In the 1980s, there was an outbreak of “Darth Vader Syndrome”. Most people today are unaware of it, thanks partly that it’s no longer a significant issue. So, what was this bizarre syndrome and why was it named after the iconic Star Wars villain?
Over the last few weeks, while researching another project, I came across several newspaper articles from 1983-90, about Darth Vader Syndrome. I’d never heard about it before so I did more research and found over 40 articles printed in newspapers across the country from that time.
If you only knew the power of the Dark Side
Here’s the best way to explain what it is. Imagine being a kid in a house that’s suddenly on fire. You would be horrified, especially if trapped. As the smoke thickens, things get darker and then something approaches you that looks menacing, like Darth Vader, and is breathing heavy like Darth Vader, and is coming after you. What would you do? If the answer is scream and/or run around in panic then you’d understand this syndrome.
The figure approaching these kids in fires are, of course, firefighters. They’re wearing masks and you can hear them breathing through those masks as they approach in the smokey darkness.
Firefighters had a real problem. Children were actually running away from them when the firefighters were trying to rescue them, creating a worse situation where the firefighter would have to chase them and save them as the child’s fear only grew.
One newspaper quoted Captain Gibbs Hammond, a fire prevention education officer for the Knoxville fire department, who said, “There have been documented cases of children running back into a burning room after seeing a firefighter, who looks like a monster, at the door,”
This is also why it’s also referred to as Monster Syndrome. Apparently, the Children’s Television Workshop — producers of Sesame Street — coined the phrase “Darth Vader Syndrome” and began to spread awareness of it in the early 1980’s and tried to teach kids that a firefighter is a real-life Superman despite looking like Darth Vader.
Why did it disappear?
Firefighters began doing more frequent demonstrations at kindergartens and elementary schools. Almost every newspaper article I read about it referred to an upcoming event that firefighters were doing for children, partly to help them not be afraid of them in their gear. They would show kids how they put on the mask, what it sounded like, and tried to make it fun. Some children still felt the mask was too scary but parents were encouraged to teach them that even though firefighters can look scary in their gear, they are there to help
The mention of Darth Vader Syndrome significantly decreased in the 1990s, suggesting that it was no longer an issue. I reached out to my cousin, a NYC firefighter, and asked him about this. He said it’s definitely no longer an issue because, as he admitted, he never even heard about it before.
It’s likely that one other reason why this is not the major problem it once was is that the character of Darth Vader was at the peak of his popularity during that time, which was when the original Star Wars trilogy was being released, and although he is still a major character, it’s not quite like what it was then. His villainy used to scare children in the 1980s, whereas kids today want to dress like him for Halloween.
Now, there’s even a Darth Vader that visits Children’s Hospitals to brighten the day of the kids there. It’s probably accurate to say that most children today actually see the character as cool.
That doesn’t mean that they can’t develop a fear of masked firefighters but it’s far less an issue than it was when Darth Vader was every kid’s nightmare.
