Was Star Wars made for children?

Have we become so politically correct that we cant even consider a movie to be for everyone, that it has to be classified as a childrens movie or an adult movie? Im 28 years old and i still love them. I was 2 years old when my dad took me to see SW, did i get more enjoyment out of it than him? I cant even remember seeing it.
However through him taking me over and over again until the advent VCRS i fell in love. It was him loving the movie intially that got me into them. Just like fishing, reading and the Yankees. Mark Hamill call'd it a multi-generational fantasy, and thats what it is. And the actual movies themselves have
now spanned over multiple generations.

 

Well, I believe it has always been for kids. From the outset despite the startling introduction of the Blockade Runner and the Star Destroyer and Vader, but by the time we get to Tattoine, we were introduced to the Jawas. With their babyish voices, to me it was clear that indeed it was meant to play with the human conscious, back to our childhood.

In some aspects think Warner Bros. Merry Melodies, again a play with our childhood conscious. Can you name me anyone who hated those characters?

 

Star Wars was not made just for children. It was made for every age.

 

I think calling it a "children's" film, while the most accurate, carries an implication of something slapped together and dumbed down like your typical run of the mill Saturday morning cartoon.

SW on the other hand is extremely well thought out, carries a lot of deep-meaningful mythology, but instead of being "dumbed down" it is simply presented in a way that isn't as distressing to children.

Take the Tusken Slaughter. It was handled in such a way as to keep the fact that he slaughtered all the women and children along with the male sand people in tact, without showing that epxlicitly. They show Anakin taking a few male Tuskens out, and then have him admit to killing the rest to Padme. It's still a horrific thought, and to all the adults out there, our imaginations can fill in all the blanks, but a child can just brush past the concept until they are old enough to handle the full implications of that act.

I would say SW is a film for children of all ages.

 

To quote Homer J. Simpson, "It works on so many levels."

 

Perhaps the best way to think of the Star Wars movies are as FAMILY MOVIES. When George Lucas was contemplating his epic, I seem to recall him saying that he wished to recapture in some way the old 1930's Saturday matinee magic, which by the 70's had largely been lost.
Starsky and Hutch and a couple of crap Planet of the Apes sequels were about as good as it got for us 'younglings' at that time, so you can imagine the impact this new movie had on us at the time!
So while I still watch and enjoy those movies just as much now, I have to admit that their primary intention was to attract a new young generation of kids to the movies, in an attempt (which was completely successful worldwide) to recapture that lost love of the movies.
So your buddy is correct ('from a certain point of view' as someone once remarked.)

 

What did anyone think of my WB Merry Melodies analogy?

I think those cartoons are for both children and adults.

Here's a humourous example and believe it or not was mentioned in one of the Sylvester episodes.

He gets beaten up by an old lady with an umbrella. Then his son (who didn't see the incident) tells his unfortunate father "aw, dad she's harmless". Sylvester then replies "yeah. She's about as harmless as a porcupine in a nudist colony!"

Probably go over many kids heads, but as they get older they'll have a good laugh.

Maybe Im bored

 

Maybe you are.

 

Lucas's method of argument is to constantly change his mind, then try to convince us that his current position is the way it's always been, thinking that if he says it enough it will become true.

I agree with this here statement.


But to the main topic...I have to say it was originally for all ages. There are themes and issues and a dark side to the OT that can only be truly grasped as an adult. As a child, you can love the colours and the action and the comedy, but only as an adult, can you appreciate the deeper aspects of the movies.

That being said, I think George is definitely directing the PTs more towards children. There seems to be a little less in terms of pseudo-spiritual topics (though a little more political deception), and a bit more childrens jokes/characters.

Not to say that adults cant get anything out of the PT....not true. Just that it seems more directed towards children than the OT was.

 

Lucas' "method of argument"?

What he is actually doing is he is working on the films after they were originally released in an attempt to do the things he wasn't able to do before.

He is not saying that's how they always were, he is saying that is closer to how he always wanted it.

He isn't "arguing" the point, he is just letting you know.