All right. I'm better. Drama averted, so on and so forth.
Last night, I had this terrible fear that the American exam was today. It doesn't matter in terms of prep - that's done (or as done as it's getting). It was just this fear that I would wander off to school, check my e-mail at 9:30 AM, and find an exam sitting there. Then, I'd have to rush home and get started and be all hot and sweaty ... and yea. But it's now 9:02 AM, there's no exam, so I can breathe.
The wife got home yesterday, wedding pictures in tow. They turned out really nice. Really nice. We're going to get frames now for the big ones and hang them. We'll finally have DECORATIONS on our walls - fuckin'-A, it'll be like we're all growed up.
All right, I'm going to barrel off now into pop culture obsession. You have been warned. (Sorry for the length - I guess that last, short entry was a false alarm)
Last night, I finally did it. I was scared, but excited too. We went to to see Episode III.
Just so you know, from here on out - minor spoilers etc.
On the whole, I was really pleased. I had a good time, was really entertained, and I felt like I saw a Star Wars movie. I felt like some good plot points and interesting character bits were revealed. But my happiness with the movie is more complicated than that. So, I'll start with the stuff that didn't sit with me well.
For starters, the opening fight sequence is really fantastic. I was glad to finally see a great space battle (which are some of my favorite bits in the original trilogy). And while this movie lacks the iconic design sense of the first, the little nods to proto-X-wings and TIE fighters made me smile. However, I was not clear why R2-D2 was stuck in a Looney Tunes cartoon for the first 25 minutes. The weird use of the droids as slapstick comic relief really threw me out of the flow of the movie.
Another minor nitpick is, of course, the romantic dialogue. Related to that, Padme is just too dumb. I mean, she doesn't think Anakin would kill the youngling Jedi, when she knows he killed the youngling Sandpeople (hat tip to the wife for this question)? Maybe if I bought that she was more in love ... but that dialogue doesn't convince me of that.
Also, I love Ian McDiarmid as Palpatine/Darh Sidious. But in this one, his "evil" voice was a little over the top sometimes. He gave me the giggles. Not exactly what you want from your Supreme Evil ya know? Related to that: I didn't get the Yoda/Palpatine fight. It seemed like a draw - why does Yoda quit (in fact, the Emperor looked a damn bit scared when Yoda deflected that Force lightning at the end of their brawl)? Is Yoda ashamed of not seeing the truth sooner? Does he feel that victory is useless, as the Republic is already shattered? That seemed more like a case where Lucas didn't want Yoda to lose, but the story demanded that it happened. It was awkward.
In addition, three words: Not. Enough. Wookies. Nuff' said.
Final thing: Darth Vader. Whoo boy. Do they not have, like, anaesthesia in a galaxy far, far away? Also, when he first got up from the table, he had a bit of the Frankenstein's monster herky-jerkies. I mean, I get that Vader is a riff on man/machine - but that played more like parody than homage.
Oh - fun Star Wars thing I love: time/space makes no sense! One gets the impression that jumping between planets only takes minutes. This doesn't bother me b/c it keeps the plot moving for dramatic reasons, I just love the B-movie feel of it to pieces.
Those were really all minor things, the kind of crap any movie deals with. On the whole, this flick was really a success for me. What made it actually work was that, finally, Lucas showed some semblance of incorporating the political aspect of the story.
Perhaps the best example of this is the conflict between the Jedi and Palpatine. Palpatine, looking for absolute power, tries to reduce the power of the Jedi (the other branch of government that challenges him) by sticking Anakin on the Council. The Jedi fire back by 1) allowing Anakin on but denying him the role of Master (just to fuck with Palpatine presumably) and 2) trying to recruit Anaking as a spy. The whole sense of branches of government vying to protect their power, both out of self-interest and their own value system, just reeks of accuracy. That is, in fact, how agencies behave. Further, it was great to actually see some intrigue. Sure, it was a bit ham-fisted, but it was nice to see spying and plotting and stuff like that. That's sexy, exciting stuff.
However, the best political bits are when Lucas is riffing on the nature of Republics. Some people have made noises that Lucas is taking on Bush; to some degree that's true ("If you're not with me..."), but *really* Lucas's Republic resembles Rome more than anything else (just look at the *scope* of it). In fact, the two share a lot of the same problems:
1) The problem of armies: One, of many, reasons that Rome fell was that citizen-soldiers were replaced with, well, soldiers. In the late Republic, citizens no longer farmed land and fought part-time. Instead, they spent years (up to a decade) away from the city as professional soldiers. In that position, they failed to gain the republican spirit and allegiance to the city. Rather, soldiers became allied with their commanders. This is the same problem in Star Wars: clone troopers who are not citizens and are tied not to the people but to the Chancellor. Similarly, Jedi - the "best men" of the Republic - are spending more and more time away from the center of power (as represented by all the meetings held by "hologram"). And we know how this turns out...
2) The problem of scope: Republics that are too large, or do not have proper institutions and technology to deal with their scale, do not work. The Galactic Senate is a mess - no body that big can work.
This was really clever stuff on Lucas's part. The only real problem here was that, well, the Senators give in too easily to the Empire. Presumably, after several centuries (millennia?) of existence, there would be a fairly robust republican spirit. I mean, sure there were *problems* (slavery on the outer Rim, greedy capitalists in the Trade Federatioin, a bloated deliberative body) - but in general, given the first two movies, one senses that things were generally going OK in the Republic.
I mean, before Rome fell there was constant warfare, civil war, intense partisan bickering, poverty, and blood on the streets. This didn't quite seem to be the case in the Galactic Republic. I know it seems nitpicky ... but Lucas brings in the sociological/political question not me. I totally buy that Republics fall: I just don't buy that an old, stable one falls b/c of one war. I think we needed a better sense of chaos and doom in the first two movies.
Similarly, why did everyone just accept the Jedi Rebellion as a fact? They served the Republic for thousands of years, and now everyone is like "yea, they WERE fuckers?!?" I think people have more sense than that. It's so passe to be cynical about voters. I just wish that Lucas had given more hints that people were annoyed at the Jedi already - b/c they had too much unelected power, or were arrogant or whatever. This would have made the whole "rolling over to the Empire" a bit easier to swallow. In other words: for the political story to work better (which seemed to be an important part of this whole trilogy), he should have fleshed it out more.
But, the best part of the movie? The reason I love the movie? Because George Lucas has balls. George Lucas DESTORYS Darth Vader. That's right: Lucas deconstructs one of the most iconic images of 20th century culture, and lays him bare as a snivelling twat. It's fucking awsome.
The image of Vader, up till now, is that of supreme bad ass and commander. Only, by the end of this movie, you see that's all wrong. It all comes down to one speech: Anakin's attempt to seduce Padme to the Dark Side. Anakin begs her to join him - so they can rule together. Any hard-core SW fans recognizes this bit: it's the same fucking thing Vader will tell Luke in 25 years. Ultimately, Vader is a sad little boy who wants a hug. Vader in still "Ani" - still looking for someone to love him. Even worse: he has NO CLUE what to do with power; no aims or visiosn. He's just looking for some respect and good lovin.' The man is *lost* - in a deep, existential sense.
In fact, Vader is an awful Sith. The end trajectory of bieng a Sith is to kill you master, and take over. But Vader never really gets around to this. I mean, the guy is practically a Master when he turns evil, and 25 years later (re: Return of the Jedi) he still hasn't gotten around to doing that. Hell, the man is incompetent! In Episodes IV-VI, he just mucks up again and again. His ONE success is taking the Hoth base; fuck, he needs bounty hunters to caputre Han and Leia. He inspires nothing in his men - b/c he's too busy freaking out and killing everyone (Padme, commanders, etc). This is also why Vader lets Grand Moff Tarkin boss him around: b/c he's a weenie! It is any wonder the Emperor is shopping around for Luke as his new apprentice? I mean, the guy he has now is a total fuck up!
A lot of reviewers have commented that Anakin seems to go evil for no real reason at all: Padme might die, the Jedi are kind of mean to him - not really *great* reasons. But I think that's Lucas's point: Anakin is *weak.* He's not evil, he's just vulnerable and wishy-washy. He has no vision, no capacity to lead - that's why HE'S trying to recruit Padme, and later Luke. The guy is a follower, a lap dog. He's not tragic - he's just *sad.*
In fact, Vader is the antithesis of (little-r) republican values. A republican is virtuous, strong, disciplined, and is also a wo/man of action. Vader acts - but he lacks control and leadership. He is not "great," in the grand historical sense. Really, Padme is not a republican either - as she is reduced to crying and worrying (a *real* Roman/republican would have "torn his toga and beat his chest" in the Senate chamber once Palpatine started talking this "Empire" shit). Republicanism is not dead; look at Obi-Wan Kenobi (note: NEVER let Obi-Wan fall over an edge, b/c then he will FUCK you up - Darth Maul, Grievous....). Obi-Wan believes in the Republic, and does what is necessary to save it, as does Mace Windu and Yoda. These are "great men." Luke and Leia (despite their spineless parental lineage), later, are also true republicans (in the Roman sense): leaders, persons of action *and* principles.
Looking back on the series ... things DO make more sense. I always wanted Anakin to be like Vince Vaughn in Swingers: the guy's guy, the ultimate wingman, the sort of man that women want to be with and men want to be; he should have been *money* baby. That disappointed me at first. But, I think, Lucas may actually have saved some of his prequel work. Not perfectly - the dialogue is still really hard on the ears and the characterizations could be tighter (like, in The Phantom Menace we should really see more of how scared Ani is).
Yet, the theme of republican virtue - and how important it is and how dangerout it is to lose it - comes out much *stronger* when you see Episode III. Lucas says these movies are the story of Anakin, and he says they are a story of redemption. I guess that's true. But they seem more like a *warning* to me: a warning of what happens when those in power lose their capacity to lead and to be true; what happens when virtue is lost (Anakin lost it, Padme lost it, the other Senators lost it - and that is why the Republic falls, not b/c of some hokey plot of the Emperor). In that sense, as a commentary and deconstruction of Vader himself, I think Lucas has made a lot *bolder* statement than folks give him credit for. His talents may not always have been up to the task, but his scope of vision is pretty admirable.
Last night, I had this terrible fear that the American exam was today. It doesn't matter in terms of prep - that's done (or as done as it's getting). It was just this fear that I would wander off to school, check my e-mail at 9:30 AM, and find an exam sitting there. Then, I'd have to rush home and get started and be all hot and sweaty ... and yea. But it's now 9:02 AM, there's no exam, so I can breathe.
The wife got home yesterday, wedding pictures in tow. They turned out really nice. Really nice. We're going to get frames now for the big ones and hang them. We'll finally have DECORATIONS on our walls - fuckin'-A, it'll be like we're all growed up.
All right, I'm going to barrel off now into pop culture obsession. You have been warned. (Sorry for the length - I guess that last, short entry was a false alarm
)
Last night, I finally did it. I was scared, but excited too. We went to to see Episode III.
Just so you know, from here on out - minor spoilers etc.
On the whole, I was really pleased. I had a good time, was really entertained, and I felt like I saw a Star Wars movie. I felt like some good plot points and interesting character bits were revealed. But my happiness with the movie is more complicated than that. So, I'll start with the stuff that didn't sit with me well.
For starters, the opening fight sequence is really fantastic. I was glad to finally see a great space battle (which are some of my favorite bits in the original trilogy). And while this movie lacks the iconic design sense of the first, the little nods to proto-X-wings and TIE fighters made me smile. However, I was not clear why R2-D2 was stuck in a Looney Tunes cartoon for the first 25 minutes. The weird use of the droids as slapstick comic relief really threw me out of the flow of the movie.
Another minor nitpick is, of course, the romantic dialogue. Related to that, Padme is just too dumb. I mean, she doesn't think Anakin would kill the youngling Jedi, when she knows he killed the youngling Sandpeople (hat tip to the wife for this question)? Maybe if I bought that she was more in love ... but that dialogue doesn't convince me of that.
Also, I love Ian McDiarmid as Palpatine/Darh Sidious. But in this one, his "evil" voice was a little over the top sometimes. He gave me the giggles. Not exactly what you want from your Supreme Evil ya know? Related to that: I didn't get the Yoda/Palpatine fight. It seemed like a draw - why does Yoda quit (in fact, the Emperor looked a damn bit scared when Yoda deflected that Force lightning at the end of their brawl)? Is Yoda ashamed of not seeing the truth sooner? Does he feel that victory is useless, as the Republic is already shattered? That seemed more like a case where Lucas didn't want Yoda to lose, but the story demanded that it happened. It was awkward.
In addition, three words: Not. Enough. Wookies. Nuff' said.
Final thing: Darth Vader. Whoo boy. Do they not have, like, anaesthesia in a galaxy far, far away? Also, when he first got up from the table, he had a bit of the Frankenstein's monster herky-jerkies. I mean, I get that Vader is a riff on man/machine - but that played more like parody than homage.
Oh - fun Star Wars thing I love: time/space makes no sense! One gets the impression that jumping between planets only takes minutes. This doesn't bother me b/c it keeps the plot moving for dramatic reasons, I just love the B-movie feel of it to pieces.
Those were really all minor things, the kind of crap any movie deals with. On the whole, this flick was really a success for me. What made it actually work was that, finally, Lucas showed some semblance of incorporating the political aspect of the story.
Perhaps the best example of this is the conflict between the Jedi and Palpatine. Palpatine, looking for absolute power, tries to reduce the power of the Jedi (the other branch of government that challenges him) by sticking Anakin on the Council. The Jedi fire back by 1) allowing Anakin on but denying him the role of Master (just to fuck with Palpatine presumably) and 2) trying to recruit Anaking as a spy. The whole sense of branches of government vying to protect their power, both out of self-interest and their own value system, just reeks of accuracy. That is, in fact, how agencies behave. Further, it was great to actually see some intrigue. Sure, it was a bit ham-fisted, but it was nice to see spying and plotting and stuff like that. That's sexy, exciting stuff.
However, the best political bits are when Lucas is riffing on the nature of Republics. Some people have made noises that Lucas is taking on Bush; to some degree that's true ("If you're not with me..."), but *really* Lucas's Republic resembles Rome more than anything else (just look at the *scope* of it). In fact, the two share a lot of the same problems:
1) The problem of armies: One, of many, reasons that Rome fell was that citizen-soldiers were replaced with, well, soldiers. In the late Republic, citizens no longer farmed land and fought part-time. Instead, they spent years (up to a decade) away from the city as professional soldiers. In that position, they failed to gain the republican spirit and allegiance to the city. Rather, soldiers became allied with their commanders. This is the same problem in Star Wars: clone troopers who are not citizens and are tied not to the people but to the Chancellor. Similarly, Jedi - the "best men" of the Republic - are spending more and more time away from the center of power (as represented by all the meetings held by "hologram"). And we know how this turns out...
2) The problem of scope: Republics that are too large, or do not have proper institutions and technology to deal with their scale, do not work. The Galactic Senate is a mess - no body that big can work.
This was really clever stuff on Lucas's part. The only real problem here was that, well, the Senators give in too easily to the Empire. Presumably, after several centuries (millennia?) of existence, there would be a fairly robust republican spirit. I mean, sure there were *problems* (slavery on the outer Rim, greedy capitalists in the Trade Federatioin, a bloated deliberative body) - but in general, given the first two movies, one senses that things were generally going OK in the Republic.
I mean, before Rome fell there was constant warfare, civil war, intense partisan bickering, poverty, and blood on the streets. This didn't quite seem to be the case in the Galactic Republic. I know it seems nitpicky ... but Lucas brings in the sociological/political question not me. I totally buy that Republics fall: I just don't buy that an old, stable one falls b/c of one war. I think we needed a better sense of chaos and doom in the first two movies.
Similarly, why did everyone just accept the Jedi Rebellion as a fact? They served the Republic for thousands of years, and now everyone is like "yea, they WERE fuckers?!?" I think people have more sense than that. It's so passe to be cynical about voters. I just wish that Lucas had given more hints that people were annoyed at the Jedi already - b/c they had too much unelected power, or were arrogant or whatever. This would have made the whole "rolling over to the Empire" a bit easier to swallow. In other words: for the political story to work better (which seemed to be an important part of this whole trilogy), he should have fleshed it out more.
But, the best part of the movie? The reason I love the movie? Because George Lucas has balls. George Lucas DESTORYS Darth Vader. That's right: Lucas deconstructs one of the most iconic images of 20th century culture, and lays him bare as a snivelling twat. It's fucking awsome.
The image of Vader, up till now, is that of supreme bad ass and commander. Only, by the end of this movie, you see that's all wrong. It all comes down to one speech: Anakin's attempt to seduce Padme to the Dark Side. Anakin begs her to join him - so they can rule together. Any hard-core SW fans recognizes this bit: it's the same fucking thing Vader will tell Luke in 25 years. Ultimately, Vader is a sad little boy who wants a hug. Vader in still "Ani" - still looking for someone to love him. Even worse: he has NO CLUE what to do with power; no aims or visiosn. He's just looking for some respect and good lovin.' The man is *lost* - in a deep, existential sense.
In fact, Vader is an awful Sith. The end trajectory of bieng a Sith is to kill you master, and take over. But Vader never really gets around to this. I mean, the guy is practically a Master when he turns evil, and 25 years later (re: Return of the Jedi) he still hasn't gotten around to doing that. Hell, the man is incompetent! In Episodes IV-VI, he just mucks up again and again. His ONE success is taking the Hoth base; fuck, he needs bounty hunters to caputre Han and Leia. He inspires nothing in his men - b/c he's too busy freaking out and killing everyone (Padme, commanders, etc). This is also why Vader lets Grand Moff Tarkin boss him around: b/c he's a weenie! It is any wonder the Emperor is shopping around for Luke as his new apprentice? I mean, the guy he has now is a total fuck up!
A lot of reviewers have commented that Anakin seems to go evil for no real reason at all: Padme might die, the Jedi are kind of mean to him - not really *great* reasons. But I think that's Lucas's point: Anakin is *weak.* He's not evil, he's just vulnerable and wishy-washy. He has no vision, no capacity to lead - that's why HE'S trying to recruit Padme, and later Luke. The guy is a follower, a lap dog. He's not tragic - he's just *sad.*
In fact, Vader is the antithesis of (little-r) republican values. A republican is virtuous, strong, disciplined, and is also a wo/man of action. Vader acts - but he lacks control and leadership. He is not "great," in the grand historical sense. Really, Padme is not a republican either - as she is reduced to crying and worrying (a *real* Roman/republican would have "torn his toga and beat his chest" in the Senate chamber once Palpatine started talking this "Empire" shit). Republicanism is not dead; look at Obi-Wan Kenobi (note: NEVER let Obi-Wan fall over an edge, b/c then he will FUCK you up - Darth Maul, Grievous....). Obi-Wan believes in the Republic, and does what is necessary to save it, as does Mace Windu and Yoda. These are "great men." Luke and Leia (despite their spineless parental lineage), later, are also true republicans (in the Roman sense): leaders, persons of action *and* principles.
Looking back on the series ... things DO make more sense. I always wanted Anakin to be like Vince Vaughn in Swingers: the guy's guy, the ultimate wingman, the sort of man that women want to be with and men want to be; he should have been *money* baby. That disappointed me at first. But, I think, Lucas may actually have saved some of his prequel work. Not perfectly - the dialogue is still really hard on the ears and the characterizations could be tighter (like, in The Phantom Menace we should really see more of how scared Ani is).
Yet, the theme of republican virtue - and how important it is and how dangerout it is to lose it - comes out much *stronger* when you see Episode III. Lucas says these movies are the story of Anakin, and he says they are a story of redemption. I guess that's true. But they seem more like a *warning* to me: a warning of what happens when those in power lose their capacity to lead and to be true; what happens when virtue is lost (Anakin lost it, Padme lost it, the other Senators lost it - and that is why the Republic falls, not b/c of some hokey plot of the Emperor). In that sense, as a commentary and deconstruction of Vader himself, I think Lucas has made a lot *bolder* statement than folks give him credit for. His talents may not always have been up to the task, but his scope of vision is pretty admirable.
your nightmare of taking your exam is some sort of higher education version of the dream where you realize you are in class naked.
Remind me to tell you about the time I was an hour late to my two hour medieval history midterm ...