Aside from being a fan of Star Wars (and lots of other series), I have a particular soft spot for westerns. Westerns have been made since Hollywood first started churning out movies, and there’s a healthy dose of western DNA in Lucas’ movies, particularly the movies of John Ford. One of my favorites is “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance”. The movie starred Jimmy Stewart, John Wayne, Lee Marvin, Andy Devine, Woody Strode, Lee Van Cleef – it’s a classic. There are a couple of famous lines that have often been quoted from it:
Ransom Stoddard: You’re not going to use the story, Mr. Scott?
Maxwell Scott: No, sir. This is the West, sir. When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.
The movie came out in 1962, and though that’s probably long enough to not worry about spoilers, I’d hate to ruin the movie for anybody who hasn’t seen it. Suffice to say, there is a debate about what to print about events that had become local legend – the real truth of the matter, or the more appealing folklore that had sprung up around the event?
The original Star Wars movie was a shaky bet. Allan Ladd Jr. lost his job for championing George Lucas’ weird little sci-fi flick. George himself nearly had a heart attack while making it, the cast and crew didn’t believe in it, and his closest friends had offered condolences pre-release. Of course, it went on to to become a historic hit. It was the first true blockbuster. As if this weren’t enough, Lucas had scored a coup by retaining the merchandising rights for his film, which the studio believed were worthless. It was like giving him a license to print money. With Lucas’ success, he was able to gain his independence from the studio system and complete the saga that he had envisioned. With success came lots of lore around the creation of the movies. Everyone has heard how George referenced Campbells Hero with a Thousand Faces to find mythological themes that would appeal to young people in a coming of age story.
But as the series progressed, contradictions began to appear in the narrative. There were nine movies. There were 12 movies. There were 6 movies. The first three movies would never be made. Luke and Leia were always brother and sister, and Darth Vader was always intended to be Lukes father. A review of the evidence tells a much different story. There were many, MANY drafts of Star Wars – with plots and storylines that were completely different. The best source for information on all of the various versions is “Star Wars: The Annotated Screenplays“, by Laurent Bouzerou.
Prior to creating the prequels, Lucas wanted to test some of the digital technology he was working on, both to bring the original movies closer in line with the prequels so the technological differences wouldn’t be so glaring, and also to make sure that he could move forward with the digital effects he envisioned for the new movies. The audience was told that this was ALWAYS Lucas vision, and that he just hadn’t been able to make the original movies the way he wished to with 1970’s technology.
Most of this was bunk. The original Star Wars movie was saved in the editing room, and it was a collaborative effort. The magic that was Star Wars wouldn’t have worked without the genius of Marcia Lucas, Ben Burtt, Gary Kurtz, Willard Huyck, Gloria Katz, or dozens of others who worked on the production crew. Lucas had the vision – but it took a team to make it work. Lucas’ edit really was a bit too weird. None of this is to disparage Lucas – when you’re in business, you’re going to engage in marketing. More than one visionary has had more than a little huckster in their DNA.
But that brings us to today.
There’s nothing new about spinning a narrative at Lucasfilm – Lucas was a master of it. The difference between then and now was that George was playing up his own visionary genius. This was an exaggeration, but not an outlandish one – George IS a visionary. It’s just that it took a crew to make his vision work, and he took the lions share of the credit. What’s happening with Lucasfilm now is a horse of a different color. I read with dismay this morning the Twitter post put up by the Official Star Wars site.
“There are more than 20 million sentient species in the Star Wars galaxy, don’t choose to be a racist. We are proud to welcome Moses Ingram to the Star Wars family and excited for Reva’s story to unfold. If anyone intends to make her feel in any way unwelcome, we have only one thing to say: we resist.”
I also saw the video that was put out by Moses Ingram, showing DM’s that she had received regarding her portrayal of Reva, The Third Sister in Obi-Wan Kenobi. These messages are reprehensible – but I believe the response is too. Not the response from Moses – the response from Lucasfilm. I don’t know if the messages Moses received are genuine. My personal feeling is that some of them probably are, but I suspect a number of them are people simply trolling. (This does not excuse them – the things expressed in the messages were vile). [Editor’s Note: TPP is also curious why Moses has an open DM as a very public figure… that seems to be a way to generate some number of vile inbox content given trolls, bots, etc, globally] I only point out that any public figure is going to be the target of trolls, because it stirs up controversy. So to Moses, I would only say this:
Firstly, welcome to the Star Wars family. I personally enjoyed your portrayal of Reva, at least so far. Any criticism that may be forthcoming in future reviews is not about you personally, but about the writing or framing of your character, if any complaints are to be made. But I can’t help but also point out one other thing – Lucasfilm had prepared this narrative. Before a single frame of the new show had aired, there were published pieces saying that Moses had been warned beforehand that there was likely be a racist backlash, and that there were mechanisms in place to help deal with it. That’s pretty convenient, from a marketing standpoint. When an incompetent executive has managed to crater a franchise that was literally a ticket to print money in less than 10 years and pre-plants a notion that continued failure could be the result of her companys racist customers, it does make one wonder if deflection could be the point. Come to think of that – where have I seen this kind of deflection before?
Palpatine: Anakin – I told you it would come to this! I was right! The Jedi are taking over!
Mace Windu: The opression of the Sith will never return! You have lost!
Palpatine: No, No, NO – YOU will die! He’s a traitor!
Mace Windu: He is the traitor!
Palpatine: I have the power to save the one you love! You must choose!
Mace Windu: Don’t listen to him Anakin!
Palpatine: Don’t let him kill me! I can’t hold it any longer…i’m…i’m too weak! Help me! Help me! I…I…I can’t hold on any longer.
Mace Windu: I’m going to end this – once and for all.
Anakin: You can’t – he must stand trial!
Mace Windu: He has control of the senate, and the courts – he’s too dangerous to be left alive!
Palpatine: I’m too weak – don’t kill me, please! Anakin: It’s not the Jedi way – he must live!
Palpatine: Please, don’t!
Anakin: I need him!
Palpatine: Please, don’t!
Anakin: No!
Mace Windu: Aaaaauggggh!
Palpatine: POWEEEER! UNLIMITED POOOOOWEEEEER!!!!
Later, Palpatine tells the Galactic Senate and the galaxy at large that the attempt on his life left him scarred, and deformed. It’s important to remember that the lightning that did so – came from him.
Source for some information from this article
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