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Thomas Ellis

Dr. Waterhouse and Dr. Turk

History 289

December 3, 2019

Star Wars: A Cultural Handshake of the 1970s

1977 – America is three years removed from Watergate, two years removed from the end

of the Vietnam War, and they have just inaugurated a Washington outsider as President.

According to Pew, American trust in government hit 33% percent in March - an all-time low in

the history of the poll (Pew, 2019). Two months later, on May 25th, 20th Century Fox and George

Lucas released a film that would go on to become a zeitgeist of American culture. Star Wars

was a niche space opera that was largely expected to flop. The movies of the 1970s, like All the

President’s Men and Network, were gritty and dark; science fiction movies were seen as

children’s endeavors. Despite this, Star Wars was a hit at the box office. Adjusted for inflation,

the film only cost $45 million to produce, but it grossed almost $2 billion in its run on the silver

screen (Murphy, 2018). Star Wars and its success represented a new form of American cultural

expression in the face of the late-1970s malaise. The film arrived at the precisely correct

moment in history for its success: a post-Vietnam and Watergate moment in which old American

stories died and new stories were born that transcended political and geographical division

during uncertain times.

The Vietnam War marked a drastic change from the moral imperative of World War II,

and this change did not bode well for the mood of the American public towards the war. World

War II provided Americans with a clear enemy in both Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan. The
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nature of the attack on Pearl Harbor specifically rallied Americans in support of the war.

Vietnam had no such call to action. Americans saw no moral imperative towards intervening in

the affairs of a South-East Asian country that many of them had never heard of. Moreover, the

visceral images broadcasted home by television stations provided the public with a picture that

they did not have during World War II. The lack of a clear moral imperative was also

demonstrated in the number of Americans who conscientiously objected to the draft. The first

and second World Wars and the Korean War combined for only 86,000 conscientious objectors.

The same number for Vietnam was 170,000 plus the some 600,000 who illegally dodged the

draft (Waterhouse, 2019).

The release of the Pentagon Papers by leaker Daniel Ellsberg in 1971 further eroded the

American people’s trust in their government (Waterhouse, 2019). The Papers revealed extensive

lies told by the Johnson administration to the public in regards to the scope of U.S. involvement

in Vietnam. Without the knowledge of the media, the U.S. extended their bombing campaigns to

Laos and Cambodia and involved the United States Marine Corps in attacks in Vietnam. The

release of the papers, though mainly implicating Lyndon Johnson, deeply worried President

Nixon ahead of the 1972 election (Waterhouse, 2019). Of course, Nixon’s paranoia surrounding

the 1972 election would lead to the Watergate break-in. The one-two punch of the Pentagon

Papers and Watergate affected the American psyche for years to come.

In 1977, after a decade of war, inflation, and economic stagnation, Americans searched

for anything to bring them back to a mythic time of national unity and prosperity. Many

Americans looked back to 1963 for such a time. JFK’s short tenure as president meant that he

had little time to make truly divisive decisions. Moreover, his assassination solidified his near-

saintly position in the American mythos. While Kennedy was involved in Vietnam, his name
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was not nearly as associated with the conflict as Johnson’s. Nixon and Ford both had their

names muddied by Watergate. Thus, JFK was, seemingly, the last president not mired in

scandal.

Kennedy’s signature goal, the Apollo program, captured the imagination of Americans

and brought them together across geographical and political lines towards a common goal.

While the moon landings did not enjoy vast popular support prior to the first in 1969, Americans

have been fascinated with space since then (Hsu, 2011). The exploration of a new, unknown

horizon was something of a staple in American history. Space travel tapped the distinctly

American feeling of Manifest Destiny. These feelings of wonder and unity were not present

during the late 1970s, thought it was something that was sorely desired by a public that ached

from war and scandal. It is in this environment that Star Wars was released in 1977.

By the 1970s, science fiction was no longer viewed with the same fascination as it was

during earlier decades. Largely, science fiction was relegated to a children’s genre. Complex

films like The Godfather were what critics wanted to see, and they were a large part of the film

share during the decade. All the President’s Men dealt with the breaking of the Watergate

scandal by Washington Post reporters, something that was very fresh in the minds of Americans

when it released in 1976. The films that were designed to engage in a more fantastical

atmosphere were still grounded in reality. Overall, many films forced Americans to tackle tough

topics that they also had to face in the real world. Star Wars was predicated as an escape from

problems of the real world.

The plot of Star Wars presented no moral qualms to the American public. As they did in

World War II, Americans knew who the bad guys and good guys were. The plot of the film was

both expansive and self-contained, with director George Lucas launching the audience into a
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conflict on a galactic scale and allowing them to make sense of it. The idea of scrappy rebels

facing off against an expansive empire was not something Americans were unfamiliar with, after

all. The simplicity of the plot combined with stunning visuals and a grand score by John

Williams provided an easy to consume package for adults and children of all ages and walks of

life.

In the days and months after its release, Star Wars was a cultural handshake among

Americans. Those who had seen the movie shared a connection simply by virtue of having seen

the same film. The sheer popularity of the film meant that millions of Americans from east to

west shared this connection. “May the force be with you” became a moniker of this connection.

This connection came at an important time in American history, and it may not have been able to

come at any other time. The 1970s provided a unique environment for such a phenomenon to

occur. Had the film been released much earlier or much later, it likely would have been the flop

that everyone expected it to be.

Star Wars arrived on the cultural scene when a malaise had descended over American

life. WWII economic expansion had ended and the economy was stagnant, trust in the

government was at an all-time low, and Americans desperately needed an issue on which they

could unite (Waterhouse, 2019). Star Wars provided a simple conflict for digestion rather than

the complexities of Cold War conflicts. There were no grey areas in Star Wars; there was the

evil Empire and the good rebellion. The film also tapped into the mythos of American space

travel and fascination with space since the Apollo moon landing of 1969. Such a topic reminded

Americans of a time when they trusted the government led by President Kennedy, who was

martyred in 1963. Most importantly, Star Wars was fun. The film provided Americans with an

escape from everyday life and uncertain times. The success of Star Wars was a cultural
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expression against the greater themes of the 1970s, bringing in a new era of film and politics in

the 1980s and beyond.

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Works Cited

Hsu, Jeremy. The Myth of America's Love Affair with the Moon. 13 Jan. 2011,

https://www.space.com/10601-apollo-moon-program-public-support-myth.html.

McClintock, Pamela. 'Star Wars' Flashback: When No Theater Wanted to Show the Movie in

1977. 9 Dec. 2015, https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/star-wars-flashback-

no-theater-wanted-show-movie-1977-846864.

Murphy, Mike. The $11 Million Spent on "Star Wars" in 1977 Was the Best Film Investment

Ever Made. 4 May 2018, https://qz.com/990219/the-11-million-spent-on-star-wars-in-

1977-was-the-best-film-investment-ever-made/.

Pentagon Papers. https://www.archives.gov/research/pentagon-papers.

Public Trust in Government: 1958-2019. 29 May 2019,

https://www.people-press.org/2019/04/11/public-trust-in-government-1958-2019/.

Waterhouse, Benjamin. Vietnam and Anti-War. America in the 1970s. University of North

Carolina, Chapel Hill. 26 Aug. 2019. Lecture

Waterhouse, Benjamin. Watergate. America in the 1970s. University of North Carolina, Chapel

Hill. 30 Sep. 2019. Lecture

Waterhouse, Benjamin. 1972. America in the 1970s. University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

11 Sep. 2019. Lecture