Angels and demons dancing in my head
Lunatics and monsters underneath my bed
Media messiahs playing on my fears
Pop culture prophets playing in my ears
-- Neil Peart, “Totem”
George Lucas and Sam Raimi express starkly contrasting views of romantic love in regard to their central heroes in their respective recent films, Lucas’ Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace and Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, and Raimi’s Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2. For Lucas, romantic (and even filial) love represents a dangerous temptation to “attachment” and “possession” and a desire to use power to control the world. For Raimi, on the other hand, romantic and filial love are as essential to the hero as oxygen -- and without which the hero cannot be a hero.
Both heroes, Lucas’ Anakin Skywalker and Raimi’s Peter Parker/Spider-Man, share a number of similarities. They’re both raised by strong women/mother figures (Shmi for Anakin, Aunt May for Peter Parker), both have strong father-like relationships with a mentor figure (Uncle Ben for Peter Parker, and Obi-Wan -- ironically also later known as “Ben” -- for Anakin), and both have life-long and similar crushes on their love interests, Padmé Naberrie and Mary Jane Watson.
Their crushes begin as children at first meeting. When Anakin meets Padmé, his first words to her are, “Are you an angel?” Similarly a six-year-old Peter, upon first seeing his love interest, Mary Jane Watson, move in next door, Peter asks his Aunt May, about Mary Jane, “[I]s that an angel?”
Interestingly enough, both of these first meetings also link the romantic object to the mother figure. But Peter is able to bring his relationship with Aunt May to an adult level before consummating his relationship with Mary Jane, while Anakin is never able to fully bring his relationship with his mother to an appropriate level before she dies.
In The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Joseph Campbell described the necessity of the rite of passage into adulthood:
The so-called rites of passage…are distinguished by the formal, and usually very severe, exercises of severance, where by the mind is radically cut away from the attitudes, attachments, and life patterns of the stage being left behind. Then follows an interval of more or less extended retirement, during which are enacted rituals designed to introduce the life adventurer to the forms and proper feelings of his new estate, so that when, at last, the time has ripened for the return to the normal world, the initiate will be as good as reborn. (Campbell, 1968, 10)
Although neither formal nor ritual, Peter’s revelation to Aunt May about his role in Uncle Ben’s death (omitting his identity as Spider-Man), enacts this separation. After which, Peter retires to isolation, and finally, eventually reconciles with his Aunt, but in a different relationship than what had gone before. And this change allows Peter to embark on an adult, non-Oedipal romantic relationship with Mary Jane.
For both boys, their love object remains out of reach for most of their childhood and adolescence. For Anakin, the restrictions of the Jedi Order prevent him even from speaking to Padmé. Social status -- his as a “geek” or “nerd” and Mary Jane’s as the popular girl -- prevents Peter from even speaking to Mary Jane (even though she lives next door), let alone having an opportunity to date her. For both men, this changes as they come into their own with their powers, and make the transition from boy to man. Anakin re-connects with Padmé when he and Obi-Wan are assigned to protect her from assassins -- and this is the first time we see Anakin as a Jedi. Peter connects with Mary Jane at the first use of his powers -- his use of his spider-sense to know that she’s about to slip and fall, and his use of speed and coordination to save her.
Both men believe that a romantic attachment is by definition incompatible with their chosen lives -- Jedi for Anakin, superhero for Peter. Anakin describes the restrictions placed on him as a Jedi: “Attachment is forbidden. Possession is forbidden.” Obi-Wan elaborates, when Anakin confides his attraction to Padmé: “You’ve made a commitment to the Jedi Order -- a commitment not easily broken.” That romance is incompatible with a Jedi’s life -- and in fact dangerous to Jedi is a central axiom of Episode II -- and confirmed not only by events in the movie as they unfold (and presumably unfold in Episode III), but also by Lucas’ statements in the comment track of the DVD. Lucas conflates the fear aspect of infatuation (as opposed to the security and comfort of love) with the kinds of fear that can lead to abuse of power. That fear is an integral part of infatuation has been empirically observed:
[U]nderlying all of this angst and ecstasy was unmitigated fear… Most of Tennov’s informants reported trembling, pallor, flushing, a general weakness, and overwhelming sensations of awkwardness… Shyness, fear of rejection, anticipation, an longing for reciprocity were the central sensations of infatuation (Fisher, 1992, 39-40)
Lucas notes that “possession” leads to jealousy, and leads to fear of loss, which leads to the attempt to use power to control the universe -- for Lucas, the Dark Side.
For Peter Parker -- his opening narration in Spider-Man 2 expresses his belief that his similar powers place similar restrictions on him: “I made a choice once to live a life of responsibility. A life [Mary Jane] can never be a part of.” That his chosen “profession” is the reason he believes he can’t be with Mary Jane, too, rings more true than the other explanation he gives -- that her life would be in danger. In both Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2, Peter’s battles with his super-nemeses -- whether they know his identity (as the Green Goblin/Norman Osborn did) or not -- place both Mary Jane and Aunt May in mortal danger. Each super-villain first attacks Aunt May, and then abducts Mary Jane, drawing Peter into a final confrontation. If Peter’s desire is to safeguard Mary Jane, he’s 0 for 2 -- his plan is clearly not working. Something else is at work, and his opening narration ultimately fits better than his more public explanations.
The true source of his belief that his noble life and romance are incompatible comes from his foster parents -- Uncle Ben and Aunt May. In his imagination, Peter confronts the memory of his Uncle Ben with his love for Mary Jane, and his choice to abandon being Spider-Man. Uncle Ben says, “Of all the times we talked of honesty, fairness, justice. A lot of those times I counted on you to have the courage to take those dreams out into the world… You’ve been given a gift, Peter. With great power, comes great responsibility.” But even more, the idea finds deeper expression with Aunt May -- in a speech she gives Peter (after, I believe, she’s realized that Peter is Spider-Man, although the movie itself is ambiguous on that point), she says, “I believe there’s a hero in all of us…even though sometimes we have to be steady, and give up the thing we want the most. Even our dreams.”
Where the track of these two heroes split is how their directors view the effects of romance on them. Interestingly, in both Episode II and Spider-Man 2, both Anakin and Peter twice lose the totemistic symbols of their powers -- Anakin losing his lightsaber, and Peter losing his webbing. In both cases, these losses occur in proximity with developments in their relationships with their love interests. Within hours of reuniting for the first time with Padmé, Anakin loses his lightsaber during the chase with Zam Wessel. The second time he loses his lightsaber is on the rescue operation on Geonosis -- undertaken in cooperation with Padmé.
For Peter -- it is the absence of Mary Jane that causes his webbing (a biological function) to fail him. The first time is after witnessing Mary Jane kissing her then-boyfriend John Jameson. The second time is immediately after witnessing the announcement of Mary Jane’s engagement to the same Captain Jameson. Even after Aunt May’s speech, when Peter wants to unmake his choice to be Spider-Man no more, he physically can’t without Mary Jane. He attempts to test his powers -- to test leaping from building to building -- a simple feat when his spider-powers are functional. Instead, he ends up literally on his back.
(As an aside -- it might be noted that both the lightsaber and the webbing can be seen as symbols of male sexuality. The lightsaber as phallus, and the biologically-created webbing as a stand-in for another substance secreted by the male body. The loss of both of these symbols would represent a rendering of impotence -- but with opposite causes in each case.)
Both men, similarly, face what they believe to be a moment of choice between their heroic careers and their love interests. Although Peter seems to be given more time to think about it than Anakin. For Anakin, the key moment comes on the clone trooper transport after Padmé falls out. He wants to stop and tend to her, and Obi-Wan tells him that if he does, he will be expelled from the Jedi Order. Faced with this choice, Anakin ultimately chooses to follow his commitment to duty -- as he believes Padmé would do in his place.
And leaving the Jedi Order, although “not easy” in Obi-Wan’s words, is possible. We learn early in the movie that Count Dooku -- once an accomplished Jedi -- left the Order for personal and political reasons. Although it turns out that Dooku left to join the Dark Side and become Sith, the Jedi do not know this. This establishes that withdrawing from the Order -- although rare -- is an option that would be open to Anakin, but one he decides against.
Peter, on the other hand, spends an agonized night trying to decide between what he sees as his possibility for a normal life, and his super responsibility. He dreams of his deceased Uncle Ben (Uncle Ben’s murder -- in which a newly-empowered Peter failed to take an opportunity to stop the thief who then murdered Ben -- serves as the root cause of Peter’s original choice to be a superhero) who tries to convince him not to abandon his life as Spider-Man. Peter makes the opposite choice -- at that point -- from Anakin. He decides to be “Spider-Man no more,” and to pursue both a “normal” life, and Mary Jane.
To further the split, Padmé’s being in danger causes Anakin to act recklessly when he and Obi-Wan confront Count Dooku, resulting in the loss of his right arm -- another image of emasculation.
On the other hand, Doc Ock’s abduction of Mary Jane brings Peter’s spider-abilities back to full power, apparently permanently (symbolized by Peter’s final abandonment of his glasses).
But the most profound difference is the circumstances of the fulfillment of the relationships, when the women in the heroes’ lives announce their decisions to start romantic relationships.
Padmé’s confesses her love to Anakin as they’re both being led into the Geonosian arena to be executed. But more than that -- her reason for admitting her feelings then is that it no longer matters -- that the danger of destroying their lives is moot, as their lives are about to end anyway. “I thought we had decided not to fall in love, that we would be forced to live a lie and that it would destroy our lives,” Anakin says to her. She replies, “I think our lives are about to be destroyed anyway.” And, without either of them knowing that Mace Windu and a troop of Jedi (and clone troopers) are on their way, the threat of death is entirely credible at that point. Her admission comes within the shadow of imminent death on an insect-infested, industrial desert planet.
On the other hand, Mary Jane (after leaving Captain Jameson at the altar), tells Peter that she won’t take his “no” for an answer is in the bloom of life. We see her, on her way to Peter’s apartment, running in her wedding gown through a Madison Square Park in mid-Spring bloom, with a fountain running full-splash behind her. And her confession to Peter could not contrast more with Padmé’s to Anakin: “It’s wrong that we should only be half alive -- half of ourselves,” she says. And then, “Isn’t it about time somebody saved your life?” She argues that Peter’s choice between being with her and being Spider-Man is a false dichotomy. And not only can he have both, he should.
One note here, though. I’ve observed that Mary Jane’s confession of love is in the context of living Spring, but Peter’s confession of love to Mary Jane would appear to take place, like Padmé’s, in the shadow of death. While holding up a wall that had been about to crash on Mary Jane, Peter says, “[I]n case we die…” and Mary Jane finishes, “You do love me.” But unlike the prelude to the arena on Geonosis, this threat of death isn’t credible. Both Peter and the audience know that he’s not really having serious trouble holding up the wall (the strain is nothing compared to, say, stopping the runaway L-train earlier in the movie), and that they will both survive. It is a sort of psychological trick on himself on Peter’s part. And as he’s got little to lose at that point, already having revealed his Spider-Man secret to her.
As for the future implications of the consummation of these two relationships, it remains to be seen exactly how both will play out in their respective third sequels. But the implication -- from both the trailer and from some comments from Lucas on the Episode II DVD -- is that Anakin’s marriage to Padmé will figure in his slide to the Dark Side.
On the other hand, for Peter Parker, the implication is that his relationships both with Mary Jane and with his Aunt May will strengthen him, his spider-powers, and his commitment to bearing his great responsibility. J. Michael Straczynski, the current writer of the flagship (and founding) Spider-Man comic book title, Amazing Spider-Man, notes on the Spider-Man 2 DVD bonus featurette, “The Women of Spider-Man,” that “[Peter] got his powers from the spider bite, but he got his strength from Aunt May.”
In the current run of the Amazing Spider-Man comic book, when Peter is finally reconciled with Mary Jane after a long estrangement, he says,
I can do “all these things” [i.e., be Spider-Man] because you believe in me. Because you give me the strength and the will to get them done. Everything’s easier when you’re there and harder when you’re not. Without you, nothing works the way it should. But when I know you’re in my life, I feel like I can do anything, MJ. Anything. (Straczynski, Amazing Spider-Man, Volume 2, #50, 2002)
And although this story is external to Raimi’s films, I think it is ultimately consistent with the view of these two characters and their relationship.
For Sam Raimi’s Peter Parker/Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2 described a journey away from a false dichotomy between love and the hero’s life. While for George Lucas’ Anakin Skywalker, the journey toward romantic love will end in a tragic fall to the Dark Side.
Works Referenced:
Campbell, Joseph: The Hero With a Thousand Faces, Second Edition. Princeton University Press, 1968
Fisher, Helen: Anatomy of Love, Fawcett Columbine, 1992
Lee, Lifeson, Peart: “Totem,” on the Rush album Test for Echo, Atlantic Records, 1996
Lucas, George: Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Lucasfilm, 1999
Lucas, George: Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Lucasfilm, 2002
Lucas, George: Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones Commentary, Lucasfilm, 2003
Raimi, Sam: Spider-Man, Sony Pictures, 2002
Raimi, Sam: Spider-Man 2, Sony Pictures, 2004
Straczynski, J. Michael: Amazing Spider-Man. Vol. 2 #50, 2002
Straczynski, J. Michael, quoted in Spider-Man 2 DVD special features: “Women of Spider-Man,” Sony Pictures, 2004
