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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Viewing the saga: the next generation

Discussion in 'Star Wars Saga In-Depth' started by Obi-Ewan, Feb 12, 2006.

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  1. Obi-Ewan

    Obi-Ewan Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 24, 2000
    Before anyone jumps onto this and draws the wrong conclusion, this is NOT a thread about the best order to watch the films in.

    Many of us grew up on Star Wars. Being a part of the culture we grew up with, many of us who already have children of our own have introduced them to it. Those who haven't done either, no doubt, want to some day.

    Problem is, as an adult, prequels or no prequels, I can't watch the series the same way I did the first time. When I first viewed them, I had a very narrow view of cinema history. To a young child, Star Wars was mind-blowingly original. To the adults of the time, it wasn't. As an adult now, I have seen more films, many of which are an influence on Star Wars. Now, the only really original thing I see in Star Wars is how much it ripped off of other films, combining elements one wouldn't have thought possible.

    The opening crawl is obviously lifted from Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe. Both Anakin and Padme and Luke and Leia are modeled after Flash Gordon and Dale Arden. The Jedi in general are modeled after feudal Samurai, and Obi-Wan was modeled after Toshiro Mifune's characters. Han Solo, by his attire alone, can be recognized as a classic gunslinger from American westerns. The Mos Eisley cantina, moreso than its prequel counterpart, resembles a saloon. In fact, the western is probably the biggest influence on the series. (That most heroes are Jedi instead of gunslingers doesn't go against this, since Kurosawa's films were not only made in the style of a western, but often remade as westerns in America.) Obi-Wan's investigation in Episode II resembles a classic film noir. Sidious's concealed lightsaber resembles Taxi Driver, from which Palpatine also derives his name. Not surprisingly, Lucas also took some inspiration from his own mentor, Francis Ford Coppola: the Endor scenes based on material Lucas had written when he intended to direct Apocalypse Now. The death of Jabba the Hutt was modeled after the death of Luca Brasi in The Godfather, and the baptism scene was re-imagined for Star Wars for the Order 66 and Vader-on-Mustafar sequences. The story of two generations of a family, in particular a father and son, one of whom stays on the straight and narrow, the other who falls, mirrors (though in reverse) the structure of the Godfather films.

    And of course there's real life history. Palpatine was inspired by a few weeks during 1973 (I think), shortly after Watergate, where certain Nixon supporters suggested altering the Constitution to allow him to run for a third term. The Stormtroopers share their name with the soldiers of the Third Reich.

    Being able to recognize the inspirations for Star Wars, for me, makes viewing the series a much more satisfying experience.

    So the question is this. Would you introduce a newbie--your own offspring or not--to the series without any prior context (thus allowing you to introduce them young), or show them what inspired it so that they can fully appreciate it--thus delaying their first viewing by several years, depending on your judgement of when such material is suitable. (For example, I wouldn't show a seven-year-old The Godfather or Apocalypse Now.) I'm tempted to say the latter. It may mean watching the films later, but I was 13 or 14 years old before I saw the original trilogy all the way through, and older still before getting a thorough grounding in Ford, Kurosawa, and the Godfather films.

    It's also worth asking, would you show them the films all at once to get the "one movie/one story" feel? I personally think there's some value is experiencing it like the serials it's based on: watch one episode this Saturday, then wait till next week to see how it all turns out.
     
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