A repo for the GC CIRCLE presentation on November 24th, 2020
Title: Am I your father? - Applying Computational Methods to Detect Grammatical Similarities in the Dialogues between Star Wars Characters
Abstract: The Beatles and the Rolling Stones, Marvel and DC, Star Trek and Star Wars - contrasts are the currency of pop-culture. In particular, they seem to enjoy prominence in the Galaxy far, far away, where they are personified by Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader. The main protagonist and his dark nemesis, but also the son and the father - the celebrity of their tormented kinship became enshrined as a meme. They say that every son quotes his father in words and deeds, yet, it is the actions of the two Skywalkers rather than their lines that captivated the attention from the media and fans alike. The purpose of this project is to address what has long been neglected, and to investigate what Luke and Vader can tell us about their family dynamic. The project applies basic computational methods to examine whether Luke Skywalker actually speaks like his father, Darth Vader. If the two characters are indeed patrilineally related then we can hypothesize that this connection should be reflected in their dialogue, i.e. that Luke’s and Vader’s language should be similar. The outcome of the examination sheds light on the above hypothesis and suggests further avenues that may help unearth other mysteries of the Galaxy far, far away.