Star Wars Article

[dazie]

http://www.lawrence.com/blogs/mathis/2005/apr/24/lucas/  (You can add your comments to the blog)

Cup o' Joel
George Lucas ruined my childhood

By Joel Mathis

Sunday, April 24, 2005

George Lucas retroactively ruined my childhood.

He did it by creating Jar-Jar Binks, by casting the most wooden child actor in the history of Hollywood as the biggest villain in the history of Hollywood, and by relying too much on special effects instead of story.

But worst of all, he did it by being boring.

And "Star Wars" was never meant to be boring. Not ever.

I was going to save this little screed until the May 19 release of the last "Star Wars" movie, "Revenge of the Sith." But the media hype machine has already started the process of making "Episode III" the biggest film event of the year, so I must raise my voice now.

And what I have to say is this: the last two movies have been crap.

This shouldn't matter, because flicks are flicks, to be enjoyed and then forgotten, but dagnabit, it does matter. If you're a thirtysomething American male, you know it matters, because "Star Wars" probably did more to shape your youthful imagination than anything else — than everything else, combined — in popular culture.

I was about 5 years old the first time I saw the original "Star Wars," now titled "A New Hope," in 1977 or 1978. My parents loaded up the family car, took us to a now-defunct drive-in theater in Emporia, where I watched the show over my father's shoulders from the back of a red Ford Maverick, sound piped in over tinny speakers. I seem to recall it was part of a double bill; the second movie had something to do with roller disco.

After that, "Star Wars" became the currency of my youth. I was never good at sports, and I liked reading a little too much, but Luke, Leia, Han, Chewbacca and the rest gave me something I could talk about with other guys my age.

My favorite toy? An X-wing fighter. My parents never could afford The Millennium Falcon. I spent hours in my room with action figures, recreating scenes from the movies and inventing new adventures.

I still have my original Chewbacca figure.

Then "Episode I" came out in 1999, and it was awful — characters, plot, acting, everything but the climactic lightsaber duel was mindbendingly bad.. I went back a second and third time, just to make sure I hadn't accidentally missed the rollicking fun that fueled the early movies. "Episode II" wasn't much better.

And suddenly, it felt like all those childhood hours spent contemplating and expanding upon the "Star Wars" universe were a colossal waste. Which, yes, they probably were anyway — but still, to be confronted with the evidence was painful. Like I said: George Lucas retroactively ruined my childhood.

I won't lie: I'm going to go see "Episode III." Maybe even on opening night. But when I go, I'll know I'm going to see a movie, a moneymaking opportunity, but nothing more.

The Force, it seems, wasn't ever really with us at all.

[Grumpus]

Joel, sometimes you just gotta say, WTF, and make your move.  If you can't say it, you can't live it.

[dazie]

Joel, sometimes you just gotta say, WTF, and make your move.  If you can't say it, you can't live it.

??  Where'd you get that?

[Gamplayerx]

Joel, sometimes you just gotta say, WTF, and make your move.  If you can't say it, you can't live it.

Oh, my goodness.  Bish has been smilieafied!

[Jessie]

Joel, sometimes you just gotta say, WTF, and make your move.  If you can't say it, you can't live it.

Oh, my goodness.  Bish has been smilieafied!

HAHAHAHA

[VikingJuice]

I feel the same way the writer does about feeling severely let down by EPI and II.  All, ALL of my art work, creative writing, play and story telling was derived from my childhood connection to SW the original.  It was THE influential factor of the first 15 years of my life-aside from birth.

For a few years now, I've been burned out on the whole notion of SW but I have to admit, I have hope, maybe just blind hope, that the last one will be a worthy experience.

[ReBurn]

I don't know if I agree with the writer or not.  The original trilogy wasn't all that great in terms of acting, and they relied pretty heavily on special effects, too.  I just watched the original trilogy this weekend, and once again I wasn't wowed by the acting abilities.  I think perhaps too many people are looking at it through the rose-colored glasses of their youth. 

Episode I was a travesty.  Mainly because the story was so full of holes.  The introduction of Midi-chlorians as the reason for the ability to use the force was stupid, and Jar-Jar had too much screen time.  I think it was OK to have him, just not so much of him.  Episode II was much better than Episode I, and I found it a worthy addition to the saga.  I'm really excited about Episode III.

[Jessie]

Wow.

Way too much thinking going on in here.

[VikingJuice]

Wow.

Way too much thinking going on in here.

Boo hisss....down with thinking.....

[Beefy]

I hope they use The Chewbacca Defense somewhere in the film.

[VikingJuice]

I hope they use The Chewbacca Defense somewhere in the film.

CCCCCCCCCCAAAAAAA-AAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!