Registered: Jul 2001
Location: Wales

Whenever people ask me what my favourite moment in Star Wars is I'm torn between two options. One of them is the moment Obi-Wan presents the light sabre to Luke in ANH, and I'll tell you why - up until that point everything is treated so matter-of-factly, like robots, monsters, space ships, laser guns, floating cars are all just run-of-the-mill for this universe. Usually, narratives that deal with such immersive and other-worldly environments also have a 'fish-out-of-water' or neophyte narrator for the audience to tag along with. The idea is that the audience (be that reader or viewer) find out about the world of the story with the hero(ine). It was very important for Alice to be in Wonderland in order to put that place into some sort of accessible perspective, right?

Star Wars didn't do that and, while it was a risk, it paid dividends because... and the rest is movie history, and on and on...

Back to Ben and the Light sabre - the reason I love that moment is that it's the first time that something intrigues the hero - Luke doesn't know what the laser sword is, so as viewers we suddenly have an in-route. It's not just a spectacle any more - there's something we and the hero can discover together. Clever, very clever, considering the story overall is about the downfall and return of the Jedi and the balance of the Force [let it go...] - and what a rabbit hole that laser sword turns out to be! So there, that's one of my favourite parts.

The other is the very first thing you see at the start of ANH. Not the blockade runner, not the stars, not the scroll - but the words "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away..." Sheer magic, and to this day I still struggle to find a film or book that has absolutely no connection with our reality in the way that Star Wars consciously set itself up to be. It’s misplaced both in space and time, a pure and complete escapism. I loved the films for that the most...

Star Wars was a perfect, hermetically sealed fantasy and as such was unique. I loved it since age 7 when it came out - and knew even then why. Then I stopped loving it a little when Return of the Jedi came out - specifically the point during the battle of Endor when Chewie gives a Tarzan yell as he and two Ewoks vine-swing onto the roof of a scout walker. The bubble burst, reality rushed in - the whole thing was ruined, and for what? A stupid, irrelevant joke that had no place in the Star Wars universe.

And then the Phantom Menace came... It's full of jokes like that, silly asides and inter-textual references (ET at the senate for Gods Sake!) that just seem to take the shine off the films.

So, here's the discussion: has Lucas changed his mind about his sacred, escapist fantasy; has he re-directed it following the success of [so-called] post-modern cultural phenomena that thrive on cross-referencing (certainly the Simpsons, while constantly referring to Star Wars, has proved itself a successful formula - is Lucas trying to catch that wave?); does he believe his audience has changed, or does he just not care any more?

What are your thoughts? Are we happy to see lampoons on sports commentators and racial (accent) stereotypes invade OUR SPACE and take EP II even further from the premise of the series, or does anyone else agree with me that the Phantom Menace would have been a far better - and far better received - film if it had stayed true to the spirit of Star Wars and kept itself ‘a long time ago’ and ‘in galaxy far, far away’?

Now, go on - tell me I'm thinking too deeply about this...

Last edited by darthyogi on Dec 12th, 2001 at 10:05 AM

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Your still missing the point Yerssot. I know what Darthyogi is saying and agree with him. Apart from the point about racial stereotypes. That's nonsense.

ROTJ had the "tarzan cry" and Landos "this'll be the shortest offensive of all time" line which Kasdan said was an American Football reference. Then TPM had a few.

But is it really a problem? Star Wars IS a part of modern day pop-culture. People(apart from kids) don't sit there all wide eyed and innocent anymore. We know too much. Star Wars is everywhere and Lucas is just joining in on the joke.

But I do think your taking it too seriously. When TPM was released I read people say that the pod-race commentators took them out of the Star Wars Galaxy and brought them back to Earth. The scene was on Tatooine, there were aliens everywhere, pod-racers were flying round a circiut at 600mph but some people had a problem imagining they weren't on Earth.

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"You've never had any TINY bit of sex, have you?"

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I've posted a Thread about my dissapointment with ET in the Senate, with the same SPIRIT posted here.

The jokeso of OT where really good and don´t take me "out of the Bubble" except that tarzan yell.

I've paided to see a movie from "a long time ago, in a galaxy far away", and not a "malcom in the middle" episode, with the actors watching the camera to make a joke.

And this is not "take too serious", is about money that i've paided to the movies, to VHS, toys, and all what makes Mr LUCAS a very rich man, because i've seen a story (in the OT) that was serious, and still hope to see the coming episodes with the same spirit.

It's about a movies, yes, but movies that were something, and (as far as we see in this PT) they are not the same "LINE".

I keep my "faith" in ep2, and still like EP1, but i too think that it could very better without some "internal jokes". C'mon, i'm watching STAR WARS movie or not?????

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I haven't yet seen it, but I will. I'll prob like it too....but It can never take the place of Star Wars in my heart

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