[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
Re: (Fwd) Re: Star Wars... It's not the hype
In a message dated 5/17/99 9:35:07 PM, mmcvey at uic_edu wrote:
>Well, perhaps you miss the point of my comment: The problem with the
>violence of Star Wars is that it is totally unlike the ugly and
>complicated kind that transpires in the real world. Instead it is
>a childish fantasy fulfillment: The kind of violence children want
>when they are at play, in which the "bad guys" are annihilated. The
>kind that is occasioned by neither irony, regret, or pain, that
>evokes no empathy or reflection. Video game style.
>
To which my first thought is: what of the astonishing pain caused by the
death of Obi-Wan? The horror of Luke's finding his Aunt and Uncle dead? (An
action that, along with the destruction of the Jawas, occurs offscreen.) What
of the brutality of Luke's losing his hand, and the horrible results of that
fight? The awful scene of the destruction of Alderaan? Just as details. I'm
not trying to nitpick-- I'm just saying there's a pattern of violence being
portrayed responsibly. To me, there's just no comparison between Star Wars
and, say, Halloween/Friday the 13th-type movies. Or my fave (ironically
speaking), Mortal Kombat, which can't even find the brains to spell itself
correctly.
>To clarify my point: I have no objection to violence in the movies.
>However, when the violence is so giddly celebrated as the workings of
>Good that the audience can merely enjoy its orgasmic fruition without
>being challenged with a meaning beyond "hooray the bad guys are dead"
>I think the movie is lacking something important.
>
And normally, I would agree with you. But in this particular case, I don't
see any violence for violence's sake. I see a harsh universe, realistically
portrayed. I see a main character who uses force when he needs to, but never
when he doesn't, and who works hard to understand and respect the difference.
I see a whole film built around the concept that the good guys understand
right makes might, while the bad guys think might makes right. I know a lot
of kids go to see movies these days almost strictly based on their
gore-value. Video games seem to be rated that way, and the gorier they are
the more popular they are. But as far as this cycle of movies goes, I see a
rationale behind everything that happens.
On the whole, I find more intellectal substance in Star Wars than most other
movies out these days that aren't $8.50 at the Ritz Screening Room. To me,
there's a great difference between "I'm gonna fill the screen with as many
car crashes, explosions, stabbings, blood, gore and hate as I can" and "I'm
gonna show you how good people live in a bad universe, and how they
understand that violence is wrong and a last resort." Isn't the whole point
of the rebels against the Empire the fight of the responsible, self-aware
Jedi-types against the "I'm cruel because it's pleasurable to me to be so"
Darth Vader types?
>In contrast, Star Wars style violence is exactly the kind that does
>not provoke tough questions, or demand empathy, or understanding,
>that has no ironies.
In other words, I must respectfully, but absolutely, disagree.
What's the quote from Yoda in the Phantom Menace trailers? "Hate leads to
fear, fear leads to pain, pain leads to suffering." Something like that.
That's something I'd want my kids to understand.
And apropos of nothing, I just heard Cowboy Junkies on the radio-- took me
back to the Columbus gig. Yay, Margo!
Follow-Ups: