Thanks for Looking and Best of Luck with the Bidding!!
The Countries I Send to Include Afghanistan
* Albania * Algeria * American Samoa (US) * Andorra * Angola *
Anguilla (GB) * Antigua and Barbuda * Argentina * Armenia * Aruba (NL) *
Australia * Austria * Azerbaijan * Bahamas * Bahrain * Bangladesh *
Barbados * Belarus * Belgium * Belize * Benin * Bermuda (GB) * Bhutan *
Bolivia * Bonaire (NL) * Bosnia and Herzegovina * Botswana * Bouvet
Island (NO) * Brazil * British Indian Ocean Territory (GB) * British
Virgin Islands (GB) * Brunei * Bulgaria * Burkina Faso * Burundi *
Cambodia * Cameroon * Canada * Cape Verde * Cayman Islands (GB) *
Central African Republic * Chad * Chile * China * Christmas Island (AU) *
Cocos Islands (AU) * Colombia * Comoros * Congo * Democratic Republic
of the Congo * Cook Islands (NZ) * Coral Sea Islands Territory (AU) *
Costa Rica * Croatia * Cuba * Curaçao (NL) * Cyprus * Czech Republic *
Denmark * Djibouti * Dominica * Dominican Republic * East Timor *
Ecuador * Egypt * El Salvador * Equatorial Guinea * Eritrea * Estonia *
Ethiopia * Falkland Islands (GB) * Faroe Islands (DK) * Fiji Islands *
Finland * France * French Guiana (FR) * French Polynesia (FR) * French
Southern Lands (FR) * Gabon * Gambia * Georgia * Germany * Ghana *
Gibraltar (GB) * Greece * Greenland (DK) * Grenada * Guadeloupe (FR) *
Guam (US) * Guatemala * Guernsey (GB) * Guinea * Guinea-Bissau * Guyana *
Haiti * Heard and McDonald Islands (AU) * Honduras * Hong Kong (CN) *
Hungary * Iceland * India * Indonesia * Iran * Iraq * Ireland * Isle of
Man (GB) * Israel * Italy * Ivory Coast * Jamaica * Jan Mayen (NO) *
Japan * Jersey (GB) * Jordan * Kazakhstan * Kenya * Kiribati * Kosovo *
Kuwait * Kyrgyzstan * Laos * Latvia * Lebanon * Lesotho * Liberia *
Libya * Liechtenstein * Lithuania * Luxembourg * Macau (CN) * Macedonia *
Madagascar * Malawi * Malaysia * Maldives * Mali * Malta * Marshall
Islands * Martinique (FR) * Mauritania * Mauritius * Mayotte (FR) *
Mexico * Micronesia * Moldova * Monaco * Mongolia * Montenegro *
Montserrat (GB) * Morocco * Mozambique * Myanmar * Namibia * Nauru *
Navassa (US) * Nepal * Netherlands * New Caledonia (FR) * New Zealand *
Nicaragua * Niger * Nigeria * Niue (NZ) * Norfolk Island (AU) * North
Korea * Northern Cyprus * Northern Mariana Islands (US) * Norway * Oman *
Pakistan * Palau * Palestinian Authority * Panama * Papua New Guinea *
Paraguay * Peru * Philippines * Pitcairn Island (GB) * Poland *
Portugal * Puerto Rico (US) * Qatar * Reunion (FR) * Romania * Russia *
Rwanda * Saba (NL) * Saint Barthelemy (FR) * Saint Helena (GB) * Saint
Kitts and Nevis * Saint Lucia * Saint Martin (FR) * Saint Pierre and
Miquelon (FR) * Saint Vincent and the Grenadines * Samoa * San Marino *
Sao Tome and Principe * Saudi Arabia * Senegal * Serbia * Seychelles *
Sierra Leone * Singapore * Sint Eustatius (NL) * Sint Maarten (NL) *
Slovakia * Slovenia * Solomon Islands * Somalia * South Africa * South
Georgia (GB) * South Korea * South Sudan * Spain * Sri Lanka * Sudan *
Suriname * Svalbard (NO) * Swaziland * Sweden * Switzerland * Syria *
Taiwan * Tajikistan * Tanzania * Thailand * Togo * Tokelau (NZ) * Tonga
* Trinidad and Tobago * Tunisia * Turkey * Turkmenistan * Turks and
Caicos Islands (GB) * Tuvalu * U.S. Minor Pacific Islands (US) * U.S.
Virgin Islands (US) * Uganda * Ukraine * United Arab Emirates * United
Kingdom * United States * Uruguay * Uzbekistan * Vanuatu * Vatican City
* Venezuela * Vietnam * Wallis and Futuna (FR) * Yemen * Zambia *
Zimbabwe
A change in the force
When
I think of the term “A Hero’s Journey” the first image that comes to
mind is Luke Skywalker standing proudly holding an outstretched
lightsaber pointing to the stars with Princess Leia kneeling at his feet
clutching a blaster as depicted on the cover of the 1978 movie Star
wars IV: a New Hope. Like millions of other children, this film was,
unknowingly, my first introduction into the idea of heroic archetypes.
It
was a story of a hero’s awakening and the struggle between the forces
of light and dark, with glorious space battles, cocky space pirates and a
pretty princess. I would watch the VHS tape multiple times a day. It
had a very profound impact on my young mind and although the concept was
used many times before, it’s sci-fi themed setting was more than enough
to attract the attention millions of other kids and adults alike.
It
is well documented that George Lucas was heavily inspired by joseph
Campbell (1904-1987) and his work, The Hero with a Thousand Faces
(1949). In this Campbell outlines what he calls the hero’s journey; this
is a motif of adventure and personal transformation that is used in
nearly every culture’s mythical framework.
This is mirrored in A
New Hope where in act one of the hero’s journey we meet Luke Skywalker
who lives on the desert planet of Tatooine and works on his uncle’s
moisture farm. It is soon after we learn of Luke’s dreams of becoming a
pilot but is bound by his obligations to his uncle to help with the
harvest which will be ripe soon. When he receives the message contained
within the R2-D2 droid from a princess in obvious distress it serves as
his call to adventure and inspires his first steps on his journey which
will lead him to Obi Wan Kenobi, his future mentor. Luke initially
denies the call only changing his mind when his family and home are
destroyed, only then accepting the first stage of his journey which is
to rescue the princess.
The second act is generally when the hero
meets allies, enemies, undergoes life and death conflict and completes
the main task in his journey. This can be seen when Luke and Ben enlist
the services of rogues Han and Chewbacca and experience their first
confrontation with the evil empire. As Luke escapes Tatooine in search
of the princess on the planet Alderaan it is truly the beginning of his
journey as he ventures into space on his quest. Luke receives training
from Obi Wan and bonds with Han during this time and eventually meets
the princess by the end of act two.
Luke is also portraying
similar characteristics of the epic hero during this time, starting in
his humble beginnings as a farm boy to completing a task meant only for
him and displaying many ideals of the epic hero such as morals,
strength, faith, intelligence and bravery. While all these
characteristics are vital to fulfil the epic hero role, it is faith that
Luke must find in the force before he can truly achieve his heroic
status.
When Luke and the crew of the Millennium Falcon are
captured by the death star, the audience is unsure if they will succeed
in escaping and weather they rescue the princess along the way. Of
course our hero finds the princess and achieves the goal while nearly
being killed along the way. Luke escapes the death star and his task is
achieved.
Over the course of the second act Luke begins to
display the qualities of an epic hero, Luke is seen as morally
positive intelligent man, optimistic about his mission and displays
strength and bravery in a number of ways. His faith in the mystical
force also develops as he preservers to continue forward after the death
of his mentor Obi Wan.
In the third act Luke displays what he
has learnt over the course of his journey. It is only then that the hero
can gain the true reward -in Luke’s case this is knowledge.
Luke’s
final task is to aid in the destruction of the Death Star and will only
return if his mission is a success otherwise he will be killed and his
journey will be over. During the final assault Luke displays growth as a
hero, his belief in the force and his alliance with friend Han Solo
further shows his hero status. Luke uses his new knowledge gained from
his journey and the force to destroy the Death Star and save the rebel
alliance from total destruction.
It is at this point Luke Journey
comes to an end for a New Hope but is continued by Lucas over the
course the trilogy, this even continues into the latest instalment, The
Force Awakens released in 2015.
Although I have focused on Luke’s
role up until this point is also important to note the other archetypes
present in The Star Wars movies.
Firstly is Han Solo who is possibly
the most beloved character in the original trilogy. This is mostly
because of his bad boy image and that he is a cynical anti-hero figure
and a bit of a “cowboy” who relies mostly on courage and the use of his
blaster to escape tight situations. He is an independent and strong
character as his name SOLO would suggest. In the first film Han can be
seen as a shape shifter, perceived by the main character as someone he
is unsure of trusting. Hans’s intentions are hidden as well as his
loyalties as he doesn’t want to care about the rebellion or their
struggle against the empire. He only wants to care for himself and
problems directly affecting him. In the final moments of the battle at
the end of Episode IV Han comes to Luke’s aid and ends up joining the
struggle with the rebels. Hans’s journey is more about learning to care
for others rather than just about himself, this journey continues
throughout the second and third films as Han the proven warrior now
learns to love.
Han is accompanied through the trilogy by his
trusty companion Chewbacca. It is common for a hero to befriend a beast
along the way as this helps the hero to be reminded of the natural
world.
Luke’s main companions include the droids C3PO and R2-D2.
They mostly serve comic relief and the everyman archetype. They react to
situations much like the audience would if they were thrown into the
action. They cower and flee from danger but are also the heralds who
issue challenges to the hero as well as announce the coming of change in
the hero’s future.
R2-D2 also serves as the Catalyst of the
story. He is passionate and helpful, and is completely dedicated to the
cause, he delivered the first call to arms to Luke and eventually
accompanying him to his next stage of training with the last remaining
Jedi master Yoda.
Yoda, similar to Obi Wan before him is the old
man mentor archetype, although he also embodies multiple archetypes
also. When Yoda first meets Luke in the swamps of Dagobah, he is the
trickster who is pretending to be a senile old creature, later it is
revealed that he is a threshold guardian who is protecting the wisdom
and secrets of the Jedi order until the hero proves himself worthy of
such gifts. These secrets also contain the truth about Luke’s family and
the eventual downfall of his father, Anakin Skywalker. Yoda is also
represents the oracle that possesses the ability to see beyond the
present to future possibilities.
Luke’s father Anakin Skywalker
experiences a true Visionaries arc throughout the series. From a simple
slave on Tatooine to becoming one of the last Jedi knights, he remained
committed to the order until a vision of his dying mother and death of
his beloved wife lead him to the dark side only to be reborn as the
tyrannical Darth Vader. Vader is committed to the vision of the empire
and remains its most staunch supporter until the undeniable force of
change returns him to the light side of the force. This happens as a
result of this long lost son Luke who he sacrifices himself to save from
the emperor and herald in a new era in the process, which would be led
by his children Luke and Leia.
Princess Leia represents the feminine in the otherwise male dominated Star Wars universe.
In
the original trilogy she is firstly depicted as a damsel in distress
who is captured by the empire and has to be rescued by the hero’s. She
then reveals herself to be a warrior as she fights to escape the Death
Star. Later in the series she takes on a leadership role in the rebel
alliance and also a romantic role with Han Solo. In the final film of
the original trilogy she is revealed to be the twin sister of Luke
Skywalker, thus becoming a female counterpart to Luke with the same
strength and potential he has.
Leia and her mother Padme are also
good examples of what may be perceived as gender bias in the original
and prequel trilogies. Aside from these characters the Star Wars
universe is practically devoid of female characters. Similar to the
society we live in, the Star Wars universe is predominantly patriarchal
with characters such as Luke Skywalker and Obi Wan Kenobi garnering more
attention with the female characters usually taking a back seat to the
action when they are around. Characters such as Luke and Obi Wan show
qualities such as loyalty, integrity and bravery in the face of
overwhelming odds, while the females are mostly submissive with very few
opportunities to be heroic themselves.
While the male characters
mostly fill the role of the archetypal male hero that the audience is
used to seeing, they do have some differences. Han Solo for example is
good looking, adventurous with a bad boy attitude while at the same time
being irresistible to the opposite sex. Luke Skywalker is also
adventurous but is different in that by the end of the original trilogy
does not win the girl and forgoes the stereotype of “ladies man” in
favour of the serious hero with a solemn nature similar to the samurai
found in the Kurosawa films that originally inspired Lucas. The Jedi
from the prequels follow much the same archetypes, female Jedi are
present in these movies but are mostly relegated to the background in
scenes with no input of value coming from them during the course of the
movies.
Female villains are also noticeably missing from the
films and females in general and are nowhere to be found in the ranks of
the Galactic Empire, with the addition to the noticeable lack of alien
creatures as well. Although, this may have been a product of the times
of the original films production as women in general would not be viewed
as legitimate villains. Regardless of the real reasons for this the
Star Wars universe is practically devoid of female heroes and villains
alike. also worth noting is that the female characters do little to
further the cause of the hero’s and will often get in the way, requiring
the hero’s take time to rescue them.
Leia may be an exception to
this; she is the most influential female character by far in the Star
Wars universe and after the release of Episode IV in 1977 lead to a
noticeable uprising in strong female leads in film. Two years later we
would see possibly the most heroic female character ever, Ellen Ripley
appears in the hit horror movie Alien. With Linda Hamilton’s Sarah
Connor furthering the cause in 1984’s The Terminator a few years later.
How much influence Princess Leia had over these characters is easy to
see. Leia is headstrong and cocky and when we are first introduced to
her she is perceived by the audience as an authority figure being no way
over sexualized. Even in the face of her captures she is fearless which
is uncharacteristic of the damsel in distress idea.
Episode IV
is basically a story about a princess who needs to be rescued from the
villain’s stronghold. Women are seen to be on a lower threshold than men
and require rescuing as they cannot do so themselves, interestingly, as
soon as the male heroes rescue Leia, she takes control of the situation
telling the heroes what to do, even rescuing them in the process. At
one point she even takes the weapon from Luke to open up a pathway to
escape. When they finally escape the Death Star, Leia is also the only
one to realise that their escape may have been too easy with the real
reason being that they would be used to track the location of the rebel
bases.
As part of the Rebellion, Leia is also regarded as an
authority figure. She orders the all-male rebel pilots around throughout
the original trilogy. She is seen as an important and influential
strong female protagonist. Gwendolyn Glover, a noted feminist blogger
writes, “I know that for many, Princess Leia is a sex symbol. The
unattainable and perfect woman. For me, Princess Leia is my feminist
icon. She was my first (and pretty much only) female role model for
feminism…. In a male dominated universe, she stood out as a force to be
reckoned with. Tough, smart, and outspoken, she typified everything that
I wanted to be,”(Glover, 2009).
Leia’s role in Episode IV does a
lot for female protagonists in the film industry. With the release of
Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back in 1980 Leia’s character conforms
more to the traditional female character roles seen up until then in
film. Her romance with Han Solo is a stark contrast to her disinterest
in the male leads in the first film and she quickly becomes useless for
the majority of the film. In the first 15 minutes of Episode V Han is
required to rescue her from the crumbling ruins of the rebel base on
Hoth while she displays fear of rodents and requires a male to kill them
for her. Which all seems out of place for such an independent character
who, in the previous film required none of this attention from her male
counterparts and spends the majority of this film falling in love with
one of them.
One scene in particular stands out in Episode V: The
Empire Strikes Back. When Leia is confronted by Han, she is backed into
a corner and asked about her true feelings, the male character takes
her hands preventing her escape. The scene ends as she succumbs to her
feelings and passionately kisses her capture. This scene can easily be
construed as disturbing as it may teach men that borderline violent
behaviour or intimidation is a viable way to a woman’s heart.
This
trend continues in Episode VI: Return of the Jedi when after rescuing
Han from Jabba the Hutt, Leia is herself captured and forced to wear a
gold bikini and lie at the foot of Jabba’s bed with a collar around her
neck, waiting to be rescued by a man. in this we see leia’s change from
the first film where she is dresses from head to toe in white to the
final film where we see her practically naked creating one of the most
iconic images of male fantasy ever to be seen on the big screen.
After
she is rescued by Luke she succeeds in killing Jabba (who resembles a
giant phallus) with the chain that was previously used to hold her.
Towards the end of the film, Leia redeems herself by saving Hans life by
shooting attacking Stormtroopers in the film’s final battle. Thus,
although Leia conforms to the traditional gender roles, she does project
some positive traits throughout the course of the original trilogy.
With
the release Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens in 2015, popular
culture was still lacking adequate female representation and role
models.
When a woman was cast as the lead character in the latest instalment of the Star Wars Saga it was a regarded as a big deal.
Rey,
played by Daisy Ridley was both a protagonist and a hero, she has no
romantic interests, wears combat outfits and fights villains just like
Anakin and Luke in the trilogies before her .
Starting out as a
scavenger on Jakku she combines some of the best traits of Luke
Skywalker, Leia Organa and Han Solo and is both a relatable and
believable female lead which is rare to see in films even today. This
leads to breaking the stereotype which is present in the earlier films
and reinforces the gender balance. Young girls growing up with these new
films will have a role model to look up to, while boys will see Rey as a
hero regardless of gender.
Rey, and her companion Finn mirror
well-known initiation myths from mythology: While Finn draws from
various Biblical folktales and Celtic myths, Rey’s story is a updated
version of one of the oldest myths, The Epic of Gilgamesh, while adding a
feminist interpretation (Glen Robert Gill, 2016). Rey’s struggle with
the main villain Kylo Ren, who is later revealed to be the son of Han
Solo and Leia Organa, resembles mythic themes of relations and rivalries
between siblings. Although Rey’s lineage is kept secret from the
viewer, the idea that she is a Skywalker would make perfect archetypal
sense.
When we are introduced to Rey we quickly realise she will
follow much of the same traits as J.J. Abrams previous leading female
characters such as Jennifer Garner of Alias and Anna Torv of Fringe. Rey
is a solitary hero who resides in the desert. Her name evokes ideas of
light or solar heroism (“Ray”) and royalty with Rey meaning “King” in
Spanish.
Rey however starts at the bottom of the social hierarchy
unlike Gilgamesh. While stranded on the planet Jakku we see her
scavenging parts from crashed Imperial ships as a means to survive which
may be a forecasting of her future as a rebel. Rey is an inverted
feminist version of Gilgamesh that will have to be trained and moulded
with the martial tradition of the Jedi order to become a Jedi and
possibly even becoming immortal during the course of the new films.
Rey
is also an orphan similar to Finn that reminds us of many female
examples such as Daenerys Targaryen from Game Of Thrones, Jane Eyre or
even Annie. This can have special feminine implications as the search
for her family is not just about parental affirmation but also about
overcoming social vulnerabilities and inequities.
Similar to the
first meeting between Gilgamesh and his companion Enkidu, the first time
Rey and Finn meet they begin fighting and arguing with each other, only
to later find a common purpose. Just as Rey is an inverted feminist
Gilgamesh, Finn is an inverted version of Enkidu, Enkidu can be seen as a
representation of the natural or uncivilized side of humanity. As Finn
is spurred to escape the soulless structure of the First Order to the
natural environment of the Resistance by the cold toughness of Captain
Phasma, who is the negative projection of the maidenly anima. Phasma’s
chrome covered armor projects the mythological idea of the mirror, as
this symbolizes self-contemplation and self-examination.
As Finn
and Rey grow closer as friends, we see in them less as deserters (Finn
deserted the First Order, Rey was deserted on the desert planet by her
family) but an updated version of the archetypal friendship between
Gilgamesh and Enkidu. The friendship that develops between Rey and Finn
during The Force Awakens reminds us that friendships born in the midst
of battle do not need to be exclusively masculine, and do not have to be
endorsed or convoluted by a romantic element.
When Rey and Finn
escape the planet Jakku they are introduced to Han Solo and Chewbacca,
the original trilogy’s version of the same archetypal characters. Han
Solo’s return also brings with it the Jung’s archetypal figure “the wise
old man”. Just like Obi-Wan Kenobi’s role to Luke in A New Hope, Han
becomes a mentor figure to our main characters. Han also affirms the
existence of the Force to Rey in the exact same location on board the
Millennium Falcon as Obi-Wan Kenobi tutored Luke.
Soon after our
four heroes meet they must work together to escape gangsters who are
attempting to capture Solo, the archetypal significance of this is found
in the pursuing group’s destruction by the hideous rathtars that escape
their cages during the course of the action, these snake-tentacled
creatures are reminiscent of the mythical Medusa that is itself a
demonic incarnation of the yonic symbol that Freud called the “vagina
dentata”(Leah12. 2012) In relation to Rey’s journey, this can be seen as
a parallel of Gilgamesh’s battle with the monstrous Humbaba. In a
archetypal sense monsters are generally projections of the negative self
or extensions of the viewer’s self-image, it is also worth noting that
while Gilgamesh decapitates his monster in an egoistic search for
prestige, Rey only dismembers her monster to aid her companion, Finn. It
is also notable that during Rey’s martial induction, she generally only
uses her developing abilities for defence and enemy persuasion just as
the Jedi code demands, and only time she is openly aggressive is when
Finn is cut down during his battle with Kylo Ren in the films climax.
Rey
is basically the 21st century version of Luke Skywalker, a young 20 –
something character who is possibly the last hope for the Jedi order.
Early
in the film when Rey first meets Finn and they are fleeing from
pursuing Stormtroopers, Finn repeatedly reaches for Rey’s hand to aid in
her escape. Rey snaps at him “I know how to run without you holding my
hand”. She also outmatches the main villain Kylo Ren both mentally and
physically during the course of the film. One of the more notable scenes
involves Han Solo recognising that Rey is somebody who can handle
herself, in one scene in particular he offers to show Rey how to use a
blaster to which she replies “I think I can handle myself”, his
agreement reminds the viewer of how Leia saved his life at the end of
Episode VI. He then continues to approve of her proficiency without
coming across a patronising, even offering her a job alongside him and
letting her fly his beloved Millennium Falcon.
Rey is also an
example of the young, maidenly aspects of Jung’s term anima, which
describes the archetypal feminine. Like much of Abrams previous work it
shows an understanding that the anima does not need to be a companion or
object of the masculine self which presumes the perspective of the
audience, instead being a representation of that perspective.
It
has also been claimed that Rey’s character is what’s described as a
“Mary Sue” type anima archetype (Zulai Serrano, 2015), which claims the
character can do no wrong, making her a character too unrealistic for
some viewers. The rich feminine dimension of The Force Awakens makes
itself very apparent with the first appearance of the droid BB-8, who
serves as Rey’s heroic token just as R2-D2 served as Luke’s. The “figure
eight” body shape of BB-8 resembles that of theNeolithic Venus, which
contrasts against the small phallic structure of R2-D2. BB-8 is what is
called ayonic symbol, this is the archetypal image of female embodiment
(the chassis of BB-8 houses the reward of the quest which is the map to
finding the missing Luke Skywalker, this can also be seen as a sort of
rebirth for the character in the process).
As stated earlier, the
original trilogy had only one main female character and although the
Prequels had more female characters their representation was even worse,
even going as far as to have Padme (Leia’s mother) dying of a broken
heart in Episode VI. The new film takes steps to address this by having
several women in key roles.
General Leia is the leader of the
resistance and has been allowed to age gracefully on screen, she is seen
as the role of leader while still being a mother figure throughout.
Over the course of the films Leia has moved from a Princess to a General
and from a lover to a leader of the Resistance. Leia also functions
independently without either Luke or Han which is very different than
the last time we seen her in Return of the Jedi.
Leia also
conforms to the mature pole of the anima archetype, named by Jung as
theGreat Mother. This marks a major archetypal change for Leia from the
original trilogies, where she often functioned as the pure aspect of the
anima, a role now taken by Rey. Leia still remains a positive
representation of the anima as she continues to oppose the negative
aspects of the anima, which Jung calls theTerrible Mother. This figure
is not represented by one character in particular but by a vast
destructive power such as the Death Stars of A New Hope and The Return
of the Jedi, and its most recent incarnation Starkiller base in The
Force Awakens. Where the Great Mother supports and upholds, similar to
what Leia does, the Terrible Mother consumes all, as shown in the Death
Star’s ability to destroy planets from afar.
We are also
introduced to the character of Maz Kanata an old, wise mother figure who
has been referred to as a female Yoda. It is Maz who gives Rey Luke
Skywalker’s lightsaber and “Awakens” the force in her. The fact that
this character has been given Yoda’s role is very noticeable and can be
seen as a major step in the gender balance issue. To a lesser extent
Captain Phasma as a woman under the Stormtrooper suit is completely new
to the Star Wars universe. It is also the first time we see female
pilots at the controls of the X- wings during the final assault on
Starkiller base which was unheard of before the release of the film.
The
Force Awakens is a game changer in many respects. It honors and updates
the themes and tropes fans expect to find in the Star Wars universe by
reiterating and reinterpreting compelling characters and symbology from
known mythology. While still retaining its traditional values and
fearlessly putting a female character such as Rey as the main
protagonist and keeps a healthy mix of old and new characters that
continue to transcend their archetype roles. The The Force Awakens can
also be seen as more of a reboot than a sequel that builds on the best
elements from the previous films and what it promises in the future.
Whether
the story of the Skywalker family continues throughout the course of
the new trilogy is still to be determined but with the inclusion of Rey
as the hero a new generation of fans (Male or Female) will look up to
promises to bring us in new, fascinating directions.
Watch,
portable timepiece that has a movement driven either by spring or by
electricity and that is designed to be worn or carried in the pocket.
White
male businessman works a touch screen on a digital tablet.
Communication, Computer Monitor, Corporate Business, Digital Display,
Liquid-Crystal Display, Touchpad, Wireless Technology, iPad
Gadgets and Technology: Fact or Fiction?
Robots have never been used in battle.
Mechanical watches
The
first watches appeared shortly after 1500, early examples being made by
Peter Henlein, a locksmith in Nürnberg, Ger. The escapement used in the
early watches was the same as that used in the early clocks, the verge.
Early watches were made notably in Germany and at Blois in France,
among other countries, and were generally carried in the hand or worn on
a chain around the neck. They usually had only one hand for the hours.
The
mainspring, the element that drives the watch, consists of a flat
spring-steel band stressed in bending or coiling; when the watch, or
other spring-driven mechanism, is wound, the curvature of the spring is
increased, and energy is thus stored. This energy is transmitted to the
oscillating section of the watch (called the balance) by the wheeltrain
and escapement, the motion of the balance itself controlling the release
of the escapement and consequently the timing of the watch. A friction
drive permits the hand to be set.
One of the main defects of the
early watches was the variation in the torque exerted by the mainspring;
that is, the force of the mainspring was greater when fully wound than
when it was almost run down. Since the timekeeping of a watch fitted
with a verge escapement was greatly influenced by the force driving it,
this problem was quite serious. Solution of the problem was advanced
almost as soon as the mainspring was invented (about 1450) by the
application of the fusee, a cone-shaped, grooved pulley used together
with a barrel containing the mainspring. With this arrangement, the
mainspring was made to rotate a barrel in which it was housed; a length
of catgut, later replaced by a chain, was wound on it, the other end
being coiled around the fusee. When the mainspring was fully wound, the
gut or chain pulled on the smallest radius of the cone-shaped fusee; as
the mainspring ran down, the leverage was progressively increased as the
gut or chain pulled on a larger radius. With correct proportioning of
mainspring and fusee radii, an almost constant torque was maintained as
the mainspring unwound.
The going barrel, in which the mainspring
barrel drives the wheeltrain directly, is fitted to all modern
mechanical watches and has superseded the fusee. With better quality
mainsprings, torque variations have been reduced to a minimum, and with a
properly adjusted balance and balance spring, good timekeeping is
ensured.
Up to about 1580, the mechanisms of German watches were made almost wholly of iron; about this time, brass was introduced.
In
the earliest watches a plain wheel, known as the balance, was used to
control the rate of going of the mechanism. It was subjected to no
consistent restoring force; consequently, its period of oscillation and,
hence, the rate of the timekeeper were dependent on the driving force.
This explains the great importance of the fusee.
Controlling the
oscillations of a balance with a spring was an important step in the
history of timekeeping. English physicist Robert Hooke designed a watch
with a balance spring in the late 1650s; there appears to be no
evidence, however, that the spring was in the form of a spiral, a
crucial element that would become widely employed. Dutch scientist
Christiaan Huygens was probably the first to design (1674–75) a watch
with a spiral balance spring. The balance spring is a delicate ribbon of
steel or other suitable spring material, generally wound into a spiral
form. The inner end is pinned into a collet (a small collar), which fits
friction-tight on the balance staff, while the outer end is held in a
stud fixed to the movement. This spring acts on the balance as gravity
does on the pendulum. If the balance is displaced to one side, the
spring is wound and energy stored in it; this energy is then restored to
the balance, causing it to swing nearly the same distance to the other
side if the balance is released.
If there were no frictional
losses (e.g., air friction, internal friction in the spring material,
and friction at the pivots), the balance would swing precisely the same
distance to the other side and continue to oscillate indefinitely;
because of these losses, however, the oscillations in practice die away.
It is the energy stored in the mainspring and fed to the balance
through the wheel train and escapement that maintains the oscillations.
The
performance of the modern watch depends on the uniformity of the period
of oscillation of the balance—i.e., the regularity of its movement. The
balance takes the form of a wheel with a heavy rim, while the spring
coupled to it provides the restoring torque. The balance possesses
inertia, dependent on its mass and configuration. The spring should
ideally provide a restoring force directly proportional to the
displacement from its unstressed or zero position.
The balance is
mounted on a staff with pivots, and, in watches of good quality, these
run in jewels. Two jewels are used at each end of the balance staff, one
pierced to provide a bearing, the other a flat end stone providing
axial location by bearing against the domed end of the pivot. Frictional
effects at the pivots influence the performance of the watch in various
positions—for example, lying and hanging.
The balance and spring
can be brought to time, or “regulated,” by varying either the restoring
couple provided by the spring or the moment of inertia of the balance.
In the first case (by far the more common), this is generally effected
by providing a pair of curb pins mounted on a movable regulator index
that lengthen or shorten the balance spring as needed.
In the
second instance, screws are provided at opposite points on the rim of
the balance; these screws are friction-tight in their holes and thus can
be moved in or out so as to adjust the inertia of the balance. In
“free-sprung” watches no regulator index is provided, and the only
adjusters are the screws on the balance rim.
Many modern
mechanical watches use a lever escapement, invented in England about
1755 by Thomas Mudge, that leaves the balance free to oscillate,
coupling to it only while delivering the impulse, taken from the
mainspring via the wheel train and while being unlocked by the balance.
It was developed into its modern form with the club-tooth escape wheel
at the beginning of the 19th century but was not universally adopted
until the early 20th century. In good-quality watches the club-tooth
escape wheel is made of hardened steel, with the acting surfaces ground
and polished. An improved form of the lever escapement is characterized
by a double-roller safety action in which the intersection between the
guard pin and roller, which takes place underneath the roller, is much
deeper than in early single-roller watches; thus, any friction caused by
jolts encountered in wear causes less constraint on the balance and
less endangerment of the timekeeping properties of the watch. By far the
most important watch escapement today is the lever escapement; it is
used in its jeweled form in watches of moderate to excellent quality,
and it is used with steel pallet pins and a simplified fork-and-roller
action in cheaper watches (known as pin-pallet watches).
In the
wheel train of a modern watch, it is necessary to achieve a step-up
ratio of approximately 1 to 4,000 between barrel and escape wheel. This
involves four pairs of gears, the ratio per pair commonly being between 6
to 1 and 10 to 1. Because of space considerations, the pinions must
have a low number of leaves (teeth), commonly 6 to 12. This entails a
number of special gearing problems, aggravated by the fineness of the
pitch. Any error in centre distance, form, or concentricity is therefore
proportionately more important than in larger gear trains.
The
first patent covering the application of jewels in watches was taken out
in London in 1704; diamonds and sapphires were used. Synthetic jewels
made from fused powdered alumina (aluminum oxide) are now commonly used.
Watch jewels are given a very high polish; a uniform outside diameter
for the jewel bearings is highly important, because they are pressed
into accurately sized holes smaller than the jewels themselves and held
there by friction.
The first patent on the self-winding pocket
watch was taken out in London in 1780. An English invention patented in
1924, the self-winding wristwatch by Louis Recordon, contains a swinging
weight pivoted at the centre of the movement, coupled to the barrel
arbor through reduction wheels and gears. A more modern self-winding
watch is fitted with a weight or rotor swinging 360 degrees and winding
in both directions.
key people
Thomas Tompion
Richard W. Sears
Aaron Lufkin Dennison
Thomas Mudge
Edward Howard
George Graham
Nicolas George Hayek
Daniel Quare
Thomas Earnshaw
Gérald Piaget
Clock
Smartwatch
Pin-pallet watch
Galvanometer drive
Induction drive
Electronic watch
Resonance drive
Wristwatch
Self-winding watch
Electric-powered and electronic watches
Electric-powered
watches use one of three drive systems: (1) the galvanometer drive,
consisting of the conventional balance-hairspring oscillator, kept in
motion by the magnetic interaction of a coil and a permanent magnet, (2)
the induction drive, in which an electromagnet attracts a balance
containing soft magnetic material, or (3) the resonance drive, in which a
tiny tuning fork (about 25 mm [1 inch] in length), driven electrically,
provides the motive power. Both galvanometer and induction drive types
use a mechanical contact, actuated by the balance motion, to provide
properly timed electric-drive pulses. Each oscillation of the balance
operates a time-indicating gear train by advancing a toothed wheel one
tooth. First produced in 1953, the resonance drive type, properly called
an electronic watch, is inherently more accurate since it operates at a
frequency higher than that customarily used with balance-type watches,
and the tuning fork is a fairly stable source of frequency. The higher
frequency requires the replacement of a mechanical contact by a
transistor. The minute and rapid motion of the tuning fork moves forward
an extremely fine-toothed ratchet wheel. There is very little friction
in the electronic watch; only tiny amounts of oil are needed. When the
battery is too weak to operate the tuning fork, the watch simply stops,
without deterioration. Miniature high-energy-density batteries are used
as power sources in all three types.