"From A Certain Point Of View"

On This Day In History
1977: Star Wars opens in cinemas

Quote Of The Day
"We all know what a terrible mess we have made of the world, we all know how wrong we were in Vietnam. We also know, as every movie made in the last ten years points out, how terrible we are, how we have ruined the world and what schmucks we are and how rotten everything is. What we really need is something more positive."
(George Lucas)

47 years later and that weird little film that only one studio was prepared, reluctantly, to back is the ancestor of a multi-billion, multi-media industry. Here I am still wearing the same gear I wore when I first fell in love with Star Wars at the age of ten. Thank you, George Lucas, for a lifetime of entertainment.

Star Wars was criticised by many snooty critics at the time of its release as being morally simplistic, with its fairy-tale good versus evil plotline. Well, perhaps. After all, "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away," is a bit of a giveaway, isn't it? But even then, it was hardly simplistic; it contained the seeds of the moral complexity that would develop in later episodes. For example, Luke Skywalker's heroic triumph is to kill close on two million people when he blew up the first Death Star. The Rebel Alliance; freedom fighters, or terrorists? Han Solo; hero? Or criminal drug smuggler?

Come the prequel trilogy, we see the "good" Jedi turning a wilfull blind eye to slavery; tearing Force adept children from their parents; being partially responsible for Anakin Skywalker's transition into Darth Vader by their blinkered policy of non-attachment; and completely failing to see the rise of Darth Sideous/Emperor Palpatine due to their hubris and complacency.

Thankfully, although Luke Skywalker did develop an awareness of the conflict within himself, he never followed the dark path of his father. Like me, I think very few Star Wars fans would have countenanced such an ending to the saga. That is the positivity that George Lucas was referring to, I think. No, the world is not all sunshine and roses; horror and misery abound. But, at the end of the day, we all need uplifting stories to help us rise above it and provide us with guidance towards the creation of a better tomorrow.

A New Hope.

May the Force be with you. 

Can You Feel It?