PT Some Keys to the Prequels

Here's a fresh take on some reference materials that might help to better understand the PT and what George Lucas was getting at. I skip some obvious ones that have already been discussed frequently, like Roman history and pulp space opera. This isn't really a list of influences, it's more references to better understand the author's intent and style.

1. Emotional Intelligence
This book was clearly a huge influence on GL. When he met with Liam Neeson for the first time while casting TPM he gave him this book to read. EI is one of the inspirations behind GL's educational foundation http://www.edutopia.org/ I think this content gives keen insight into GL's portrayal of Anakin. I would also recommend looking up some materials on Cluster B personality disorders, especially blogs and videos made from the perspective of persons struggling with these problems. Great insight on GL's portrayal of Anakin.



2. Bhagavad Gita /Mahabharata
Yoda's now famous line about "fear leads to anger" is a direct quote from the Bhagavad Gita. Unsurprisingly, much of the philosophy espoused in this ancient text aligns with Emotional Intelligence. It is a small slice of a vast epic, Mahabharata, and many elements of the PT are reminiscent of Mahabharata. GL was probably introduced to this literature through Joseph Campbell's books, especially the Masks of God tetrology. I highly recommend the 1990 Peter Brook film of Mahabharat which can frequently be found on Youtube.







3. GL's body of work
Familiarizing yourself with GL's previous work helps to better understand his style and various choices made for the PT. It's amazing how few SW fans have delved into GL's filmography. I especially recommend Young Indiana Jones as a primer for the prequels, easily found on Netflix.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Lucas_filmography

4. Early Drafts/Outlines
Ok this is an obvious one but I thought I'd share this link for anyone who has never visited this awesome site.

Much of the PT was culled from earlier versions of SW. To better understand the continuity of themes and content these materials are invaluable.
http://starwarz.com/starkiller/

5. TCW (2008-2014)
TCW answers many questions unanswered in the PT and provides essential character development and world building. The prequel saga was just too big for three movies, TCW were and are essential. I recommend watching them in chronological order as opposed to the order they were aired in.

 

This looks like a pretty awesome thread!

I actually have Daniel Goleman's "Emotional Intelligence" stashed in a travel bag, which is under a heap of clothes about three feet from me.

It came to me through my brother. Somehow, I keep neglecting to read it; though I did mooch through a couple of chapters when my brother first gave it to me.

A couple of bits that stick in my memory, from the book, IIRC, are the anecdote about a plane that crashed because the flight crew were too scared to tell the pilot they were almost out of a fuel, and a chapter on "flow" state. I think I'd recently been watching the speeder chase from AOTC on repeat at that time, and Anakin's breath-taking jump out of the car, falling to catch his "prey", flashed pretty instantly into my head during that chapter. I also thought of the Jedi generally -- or Qui-Gon and Yoda, at least -- and their emphasis on being "in the moment". Must re-read (in full this time).

Again, excellent thread!!! And I'll save that video right now. History tells me, past and present, that it'll be deleted a week later if I don't.



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I'd also recommend the book "George Lucas: Interviews" by Sally Kline. It's an excellent source of quotes -- Lucas, on films, on life, on himself, all in his own words.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/George-Lucas-Interviews-Conversations-Filmmakers/dp/1578061253

There is also this pivotal piece where Lucas talks about what drives him and the importance, to quote Campbell, of following one's bliss, in order to meaningfully give back to others and attain a measure of true happiness in one's own life:

http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/luc0int-1

Still looking for my bliss, though, must admit.

 

It also just occurred to me (and while I know this is a double post, I think this link is pretty important)...

The "moongadget"/"origins" site, though speculative (but that's half the fun! ), and never updated to reflect either AOTC or ROTS, is a very absorbing and enlightening read. The conceit of roving though an array of other material to imagine the way it psychologically impacted on George Lucas (with the still-too-rare assumption that Lucas *is* a keen storyteller of some power) in specific ways, impressing upon him this "subtle lesson" -- as the author calls it -- or that, is quite clever, in my opinion, and a nice structural device: puts a good mytho-biographical spin on the usual, staid "Y is a homage to X" approach. Some entries are a lot longer than others, and the whole thing can easily be dipped in and out of at leisure, so it works as an imaginative essay and as a neat reference guide. Clearly written with some eminence, it's a highly commendable, one-of-a-kind effort.

http://www.moongadget.com/origins/

 

great post
I think most Star Wars fans would really enjoy the major Hindu epics like the Mahabharata, Bhagavata Purana ect. They are quite long but every page is spiritually enlightening ...I've honestly never read anything like them. It's like stumbling upon some ancient Vulcan wisdom

 

In additon to those great sources one can definitely not overlook the influences of Taoism in the prequels...which I love!

the Tao Te Ching and the Hua Hu Ching are at the very core of the major themes in the prequel trilogy

Another more contemporary book that completely aligns itself with the issues Anakin goes through is Don Miguel Ruiz' The Mastery of Love...it's all about the meaning of true love... which is not about attachment but freedom and learning not to fall in love with our own projections of what we believe about a person

 

TCW is a sloppy mess. It does absolutely nothing better than the CW miniseries, comic book series (which was a masterpeice.), or novels. I don't know how anyone who has consumed media like Dark Rendezvous and Shatterpoint can prefer TCW.

 

How exactly is it a sloppy mess?

 

Let's start with the most glaring error, or stupid decision. After AOTC, where Anakin was shown to be unstable, immature and poor decision maker, he is immediately knighted and given a padawan, whom he grows quite close to and has a significant impact in the war, but is never mentioned in ROTS. Right off the bat the entire premise of the show doesn't fit into the saga.

 

He was knighted somewhere between AOTC and the TCW movie. Why shouldn´t he be able to mature a little bit during this period of time. And TCW does show us that he did mature a little bit.
Ashoka being given to him as padawan is part of Anakin´s training and learning how to be more matured, stable and a better decision maker.
As for the fact that Ashoka is never mentioned in ROTS, the creators took care of that at the end of season five, where Ashoka leaves the order
I don´t see how it doesn´t fit to the Saga.

 

Mature a little bit? He murdered a whole village! He got married! He charged recklessly at Dooku and almost cost Obi-Wan and himself thier lives, not to mention being the reason why Dooku was able to escape and continue the war. He needed a lot more than a "little bit" of maturation. In the original CW canon Anakin was knighted almost 2 years into the war, after he was proven to be a war hero and a leader, and after many trials and tribulations as a padawan.

Dooku also left the Order. That doesn't mean everyone acts like he never existed. That's how it doesn't fit into the saga. Darth Maul is revived (stupid!) and fights in the war and of course is never mentioned. Doesn't fit into the saga. Geez I bet if TCW writers decided that Obi-Wan and Mace Windu were half brothers you would accept that too eh?

Padme: I think Count Dooku is behind it.
Mace Windu: La-la-la-la I don't know who that is.. I can't hear you...

 

A little bit? He's disobeyed every order given to him, including rushing in anger at Dooku which lost him his arm but, arguably, more importantly the chance to capture Dooku and put an end to the war. He's had (or caused) some major aberration within the Force (the shock of which struck Yoda from the other side of the galaxy). He's shown that he has formed a dangerous attachment to Padmé (I often imagine that at the end of AOTC, when we learn Anakin has escorted Padmé back to Naboo we should get a camera switch to Obi-Wan raising an eyebrow and wondering....is anybody here listening o a word I've said?)...yup, just a little maturing and he's clearly perfect Jedi Knight material...

 

Anakin is still in his training in TCW.

 

No he's a Jedi Knight with a padawan in TCW. Even I know that. I thought you watched this show.

 

He is a Jedi knight, but he´s not a Jedi master yet. And as I already said, being Ashoka´s teacher is part of his training.

 

That is not "training" to be a Jedi. Once you are knighted you are a full Jedi. Every Jedi, including Masters, continues to learn and grow in the Force for the rest of their lives. As only one kenobi stated as well, one of the messages communicated to the audience in AOTC is that while Anakin is a tremendous talent, he was nowhere near prepared to be a Jedi Knight. The original CW continuity filled that gap in nicely. TCW does not.

Having Anakin training a padawan as part of his "training" is akin to having an unproven rookie cop train a new recruit...it doesn't happen. It's not logical. Obi-Wan was far more mature than TCW Anakin (maybe even more mature than Qui-Gon!) when he took him on as a padawan.

 

I concur, Master Kenobi should go!

Er, I mean yeah, TCW has flawed logic. I don't care for it either.

Edit - Interesting thread topic btw

 

"Having Anakin training a padawan as part of his "training" is akin to having an unproven rookie cop train a new recruit" It´s the way how to find out whether Anakin can or can´t be more than just an "unproven rookie cop train".

 

Putting one person's career/fate in the hands of someone else as a "test" isn't a very logical idea. Not a choice that makes sense for the Jedi Council, who originally didn't want Anakin to be trained by an actual Jedi Master simply because he was a few years too old and knowing such a minor detail could cause major problems for him.

 

This thread is for the discussion of references that enhance an understanding of the AUTHOR'S INTENT - NOT for criticism. Please go somewhere else to argue your opinion. Thanks. Please stay on topic.

 

This video is very revealing - towards the end when he talks about pleasure vs. joy. It not only illuminates aspects of the prequels but also gives some clues as to his attitude when producing them. Reliving past pleasures - like success and adulation - were not on his agenda, something many fans find hard to understand.

 

Just because you write really big doesn't make you a mod. lmaaoo This forum is entirely for the expression of opinions.

You distinctly referenced TCW as "essential" when it is in fact not. The EU, including the Clone War Era had been fully fleshed out with more thought and detail than has been put into TCW. It fails to fit seamlessly into the saga the way other works have.

 

This deserves a thread on its own...

 

#1. I use a big font because of my eyesight and the black on gray format on these forums. Thank you for being the umpteenth person to personally insult me about it.

#2. That's certainly your opinion but it belongs in a different thread. This thread is for the discussion of GL's intent, not opinions about what we like or don't like. TCW are essential to understanding the author's intent since he used it to elaborate on themes that are glossed over in the feature films.

If you have nothing to add to this topic please stop derailing the thread and head over to the TV forum. Thank you.

 

1.) I never insulted you. You told me, a SW fan, that I can't express my opinion on a SW forum, which I obviously can. I'm simply reminding you when you create a thread you don't get to control what other people say about it.

2.) Again as I said earlier, the Clone War era had already been fleshed out fully prior to TCW series, I admit I was excited when it first came out but after seeing the film and first few episodes. It's content is jumbled and at times nonsensical and doesn't fit into the saga like other EU works do.

 

Terrific video. Just terrific!

Your description is very sharp. I had the same little light-bulb moment at the end when Lucas equates pleasure with greed and joy with compassion: sucking things in for fleeting feel-goods, versus devoting one's being selflessly to a cause for a more subtle but longer-lasting sense of contentment. He's so wise, and one can learn a lot from George, I think.

And believing he did the prequels for transient, superficial things like success and adulation, or money, is quite shallow, so I again agree with you there. There are many aspects one can adduce to demonstrate the shallowness of such beliefs: like all the time and effort he personally invested in the making of the movies (ten solid years -- plus tax). This video certainly confirms Lucas' fidelity to his art-form, his own joyful commitment to his craft, in my view.

And ol' George, he does speak a bit like a practical psychologist, or a motivational speaker, doesn't he? But it's real, it's from the heart, and it's punctuated by the odd bit of glibness and sassy self-effacement. Much like, it might be contended, what one finds in Star Wars generally.

I will quote directly from the video (in case it can't be found later or whatever) >>

"I think it's very important not to do what your peers think you should do, not do what your parents think you should do, or your teachers -- or even your culture thinks -- but do what's inside you."

"Pleasure is purely self-centered. It's all about your pleasure, it's about you. It's a selfish, self-centered emotion, that's created by a self-centered motive of greed. Joy is compassion. Joy is giving yourself to somebody else or something else. And it's a kind of thing that is in its subtlety and lowness much more powerful than pleasure. If you get hung up on pleasure, you're doomed. If you pursue joy, you will find everlasting happiness."