Star Wars: The Legacy Revealed
Like most geeks, I watched the Star Wars: The Legacy Revealed documentary on The History Channel this past Monday night. I honestly thought I was going to be bored, especially when I saw that it was 2-hours long. And, keep in mind that that was the same day I say Pirates 3, so I wasn't really in the mood for another long movie/TV watching commitment.
Turns out, I was enthralled the whole time. It really is a great documentary, and I don't normally like documentaries. I'm sure they're gonna re-run it a couple of times, so if you didn't watch it, check you Tivo.
I really enjoyed the approach of the doc, how they related the epic to stories from the Bible, Greek and Roman mythology, religion, history, etc., and how they explained the significance of the major characters and their ultimate purpose in the Hero's Journey (as Joseph Campbell called it). I feel like I just took a humanities class with all the information I absorbed from the doc.
It's important to remember that what is presented really is all theory. It fits sure enough, but as Dr. Joan Breton Connelly points out in the doc, you get to the point where you ask "did George Lucas mean for this connection to be made, or am I making it? Am I participating as part of the poet?" Lucas himself never appears in the doc outside of archive production footage to corroborate any of the experts' assertions. Connelly later goes on to say, "100 years from now, someone will be sitting here discussing the impact of Star Wars, and they will be seeing different things in it than we are seeing today." Just something to keep in mind.
That said, I totally bought all of it, hook, line, and sinker.
As far as the interviewees, it was nice to have some of the intellectual community represented, as well as filmmakers like Joss Whedon, Kevin Smith, JJ Abrams, and Peter Jackson. They each offered a unique and engaging perspective on the films' themes. I was kind of thrown by the inclusion of Tom Brokaw and Dan Rather, but after a while it made sense to me since they really are experts on the 20th century. It's kind of weird to think that Rather and Brokaw like Star Wars, but then again, who doesn't? That said, I thought the inclusion of interviews with Newt Gingrich and Nancy Pelosi went too far. I'm sure they love a good sci-fi epic as much as the next cat, but it was almost comic seeing them in a Star Wars doc. If they needed politicos in the doc, they should've gotten President Clinton instead. You just know that guy is a huge Star Wars fan, neh?
On the whole, the doc almost made me want to watch Episodes I-III again. Almost.
And in case you're wondering, my favorite of the 6 films is Empire. It used to Star Wars (I refuse to call it "A New Hope"), but I changed it.
Turns out, I was enthralled the whole time. It really is a great documentary, and I don't normally like documentaries. I'm sure they're gonna re-run it a couple of times, so if you didn't watch it, check you Tivo.
I really enjoyed the approach of the doc, how they related the epic to stories from the Bible, Greek and Roman mythology, religion, history, etc., and how they explained the significance of the major characters and their ultimate purpose in the Hero's Journey (as Joseph Campbell called it). I feel like I just took a humanities class with all the information I absorbed from the doc.
It's important to remember that what is presented really is all theory. It fits sure enough, but as Dr. Joan Breton Connelly points out in the doc, you get to the point where you ask "did George Lucas mean for this connection to be made, or am I making it? Am I participating as part of the poet?" Lucas himself never appears in the doc outside of archive production footage to corroborate any of the experts' assertions. Connelly later goes on to say, "100 years from now, someone will be sitting here discussing the impact of Star Wars, and they will be seeing different things in it than we are seeing today." Just something to keep in mind.
That said, I totally bought all of it, hook, line, and sinker.
As far as the interviewees, it was nice to have some of the intellectual community represented, as well as filmmakers like Joss Whedon, Kevin Smith, JJ Abrams, and Peter Jackson. They each offered a unique and engaging perspective on the films' themes. I was kind of thrown by the inclusion of Tom Brokaw and Dan Rather, but after a while it made sense to me since they really are experts on the 20th century. It's kind of weird to think that Rather and Brokaw like Star Wars, but then again, who doesn't? That said, I thought the inclusion of interviews with Newt Gingrich and Nancy Pelosi went too far. I'm sure they love a good sci-fi epic as much as the next cat, but it was almost comic seeing them in a Star Wars doc. If they needed politicos in the doc, they should've gotten President Clinton instead. You just know that guy is a huge Star Wars fan, neh?
On the whole, the doc almost made me want to watch Episodes I-III again. Almost.
And in case you're wondering, my favorite of the 6 films is Empire. It used to Star Wars (I refuse to call it "A New Hope"), but I changed it.
posted by Hameed at 10:20 PM
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