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Re: Star Wars... It's not the hype
>A 10-year old can out-imagine (and out-improvise) a 40-year old, it's true.
>Whether or not 'Star Wars' delivers childlike deep truths and touching
>sympathies is another matter.
I would argue that it does. The themes of light versus darkness, good versus
evil, the temptation to fight fire with fire are all addressed in a manner that is
both accessible and engaging. Is there a more touching sympathy than the son who
refuses to give up hope for his "lost" father, relentlessly fighting the darkness
until it nearly destroys him - all for the sake of upholding what is right and
good?
>I bought a kid's book at the supermarket a couple weeks ago: "I Am A Jedi,"
>by Qui-Gon Jinn. Cool, right? A friend pointed out this weekend how scary
>it is that George Lucas is selling what amounts to false religion to our
>10-year olds (or our 5, 4 and 3 year olds, for that matter).
As Lucas himself has pointed out, he's not selling any specific religion at all to
our children. He's encouraging them to seek out religion, to pursue the deeper
questions of life instead of simply sitting back and letting life happen to them.
That's not a false religion in *any* sense.
>Is Yoda God?
Clearly not. When Luke asserts that Yoda can't die, the master himself replies,
"Strong am I with the force - but not that strong". I don't think there's any
danger of kids thinking that Yoda (or any SW character) represent God.
>Do kids know the difference?
Unless they're exceptionally stupid, I would think.
>It's sometimes difficult to
>remember that a popular myth can be misunderstood by a child to be a kind
>of reality -- especially since sometimes we ourselves can't distinguish
>between the two.
Well, the best myths *are* a kind of reality. That is, they represent us in our
brightest and darkest moments; they tells us things about ourselves; they act as
both a mirror and magnifying glass, causing us to examine ourselves and presenting
us with possible solutions to the timeless dilemmas of being human.
>Narnia and Tattooine are two very different places, created for very
>different reasons.
Not all that different, really. Lucas has said that he created SW to get young
people thinking about God. Lewis said that Narnia was nothing more than a
supposition of how God might present himself to the inhabitants of another world.
Both myths are intended to get the audience thinking about the nature of God.
They approach it differently, of course, but the intent is there.
>I think it's important to think carefully about how
>we're going to relate these dreams to our children before we embrace them
>ourselves.
Jesus spoke in parables, and I don't think it was an accident that those stories
are some of the most enduring passages of scripture. Storytelling is powerful,
and so you are right - it *is* important to examine the stories that we embrace.
With the SW trilogy, I see very little left to be desired.
>I probably overstepped the scope of the original e-mail here. My
>apologies, Paul.
Nah, for once I can actually get in on a little of the discussion that flies about
on this list. ;)
>PS - I'll pre-emptively address the Star Wars/Christianity comparison here
>by pointing out that Lucas's oft-stated original intention was to create a
>composite of *all* our myths/religions. 'The Matrix' has as much in common
>with the Christian life as 'Star Wars.' I wouldn't show either one in
>church.
But you'd watch them yourself? Hmmmmmmmmmm. Sumthin' bad wrong, here...
np: Phish, "Billy Breathes"
Paul Christian Glenn | "Besides being complicated,
trance at radiks_net | reality, in my experience, is
http://x-real.firinn.org | usually odd." - C.S. Lewis
Currently Reading: "The Two Towers" by J.R.R. Tolkien
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