The Mythology of Star Wars.
As the closing credits rolled on Revenge of the Sith, a realization came to me:
I am not a true fan of the Star Wars movies.
I am, however, a devoted fan of the mythology of Star Wars.
Don’t misunderstand—I have always loved Star Wars. My first memory of a movie theatre was The Empire Strikes Back. I was four at the time. The row of seats in front of me partially obscured the movie screen. My fleeting memories of that movie are still framed by that silhouette of seats looming in front of my small frame. I quite literally grew up with Star Wars.
When Episode I came out in 1999, I was disappointed. The movie was a disaster. So I went back and re-watched the original 1977 film. This time I examined the film critically for acting and dialogue. The same flaws I scorned in Episode I existed (though definitely not to the same degree) in Episode IV. Luke was whiney—and a bad actor to boot. Many of the lines were canned. The original movie — despite its many digital improvements — simply didn’t live up to my memory of the movie.
What made—and makes—Star Wars such a unique series of films is none of the things the movie critic examines. Star Wars is foremost a mythology—a new universe, a new world, and a new metaphysics (the Force) with which all relate, both atheist and believer alike. It is bigger than the sum of its parts. And it will continue to make boatloads of cash independent of whether the movies are actually good or not.
It is hard to emphasize how expansive and influential this mythology of Star Wars was and is, both to me throughout my youth, and, to the many others inspired by the same mythology, both male and female. As a child, I spent my breakfast staring at the cereal box, secretly hoping to tap into the Force—into anything—that would allow me to move that cereal box with my mind.
As this final Episode ended, I was both excited and disappointed. Excited, because it was one of the best of the Star Wars series, and a great note to end on. Disappointed, because George Lucas could have made these films match the grandeur and possibility they possess in my imagination.
I keep hearing about the bad acting and dialog in the original series (Episodes IV-VI) but I don’t see it. When I watch those films today I see performances that are completely in keeping with the intent of the film. Like Indiana Jones, they were supposed to be send-ups of the old time serials. Yes, yes, I understand that Hammill is no Russell Crowe but damned if he wasn’t completely believable in the role he was asked to play. What you call whining I call playing the character. :)
There was none of the horrid dialog or stilted, wooden delivery that we got in Episode 1 or 2. Nobody was as bad as Jake Lloyd (in any scene) or as lame as Amidala. I put some of it on the actors, a lot more of it on the writing and directing, and a healthy bit on the fact that much of the film was shot against a green screen (and digitally filled in later.) When you’re acting with a digital creation (like Jar Jar) it’s not easy to deliver in the emotion department.
Posted by: BillB at May 26, 2005 07:29 AM