Comments | suburbaknght: Thoughts on Star Wars

suburbaknght

Thoughts on Star Wars

Apr 30, 2012 17:39

Over a winter holiday I had the chance to read one of the most engaging books of literary criticism I've come across in some years, Star Wars on Trial. The book is edited by David Brin and features numerous essays about the inherent merits of the Star Wars franchise. In summary, it fires eight charges at Star Wars, then presents an essay in ( Read more... )

Comments 19

guardian852 May 1 2012, 02:55:06 UTC

Nice stuff, Alex ( ... )

guardian852 May 1 2012, 03:22:37 UTC

Dammit Alex. I tried to say my prayers so I could go to bed, and I've got nothing but Star Wars in my brain now! I have papers to write about non-Star Wars things, too ( ... )

suburbaknght May 1 2012, 04:41:14 UTC

The interesting thing about Jedi philosophy is that it doesn't actually exist in the films. Seriously, there are only vague references to a fairly generic spirituality sprinkled rather miserly throughout the six episodes. Oh, there's a great deal we can infer given parallels to real-life warrior cultures, but almost nothing is detailed and what is detailed is largely negative stating what the Jedi don't believe in ("Adventure. Excitement. A Jedi craves not these things.") rather than what they do ( ... )

resplendant_sun May 1 2012, 05:41:39 UTC

I'd agree about KotoR II if only it had a half-decent ending.

guardian852 May 1 2012, 11:28:03 UTC

Same here! KotoR II is a thinking man's game!

Thread 11

guilty as charged ext_1188768 May 2 2012, 02:58:08 UTC

I haven't finished your post yet, nor have I read the book, but I did want to say that on Charges 1, 5, 6, and 7, Star Wars is unquestionably guilty. The fundamentals of Charges 3, 4, & 8 are correct, but I'm not sold on the conclusions--that is, I'm not sure there's a causal relationship between the two claims in each of those charges. Charge 2 is the only one I'd acquit the movies on--and that's principally because of the original trilogy. I do think that he threw the mythicism out with the bathwater on the prequels, partly by trying to hard at times and force-feeding us, and partly by not knowing what he was doing and missing the point.

[And I make this defense as someone with a Folklore degree who did his senior thesis on the application of Campbell's theories to modern SF, specifically B5, in addition to all the other reading on the topics I've done.]

Re: guilty as charged suburbaknght May 2 2012, 20:01:43 UTC

Given the persuasive arguments put forth in the book, I don't think we can refer to any of the charges as "unquestionable." Very astute defenses were raised to each of them, and as a scholar I'd recommend you read the book. Used copies are quite affordable and I think someone with your background would enjoy it.

I think the mysticism was intended to be a larger part of the prequels but was handled so ineptly that it comes across as trite at best.

Your degree at work... beloitst May 2 2012, 18:02:47 UTC

Wow. Thank you so much for this. Since I have never been exposed at all to the expanded universe, I appreciate that you kept this self-contained to the movies themselves.

I think you might also have helped highlight some of the reasons I like the prequels more than the "original" movies; and also why I actually am not a fan of the franchise in general. Namely, that I never understood why people thought the Jedi were so awesome. I was never able to articulate my own dissatisfaction with them (though to be fair, I never tried very hard, having seen each movie only once -- and once was more than enough for me).

But you've also given me a new appreciation for what I always perceived as the saccharine-ness of Luke. I don't think I ever put it in contrast, which [as I think you rightly point out] makes him not saccharine, but virtuous.

On a side note: I liked Jar Jar Binks. So there.

Re: Your degree at work... suburbaknght May 2 2012, 20:07:47 UTC

I think people like the Jedi because they are cool. I mean, psion/monks with laser swords are just pretty epic. Unfortunately, as with many aspects of sci-fi, in the fans' minds coolness tends to override concept. This is why we get knock-off movies that ape the style of an original but lack the soul that makes the original work, but with a franchise most of the supporting material is written by fans and so the EU of Star Wars is its own knock-off. Then when Lucas goes back to do the prequels he's locked into the EU.

I'm curious what it is about the prequels that appeals to you so much. I think I pardoned them here but I hardly think I defended them and I certainly wouldn't even call Episodes I or II good movies.

Re: Your degree at work... beloitst May 2 2012, 21:17:10 UTC

RE: what appeals to me about the prequels: I like stories that feature geo-politics. You gloss over a lot of that, because Star Wars isn't a story "about" geopolitics, per se, but the power games in it are very much an issue of political control of the galaxy ( ... )

Re: Your degree at work... suburbaknght May 4 2012, 20:30:41 UTC

I didn't discuss the geo-political (galactic-polical) elements because they're unfortunately tangential to the story being told. While hardly irrelevant they are never handled as anything more than an excuse for the action. In some ways this is a deliberate choice and teh films are well-served by this choice; the blockade, separatist movement, and Clone Wars are all engineered by Darth Sidious as a means of seizing power and taking control of the galaxy, so he couldn't care less about them beyond what they do for him. Likewise, the Jedi are only concerned with the effects of these events rather than the events themselves (note: this is a Big Problem for anyone who claims to be a defender of the peace ( ... )

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