[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: Star Wars... It's not the hype

General reply to the entire email:

Starwars IS NOT a blockbuster, nor part of the blockbuster mentality.
That's part of why it's so popular.  The original Star Wars was created on
an incredibly low budget, and released to only a few theatres.  It was
expected to bomb.

The truely trancendant storytelling, the archetypal story pressented, the
knowledge of the creator, and his incredibly well developed idea is what
made this movie shine so brightly that it went from being a bomb to a smash.

Lucas broke many cinematic bariers with this movie.  Until Star Wars, bit
parts were never given close-ups.  Lucas made every character real.  From
the first minute of the movie, when Darth is boarding Leah's ship, the
guards are given motives and emotions.  Watch the movie again.  See the
looks on their faces.  This says more than dialouge ever could.  These
troopers know that they are about to die, and fight anyway.

You have been connected with a man about to die, who has no lines.  Before
Star Wars this was unheard of in cinema.  These are real people though.
It's not flagrant death... it is telling a story.  A story of the battle
against people so evil that death didn't matter to them.  They could even
blow up planets as a demonstration of power.  In the age of Nuclear
Warfare... do I really need to explain this better?

The old myths are old.  Our society is loosing it's ability to connect to
them.  Star Wars, like Narnia is an up-date of those new myths.  It teaches
principles and morals.  Right behavior.  It might not attach them to a
diety, but does that make them any weaker?  My belief is that makes them
stronger.  The characters aren't doing good because they'll be condemned by
a higher power if they don't.  They are doing good because it is the right
thing to do.

>>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.

Children have always fantasized about heros and battles and altruism.
Nothing has changed about that.

>>Narnia and Tattooine are two very different places, created for very
>>different reasons.

Lucas DID NOT create Star Wars to make money.  Yes, that has been a side
benefit, but it was not original intent.  He was an artist.  He was poor.
He practiced his art.  He did it well.  He made money.  That happens.

Lucas has held onto this story for 20 years.  A money grubbing mad-man set
to rake in more cash never would have done that.  If Star Wars was being
created to make money, Phantom would have been released long ago.  The fact
of the matter is, that this story was not tellable at the time.  No matter
how much money it would have made.  Too much fantasy was involved.  Too many
effects.  So Lucas held onto it.  Held on until he could do it right,
because THAT is what's important to him.  Not making money, but making art.
His art is storytelling.

How do I know this?  Because I'm on the edge of the industry, my degree is
in Computer Art.  I knew the day after the initial screening of Jurasic
Park, that Lucas had set to work on this new trilogy.  The story is:  Lucas
broke into tears in the middle of Jurasic Park, because he knew that
technology had finally been developed to the point where he could tell the
story that lay dorment inside him.  The story of an entire galaxy at war
with itself.

That's part of why he started Star Wars with Episode 4: A New Hope.  He knew
all along that this was going to come, but he also knew as a story teller
that the middle should be told first.  That the middle COULD be told first,
where as the rest were not yet feasible.  Oh, and just in case you're
wondering, yes... there's an Episode 7,8, and 9.

>>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.

You're right, it is.  Maybe you should start thinking too.

Gardner.