Anakin Skywalker, Star Wars and the Trouble with Boys
in Boyhood Studies
Author:
and
Pamela Bettis
Pamela Bettis
Washington State University bettis@wsu.edu
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Brandon Sternod
Brandon Sternod
California State University, Stanislaus bsternod@csustan.edu
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Scholars claim that the six films comprising the Star Wars epic are the United States’ most important modern myth. The films have meaning for contemporary lives and serve as reflections of the fears, anxieties, and hopes surrounding what many perceive to be a crisis of masculinity manifested in the current boy crisis. This article describes how the films explore possibilities for a different kind of boyhood and how they contribute to understanding competing explanations for the boy crisis.