Ok, so I need some input. The other day we were driving to the Sandy library down 13th East and Meredith asks me an innocent, yet inflammatory question. "What is it with Star Wars?" I responded with the obvious incredulous look that any boy born between 1965 and the present would give, one that said, "Are you going to ask me why I love my grandmother next?" Honestly....what a ridiculous question. Only I couldn't answer her convincingly. So I come to you for help.
I thought of the obvious themes:
The black and white nature of good and evil (or is it?)
The combination of space, cowboys, pirates, robots, weird creatures, and explosions (perhaps some skeletons would have enhanced the film?)
The time period the movie came out, after the Vietnam War, and all those disaster films (Towering Inferno and the like)
The groundbreaking sound and visual effects.
The timeless story of the ordinary boy who finds out he is extraordinary?
The dialogue (hahahaha)
So what is it that makes Star Wars a given for every boy age 2 to 42? I'm looking to my nerdy friends especially on this one, you know who you are!
Tell me why it is an unquestioned part of our lives. Not that I really care to question, but when someone wants you to explain something so essential and basic to your existence, you need some ammo. So let me know what it is!!!
I would also be intrigued to hear of any dissenting opinions on the universality of the Star Wars male instinct.
4 comments:
I think you listed the main reasons. The themes of Star Wars are repetitions of those great ideas that make art viable. There is a reason that Joseph Campbell analyzed Star Wars so much: these are old archetypes at work, and they are all relevant to the human condition. By my way of thinking, that is what makes art good. And I consider Star Wars art in the sense that I consider The Lord of The Rings, The Odyssey and Iliad, The Faerie Queen, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, (etc...) all viable and relevant forms of art.
What about the obvious Oedipal themes of the film (the stamina of which we might not consciously understand)? The concepts of concealment and transparency within the family dynamic? The allusion to revolutionary uprisings, namely, that of our fledgling country? The ethical dilemmas concerning altruism and egoism (I mean, how many times have you stalled when slashing open a frozen tauntaun to save a life while putting your own at risk…be honest)?
And aside from all the scholarly scrutiny applied to the films, the real clincher for me is the indisputable radness of Chewbacca. C’mon Meredith! No more contrarian viewpoints. It is a universally established fact that Star Wars is the deal, although I will allow that Lucas’s latter-day sins have really fouled the whole Star Wars legacy…
To qualify the why something strikes a chord in a particular person, or kabillions of people, will prove to be tricky. Your list would be my list if the question were asked me, and to explain beyond that, well Joe said it better then I could. But, the very idea that you can sit and explicate the film with Freudian ideas or by using archetypes, that speaks highly of the film; it's not an easy test.
I will say this also, her question is well warranted if all she has been exposed to is the recent Star Wars, starting with the reissued versions of the original trilogy. But, if the indoctrination began at a young age, like us, prior to any bastardizations then there is a purity to the tale, and that, even with future debacles, will ever strike a chord. Like Joe said, that is a fine tell of good art.
The happiest day is when he released the unaltered editions on digital video disk.
Dude, what IS it with Star Wars? Josh has these Star Wars boxing figurines that he got for Christmas when he was 14... and he WILL NOT LET ME GET RID OF THEM! They have moved with us SIX TIMES. I just don't get it.
Keep up the good work.
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