Without John Carter There Would Be No Star Wars

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Without John Carter There Would Be No Star Wars
February 17, 2012
by Jesse Schedeen
IGN

Star Wars. Avatar. Star Trek. These are some of the titans when it comes to popular science fiction franchises. But 100 years ago, science fiction was still in its infancy, and a hero named John Carter enjoyed the sort of popularity that characters like Luke Skywalker and Captain Kirk do today.

Carter is the hero of many of Edgar Rice Burroughs' Barsoom novels, which explore life on a dying version of Mars. Burroughs (who also created Tarzan) may not have invented the science fiction genre, but his books played a monumental role in building and shaping what fans expect from it. It's rare to see a sci-fi story that isn't influenced in some way by the Barsoom novels. And with a John Carter movie hitting theaters early next month, we figured now was the perfect time to explore how various sci-fi films have been influenced by and continued the legacy of John Carter.

John Carter: The First Sci-Fi Hero


Interstellar Romance


Love knows no bounds for science fiction heroes, even across the cold depths of space. A major focus of the first Barsoom novel, A Princess of Mars (and the upcoming movie adaptation), is the growing bond between Earthman John Carter and Martian princess Dejah Thoris.


Many sci-fi adventures provide the hero with a woman to fight for, or at least focus plenty of attention on Earthmen wooing pretty ladies with unusual skin tones. That's pretty much Captain Kirk's secondary mission in Star Trek.


However, the John Carter/Dejah Thoris relationship most reminds us of the romance in James Cameron's Avatar. As in Avatar, it's a relationship that builds from two strangers (one of them a soldier from another world) attempting to understand one another, and it grows during the looming threat of war. Various physical and existential divides threaten to keep the two apart, but in the end, love prevails.

The Space Western


Even as Burroughs was doing his part to build the science fiction genre, he was also becoming the first author to merge science fiction and Western elements. John Carter is a hero who wouldn't be out of place in a Wild West movie. He's an ex-Confederate soldier who headed west after the Civil War to seek his fortune as a gold prospector. He even battles a tribe of Apache warriors before his fateful journey to Barsoom.


The comparisons don't end there. Burroughs depicted Mars/Barsoom as a dying planet with a desert environment. Resources like water are scarce. Carter's battles with the native Martians aren't so different from his experiences back home, even if the technology and weaponry have received significant upgrades.


Today, a number of popular films and TV series have sought to blend science fiction with Westerns. Joss Whedon's short-lived Firefly features a crew of space-faring heroes who live in a very grungy, lawless galaxy. The popular anime series Cowboy Bebop follows a similar crew of rugged bounty hunters who seek fortune and adventure as humanity slowly begins expanding throughout the solar system. They'd have found a kindred spirit in the rough and tumble John Carter.

Man Into Superman


Many of the John Carter trailers show the hero battling fearsome aliens several times his size and making great leaps impossible for a normal human. If you were wondering how this is possible, it's because Burroughs used then-contemporary theories about the Martian environment to provide Carter with enhanced abilities.


In Burroughs' vision of Mars, the planet is dying but still relatively hospitable to human life. Carter's boosted strength comes from the planet's low gravity. Despite his relatively small stature, he can easily out-wrestle most indigenous warriors and leap dozens of feet into the air. Not exactly scientifically accurate, but that's the early 20th Century for you.


This is similar to how Superman was portrayed in his early appearances. The hero was "Faster than a speeding bullet. More powerful than a locomotive. Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound," because Earth's gravitational pull was so much lower than on his native planet of Krypton. Today, Superman's powers are explained by a combination of lower gravity and his body's ability to absorb solar radiation, but the basic concept remains the same.

Strange Creatures


When Burroughs started writing the Barsoom series, no one really knew what strange forms life might take on other planets. We still don't. But these books popularized the idea of alien creatures who were vaguely reminiscent of Earth creatures, only bigger, meaner, and more imposing. Green Martians may be twice the height of a human and sport double the arms, but there's still something recognizable and humanoid in their physical makeup.


As for Red Martians like the literary Dejah Thoris, the only thing that separates them from humans is their red skin. The idea of aliens all following the basic humanoid form is one that has cropped up in everything from Star Trek to Star Wars to Avatar.


In the first novel, John Carter is thrown into gladiatorial combat against fearsome Martian creatures and elite warriors. This entire sequence is a very direct inspiration for the arena battle in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones. Just like John Carter in a galaxy far, far away, Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi battled vicious monsters for the amusement of the local populace. Only their extraordinary powers saved them from being devoured.

Culture Shock


One popular sci-fi trope is that of a humble Earthling being whisked away from his home planet and exposed to a strange new galactic civilization. The "fish out of water" scenario is a fundamental conflict in many Barsoom novels as Carter and other characters learn more about the culture and hidden secrets of Mars.


It wasn't long before the Barsoom novels began to inspire similar sci-fi adventures. Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon were two heroes who debuted in the pulp era and who were direct results of Carter's popularity. Both men hailed from Earth, with Buck even being a war veteran like Carter. In the case of Buck Rogers, exposure to a gas caused him to fall into suspended animation for almost 500 years and awaken to a very different sort of civilization. Flash Gordon, meanwhile, travels by rocket ship to the planet Mongo and battles the evil emperor Ming the Merciless.


Carter's method of transport to Mars is also reminiscent of another sci-fi classic. Carter's real body remains behind on Earth, while the body that arrives on Mars is an astral projection. That's not unlike 2001: A Space Odyssey, where astronaut Dave Bowman is transported across space by a mysterious monolith. And when he arrives among the unseen makers of the monolith, his body transforms into the highly evolved Star-Child.

Fighting for the Aliens


The political climate on Barsoom is a tumultuous one. The planet is slowly drying up and withering away. Only by piping in water from the polar ice caps and maintaining a system of oxygen generators can the Red Martians maintain a livable environment. The idea of a noble race fighting to stave off the inevitable decline of the world is not unlike the plight of the elves in The Lord of the Rings.


But the idea of an outside hero finding a new home on an alien planet and taking part in their ongoing war is very reminiscent of Avatar. James Cameron has never been shy about acknowledging the comparison either. Like Jake Sully in Avatar, John Carter is initially greeted with mistrust by the locals, but eventually becomes accepted into their ranks and aids in their war.


Also like Sully, Carter is held back by his inability to become truly one with his new people. For Sully, it's that he only temporarily inhabits an artificial alien body. For Carter, there are periods where he is unwillingly sent back to Earth to inhabit his real body.

The Princess and the Rebellion


On Barsoom, Red Martian Princess Dejah Thoris is a leader to her people and a figurehead for the war effort. This reminds us an awful lot of Princess Leia in the original Star Wars trilogy (and to a lesser extent, her mother Padme in the prequels). Both women are strong, capable and charismatic. Both also happen to find love from an unexpected source. In the end, John Carter is as much Han Solo as he is Luke Skywalker.


Both Dejah Thoris and Princess Leia are also renowned for their beauty. Dejah Thoris could be considered sci-fi's original pinup girl. Thanks to her exotic appearance and revealing attire, Dejah Thoris remains a popular subject for a variety of fantasy and comic book artists. Likewise, while Leia dressed modestly in the first two Star Wars films, she became the object of fanboy desire in Return of the Jedi thanks to her skimpy slave girl outfit.


But Dejah Thoris took things one step further. As portrayed by Burroughs, the natives of Barsoom don't wear clothing, only a series of decorative jewelery and the occasional piece of armor. It's a fashion trend that John Carter adapts to surprisingly well for a Civil War-era Southern gentleman. For obvious reasons, this aspect of Barsoomian culture tends to be downplayed when adapting the stories for comics or film. (Sorry for those of you expecting to see Lynn Collins in her birthday suit.)

So keep in mind when you go to see John Carter on March 9th the debt we owe Burroughs' creation for the sci-fi we all enjoy today.