Did George Lucas's inability to empathise with right wingers screw the Clone Wars?
The narrative of the Clone Wars was supposed to be that there were heroes on both sides. But when it came to showing them we ended up with a bunch of laughable capitalist sterotypes on top positions besides Dooku and Grevious. I think it has to do with Lucas's personal political bias, he could not inject it into Star Wars in a ridiculous and hamfisted way.
The narrative of the Clone Wars does not make sense and attempts to make it work after the fact only made things worst. Apparently there was supposed to be a mass movement and enthusiasm behind a bunch of megacorps. That never hapened in IRL history ever. On top of that they added a senate for the Confoderacy and we have no idea how they are related to the Sep ruling council. We see seps committing atrocities on a regular basis and nobody is dragged in front of the senate for it.
What did Lucas want? A war against a cartoonish oligarchy or a nuanced democracy vs democracy war?
As much as some of us might have preferred a nuanced story, Star Wars has never been nuanced and both the movies and the Clone Wars cartoons were aimed at kids, which should temper expectations. Maybe a Clone Wars series on HBO or something could have delivered the quality of story you were looking for. That would be totally cool, but highly unlikely to ever happen.
My take on the theme of the story is that evil can corrupt any institution or any social endeavor. The senate, the banking clan, the manufacturers, and the Jedi themselves were all important parts of the Republic which were subverted to the Dark Side by the Sith. The same with such ideals as national pride, principals of democracy, the Jedi religion, science and many more things.
I can see where a highly partisan right or left winger might view the stories through a right/left prism, but I think that view comes from the viewer more than the author. (Isn't Lucas himself a capitalist stereotype?)
And that is where SW failed. Trying to have both sides having good elements as well. SW was always simple: good vs. evil. And it should have stayed that way.
Trying to complicate SW just made it stupid. It was simplistic when it came to the political story, sometimes downright stupid. So instead of trying to give it some political/societal depth, it became a farce. He should have sticked to the simplistic SW universe. It sure didn't scare away kids in the 70s and 80s.
SW is a fairy tale, not a galactic 'All the President's Men', 'Wag the Dog', 'Primary Colors', 'JFK' or 'Nixon', nor should it ever have attempted anything in that direction.
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Last edited by queeq on Nov 21st, 2014 at 08:30 PM
Perhaps nuance is possible, but in the context of one of Lucas' capitalist stereotypes it could never happen:
He is a capitalist exploiter who built a personal fortune and a business empire off of the innovations all of his engineers and artists dreamed up. And, like all capitalists, he is interested in profit over art, and so the movies are geared to sell the most toys and other merchandise. They can't be too nuanced or they will lose that toy-buying mass audience. In addition, the capitalist puts (it's patented) technology over artistry, resulting in a slick-looking but soulless film.
Or perhaps you prefer a different capitalist stereotype:
Because he can accumulate capital and sell his product in the market, and thereby direct and channel the skills of his employees, the capitalist innovator is able to catalyze amazing technological innovations that otherwise would not have occurred. This enhances art because it opens new methods which allow directors to realize visions that otherwise could not have been made into movies.
As far as the Separatists always being evil, I disagree. In TPM he makes clear that they had made a deal with the devil - a deal which they eventually came to regret. Moreover, there were plenty of bankers and merchants and manufacturers who remained loyal, so there is no implication that all capitalists are by nature evil. Just like Jedi or any other group, some will follow the Dark Side and some won't.
Finally, Star Wars is full of stereotypes of all sorts, and it is not appropriate to single out a few as evidence of ideological bias.
And all Japanese-ish races seem evil, Carribean-ish peoples seem primitive and stupid, and all Semetic-ish characters seem greedy. Lots of stereotypes in these movies. But I don't believe Lucas is anti-Semetic or racist.
Registered: Mar 2013
Location: in your mind, rent free
i think the failure of the PT had more to do with them being disastrously horrible films.
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Your Lord knows very well what is in your heart. Your soul suffices this day as a reckoner against you. I need no witnesses. You do not listen to your soul, but listen instead to your anger and your rage.
Nov 20th, 2014 10:09 AM
