Lets talk all things Star Wars
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It's one thing to question authority in order to determine if it's worthy of it's power but if your idea of undermining authority is to subvert the strawman ideas based in speculative fiction as if they were the means of actual authority then I'd say you've already lost all credibility.
I understand all too well and respect the power of story. I know firsthand because I'm an author and value words and the power they hold. Stories are essential for the well being of humans and I'm all for artistic expression, but there has to be a balance between art and reality. Blur that line too much and you end up with a culture void of any true conviction and really, really bland art that says nothing.
I'm not going to cast dispersions and say Star Wars isn't important to a lot of people or that it's irrelevant but if that's all you have to go on, you'll always end up short.
I understand all too well and respect the power of story. I know firsthand because I'm an author and value words and the power they hold. Stories are essential for the well being of humans and I'm all for artistic expression, but there has to be a balance between art and reality. Blur that line too much and you end up with a culture void of any true conviction and really, really bland art that says nothing.
I'm not going to cast dispersions and say Star Wars isn't important to a lot of people or that it's irrelevant but if that's all you have to go on, you'll always end up short.
Francis Ford Coppola brought up the idea to George Lucas that the Force/Jedi had potential to be a religion (in the real world). GL rejected the idea, to his credit. This happened decades ago.
As for SW being "religion with no strings attached" - IMO many people's dealings with actual religions are much the same. I'm not sure why it's different when it comes from a Hollywood movie rather than some ancient writings. What strings does the typical American mega-church put on people?
Starting a religion around a pop-culture thing is nothing new or rare. You could argue that it's how a lot of mainstream religions got started originally. The Bible stories & other ancient myths . . . they were the action movies & romance novels of their time & place.
Today the mainstream religions (Christianity, etc) recognize certain "official" texts as canon. Most people today (including most believers of the religions) have no idea how many other texts were circulating in the early formative days of it. Some of them had wild differences in tone and flat-out contradictions from the acceped canon. Others include stuff that everyone recognizes today, not realizing that it's actually outside the canon. There are parallels with SW all over the place.
As for SW being "religion with no strings attached" - IMO many people's dealings with actual religions are much the same. I'm not sure why it's different when it comes from a Hollywood movie rather than some ancient writings. What strings does the typical American mega-church put on people?
Starting a religion around a pop-culture thing is nothing new or rare. You could argue that it's how a lot of mainstream religions got started originally. The Bible stories & other ancient myths . . . they were the action movies & romance novels of their time & place.
Today the mainstream religions (Christianity, etc) recognize certain "official" texts as canon. Most people today (including most believers of the religions) have no idea how many other texts were circulating in the early formative days of it. Some of them had wild differences in tone and flat-out contradictions from the acceped canon. Others include stuff that everyone recognizes today, not realizing that it's actually outside the canon. There are parallels with SW all over the place.
The difference is that a religion built around a pop culture story has no core tenets the way a typical philosophy or religion does. They have all the trappings and symbols of religion without the same meaning because they aren't focused on a central idea that is more or less universally agreed upon by followers of said belief system. It's a vague good vs evil story and George said he relied on the openness of interpretation to allow people to read into them whatever they wanted.
Besides this idea of it becoming something it's not is a huge reason why the discussion about these movies has become so divisive because there are people who treat them as if they were something more than just a movie and if you disagree with the changes made to them you're a labeled a herectic.
Besides this idea of it becoming something it's not is a huge reason why the discussion about these movies has become so divisive because there are people who treat them as if they were something more than just a movie and if you disagree with the changes made to them you're a labeled a herectic.
Coppola suggested it to Lucas because of what L Ron Hubbard did with Scientology. I remember being a kid & seeing the TV ads for DIANETICS, with the animated graphics that had a volcano blowing up & stuff like that.
IIRC, Coppola felt that SW had a built in popularity that would grease the rail into a full religion if George wanted to do so, & honestly/unfortunately, he was probably right.
IIRC, Coppola felt that SW had a built in popularity that would grease the rail into a full religion if George wanted to do so, & honestly/unfortunately, he was probably right.
Inconsistent messaging has also been George's problem, leaving it to the "faithful" to sort out the meaning and have doctrinal disputes over it. The Jedi in Star Wars and Empire had Jedi who were a mash-up of Shaolin monks, samurai, Knights Templar, and Knights Hospitaller. The common themes between those was living lives of service and seeking always to find inner balance -- one's grail (from the Germanic root meaning carved channel or path). As of Star Wars, it was a thing anyone could learn to do if they were able to shed their preconceptions, and some were predisposed to have more innate facility ("the Force is strong with them"). IMO, an opportunity was lost to have Vader correct Tarkin and say the Jedi tenets weren't a religion. In Star Wars, we saw Obi-Wan work to defuse a tense situation and only draw his lightsaber as a last resort when violence was imminent. In Empire, Yoda reinforced that the Jedi use the Force for knowledge and defense, never for attack.
Then, in ROTJ, Lucas started to skew toward his apparently more cynical -- at that time -- worldview, and had Luke choking out Jabba's guards and attempting negotiation first with Jabba. By the Prequels, the Jedi were dickish, insular baby-stealers, who the public feared more than respected. And the EU didn't help.
Then, in ROTJ, Lucas started to skew toward his apparently more cynical -- at that time -- worldview, and had Luke choking out Jabba's guards and attempting negotiation first with Jabba. By the Prequels, the Jedi were dickish, insular baby-stealers, who the public feared more than respected. And the EU didn't help.
CT1138
Sr Member
Let's just hope it doesn't come to this:
How'd my Anovos First Order Stormtrooper armor look? I think it was second row, fourth from the left. 
harrisonp
Sr Member
Looked a little short for a StormtrooperHow'd my Anovos First Order Stormtrooper armor look? I think it was second row, fourth from the left.
In regards to that room, I know it would ruin the reveal and view, but I wish the queue lingered there longer with a couple switchbacks before pushing you into the bland hallway leading to the detention block. As is I take a quick glance and then bee line it to the next area while everyone else is distracted.
ghostryder
Legendary Member
George Lucas -- Yes, George Lucas! -- Joins Hasbro’s Black Series
The Star Wars creator will be immortalized in the popular action-figure line -- as a stormtrooper.
www.starwars.com
Can’t agree more.. I use Star Wars to escape the madness of the real world..
Leave all this real world drama out of it..
Axlotl
Master Member
He was already immortalized in '97 as a TIE pilot.George Lucas -- Yes, George Lucas! -- Joins Hasbro’s Black Series
The Star Wars creator will be immortalized in the popular action-figure line -- as a stormtrooper.
I don't remember that one. I remember the previous Stormtrooper George, and also Celebration II's Jorg Sacul X-Wing pilot...
Axlotl
Master Member
I didn't know those even existed.
The one I'm referring to was a little 1:72 scale pilot that came with the TIE Interceptor. Action Fleet, I think it was?
I bought one of every ship, and was surprised to find the TIE pilot's helmet came off, and that it was a tiny George Lucas.
Holy crap, I love it.
Joek3rr
Master Member
And she cried in her car after watching The Phantom Menace. Gotta love how they conveniently leave that out.
‘Star Wars’ Editor Marcia Lucas Slams Kathleen Kennedy and J.J. Abrams: ‘They Don’t Have a Clue’
Marcia Lucas was "furious" when she saw Han Solo and Luke Skywalker killed in Disney's "Star Wars" trilogy.www.indiewire.com
And her criticisms of killing off Han and Luke? Um, those came from her ex husband.... George literally told Harrison they could kill off Han in his phone call, when he was asking if he'd want to reprise his role. Luke, dying, also came from George.
And they don't get the "Jedi" story? Isn't the story about going from adolescence to adulthood? Finding your place, and who you are?
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