Thursday, October 1, 2009

Honest Question

Jonah Goldberg goes all Comic Book Guy:
Either you are with me, or you are my enemy!” shouted a young Darth Vader in 2005’s Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, one of the execrable prequels to the original films by George Lucas. In response to this all-or-nothing provocation, a disgusted Obi-Wan Kenobi replies, “Only a Sith deals in absolutes!”

Siths are Jedi Knights who have given themselves over to the Dark Side by embracing the evil emotions of anger, envy, and revenge. Readers of Commentary can be forgiven for neither knowing nor caring about this. But it is worth noting that for millions of Star Wars enthusiasts, it was very serious stuff indeed. Lucas revived, if not reinvented, the entire genre of science fiction in the 1970s by embracing bold and mythic depictions of good and evil and the heroic battle of the former against the latter. For decades, the established premise of the Star Wars franchise was that the universe is divided into the Dark Side and the Light Side of the “Force.” Jedi Knights—champions of all that is noble and virtuous—were warned never to give in, even a little, to the Dark Side, lest they lose their souls. If all that is not about “absolutes,” then what on earth (or in a galaxy far, far away) is? And Lucas threw it all away to get in a dig at George W. Bush.
Apart from Lucas not throwing it all away to get in a dig at Bush - look under C for capitalism - was it really interpreted or intended as a dig at Bush or just a piece-of-shit cliché in a piece-of-shit movie?

The rest of the article's about Battlestar Galactica and how cool it was when he liked it and how uncool it was when he didn't.

16 comments:

J— said...

I didn't see the movie when it came out but rather on video in the last year. I interpreted that line as one more part of the ongoing attempt to model the Jedi and their practices after some silly, simplified perception (or misconception) of Eastern religions.

M. Bouffant said...

I recently watched (& really, as in lying in bed w/o distraction) the last half of the one that came out in '79 (You know, the one that Messiah Lucas can't decide what to call after 30 yrs.) & the one after it.

What sheer fucking lame crap. Remakes of any cruddy Republic serial from 30 yrs. before, colorized, w/ slightly better effects & much worse dialog & acting.

Bogus from the start.

I know you Commentary readers don't want to hear it, but that's the way it is.

Another Kiwi said...

Remember that 'Wall-E' also had a dig at Dumbya because somewhere, someone says "Stay the Course'. This guy wrote the standout review.
Have we lost Pixar? Have we lost the wonderful studio who brought us The Incredibles and Ratatouille to Bush Derangement Syndrome?
Joberg just said it was an hypocritical movie but then he said it was "Brilliant".

ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®© said...

It is no surprise to me that Jonah has given his soul to the poop side.
~

M. Bouffant said...

On the other tentacle, though I remember reading that G. L. had his spawn make up character names for the se-pre-quels, one must wonder about the "Nute Gunray" evil capitalist trader character.

J— said...

Shaolin lightsaber.

ckc (not kc) said...

...may the farce be with you

Substance McGravitas said...

I know you Commentary readers don't want to hear it, but that's the way it is.

I still quite like the first one. What can I say?

M. Bouffant said...

There is no accounting for taste, & I don't taste very good either. I just don't reveal my guilty pleasures.

fish said...

I rate for the 1st (4th?) one too. It was fun scifi. Then the entire series collapsed under the incredible burden of having to recite lines written by George Lucas.

That said, all Goldberg wants to watch is propaganda.

J— said...

Jesus Christ was a Sith Lord. See Matthew 12:30.

herr doktor bimler said...

Only a Swede deals in Absolut.

Another Kiwi said...

That's some type of hubcap I assume?

herr doktor bimler said...

No, it's what you give the Macedonians in exchange for getting your hubcap back.

Another Kiwi said...

NZ TV showed teh 'Ravioli of the Sick', or whatever, last night and whilst engaged in my trademark multi channel viewing (known to my family as "aimless flicking around") I saw the 'absolute' line being delivered. There seemed to be a lot of CGI lava involved which didn't add much to story plus a doll of Yoda was being chucked around by a guy inna robe.
I longed for a chess playing Wookie.
How's the subbitis, still using the ointment?

Substance McGravitas said...

Truly a terrible movie. Think I watched it on TV or something. Hope the guy playing Vader is rich for the rest of his life because he really humiliated himself.