Posted on 05/06/2005 7:38:34 PM PDT by wallace144
I imagine that Revenge of the Sith is very much the film Lucas's fans want to see, but are some of them ready for an anti-Bush diatribe? Though every Star Wars film until now has existed in an insular comic-book world, a lot has happened since 1999 and 2002 in the real world and Lucas dares, for the first time, to address how the hollow political conflict in his franchise correlates with the reality outside its panels. (It would have been stupid not to strike a parallel.) Revenge of the Sith's two greatest moments tap into the uncertainty of our own political climate: the dazzling battle between Yoda and Darth Sidious (an outstanding Ian McDiarmid) inside the beautifully spiraling Senate hall evokes Democrats and Republicans scrambling for power and the with-us-or-against-us Anakin's obscenely over-the-top final duel with Obi-Wan (Ewan McGregor) is prefaced none-to-subtly with the Jedi master declaring, "Only a Sith deals in absolutes." Lucas's political gestures would be easier to appreciate if he himself didn't trade in absolutes and generalities (you know the drill: the darker the couture, the closer you are to the dark side), but it's still a welcome step forward. Pity we had to wait so long for it, but, as they say, better late than never.
(Excerpt) Read more at slantmagazine.com ...
Most movie critics are failed movie students. Most movie critics are also notoriously liberal. Its natural that these morons would try to find modern-day political comments in a movie they like. It helps justify their acceptance of the movie. Its pathetic.
Earlier, someone quoted several reviews so far, all of which claim that Lucas is making a political comment in Revenge of the Sith. Dont believe it. Hell, I could take quotes from reviews of Gone with the Wind, and taken out of context, they would sound like commentary on the Bush administration.
There is no intended anti-Bush commentary with Revenge of the Sith. I read the screenplay. I saw the movie last night in Los Angeles. Get over it.
BTW, the movie rocks. It was alot of fun.
If anyone has read the book, the Republican Senate reminds me of our current government..total corruptness.
i could be wrong, but i don't think that Bush is the first leader in history to say "you're either with us or against us."
Lucas's Star Wars movies are general allegories, that could relate to any era. For example, if you saw this movie two thousand years ago, you might think it relates to the Caesars and the Roman Empire. If you saw it 70 years ago, you might think it relates to Hitler's rise to power. The only political comment in Star Wars movies are the comments viewers bring to the movie in the first place. If you are desperate to find a political comment in Revenge of the Sith, you will find it.
Good point Aetius,
How many times did Winston Churchill make that statement, in one form or another?
The Bush haters are utterly delusional, and incredibly desperate. It is pathetic beyond belief.
Yep I know, read the novel as I said. I agree. I cannot wait to see it.
come on.
Weren't some people commenting a couple years ago about how the Lord of the Rings trilogy was somehow pro-Bush, or anti-terror or something (we have to band together and resist evil, no matter the cost, etc.). I don't know if that, too, was a case of reading too much into things...
But perhaps Lucas wanted the liberal counterpart to the more militaristic, realpolitik message from LOTR?
But Bush's use of the phrase is easily the most recognizable in recent years. Upon hearing it, many will immediately associate it with President Bush, and the implications of which side says it in the film and which side rebuts it will be pretty hard to miss. And if there is any question of how we are supposed to take it, then apparently the good guys tells us by saying only an evil person thinks in such ways.
As I said, I dont' think its a big deal as the line will probably go unnoticed by the vast majority of the audience, but again, why would Lucas choose this specific, associated-with-Bush line if not to make a little statement with his fairy tale?
He could have written it any number of ways, but he chose this specific language. I hardly think its coincidence.
Uhh, Lucas himself makes clear that this is an anti-Bush movie in interviews. He is quite the jerk, in fact. He admits that the technological Empire is America, and the low-tech rebels defeating them are, say, Vietnam. At least that's what he says he was thinking when he made Episode IV. What a jerk. This is not to say that his movies can't be enjoyable. But someone who reads anti-Americanism into his movies isn't reading too much into things, but rather too little. Lucas' sounds like Sean Penn when he talks. He is an unmitigated leftist jerk.
Indeed. The original Star Wars was panned by some of the over-hyped illuminati because is was SO Good vs Evil. Far too simplistic for this crowd - they just KNEW that Luke Skywalker was a stand-in for Reagan battling the darkness of the overpowering commies.
The more things change . . . .
I was thinking the exact same thing when we were watching "Shrek 2" this week; all the stuff I had read on FR was ridiculous. People have to look under rocks to find something to offend them, IMO.
Wired: In addition to the experimental films that you say you want to make now, you’ve expressed an interest in making historical films.
Lucas: Yes, but I don’t want to get into situations where people say, “That’s not historically correct.” History is fiction, but people seem to think otherwise. The thing I like about fantasy and science fiction is that you can take issues, pull them out of their cultural straitjackets, and talk about them without bringing in folk artifacts that make people get closed minded.
Wired: Give me an example of what you mean by a folk artifact.
Lucas: Fahrenheit 9/11 . People went nuts. The folk aspects of that film were George Bush or Iraq or 9/11 or – intense emotional issues that made people put up their blinders and say, “I have an opinion about this, and I’m not going to accept anything else.” If you could look at these issues more open-mindedly – at what’s going on with the human mind behind all this, on all sides – you could have a more interesting conversation, without people screaming, plugging their ears, and walking out of the room like kids do.
History is fiction? How postmodern of you, George. And how revolting. Yeah, the Holocaust was just like Harry Potter. And George laments that people were upset with Michael Moore because he was too obvious about telling the truth that people didn't want to hear. So, George is going to give us that same truth through his more subtle folk mythology so that we don't run out of the room like little babies when he gives us our medicine. What a jerk.
I don't know about Lord of the Rings being pro-Bush, but it is clearly an affront to our modern-day, PC, diversity-worshipping, multicultural-loving dictates.
There was a review at some leftwing 'diverstiy' website that purported to claim that the atrocious Matrix sequels were better than Lord of the Rings because, well, they embraced and celebrated diversity, whereas the Lord of the Rings -- basically a mythic and fictional pre-history of Europe -- had the gall to actually cast it as such, and eschew ridiculous diversity casting for diversity's sake, and avoid (for the most part) peppering it with other nods to liberal modernity.
The review, and the resulting editorial discussion on the website is both hilarious for its absurdity, and frightening in that people actually think like that.
Its at;
http://tolerance.org/news/article_tol.jsp?id=932
Countless leaders, good and bad, have made the comment that you are either "with me, or against me." People who watch Revenge of the Sith, and then attribute it to George Bush are clearly in one of two camps:
1. People who hate George Bush, and will find anything they can in popular-culture to backup their insane beliefs.
2. People who dislike Star Wars, and push this crazy idea in order to alienate conservatives from Star Wars.
George Lucas HAS NEVER put overt political commentary into his Star Wars movies. In fact, I have read many more Republicans who claim that Star Wars in conservative, than Democrats who claim it is liberal. It is neither. Star Wars is a modern mythology.
You think Lucas is trying to make a comment about George Bush? That's because you want Lucas to make a comment about George Bush.
That quote about Moore's movie sounds like the blatherings of someone who wants to attack Bush, but who won't just come out and do it with clear and unambiguous language.
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