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AND AMERICAN GRAFFITI WAS ABOUT SYRIA’S WITHDRAWAL FROM LEBANON
Arthur Chrenkoff is all over George Lucas’ Star Wars-as-political-metaphor claim:
Star Wars is a wakeup call to Americans about the erosion of democratic freedoms under George W. Bush, filmmaker George Lucas says.
Lucas, responding to a question from The Sun at a Cannes Film Festival press conference on Sunday, said he first wrote the framework of Star Wars in 1971 when reacting to then-U.S. president Richard Nixon and the on-going events of the Vietnam War. But the story still has relevance today, he said, and is part of a pattern he has noticed in his readings of history.
“I didn’t think it was going to get quite this close,” he said of the parallels between the Nixon era and the Bush presidency, which has been sacrificing freedoms in the interests of national security. “It is just one of those re-occurring things. I hope this doesn’t come true in our country.
“Maybe the film will awaken people to the situation of how dangerous it is ... The parallels between what we did in Vietnam and what we are doing now in Iraq are unbelievable.”
Yes, they are. In the sense that nobody with any concept of history believes them.
Not only that, but THX 1138 was a plea to resist the privatization of Social Security . . . and Indiana Jones & the Masonic Temple of Doom is really about the ordination of women by the Catholic Church . . . and the Star Wars Thanksgiving Special with Bea Arthur is a symbolic advocacy of universal single-payer healthcare . . .
You think that’s something, just wait’ll I show you all the political symbolism in the classic Tom Hanks sitcom Bosom Buddies!
Well, there certainly are some similarities.
The left is/was having a completely hissy-fit, for example. The rabid anti-war movement was/is alot smaller than they seem/seemed to be, (id est, they do/did a good job of appearing to speak for a much larger part of the populace)
John F. Kerry is/was out there telling a bunch of Theresa-Sized whoppers.
The media does/did make a valiant attempt to lose the war through political means, (admittedly, in V they succeeded; in I they surely won’t, though Newsweek is trying)
Hmmm that’s all I can think of. And they’re all very overlapping points anyway. Oh well.
Posted by zeppenwolf on 2005 05 18 at 01:01 PM • permalinkIf Emperor Palpatine Of The Empire is a metaphor for President Bush of the United States, then the Jedi Knights must a metaphor for Al Quaeda, with Osama bin Laden as either Yoda or Obi-wan Kenobi. This is an extension of George Lucas’ “logic”.
I don’t think so! Lucas must have really been sucking up to the French in Cannes. What a stupid note to end this series on.
It’s official: George Lucas has jumped the shark.
Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2005 05 18 at 01:08 PM • permalink“Jaws was never my scene and I don’t like Star Wars…” That’s as mean as Freddie Mercury got.
Posted by chinesearithmetic on 2005 05 18 at 01:18 PM • permalinkThe moment Ep1 hit theatres anyone not blinded by the fact it was a new Star Wars knew he’d sold out for cheap whoring of special effects and jedis trying to hit each other.
He’s pretty much become the anti-christ for a lot of geeks, seems the original trilogy was a happy accident. He’s also singlehandedly made a case for removing the rights for creators to be allowed touch what are considered masterpieces by most.
God knows the the new scenes he keeps adding to the old films boils my blood as he proceeds to butcher his legacy even further..
Posted by Aging Gamer on 2005 05 18 at 01:37 PM • permalink“...the Bush presidency, which has been sacrificing freedoms in the interests of national security.”
I keep reading comments out of Hollywood such as this all the time, and regularly hear how the Constitution has been shredded. But can anyone describe a single thing that I can’t do today thanks to Bush that I used to be able to do?* Just one example is all I’m asking for. Anybody? Hello? (crickets chirping)
* Taliban, dead al Queda and Iraqi Baathists are not eligible to participate in this contest.
Well you can’t randomly decide to fly light aircraft near the White House without getting shot down. Though even if Gore had been president I think that would have happened anyway.
Posted by Aging Gamer on 2005 05 18 at 01:51 PM • permalinkI remember the Joseph Campbell circle jerk back when I was prone to buying into such thing and then I decided it was all horseshit.
Posted by lizardflix on 2005 05 18 at 02:55 PM • permalinkOkay, I’ve just returned from a midnight screening of Revenge of The Sith (you may now mock me as a Star Wars Nerd for attending the midnight screening, and no I was not wearing an ewok costume) and I must admit I was dreading the political references that I had heard were in there.
Thankfully, the political stuff I detected were brief, harmless, apparently unnoticed by 99.9% of the audience, and shouldn’t make Mr Lucas look too foolish a few years from now when it turns out that G W Bush does not manage to stay President for longer than his allowed two terms in order to set up an evil empire. The closest the film got to directly referring to GWB was putting the words “If you are not with me then you are my enemy” (or similar) into Skywalker’s mouth, and having Obi Wan chastise him for using absolutes.
Still, if one day soon GWB suddenly appears to have aged a lot, with sagging light blue skin and red and yellow eyes, as well as cackling all the time and shooting electricity from his fingers, then maybe the film will become relevant to our daily lives. Until then the film is just a space fantasy - and, in my humble opinion, the best space fantasy since The Empire Strikes Back.
Posted by Skevos Mavros on 2005 05 18 at 03:12 PM • permalinkStill, if one day soon GWB suddenly appears to have aged a lot, with sagging light blue skin and red and yellow eyes
You mean like Madeleine Albright?
Or am I thinking of that hag they kept letting into White House press conferences long after she had died?
Posted by Rob Crawford on 2005 05 18 at 03:16 PM • permalinkIt’s funny that the best “Star Wars” movie was one of the ones that George Lucas didn’t direct.
Let me see if I’ve got this straight ...
Unethical and power-hungry Palpatine makes use of the assembly of United Na—oops, Planets (a huge group of overdressed politicians who meet in a giant building and talk everything to death) to try undercut the power and independence of a group of cow—oops, Jedi dedicated to preserving freedom and human rights.
Sure, I see the parallels.
Hey! Mean Republican stormtroopers just busted into my home and removed my right to cook hamburgers medium-rare on the grill out back. Seems they have to be at least medium-well from now on.
Bastards.
Posted by William Young on 2005 05 18 at 03:48 PM • permalinkParallels between Iraq and Vietnam:
Both are in Asia.
Both involve US troops winning a military contest against a vile, murderous movement heavily funded by an outside power.
Variants of the M-16 rifle in use, and require serious maintenance effort to function well.
Not parallels:
We’re not throwing Iraq to the wolves to win an election.
No draft.
Far less Hendrix.
Sigivald, you missed a couple:
Neither Jane Fonda nor Tom Hayden have gone to Iraq to voice their support for Al-qaeda.
In all likelihood, way fewer hookers in Baghdad than in Saigon.
Posted by JorgXMcKie on 2005 05 18 at 05:35 PM • permalinkYay, another movie to avoid.
Posted by Andrea Harris, Administrator on 2005 05 18 at 05:39 PM • permalinkDan G, you beat me to it. I too have been trying to find our lost freedoms, but since none seems to be missing, I don’t know just what to look for.
If anyone knows the answer, please let us know. It’s getting embarrassing checking under the shrubbery every morning. The neighbors are starting to look at me funny.
Can you imagine the Lefties running Mos Eisley?
Land Speeder Camera’s
Banning Pod Races
Parking fines for abandoned large reptiles
Changing the atmosphere to accomodate aliens
Banning Guns
Banning Non-Authentic Hydroponic Bacteria Farming
Robot Rights
Hate-Telepathy Laws
Close down space-port due to environmental impact
No smoking in the Bars
Special Reserve area for Sandpeople where none of above rules apply.
J1 Kerry Served on AlderanIt’s official: George Lucas has jumped the shark
That’s hilarious. I always wondered what that meant and then I happened upon the Happy Days 30th anniversary special a few nights back. Apparently, there was an episode of Happy Days where Fonzi jumped a netted shark on water skis (keep with me - Fonzi was on the water skis) whilst wearing budgie smugglers and his trademark leather jacket. Critics see this as the starting point of the decline of the series; a decline that ultimately led to the worst series in the history of television - Joanie Loves Chachi - from which Erin Moran has never recovered.
Murph - all you need to know on jumping the shark here.
Posted by walterplinge on 2005 05 18 at 07:20 PM • permalinkOne of the more talked about lines in the movie so far is
Anakin: “If you are not with me, you are my enemy.”
Obi-Wan: “Only a Sith deals in absolutes.”
A commenter on James Hudnall’s blog pointed out that in Obi-Wan’s line, the word “only” makes the statement an absolute, which therefore makes Obi-Wan a Sith.
Anyone who’s read the original (horrendously retarded) synopsis for Star Wars knows Lucas is full of shit.
Posted by Crispytoast on 2005 05 18 at 08:03 PM • permalinkThe original Buster Crabbe “Buck Rogers” was better. Colonel Wilma Deering woulda kicked Princess Leia’s ass.
Posted by richard mcenroe on 2005 05 18 at 09:01 PM • permalinkThe comments by Lucas are rather strange in that I believed that the first Star Wars movies were written to explain why we can’t back down against totalitarian states. The Empires fighers are Storm Troopers (a type of German soldier WWII) and the rebels would rather die than be holding to the Empires rule.
Sounds like Bush took notes and followed the lead of the rebels. Pity Lucas ignores the meaning behind his own stories.Sorry for the OT- but will someone throw me a bone here- WTF does “Jumping the shark mean”?
Posted by Just passing by on 2005 05 18 at 10:12 PM • permalinkJPB — Means you’ve run out of story ideas and are trying to hold your audience by stunts. The phrase refers to the American television show Happy Days, where the Fonz goes waterskiing in his leather jacket and has to jump over a giant shark…
Posted by richard mcenroe on 2005 05 18 at 10:16 PM • permalinkThanks PW and Richard- Next time I’ll check more carefuly for exisitng bones before requesting one of my own. So to speak.
I wonder if the shooting of JR was a case of that as well?
Posted by Just passing by on 2005 05 18 at 10:31 PM • permalinkThe Real Jeffs is right. Lucas has jumped the shark and/or is sucking up to the Cannes lefties.
The original Star Wars films were attacked by the Left as pro-American and anti-Soviet Cold War propaganda.
And in a “Time” interview Lucas said the purpose of the series was to encourage children to think about God. Not very consistant with the latest pronouncements.
I guess Lucas has been intimidated by the Hollywood left. Not a very heroic way to end things.
Further, if Lucas intended a sort of anti-Republican allegory, why didn’t he say so earlier - during the Clinton years, for example, when he could have collected some Prersidential reward?
A lot of the earlier political debate about “Star Wars” and “The Lord of The Rings” has been documented in Hal Colebatch’s cybereditions book, “Return of the Heroes.”
Posted by Susan Norton on 2005 05 19 at 12:15 AM • permalinkThe kicker for me in the political connection was the bit when it has become obvious that Anakin has gone to the right because he calls un unborn child a baby rather than a foetus.
Posted by Semi-conductor on 2005 05 19 at 12:22 AM • permalinkWell, one good thing came out of this—this movie is being shown to US forces in Europe and Iraq on opening day, instead of the usual 2 week delay from state side openings. 20th Century Fox and the Army-Air Force Exchange service negotiated it. The story is here.
Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2005 05 19 at 01:35 AM • permalinkOne of the more talked about lines in the movie so far is
Anakin: “If you are not with me, you are my enemy.”
Obi-Wan: “Only a Sith deals in absolutes.”
A commenter on James Hudnall’s blog pointed out that in Obi-Wan’s line, the word “only” makes the statement an absolute, which therefore makes Obi-Wan a Sith.
That also flies in the face of a lot of the Expanded Universe, hell it’s usually the higher ranked Jedi that deal in absolutes, are utterly uncompromising and annoying dogmatic.
Hero ends up being the one who flips off both the Jedi and the Sith, doing the right thing consequences be damned.
Posted by Aging Gamer on 2005 05 19 at 01:54 AM • permalinkHero ends up being the one who flips off both the Jedi and the Sith, doing the right thing consequences be damned.
Kind of like Bush flipped off both the utopian idiots on the Left and the misguided “realists” on the Right in order to do what was right…
I better shut up before any Hollywood heads pop.
Clearly, the Jedi should have negotiated with the Empire instead of resorting to violence. In whose name did the Jedi take up light sabers to fight for freedom? And why wouldn’t machine guns be far more effective?
Posted by Joanne Jacobs on 2005 05 19 at 05:19 AM • permalinkThe real question is why weren’t machine guns used against the Borg in Star Trek.
Posted by Aging Gamer on 2005 05 19 at 08:24 AM • permalinkAbout those lost freedoms: Have you looked under the couch cushions? I’ve found a lot of lost stuff there, especially after watching a championship game or a bout of heavy drinking. Just a though.
Posted by JorgXMcKie on 2005 05 19 at 08:33 AM • permalinkThe Revenge of the Sith is a coma on celluloid. The script is procession of stock phrases, the action unfocused and the acting wooden. (What the hell can you care when most of the combatants are robots.)
At one point Anakin is rebuked by Obi Wan Kenobi (the poverty of invention in these names!) for dealing ‘only in absolutes’. A little finger wagging lecture from the trendoid moral relativists no less!
Later, Obi watches Anakin catch fire and simply walks away from his well-done former disciple but not before describing the Chancellor (aka George Bush) as ‘evil’, absolutely.
The Revenge of the Shit more like.
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Does this mean we all get lightsabers? Woohoo!!!