Did the History Channel Reveal the Legacy for You?

After having finally watched this show I found it to be somewhat dissapointing but also unsurprising. The reason I say this is because it basically was a collection of the same blurbs about "the mythological resonance of Star Wars" that we've seen in Star Wars specials for the last twenty years;


I've only heard of one other TV show that had connected STAR WARS to mythology . . . and it was a Bill Moyer special that featured Lucas and Campbell. Now, I've read plenty of artcles and books on the subject.

 

I was disappointed with the documentary initially because I had been under the impression it was going to be about the legacy as it relates to pop culture or its influences on other films, etc. I watched it but did fast forward through some of it towards the end. The film should have been more appropriately titled IMO. Regarding the content, I thought it was all interesting, but being a huge fan, had heard most of it before.

Most of the discussion here seems to be whether or not what the commentators said was a stretch or if GL actually incorporated all of this symbolism and mythology into SW. I couldn't diagree with this entire line of thought more. The commentators were describing similarities to other mythologies and classic stories in an attempt to explain the success of SW. The constant parallels drawn between SW and the hero's journey or this religion or that are not stating Lucas conciously put all this into the films, they are trying to explain why 6 hours of film could resonate SO strongly with then entire world. Those classic motifs and themes that occur in all the great stories are also present in SW. Whether or not these people were putting SW on the same level as the Odyssey or not isn't the point. They weren't there to make a case why SW should be successful, it already is, they're just trying to show why.

 

For the record, that was mentioned in STAR WARS TECH, not Star Wars Legacy. Granted the two shows aired back to back and Star Wars Tech aired twice that night both before AND after SW Legacy, but lets not get our documentaries confused. Only one of them is causing enough trouble.

But for that matter, is the term "artificial gravity" mentioned even ONCE in any of the films?

 

No, but it's obviously implied, otherwise Vader would be floating around the bridge of the executor a whole lot.

 

The reason I say this is because it basically was a collection of the same blurbs about "the mythological resonance of Star Wars" that we've seen in Star Wars specials for the last twenty years;

On the contrary, the "myth" specials have been few and far between. You have probably seen all the "making of"s where we see the hand up Jabbas rear, and perhaps "When SW Ruled the World" on VH1 which was strictly POP culture, but other than that Bill Moyers PBS special back in 1999 (which was only an hour), the "myth" aspect hasnt ever been covered. I can remember MTV retrospectives on the fan base, and the swarm of documentaries in the late 90's about the 20th anniversary (a couple of which I participated in), but this time the subject matter was far less superficial. Most of those previous productions had nothing to say except "Looky at this huge collection of action figures!" and trotting out fans for ridicule purposes. This is the first doc Ive seen in a while that played it straight and actually required a library card to appreciate. This was about the STORY, not the ancillaries, and as a result it was far more refreshing.

One joke I am absolutely SICK of hearing is "Maybe Lucas will use the money he made to buy a plot!" It is a one-dimensional ignorant statement which totally sucks up to the worst prejudices our culture has about sci fi in general and Lucas in particular. But I have seen the private library in Skywalker Ranch with my own two eyes and if Lucas has read even a TENTH of the books in there, not only did this documentary barely BEGIN to catalog his literary influences, but Lucas is smarter than any 4 of us put together. Any documentary that helps get across that SW was more than flashy lights and explosions is welcome and well-deserved. Not to mention that it made absolutely no distinction between the OT and PT, an analysis that I applaud.

 

I disagree, I think the "mythic" imprint of the films has been discussed albeit in brief forms, in practically every Star Wars specials--"When Star Wars Rule the World," "Star Wars: The Magic and Mystery," "The Mythology of Star Wars" (a dedicated special) plus stuff in Empire of Dreams and various miscellaneous things. None of them have been very in depth compared to the this history channel special (naturally) but pretty much every dedicated Star Wars special touches upon that aspect tpo varying degrees.

 

Since I don't have the history channel, I didn't see it and can't comment on its contents. However, I think Boskone and zombie are both right. I can't think of a full length documetary dedicated to the mythos of SW, but at the same time, I have heard it mentioned in a lot of docs. Most of them focused on the making of, as Boskone pointed out.

Did the history channel doc actually cover the history of SW, though? Now that all six movies are out, that would be interesting to see.

 

Then no doubt he's read far LESS then a tenth of those books. Sorry, I had to say it

 

Well if it was brief (and it was), then its hardly worth mentioning. At least 90% of every doc up to now was the "making of" stuff we had seen ad nauseum with maybe a throw-away statement "Luke Skywalker is the classic hero" to make them sound well-read, but it was hardly worth anyones time. EMPIRE OF DREAMS was strictly the history of Lucas in his adventure to make the films and only had the scarcest "myth" as I recall. But did you see the doc that Sci Fi Channel aired a week before TPM? Where they hovered around fans waiting in the Las Vegas camp-out line and pretended that this had anything informative to say to the viewing audience? Millennium's End: The Fandom Menace followed its creators around Denver looking for the Midnight Sale at Toys R Us. This is the crud that I remember watching, and this Legacy doc is ambrosia by comparison.

 

I would believe that he has read them, if based on nothing else than his directors commentary on the films when he is constantly bringing up obscure plot points and references. Lucas always sounds more comfortable in an empty room where he can be himself and he always sounds more articulate than he does at public appearances. He just likes his own company, but get him talking about movies in his own environment and he wont shut up.

 

It didn't really reveal anything for me. I knew everything about Star Wars already.

 

I agree with Boskone_Kenobi. This latest documentary on STAR WARS has revealed a more in-depth look at the connection between the saga and mythology than anything else that has been shown on television or the movie theater since the Bill Moyer special in 1999. It has probably been consistently written about in other books, but I have rarely seen the SW mythology discussed in such detail on the screen.



But in the end, I couldn't care less whether it was new or not. I did find it entertaining and that is all that mattered to me.

 

Just to end this whole debate, which seems to pop up at different points throughout the thread:


"This idea of a democracy being given up and in many cases being given up in a time of crisis, you see it throughout history whether it's Julius Caesar, or Napoleon, or Adolf Hitler, you see these democracies under a lot of pressure, in a crisis situation, who end up giving up a lot of the freedoms they have and a lot of the checks and balances to somebody with a strong authority to help get them through the crisis. It's not the first time a politician has created a war to try to stay in office."

--George Lucas, Lenoard Maltin interview, 1999.

"To get an idea of the kind of man Palpatine is in the prequel trilogy you need to read about the Roman Emperor, Julius Caesar, and his spectacular rise to power in Rome."

--George Lucas, Lenoard Maltin interview, 1999

One of the larger issues that surfaced in the telling of Anakin's fall to the dark side and his rise to becoming a corrupt figure was that of the fall of democracy at the hands of the very people who initially fought oppression.

"You have the personal issue of Anakin and his turn to the dark side, but then the children later bring him back to being a human being," Lucas says. "But the larger issue is that you've given up your democracy, and that the bad guys never took it -- it was handed to them. That theme was there 30 years ago which came out of the Vietnam War and Nixon wanting to change the rules so he could get a third term.

I'm a big history buff and I was really into Caesar at the time," Lucas recalls. "I always wanted to know why the Roman Senate gave Caesar's nephew a dictatorship after they had gotten rid of Caesar. Why after the revolution in France did they create an Emperor? Why did the Germans after they had a Democracy after World War I, turn it into a dictatorship? Those were my initial questions 30 years ago."

--George Lucas, Star Wars Homing Beacon #142

 

Perhaps it's just a consequence of my intense longtime nerdery (see: reading all the books and interviews I could find pertaining to the saga, as a whole) but I found the documentary a little unimpressive.

It was cool to hear certain people talk about the films but, overall, I didn't learn anything or hear any new concept/idea/comparisons. It was well-made and everything but I just found it kind of unnecessary for someone who has no life outside of Star Wars (me)...although perhaps that was the angle, to explain the depth and whatnot of the films to people who may not know about it.