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Star Wars: Storylines and Concepts, and What We Wish We Could See

by: darth_morbus

date posted: May 31, 2006 12:04 PM | updated: May 31, 2006 12:05 PM

Lucas and Sociopolitik: Star Wars, LOTR and Cinemactivism

Many people have moaned over the fact that Lucas highlighted the grave error and the insane moral corruption behind the Bush clan and the oil wars now ongoing. The fact is, science-fiction and fantasy have a long tradition of protest and analysis of real-world sociopolotical events and conditions, going back to the classic Star Trek (which featured plenty of episodes critiquing the politics and social standards of the day in everything from its scripts to its characters).

In truth it goes even further back, although director Peter Jackson only finished the whole Lord of the Rings (Tolkein) trilogy a couple of years ago; he was the first to actually complete a Lord of the Rings cinematic presentation. People who had actually read the books would know that Tokein posed great ecological moral questions especially in the last segments of his story, issues which he had discussed at roundtables with C.S. Lewis and his other great literary friends in the first half of the century. Tolkein had seen great overdevelopment and destructive capitalist practices damage the ecology of Britain as he was growing up, and his obsessed him, driving to include this theme in the Lord of the Rings, particularly embodied in his creatures the Ents.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine foresaw much of the current problem with militarism, paranoia and fearmongery with a story arc about the Changeling Paranoia on Earth in the 1997 season. Those episodes hit the whole current situation on the head of the nail, years before it all boiled over. These were enough to make me stop tearing up Rick Berman (for a while).

Star Wars bears yet tremendous potential to provide an excellent vehicle for sociopolitical analysis and protest. This is one thing Lucas did do very well with his films, and I applaud him. I hope that this theme will be continued in any future Star Wars films and other storytelling venues in the franchise. It's too great a part of Star Wars, for me, to allow to fall into disuse, especially when this society in particular desperately needs avenues for public dissent.

http://blogs.starwars.com/darthmorbus/5

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Kenobi-fan
The Jundland Wastes Journal

date Posted: May 31, 2006 12:11 PM

The fact is, science-fiction and fantasy have a long tradition of protest and analysis of real-world sociopolitical events and conditions...

"A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down..."
- The Sound of Music

"You can't handle the truth."
- A Few Good Men

It really is the only way to assess current day issues. Given the emotional baggage tied up with such today's issues, it takes myth and fantasy story telling to convey discussions that have a tendency to scare or bore most 'normal' people.

Captain Peabody

date Posted: May 31, 2006 1:28 PM

All true. The main problem I have with the Bush Star Wars thing is simply that I don't agree with it.

As to Tolkien, in his books he associates Evil with the Machine, a sort of anti-nature that uproots and destroys Good. I could go on all day about the different things you mention, but the long and the short of it is that (minus the anti-Bush statements) I pretty much agree with you.

	Son of a Bith The Cantina Corner
date Posted: May 31, 2006 1:48 PM The Ewoks are like the Ents: They both "Rage Against The Machine." I think (and hope) that more political stuff will be seen in the live-action TV series. After all, even ANH talks about the "dissolving of the Senate."

	EvilDarthBear The Grand Admiral's Club
date Posted: May 31, 2006 2:13 PM >Many people have moaned over the fact that Lucas highlighted the grave error and the insane moral corruption behind the Bush clan and the oil wars now ongoing. ROFL! I must redouble my efforts!

	jedishadow89 Coruscant's Sun(s)?
date Posted: May 31, 2006 3:34 PM The whole "spoon full of sugar..." thing is from "Mary Poppins", not "The Sound of Music"...I cannot believe I just corrected you on that! I am ashamed. Also, I completely agree with darth_morbus. I always enjoyed the sociopolitical analysis stuff. I like how SW can be used for escapism and can also go deeper.

jkelly
There Is No Conflict

date Posted: May 31, 2006 3:45 PM

I think the difference between the "classic" stories, movies, etc., is that they can explore each side. The heroes in LOTR refuse to give in to evil, and that can support a lot of different positions.

That is different from simple protests that contain no artistic value. A protest is acceptable, but a one-sided scream to promote your position in the guise of art is not. It is not "art" -- art allows for open thought and debate whereas a protest is simply a point of view, and often a close-minded one at that.

If you're going to protest, then protest. But don't call it "art."

By drawing on history, classic mythology, and a sprinkle of modern-day commentary, you get something special.

Did you coin "cinemactivism"?

	Son of a Bith The Cantina Corner
date Posted: May 31, 2006 5:00 PM Oooh!! I want to correct KF too! It's "You can't handle the truth!" See, there is an exclamation point (!). that makes all the difference. The line is said in anger.

	MissPadme Miss Padme's Naboo Love Nest
date Posted: May 31, 2006 8:33 PM People can find themes they find relevant in these types of stories whether they were intentionally put in the story or not. The truly timeless tales though go beyond agitprop and touch upon universal themes.

darth_morbus
Star Wars: Storylines and Concepts, and What We Wish We Could See

date Posted: Jun 01, 2006 9:29 AM

I _think_ I coined the term 'cinemactivism', but it's quite possible someone else has already done it. It's easy to do in American English, as I can tell you, being an English teacher.

Yes, the most memorable myths can be interpreted in many ways, but oftentimes we interpret classic myths without knowing entirely the sociopolitical or economic landscape of the times in which they were created, especially in the case of myths handed down unwritten until recently captured on paper.

darth_morbus
Star Wars: Storylines and Concepts, and What We Wish We Could See

date Posted: Jun 01, 2006 9:29 AM

For example, until Schleiman (I'm pretty sure I've misspelled that) dug up Troy (which he dug up the wrong century, going too deep in the earth), no one believed there was a Troy. Now people are trying to figure out what the real cause of the war was, other than Helen going off with Paris.

I often must enlighten my students to the history behind a piece of classic work in order for them to understand it. This can be true of mythology as well.

jkelly
There Is No Conflict

date Posted: Jun 01, 2006 2:40 PM

I often must enlighten my students to the history behind a piece of classic work in order for them to understand it.

Probably my favorite course in college was titled "mythology" but it really was more like "The Anthropology of Mythology" because it examined how stories seemed to change until we got the "classic" version.

However, while it is great background, I don't think (and it looks like you agree) that it should not limit a great story. If it's limited to a time period, it cannot become timeless. E.g., in SW, we've got modern-day, Roman, and Nazi parallels (among others).

Sunnyskywalker
Sunnyskywalker's Star Wars Stuff

date Posted: Jun 01, 2006 10:11 PM

Yeah, that's one of the things that interests me about sf and fantasy - you can explore political philosophy without (as much of) the restraints and the baggage that goes along with using actual historical or current events.

I was actually thinking about this recently. I posted an entry in my livejournal (will probably crosspost here someday, but formatting takes time :P ) comparing some of the political sentiment in the cut Biggs scene to the prequels.

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