"Use the Force"

Part I: Defamiliarization 

In this photo: A man, dressed in black garb, stands at the center of a confrontation. He has buttons on his chest and, overall, looks like a robot. His mask hides his face. He is assessing the situation before him. To his left and behind him, there are men in white garb that also look like robots. Their masks hide their faces. The one closest to the man in black garb is carrying his gun at the ready. The white man furthest from the man in black garb is facing to the right as if to communicate with one of the other, several, men in white-robot-esque garb. In addition to the men in white robotic garb and the man in black in the foreground, there lie men in white robotic garb in addition to men, without masks, dead on the floor. There seems to have been a violent confrontation that has ended in death of two different factions of men; the men with masks have won it seems. The setting is one of the inside of a space vessel. It has several compartments on its vertical, left and right walls, while a series of two bright lights lines the ceiling. Red lights are obscured by smoke-possibly left from the gunfire of the confrontation.

Works Cited

http://www.galacticbinder.com/images/vaderfirst1.jpg

Part II: Semiotic Analysis--what meaning the signs carry in the photo

First off, we can look at the images in the picture to determine what they represent to us. The setting, for one, is white. White, in the photo, most likely represents a sterility associated with the inside of a spaceship in which our characters operate; The ship's walls are plastered with buttons and compartments which reveal that every inch of the ship has a function, a purpose. Furthermore, the ship's interior could symbolize the need Mankind to make everything useful for the greater good of his race--man---in a purely utilitarian and industrial sense. Also, the bright, fluorescent light in the ceiling adds additional effect to this sense of sterility, but also symbolizes the clarification of power--that is, that there is always a power struggle involved in space in this context, Star Wars. On a basic level the ratio of dead humans to dead Stormtroopers symbolizes the growing concern that technology is vehemently replacing humanitarianism, that the Empire (Capitalism/ the Ruling Class) is coming to rise. Notice the hazy hue being cut by the fluorescent light above, as well; it symbolizes a growing clarification of the ruling class, who has the power if you will, after war. Darth Vader, the villainous black figure represents not only the transition from organic life innate in mankind transforming/being outweighed by the rise of avarice, power, monarchy, technology (Vader is half man and half machine)--he also, represents the evil side of the coexistence of good and evil in the photo. Also, his color, black, denotes his status among his soldiers, the white Stormtroopers, in the image; For him black symbolizes a higher level of military status, evil, and power, while the white Stormtroopers are all the same color--this has the effect of making each Stormtrooper seem generic, as one arbitrary and faceless and indistinguishable face/personality/motive/function among many. This also makes sense considering that the white Stormtroopers have no capes, while Vader, the most powerful figure in the picture, does; the cape denotes power, military status, and strength for Vader. The men on the floor, whose faces are visible, represent the decline of what is natural, organic, and good in humanity in a space-time war; the fact that they, too, are wearing the same uniforms reveals that they, like Vader and his croons, employ military status in times of war. In contrast to Vader and his army, the fallen "men", here, are dressed in simpler and more basic, less technologically advanced garb; this difference symbolizes the dominance of a technologically more advanced Empire over the democratic and humanitarian efforts of simpler men dressed in simpler attire. Altogether, semiotically speaking, the photo is a glimpse into symbols in imagery--it's a statement on the decline of humanity at the foot of technology and power; it's a glimpse into Darwinism and Marxism: the stronger--in this case, technologically more advanced and powerful--force will dominate the lesser advanced despite intent.

Works Cited

http://www.galacticbinder.com/images/vaderfirst1.jpg