Re: Salinger turns to the Dark Side

Jim Rovira (jrovira@juno.com)
Mon, 28 Jun 1999 20:17:42 -0400 

I appreciate your appreciation for the Star Wars movies, but I think
Perfection is a bit of an exaggeration :)  The characters all seemed
"stock" to me.  Luke, the young hero, is blonde haired and blue eyed and
dresses in white.  Darth, the bad guy, is half man and half machine and
dresses all in black.  Han is your typical rogue character, and Obi-Wan
your typical sage.  What's the difference between a "typical, stock
character" and an archetype?  One word is meant as praise and the other
as criticism :)  That's the main thing.  

The "Force" is, well, watered down Vedas, so far as I can tell.  You
can't really have a conflict between good and evil if its the "same"
force on both sides.  Lucas is trying to have his cake and eat it too. 
At least the real philosophies seem a bit more honest and thoughtful
about it to me...  

Jim Rovira
Check out "Up Against the Wall" for links to numerous
literature and writing resources on the internet.
http://members.aol.com/antiutopia/main.htm

On Mon, 28 Jun 1999 11:55:52 -0400 (EDT) jason varsoke
<jjv@caesun.msd.ray.com> writes:
>On Sat, 26 Jun 1999, Camille Scaysbrook wrote:
>> Jim wrote:
>> > 1. The original movies weren't all that great artistically to 
>begin with.
>> >  They're melodrama and intended for fun.  
>> 
>> Yes, I agree totally. I went to see Star Wars with a critical eye 
>when it
>> was re-released and I thought it was a piece of crap. However, I 
>went to
>> see it again with a Saturday Matinee eye and came out thoroughly
>> exhilarated and enjoyed it totally - it was a good story with 
>resonances
>> for everybody and it was a whole lot of fun. The Phantom Menace I 
>thought
>> was a lousy lumbering story and not very much fun at all. Characters 
>acted
>> as if they were working off a cue sheet full of plot-turns. Who 
>believes
>> Anakin and Princess Amilada are going to get it on for any other 
>reason
>> that the plot dictates it? Not me.
>
>  Okay, I can't defend Episode I, because, well, I hated it.  The only 
>way
>that movie will be any good is if Episode II sheds strange light on 
>it,
>showing that all the problems Lucas created actually enhance the
>plot/world.  But as for the original SW and family, my critical eye 
>sees a
>lot going on, a lot of perfection.
>   The first thing is Luke Skywalker as Joseph Camble's "Hero of a
>Thousand Faces," the theory that ever culture has a myth hero, and 
>they
>are all basically the same archetype.  Luke makes a pretty good one 
>(even
>though he whines all the time, but that shows his age and maturity).  
>Has
>a lot going on.  The major thematic question is, "Will Luke make the 
>leap
>of faith necessary to embrace the force, and save the day."  Sometimes
>hero films find their answer in the hero trusting himself/herself, but
>this is strangely the hero forgeting himself.  It's very Zen for a
>american popular movie.
>   Also the POV is great.  The story is essentially that of two 
>droids.
>What other movie tells the story of two machines? And there are some
>masterful scenes defining these two characters.  For instance, when R2 
>is
>blown away in the X-wing trench run the camera flashes to the control
>room.  Luke reports "I've lost R2."  C3P0, even though Anthony Daniels
>(actor inside) has no movable facial features, clearly shows concern.  
>The
>camera shot contrasts Leia's complete lack of concern, her stone face.
>Machines with emotions, people without.  Wonderful.
>   Han Solo's set up as the Atheistic counter point to Obi-wan's 
>Theism.
>Wonderful.  Some of the dialog in this film is incredible.  "Hoaky
>religions and ancient weapons, are nothing compared to blaster at your
>side.  Ain't no 'force' that governs my life.  Just a bunch of simple
>tricks and nonsense."  Incredible.  What other SciFi film has this 
>meaty
>a dialog.  Now think of the dramas that bring up similar heavy issues 
>as a
>sub-text.  I could probably count them on my fingers if i could think 
>of
>one.
>   Okay, I could go on and on about SW, but just for the sake of 
>things
>I'll throw in a perfect slice of dialog.  I mean perfect in the most
>literary of senses.  In _Empire_ Han is about to be lowered into the
>carbonite freezing chamber.  Leia is there with Chewy.  She and Han 
>have
>been antagonistic the whole film.  He's been giving her strong, 
>assertive,
>swashbuckler comeon lines, and she's rebuffed him -- "scruffy looking 
>nerf
>herder."  So, Han's about to be lowered inside.  She calls to him "I 
>love
>you." (trite)  He replies, "I know."  Perfection, Perfection 
>Perfection.
>In two words Harison Ford shows Han's supreme confidence and his 
>complete
>love for her all in the same.  It's in the inflection.  It's in the 
>movie.
>It is the best reply i've ever heard to "I love you."  This is a SciFi
>film!  What the heck is it doing worrying about love?
>   In interaction between characters, the fullness of characters is
>incredible.  Again in _Empire_ they are in the holding cell.  Chewy 
>grabs
>Lando and starts choaking him, roaring all the time.  Leia leans right
>into Lando, while he's saying "You don't understand."  Leia replies, 
>"Oh,
>we understand, don't we Chewy."  The empathy with Chewy is great.  
>Also it
>hints that she cars a lot about Han, but doesn't explicity show it.  
>It
>show her irrational mean side.  I think what I love about Leia's 
>character
>so much is that from her very escape from the holding block in SW 
>she's
>been anything but the typical princess.  She's rude, whitty, assertive 
>and
>strong headed.  She's yelling at her rescuers.  "Into the garbage 
>shoot,
>fly boy."  She's weilding a rifle, taking out Stormtroopers, she's
>standing up to darth vader and gov. tarken.
>
>   Cam, I've spent most of my life trying to move things about the 
>room
>with my mind.  SW is the late 20th century American Mythology.  It's 
>given
>me one of the only understandings I have of faith.  It's given me 
>hero's
>and people to emulate.  It has wisdom that I've let influence my life.
>It's the classic struggle, the epic.  I can't think of a movie that's
>affected me more, how i think, what my value system is.  The Zen 
>motif,
>the pacifism, the struggle, the discipline.  It's all in there if you 
>look
>for it.  But yes, it's a great Matinee as well.  
>
>May the Force be with you, always.
>
>-jay
>

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