In case anyone's missed it, we recently posted the so-bad-it's-good 1978 educational Star Wars filmstrip over in Kessel Mines --

http://www.starwars.com/hyperspace/member/kessel/f20060728/index.html

Definitely worth 20 minutes of your time if you want to see one of Star Wars' most awkward forays into late '70s' mainstream (we're talking Holiday Special cringe-worthy here). Old-school fans should have a good time with this, along with the downloadable pdf worksheets printed in classic mimeograph purple.

For the feature's second page, I jokingly asked readers to complete a 1978 homework assignment provided by the original distributors of Hardware Wars, the Star Wars spoof that got repurposed as a classroom "educational tool" in the late '70s. Happily, rebelscum.com's Jay Shepard was happy to humor me:

What makes Star Wars such an easy target for satire?

Any suitably popular film that enters the collective vernacular, such as Star Wars, can be easily parodied due to the shorthand the satirist can make use of. For example, they do not have to explain to the audience about the Star Destroyer, they only need make reference to its shape (an Iron) and allow the audience to enjoy the joke. Star Wars also features many universal themes, quirky characters and instantly recognizable elements that make it easy for humorist to poke fun at.

How well did the filmmakers capture the characters and the action of Star Wars? How else could the film have been parodied?

The filmmaker captured the characters and actions of Star Wars in a way that evokes the original, but is not confused with the original. The use of a puppet (muppet?) for Chewbacca and a look alike pilot for Han Solo, deliver the elements of caricature to the film, as a cartoonist might. Other forms of parody include the comic strip, cartoon, or even puppets. These methods all employ various means in which to parody the original work.

Select a recent film with a more complex plot and characterizations. Write a short parody of the film.

Regardless of the complexity of the Plot or Characterizations, parody works best when the the elements of the story to be parodied are boiled down to their basic building blocks, and the characters are one-dimensional-ized. Take the Lord of the Rings, a sweeping epic that has huge character arcs, where heroes sometimes do ill, and by virtue of symmetry, villains do well, however unintentionally. Ina parody, Gollum (probably called Pollen, or similar) would have no complexity and be a straight, toad-like, "peccccioussss" hissing weirdo. The quest for the Ring, would be boiled done to something more mundane, such as a quest for a washer in a hardware store....

"In a time, not long ago, when the rule of the Plumbers was in its waning age, there came a little Bobbit on a quest for the most magical of treasures. He set forth on his quest to Homme Depotia to find the magical black washer that will stop the evil leaks from drowning his shire. Aided by Dumb Sam, his apprentice and flummoxed at every turn by the evil store manager Pollen, Dodo must find the true washer within himself, that allows him to stop his own leaks and save Middle-Dearth."

Does humor have a place in the serious study of literature? Why or why not?

Humor does have a place in the study of serious literature. As a sense of humor is part of the human nature, and literature is a reflection of the needs and desires of the the writer, one cannot have a complete discussion of literature without considering all aspects. Even the most serious literature, one may quote Shakespeare or Dickens as needed, has elements of humor (or humour) in them. Therefore, to study 'serious' literature is to delve into some elements of parody and humor. 'A Modest Proposal' by Jonathan Swift, a respected essayist of his time, appeared to be a serious piece of literature on the outside, but is in fact a satire of the English social structure.

Hardware Wars concentrates on the current popularity of epics and special effects. Why do you think such films are so successful?

The special effects laden film is popular with the public because it allows viewers to step outside their lives and experience, fully, something that they cannot get in their daily lives. They are able to escape, if you will, the boredom of the office or school, and be swept away to a more romantic time, with clearly defined heroes and villains; fantastic planets and vehicles; and wild adventure.


That's 100 points extra credit for Jay. Anyone else care to try?

And in case you can't brave the entire presentation, fast-forward to timecode 18:18, where we hear the disembodied Ben talk to Luke in what I call "echo-chambered-golly-gee-speak"...

Enjoy, if you can stand it.