The beauty of the PT: Has love blinded me?

Not a big fan of the PT in general, but largely agree with that.
Very good and touching pieces of acting there.

 

Call me dumb or whatever, I like all Star Wars movies, but I dont understand what the hell theyre talking about to this day.

Shes so beautiful cause shes so in love with him? Or shes so beautiful cause hes so in love with her? Love has blinded him? Huh? Thats not what he meant but its probably true?

I always took that as, even thought I know thats not the message the scene is trying to tell, shes not beautiful if they arent in love.

 

I think you got the gist of it.

And the fact that you KNOW you don't know what the films are talking about means you're on the right track. Just keep watching them and they will grow in meaning!

 

http://www.forcecast.net/story/home/Editorial_Reading_The_Force_How_To_Interpret_A_Galaxy_136025.asp

Great article points out more connections between the episodes. Star Wars as poetry, full of metaphor. Looks like someone else has had their eyes open for a while. You gotta read this one.

 

Superb article -- and exactly what we need more of.

Whoever wrote that has a mind beautifully tuned to language. Their own writing is very eloquent and has a lovely ebb and flow.

My favourite bits:

And:

This latter paragraph is sure to ruffle some feathers, yet it's wonderful to have some fresh thoughts on that critical piece of dialogue. By extension, of course, many viewers haven't gotten the memo that they've been participating in an epic poem, hence the continued repudiation of the PT's content, not just its execution.




P.S. On second glance, I recognize the name: Paul F. McDonald. I believe this is the same guy who has been extolling the virtues of the PT in essays that make reference to classic poems and literature, since at least the debut of AOTC.

For example: http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/star_wars/92919

Click around (e.g., on the "Star Wars" link towards top-left) and use Google to locate more essays. I am a bit confused by who to credit the essays to, however.

They appear to have been written by Marla Cartwright, but the copyright is held by Paul F. McDonald, and he claims to have written essays of his own: http://www.suite101.com/profile.cfm/dedalus47

These space.com ones, for example, were certainly appreciated by myself back in the day: http://web.archive.org/web/20010331093715/http://www.space.com/sciencefiction/movies/phantom_heresies_010205.html

 

When Star Wars is read as poetry rather than prose, the saga has a remarkable tendency to open up into something richer and more profound (much like it did in my example at the beginning).


I don't need for STAR WARS to be interpreted as poetry, instead of prose, in order to appreciate it. Interpreting the entire saga as prose has done well for me.

 

I just want to applaude the open-minded, eloquent and intelligent way you are all discussing PT and the beauty of it. THis is the kind of attention the PT deserves.

I in my own way find the PT beautiful, from the glorious, vibrant and exciting images we see of COruscant, Naboo and Mustafar. The costumes of Amidala and others is also a treat.

I'm also happy to hear that someone who disliked the PT was converted It goes to show that it IS possible...

 

Um . . . NO. Blue is not the opposite of Yellow, Purple is the opposite of yellow. Similarily Blue is the opposite of Orange, and Green the opposite of Red. Blue Yellow and Red are all primary colours and are not opposite from one another in any respect.

 

You're right, actually. And wrong. I wasn't specific enough. I should have said: "on an RGB colour wheel". On such a wheel, the yellowy-gold of the STAR WARS logo comes out a blue-light blue, not too dissimilar to the text that opens the film ("A long time ago"), or to the dashes of blue on that robot we know and love, Artoo Detoo. In an RGB system, by the way, the primary colours are red, green and blue. It's an additive system, where you're talking about a subtractive one. Subtractive systems are commonly used for paints and dyes, while the RGB system is used in electronic systems, including modern display media. I think George chose his colours well.

More info:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subtractive_color

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RGB_color_model

 

You don't know much about women, do you? Leia was attracted to the 'bad-boy' aspect of Han, just like women in real life. Not tolerating a woman's princess entitlement attitude gets them all excited.

Try using the 'angel' line against a real woman, and I guarantee that they are most likely to either roll their eyes or use you as an ATM.

 

Apparently neither do you. Since you're assuming that all women will react in exactly the same manner to the different types of flirtation. I know many women who (until the saw ROTJ at least) couldn't for the life of them see why Leia would go for a "jerk" like Han when Luke was standing just two feet away. And Luke was certainly no smooth-talking "bad boy."

 

This. And I know people (women ) now who still say that, and they are pissed at the fact that Lucas made Luke and Leia twins.

The assumption that there is some particular method of romance, pick-up line, etc. that works on all or most women is sexist and offensive, as is the arrogant assumption that you personally know what "all" women in real life are attracted to. It assumes that all women are cookie-cutter droids who are programmed to like certain things as opposed to intelligent individuals with unique personalities, thoughts and preferences.

Some women didn't like the "angel" line. Some of us loved it. Some of us also loved Han Solo's sarcastic wit. But some women preferred Luke's more soft-spoken nature.

 

Hey the Stepford Wives are real! They live at Epcot.

 

But do they like Han Solo?

 

But this is Star Wars - its not about reality. Its a fantasy, a fairytale. And I did say "if spoken with complete sincerity". How many of us would speak such a line with absolute sincerity? Anakin truly believes Padme is likely to be an angel. She has no reason to doubt this - Anakin's a 9 year old boy. He's completely sincere and genuine. He has no ulterior motive. How could any woman who hears such a thing in such a story, from such a character, not be flattered? Anakin seals her affection from the off. And given how things will turn out with them later, even though he didn't know it at the time, Anakin used just about the best "chat-up" line he could have conjured. Of course in our world women would roll their eyes. But we're talking about the GFFA here. Its a far more innocent, romantic world.

 

It's even weirder when you realize he was calling her an alien.