I have more writing to do about Hurricane Katrina, but I decided to take a break from the ranting business for a while and devote a bit of time to a subject which I've been mulling writing about for a while now - the Star Wars Prequel saga and The Revenge of the Sith (ROTS).
I saw the original Star Wars film in 1977 when I was 11 years old - a perfect age to be taken in by the great space opera. It was one of the most unforgettable experiences of my childhood, along with discovering Tolkien and Dungeons and Dragons. I had been the first person at my school to see the film, as my older sister, her soon to be husband, and their friends had heard about the film. I went back to school the following weekend (it was the next to last week of the school year when Star Wars came out) and was screaming about the film to all my friends because I couldn't believe what I just saw. Sure enough when I went back to school the following August, it was the only thing everyone was talking about.
And so it was. I was not quite as thrilled with The Empire Strikes Back (ESB) and The Return of the Jedi (ROTJ), but they were good films in their own right and I liked them. I enjoyed the idea that the "science fiction" of Star Wars was always more fiction than science. How many times did we hear that the reason our heroes' machinery didn't work was because there was "a bad motivator"? And what - pray tell - exactly is a "motivator?" How funny! I even managed to enjoy the classic "Who's your Daddy" moment in The ESB. I was a fan of George Lucas, but I thought that the saga had ended and that was that. When I heard in 1999 or so that Lucas was in the process of making three more films that were to be prequels of the original Star Wars films, I didn't get nearly as pumped up as I was about the imminent coming of The Lord of the Rings.
I didn't know what to expect when I saw The Phantom Menace (TPM), but I did know that at some point 5 or so years ago that A) the Clone Wars (I had for some reason always thought that these were really "the Klone Wars", named after something called "Klone", which could have been a planet, a person, a territory, or some extremely rare and powerful substance which brought vast wealth) would have to take place since Obi Wan Kenobi "was a hero of the Clone Wars", and B) Darth Vader would have to make his appearance at some point or another and that he was a pupil of Obi Wan Kenobi.
As time went on, the possibilities for surprise obviously narrowed. By the end of Attack of the Clones (ATOC), we could go into ROTS knowing that:
1) Anakin Skywalker would be transformed into Darth Vader.
2) The Republic would crumble somehow and we would see the birth of the Empire, though not the death of the Senate because that happens in Star Wars.
3) Palpatine would get disfigured somehow, or we would perhaps witness that his use of the Dark Side of the Force was ravaging his body and facial features.
4) We would presumably see the deaths of Count Dooku, Mace Windu and the other Jedi on the Jedi Master Council, Padme Amidala, and perhaps some of the Separatist leaders. I thought several years ago that it would be the death of Anakin's mother that would drive him to madness, but that left Padme as the final source of Anakin's madness because he didn't turn in AOTC.
5) The Jedi order would be extinguished except for Kenobi and Yoda. My thought was that Yoda would be caught fleeing some battle and his space ship would be shot down over that swamp planet (Dagoba system?) where Luke finds him two films later. Obi Wan Kenobi would survive more or less intact from the Clone Wars.
After witnessing the creation of the Clone army in ATOC, my suspicions were that either A) the Jedi order would be worn thin by losses in the Civil War or B) that Palpatine, who had attained control of the State apparatus, would orchestrate a massacre of the Jedi by mustering hundreds of thousands of Clone troops to execute the heinous task.
6) We would witness the birth of Leia and Luke. Obi Wan Kenobi would watch over Luke and that Leia would be adopted by the noble "Organa" family. I wasn't aware that there was a Senator Organa, but we did know that Leia was a princess.
So, it is hard to get that pumped up over a film where you knew a pretty fair amount of what's going to happen before it happens. But we Star Wars fans had slogged through this much, so we might as well finish the job off right?
The biggest flaw about these three films is that they have practically none of the humor of the original Star Wars films. That is understandable since these films are about the rise and fall of the tragic Anakin Skywalker, the Clone Wars themselves, and the failure of The Republic as it disintegrates into an empire. Bundle all of those topics together and you don't get a lot of laughs. It's almost like the task that Peter Jackson faced in trying to squeeze in workable humor into The Lord of the Rings, but thank the heavens for Gollum.
I ended up seeing ROTS three times in the theater and came away thinking that ROTS truly was one of the most severe and intense movies I have ever seen. I had to be since the film was dealing with the failure of The Republic and the general destruction of the Jedi order. If you have read any history at all, you may well know that some of the most emotional wars that have been fought by mankind have been civil wars. The American Civil War, the English Civil War, the War between Julius Caesar and the Republican forces led by Pompey for dominion over the Roman world (an empire in all but name after the final defeat of Carthage in 146 BC), all were conflicts of unbelievable fury because so much was riding on the line for all of the contestants.
Another big problem that has plagued these films is that there is a great deal going on in the background - the general political atmosphere of what's happening in Republic, the Senate, how certain things come about such as the creation of the Clone army, all have to be shown. All of these events eat into screen time and do not allow too much time for the rather large array of characters to fully develop. This is similar to the problem that anyone would face in trying to film The Lord of the Rings - so much happening, so little screen time. Contrast this to the original three films, especially the first two films, where to be honest not a great number of events happen. Irwin Kershner, who directed ESB, and Lucas himself in Star Wars, both have time to establish the characters and pull out their full personnae over the course of the movies. Instead, the actors of the prequels have to establish something of their characters with relatively little screen time.
Because of the situation described about characters not getting too much screen time, we are somewhat cheated in not seeing their full selves. Most of the good Jedi come off as mildly interesting personnae. Yoda is familiar with his Daoist preachings and his mangling of English grammar. Qui Gonn Jin comes off as something of a authority snubbing, appealing gambler who calmly bets the farm away on the boy Anakin Skywalker in TPM. Mace Windu is perhaps the most conservative, but collected and composed of the good Jedi. Windu doesn't loose his cool even when three of his comrades are sliced down by a raging Palpatine in their ultra high stakes confrontation during ROTS. As for the bad guys, we do get to see just enough of the emotional, but corrupted and fabulously wealthy Viceroy Gunray. We only catch glimpses of the quiet, focused assassin, Darth Maul (it is notable that Darth Maul is the only Jedi - or Sith Lord - who does not engage in the obligatory trash talk that Sith / Jedi hurl at one another before commencing to do battle via light sabers). Most intriguing of all, we don't get to see enough of the the elegant, confident, and worldly Count Dooku. But one redeeming aspect of these stories is that Lucas manages to convey the idea through this mismash of characters that the games of politics and the struggle for political power are fought over primarily by the ruthless. Politics is not a game for the faint of heart.
There are some quarters out there in the galaxy that may think that the Star Wars prequels were the greatest thing in history, but if box office receipts are any indication of film quality then it becomes clear that the Star Wars prequels were not great films. In general, I would out of gut instinct give TPM a 6.5 out of 10, the AOTC a 6 of 10, and ROTS a 7.5 out of 10. By now there are probably thousands of websites out there that have meandered on and on about the idea that George Lucas can't write a film script and that this is the reason that these films did not live up to their true potential. I tend to give some credence to this idea. Don't get me wrong. I do enjoy hearing the obligatory, "I have a bad feeling about this" in each of the Star Wars films, getting a little smile out of every time I hear the line. But it seems to me that the so called "bad dialogue" issue is tied in with bad acting to a much greater degree than many people want or care to admit to.
Examples: Natalie Portman (Padme Amadala) didn't do too bad of a job in TPM, as her role in that film mainly required her to act as a youthful, yet dutiful monarch. However Portman was just awful in the AOTC. It is absolutely painful watching her try to act as though she is romantically in love with Hayden Christensen in AOTC and Christensen duly returns the favor. They do get mildly better at their jobs in ROTS, but it helps significantly that the love story of Anakin and Padme is not the heart and soul of ROTS. Yes, there is awful dialogue spoken between the two at points, but Portman often looks like she is either amazed or wondering how it was that she got into these films. I will say that she does lay down a good line in ROTS when upon hearing that Palpatine will reorganize the Republic into an Empire that, "so this is how liberty dies... with thunderous applause."
And that line leads me to a really REALLY big gripe that I have with Star Wars fanatics. When most people go out to see a film, there is some hope that people will respect some social courtesy by keeping reasonably quiet during the film while reacting appropriately when the film goes along. In other words, laughing at funny scenes, remaining quiet during serious scenes, and if scenes leave you wanting to cry, then cry you can.
Not so with Star Wars fanatics. I have never met a group of fans (even J.R.R. Tolkien fans) who have more desperately desired to add their own sound track to a film as the film is in progress. Examples?
1) During the above mentioned line delivered by Senator Padme Amidala in ROTS, one guy who was sitting one row back of me and to my right loudly declared, "Cliche! Cliche! Bad Writing!" Was that line really a cliche? If so, then what the hell have you done to promote liberty and freedom pal?
2) During an early scene of ROTS where Padme greets Anakin with the news that she is pregnant (after he and Ben Kenobi have successfully "rescued" Palpatine from General Grievous and Count Dooku), one 30-something gentleman sitting one row in front of me turned to his girlfriend / wife and said in a loud whisper, "She should have said, I am with Jedi! Ah, Ha, ha." It must be great to laugh at your own cleverness.
I could go on with probably 10 more examples of SW fans adding to the movie soundtrack while the film is in progress, but this should be enough for you to get the picture.
Of the Characters and the Acting:
The Bad Apple: To get on with the acting, I could not help but wonder whether Lucas should have made Anakin and Padme older in the first two films. It's hard to swallow that the boy who yells "Yippie" in TPM will eventually turn into Darth Vader. On the other side of the pantheon, in ROTS the role of Anakin Skywalker becomes so significant that it really requires a world class talent in order to pull off a monumental task. Hayden Christensen does fine in some scenes. His fighting is good and I particularly liked when he tells Padme off after she says to him that she thinks that the war is due to a failure to listen. But rather than pulling off a Hamlet, we end up getting a mid level rent performance instead. Then there are the times during the prequels where Anakin as a character comes off as a spoiled brat, such as complaining about Obi Wan "holding him back" during AOTC. Hardly someone I would pick to be The Chosen One who would deliver the Galaxy from darkness.
One very controversial aspect of ROTS (which by no means is Christensen's fault) that I will address deals with the rather jarring sequence of events by which Anakin finally decides to join Palpatine and become his apprentice. Many have commented that Anakin's decision seemed out of place and happened so quickly. One scene he is speaking to Obi Wan about how appreciative he is of how he has trained him and the next he has been christened Darth Vader by the chilling, haunted voice of Darth Sidious. The standard defense of Anakin's conduct is that he is lost, confused, and not sure where to go. Moreover, he is overcome with what has happened concerning the death of Windu.
After mulling this issue over, I came up with two possible ideas that might make the matter of Anakin's turn to the Dark Side somewhat clearer, if not any more satisfying to ROTS viewers. One really big issue hanging over the entire scene that people might be forgetting is that after Palpatine triumphs over his Jedi enemies, he promptly asks Anakin to become his apprentice. One might ask what would happen if Anakin had said "no"? Well, we know from context that Anakin realizes that Palpatine is the Chancellor and that if he was attacked by Jedi, then he could use this as a pretext to use the State / Imperial powers at his disposal to deal with a Jedi arrest / assassination attempt as he saw fit. Of course this is exactly what happens in the film. In this context, Anakin would not only be acting out of weakness and grief over the death of Windu, he would have been acting out of mere self preservation. Since he was a Jedi, the thought could have gone through Anakin's head that Palpatine would have lumped him together with the rest of the Jedi as an enemy, and thus as a target of elimination if he had said no. Of course many would cry that Palpatine had singled out Anakin as a target for recruitment, but again one has to think of what Palpatine might have done to Anakin if Anakin had said no. Remember, at the end of ROTS there are only four known adult Jedi left. Early in Star Wars, Grand Moff Tarkin remarks to Vader that "The Jedi are extinct. Their fire has gone out of the universe. You are all that is left of their religion." Thus Anakin is bowing to Palpatine under pressure.
The other idea that comes to mind is that Anakin saw that Windu had left with a posse of 3 other Jedi to arrest Palpatine. It may have occured to him that as he walked into Palpatine's chambers that only Windu was left and that Palpatine was even greater of a figure than he already realized (he did say to Windu that Palpatine was very powerful and that they would need his help to rein him in). Such an idea would have led to Anakin bowing to Palpatine out of awe, and of the hope that he would in fact reach his potential as his apprentice.
I won't go into the issue of deciding to include characters like Jar Jar Binks or of the "stereotype" controversy that dogged the various characters of TPM. There are other fish to fry here.
The Dutiful Soldier: Ewan McGregor seems to have grown a bit during these three films. We see him try to add a touch of humor to ROTS via wry observations at the end of various scenes ala James Bond, but sadly much of the verbiage falls flat (criticism about bad dialogue taken). Sadly as events escalate during ROTS, Obi Wan seems to stay a bit to the sidelines when things get tough surrounding Anakin and his issues with the Jedi Council.
The Fearsome Machine: I could not help but wonder whether General Grievous was something of a created character which had to be hustled into ROTS in order to make the film work. My means of reasoning are that since the story mainly revolves around Anakin turning to the Dark Side, that meant that Count Dooku would have to meet his end with a fair amount of screen time left during the story. That would have left the Separatist movement in the hands of Viceroy Gunray and his associates. While Gunray was a wealthy businessman, he probably would not have made a worthy villain in the eyes of many. Ergo another compelling fighting or commander type character needed to be hustled in. Nonetheless, the character of Grievous was interesting, especially the obvious tension that was felt between Gunray and Grievous which burst out after the death of the Count. One gets the feeling that there would have been quite a bit of infighting within the Separatist camp had the war gone on for a longer period of time than it did.
The Caped Crusader: And speaking of the Count, Christopher Lee seemed to be the only person at times who could act in AOTC. I still remember seeing the film when it first came out and thinking that it really wasn't until the end of the film that we really find out that Count Dooku is a bad guy. It was easily the most subtle and interesting performance that Lucas managed to capture out of any of the Star Wars films. It was a shame that the Count was dispatched rather early in ROTS, but Lucas had lots of other irons in the fire that he had to deal with in this film and it seems per force that things had to be that way.
Still, it would have been more fun to have seen a 30 minute longer version of ROTS and see The Count somehow get worked into several more scenes. I have read that Dooku walked out on the Jedi order after getting bent out of shape over corruption in the political system. Since the Jedi serve The Republic, then his order is implicitly condoning what is going on around them. One could say The Count was in fact an idealist.
One could also say that The Count was also fiercely ambitious. In one of the geniunely shocking scenes of the entire prequels, Dooku literally gives away the farm and tells Kenobi the goods about Palpatine! It was a brilliant scene from several perspectives. First, if Dooku was looking to split the Jedi order, then what better way to do so then to tell them that the Galactic Senate is led by the great Sith Master. It's one of the best recruiting tools one could think of. In fact, Dooku says nearly the exact same words to Kenobi that Vader uses to try to recruit Luke to join him three films later. In both cases, Vader and Dooku may well have been thinking of trying to bump off Palpatine and were thinking that they could use some help in doing so. Hence that would be the way to move up in the world. There is no honor amongst thieves. Maybe that is the reason the Sith decided that there would be only two Sith Lords, as having any more would have done nothing to advance the cause. They would have spent all of their time trying to bump off each other, whether individually or by alliance with each other.
Count Dooku was clearly a potent figure. He threw Ben Kenobi, a reasonably strong Jedi master, around like a rag doll not once but twice in their confrontations. He was particularly strong at using The Force to manipulate physical materials, as I thought that Kenobi was going to end up spending part of ROTS in a hospital recovering from paralysis after Dooku broke that metal stairwell and brought it down on the senseless Kenobi.
There is also the idea that Dooku was a Count. Not having read very much of the Internet blather about Star Wars, it would seem that Dooku was a member of nobility and perhaps heir to land, an estate, and fortune of sorts. This is in stark contrast to the Jedi in general. While many talk on and on about the magical powers that various Jedi have, they seem to seldom wonder about another source of power - money! The Jedi, outside of their temple and library (which may have been paid for by the Senate out of Galactic public monies), seem to have taken vows of poverty and chastity. One imagines the public anger that might have come down on the Jedi order as a whole if it became public knowledge that individual Jedi were found to have been using their mind tricks to gain sexual favors! There are serious ethical issues involved with having such powers, something that the films do not explore in any meaningful way. One can easily imagine that Sith Lords would have used such skills with gusto to advance their cause.
Count Dooku, in renouncing his allegiance to the Jedi Order, would have perhaps been renouncing an earlier, youthful ideal to give up his titles, lands, and fortune to serve as a Jedi. In old age and his anger about the Galactic political situation, he decides that perhaps his temporal fortune might come in handy after all. That money would be useful in funding the construction of Droid foundrys and factories. The Count's fortune would be even more useful if it were combined with the wealth possessed by the Trade Federation to promote bribery, secure alliances with star systems, and so forth. The combination of money, worldly wisdom, and Jedi abilities make Dooku a fascinating figure.
In the end of course, Palpatine sells Dooku down the river as he does everyone else. One co-worker of mine has said to me that the whole setup behind the "kidnapping" of Palpatine at the beginning of ROTS was to set up a showdown between Count Dooku and Anakin Skywalker. It is clear from film dialogue that Dooku is both aware of this and was looking forward to dueling Jedi again. But why would he willingly put himself in such a position? Other than to bump off a potential rival to ruling the galaxy, I cannot really see why Dooku would want to be on that ship when he could serve his own ambitions by rallying more star systems to the Separatist cause. The only idea I can come up with is that Palpatine may have threatened to hunt him down and kill him anyway if he didn't kill Kenobi and Skywalker. Palpatine might have been trying to use Darwinian methods of getting the best apprentice he could find after having to deal with the setback caused by the death of Darth Maul. Darth Maul would not have gotten Palpatine to the summit. It was quite conceivable that Palpatine would not have reached his goals without Count Dooku.
Living Double Lives: Ian McDiarmid performed evenly in TPM, but turned a bit ham handed in AOTC. All is forgiven though because McDiarmid turns out to be the star of ROTS. If we could have gotten Hayden Christensen to perform on McDiarmid's level, ROTS would have been a much better movie. We see Palpatine, like the good politician he is, tell Anakin everything he wants to hear. Contrast this to Yoda's good parenting by tough love approach. Nobody wants to listen to that.
In a strange twist to the saga, we see where Palpatine seems to fool nearly everyone as to his double life. Clearly it was as Dooku said that The Dark Side of the Force was clouding the Jedi vision, but one could also say that it was befuddling everyone else's vision also. It would be hard to understand the actions of General Grievous and those of Viceroy Gunray if they had known that Palpatine was also Darth Sidious.
Although I know nothing about the entire backdrop of the Star Wars galaxy, it seems that Palpatine was the only Sith Lord smart enough to figure out that in order to fulfill the ambitions of their order and destroy the Jedi, you have to work within the system and use it to overthrow your enemies. Hence his entry into politics and his efforts to use endless conflicts which he starts to amass more and more political power. In this sense Palpatine somewhat mirrors real world example of Adolf Hitler, who after his failed Munich putsch in 1923 decided to play the Weimar democracy game by the establish rules - albeit with Brown Shirt intimidation involved to tilt the playing field in his direction. When Hitler did reach the edge of legitimate power in 1933 after the Nazi party received more than 30% of the vote in the 1932 elections (quite a feat since the Weimar Republic was a proportional representation parliamentary democracy), Hitler then used that power to take care of some unfinished business. That meant silencing vocal opponents from the past, shutting out the competition by banning all other political parties, and then overthrowing the old Weimar Republic by intimidation and force. By these means, a monopoly on the coercion power of The State was finally achieved by the Nazis and was maintained until 1945. We are never told in Star Wars why it was that there was a rebellion against the empire (high taxes, eminent domain exercised on entire planets, an unfair judiciary?) but we are left to infer that it is because Palpatine just becomes the ultimate evil dictator who cannot be tolerated anymore.
We also see a beautifully ambigious scene when McDiarmid describes the tragedy of Darth Plagues. Was Palpatine Darth Plagues' apprentice? If Palpatine was Darth Plagues' apprentice, the idea arises that Darth Plagues could have exacted revenge on Palpatine from the beyond by creating Anakin. Wow! Then there is the issue of whether one really could stave off death by using the Dark Side. Palpatine, perhaps spending quite a bit of time and Dark Force power trying to divine exactly what it is that Anakin wants, hands out the apple to Anakin of saving people from death, then turns around after his conversion to say that he doesn't know exactly how to cheat death. How insidous! Indeed, one wonders why Anakin didn't start having his doubts about Palpatine right there since Palpatine had effectively lied to Anakin on the spot. But do you know Anakin, don't you, that if you do the dirty work of leading my Clone armies against the Jedi and subsequently massacre the Separatist leaders, then you just might be able to discover the secret of saving the dying.
And speaking of the "Night at the Opera" scene between Palpatine and Anakin, I have a suspicion that the main meaning of that scene for many Star Wars fans was getting the chance to be served another slice of canon in learning about the existence of Darth Plagues. Some might note that this is where Palpatine starts his pitch to Anakin via telling him about the power to stop death, while the scene also throws mystery into the matter of whether Plagues (or perhaps Palpatine himself) had created Anakin (I think Lucas has debunked these ideas). Perhaps Palpatine is saying these things as he himself might have been dwelling on the issue of whether Anakin was created by the Force itself (as did Qui Gonn in TPM), thus hinting to Anakin that if you join the Sith, then you will discover the secret of your own birth and existence. It would also provide an answer to Anakin about the purpose of his own life, something he himself seems to be searching for as all young men do. Heady stuff here...
But most people are missing perhaps the most important aspect of that scene. And what - pray tell - was that? Well, the second reason that Palpatine decided to tell Anakin about the tragedy of Darth Plagues was that Anakin had just asserted that the Sith relied on their passions and only thought about themselves, while the Jedi were selfless and cared about others. The second reason why Palpatine decided to tell Anakin about Darth Plagues was because he wanted to show that the Sith were also capable of caring about others and that the Sith had in fact discovered the greatest gift that one could use to show that one does indeed care about others - by saving them from death. For good measure, Palpatine also throws in a wry warning to Anakin about the costs of thinking too much about others and not watching out for number one when he tells Anakin about Plagues' murder.
Of course, one might say that wielding the power to stave off death requires not only great knowledge of The Force, but immense wilpower and personal strength with The Force. One could argue that Anakin had in fact personally discovered that power at the very end of ROTS, but he was only able to use it one time - by consuming much of his inherent strength with The Force to preserve himself after Ben Kenobi had sliced his legs and arms off, not to mention that he had been scorched by lava and fire.
In the interest of bringing up another topic of discussion, there is the issue of what happened to Palpatine's appearance during his confrontation with Mace Windu. The reason for doing this is that Lucas, like Tolkien and other storytellers, has mastered the art of leaving many issues ambiguous and open to numerous personal and public interpretations. Without a doubt, Lucas has discovered this is perhaps the best way of keeping true fans interested in his work.
My own impression, which I share with Ian McDiarmid himself but which was discounted by Lucas, was that Windu's barely successful parry of Palpatine's use of Force Lightning at close range revealed Palpatine's true face. This was Darth Sidious scarred by the use of the Dark Side of the Force, unable to use the Dark Side anymore to cloud the visions of others and to hide behind the countenance of the elderly, beloved Chancellor Palpatine. It is notable that we never see Palpatine again, though one might say that Sidious may have decided that he didn't need to bother anymore with the charade. Nonetheless, Sidious ends up having to explain himself before the Senate. In essence, I thought that Windu had in fact bested Palpatine and that it was fate that decided whether the galaxy would fall into darkness. Another idea would have been that wars and conflicts end up making men do things they normally would not do - in this case the otherwise conservative Windu ends up deciding to be prosecutor, judge, and jury of Palpatine.
An alternate explanation of what happened was that Palpatine sensed the presence of Anakin and basically decided "to hold back" his last ammunition to perform a final lure on Anakin. "Oh help me! I am too weak!" Palpatine, like nearly all dictators and would be dictators, have no problems in spending endless sums of tax monies and killing off millions in the pursuit of power, but turn out to be chickens when it comes to the matter of facing the absolutely certain prospect of their own deaths.
One aspect I liked about Palpatine was that he was almost like a Julius Caesar, or any one of a number of Roman generals who ruled the Roman Empire in his wake. What I mean by this is that Palpatine schemed endlessly for greater power during the three prequels and took a number of significant personal risks in the process, any of which could have gone wrong. When his initial plans were foiled by Queen Amidala and the boy Anakin, he simply kept going and moved on. After all, the trade dispute had vaulted him into the Chancellorship. Then there was the idea that the Jedi rescue in ROTS might not have worked. Anakin might have crashed General Grievous ship during their fiery landing. Then there was the matter that Palpatine did prevail - with help from Anakin - against a 4 on 1 attack by Jedi. Though I wrote above that Palpatine was obviously afraid of Windu when the prospect of certain death reared its head, he did show that if there was some uncertainty as to situational outcomes that he was willing to assume personal risks to advance his position. In a similar vein, there is a strand of historical thought that says that Caesar had to take risks in order to make a run of it in Roman politics, though it would be a mistake to think that Julius Caesar had planned from his youth to overthrow the Roman Senatorial order in order to achieve his greatest ambitions in the same way that Palpatine was scheming to do with the Galactic Republic. I suppose one could say that the Force really was with Palpatine.
And so the circle is now complete, warts and all. My own opinion held from day after seeing ESB is that Lucas never had a full vision of what Star Wars was going to be like, especially the backstory. Caught off guard from the monster success of the original Star Wars film and doubtless from an adoring public who simply could not wait for more stories from the far far away Galaxy, Lucas found himself having to sketch out new (?) or more material. Hence the inconsistences between films such as the fact the Kenobi asking Yoda in ESB whether he was any different than Luke when Yoda was training him. If that was the case in 1980, then what's the deal with Qui Gonn? I can now understand that Anakin might not know that he had a daughter, but why was it that nobody (even Padme!) seems to have never known that she was carrying twins during ROTS? Did she never visit a doctor? Remember, this is the Galaxy which has mastered intergalactic space travel and had noble knights who could partly divine the future. And what's the story with Leia telling Luke that she barely remembers her mother when she would have had no memories at all because Padme died shortly after they were born?
We will be nice here and let these matters drop. The films were good Mr. Lucas. The Star Wars saga leaves us with the same delimma that Tolkien left us at the end of the Third Age of Middle Earth. The Big Bogeyman has been defeated and the magic has been burned away, leaving Tolkien and Lucas as creators (and us as fans) with a hard task of coming up with any new compelling stories to tell. Maybe it's finally time to come back to our own dreary world from those events of long, long ago which happened in a Galaxy far far away.
Posted by The Mighty Wizard at September 15, 2005 01:24 AM