century, with author E. E. “Doc” Smith being considered its father. Though initially considered a pejorative, many science fiction fans would come to embrace the name in the years to come. You can see numerous examples of this subgenre in our popular culture.
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Let’s look at an example from the second half of the 20th century, Star Trek. These shows don’t always have warfare, but there are plenty of “risk-taking adventures” and “chivalric romance” to go around, though the amount varies depending on which incarnation you are watching. Star Trek is one of the most famous science fiction franchises out there, second only (arguably) to Star Wars, so it is on a lot of people’s minds. In fact, Star Trek probably helped paved the way for Star Wars, in spite of their apparent rivalries. That history is fascinating thought to think about.
Now that that’s out of the way, on to the question at hand. First we will look at the first part of the definition, space warfare. Star Wars has it in the name; the fight against the Empire forms the heart of the conflict of the original trilogy, while the Clone Wars and Rebellion were similar events in the prequel and sequel trilogies. “Melodramatic, risk-taking adventures”? There are plenty of those to be had, from Luke Skywalker and crew’s rescue of Princess Leia, to the Boonta Eve Classic podrace. One only needs to quote Darth Vader’s, “I am your father,” to understand that relationships are a big part of the Skywalker Saga. Though we’d hardly call the romance chivalric, there were several romance subplots throughout the series. There’s no questioning it, Star Wars isn’t just a space opera, it’s the most famous space opera in existence!
Much like Star Wars was inspired by various films that George Lucas saw, it has inspired many to create their own space operas. Whenever you see an evil empire in science fiction, it’s likely inspired (at least in part) by the Galactic Empire. While Coruscant wasn’t the first Ecumenopolis, it did introduce the concept to new audiences, and has likely inspired dozens of other fictional Ecumenopoli in science fiction. Every time someone makes a joke about being someone’s father, or says “These are not the X you’re looking for,” they’re likely quoting Star Wars. That is what we meant when we said it was the most famous space opera.
That’s all the time we have. We’ll return to the unknown regions of the internet, but before we go, we have just one more question: can you think of any other space operas?
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Source: Wikipedia