Open Letter to George Lucas

[NeoConIV]

An open letter to George Lucas

Dear Mr Lucas

This might be a good opportunity to thank you for many hours of entertainment that your two "Star Wars" trilogies have provided for me with. I'm not one of the "Star Wars" fanatics, but I've watched the five films so far several times over the years. I most fondly remember watching the first trilogy in the late 1970s and the early 80s at the movies, when I was a boy living in the then communist Poland. Your space saga of Luke Skywalker and his fight against Darth Vader, the Empire and the Dark Side has proved as big a hit on the other side of the Iron Curtin as it did in the West.

You might be aware that all of us who saw the "Star Wars" trilogy throughout the communist world saw it as an entertaining, yet still nonetheless powerful commentary on the current world events. We simply couldn't escape the conclusion that the militaristic and freedom-crushing Empire with its legions of stormtroopers is a futuristic version of the Soviet Empire, which had conquered and enslaved hundreds of millions of people like myself. For us, of course, Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and all the others fighting to restore the Republic were brave oppositionists and freedom fighters in the truest sense of the word. Like the Western movie goers, we too cheered when the Death Star was destroyed (twice), but whereas for our counterparts in the Free World this was just a great cinematic climax, for us it embodied the hope ("A New Hope", if you pardon the pun) that one day the specter of totalitarianism will vanish and we will be free again.

Apparently, however, we were wrong - we didn't read your movies correctly.

I noted with interest your recent remarks in Cannes:


"Star Wars" director George Lucas says that although he wrote the original film during the Vietnam War, his six-part saga could apply to the war in Iraq.

"In terms of evil, one of the original concepts was how does a democracy turn itself into a dictatorship," Lucas told a news conference at Cannes, where his final episode had its world premiere.

"The parallels between what we did in Vietnam and what we're doing in Iraq now are unbelievable.

"On the personal level it was how does a good person turn into a bad person, and part of the observation of that is that most bad people think they are good people, they are doing it for the right reasons."

Yes, we were very wrong indeed - to you, the Empire was the United States of America, and if that's the case, then the brave rebels could only be all those people around the world fighting the American Empire - the Castros, Che Guevaras, Ho Chi Minhs, Pol Pots, and by extension, the Brezhnevs and the Mao Tse Tungs of this world. You, of course, live in the Free World, and as such you have the right to believe that your country is the most powerful force for evil operating in the world. But just for the sake of completeness and historical accuracy, can I just mention that whatever the sins of the United States - and I certainly understand well enough that no country is perfect - your rebels, both when fighting for power and when finally in power, ended up being responsible for the death of tens of millions and enslavement of hundreds of millions; the Luke Skywalkers and Han Solos of the last century gave us gulags and re-education camps, terror famines and political prisons; they institutionalized cults of personality, stifled every human freedom and impoverished whole nations.

May I also add that whatever your thoughts about the United States and its supposed descent from a democracy into empire, had the Rebels won, you would have never had a chance to film a critical allegory on your own government. At best, your artistic output would have consisted of short features about the 150% increase in the wheat harvest, and at worst - if you had stayed true to your conscience - you would be dreaming your "Star Wars" trilogy from behind bars.

Over the course of the last three years, the United States and her allies have managed to depose two truly despicable regimes in Afghanistan and Iraq and today are trying to bring the gift of freedom and democracy - things that you enjoy every day probably without giving them much thought - to tens of millions of people who have never known them before. You might well think that Anakin Skywalker's painful transformation into Darth Vader is somehow a perfect analogy for the political journey of George W Bush, but I have a sneaking suspicion that movie fans in Baghdad will have already recognized Darth Vader as one of their own - with a moustache rather than a black helmet. He, too, had two children, although they didn't turn up quite as cute as Luke and Leia. They names were Uday and Qusay.

I will still go and see "The Revenge of the Sith" when it opens in Australia in a few days' time, and I will not stop enjoying the other five films just because I read their message differently to what you intended.

But if in your mind, it's the United States that has slowly transformed itself into an evil Empire, and therefore, logically all those who stand up to it are our story's true heroes, than I have to say that the Dark Side is very strong indeed, and I have crossed over a long time ago. If America is the Empire, then please prepare a black helmet and uniform for me too.


http://chrenkoff.blogspot.com/2005/05/open-letter-to-george-lucas.html

[mookie2001]

yeah
star wars is just a movie though
but i saw it and annikin darthvader did act like I can imagine you act, 100% trusting of his government, thirsty for status and power. a theme for the republic that was basically the more powerful and strong "the republic" is, the safer theyll be. Control for power, order out of chaos, problem reactionary system that whatever your NWO is trying to do.
I'm not sure what Toby Keith would do maybe he just hates starwars because he doesnt want to seem unamercian. thats how Sean Hannity makes it seem anyway. Do you ask yourself that sometimes, WWTKD? or is it WWSHD
so i can understand, but still it was a bad ass movie

[Guru of Nothing]

Is this all you got?!

George Lucas could suffer an extended run of bad luck for all I care, but none of his quoted comments are sufficient to get my underwear in a wad.

Obviously you and I are different.


"Star Wars" director George Lucas says that although he wrote the original film during the Vietnam War, his six-part saga could apply to the war in Iraq.

"In terms of evil, one of the original concepts was how does a democracy turn itself into a dictatorship," Lucas told a news conference at Cannes, where his final episode had its world premiere.

"The parallels between what we did in Vietnam and what we're doing in Iraq now are unbelievable.

"On the personal level it was how does a good person turn into a bad person, and part of the observation of that is that most bad people think they are good people, they are doing it for the right reasons."

[NeoConIV]

Do you at a minimum appreciate Chrenkoffs overarching point?

[Guru of Nothing]

Do you at a minimum appreciate Chrenkoffs overarching point?

I thought overarching was the exclusive playground of democrats.

[IcemanCometh]

hahaha you people are morons

[Spurminator]

I think he missed the point completely. Obviously it's open to interpretation, as all art is, but I think it's a bit of a stretch to suggest that Lucas wrote Luke Skywalker and Han Solo as parallels to Ho Chi Minh and Osama Bin laden or the like. The Star Wars saga has different antagonists than the Empire... for example, the Trade Federation. However, fears of those enemies were exploited by those in power to create a Dictatorship.

Chrenkoff's take represents one of the lessons of the Star Wars saga, particularly in the Prequels... not everything can be separated into two sides. Good vs. Evil is an oversimplification. It's like grouping Canadians with Terrorists.

The heroes of the story, then, are not the antagonists Chrenkoff cites... but rather those who hope to restore sanity to world governments. Perhaps a somewhat idealistic concept of what the UN could be in a perfect world. The Empire represents a grim picture of what we might conceiveably become if we are not careful... not necessarily what we have already become.

Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering.



And now I'm going to shower to remove this stench of Nerd.

[Clandestino]

i knew i didn't like star wars for some reason.

[ChumpDumper]

Do you at a minimum appreciate Chrenkoffs overarching point?Yeah.

He's still going to watch the movie.

Way to vote with your feet, dork.

[ChumpDumper]

On the personal levelThat's the operative phrase that this blogger missed. The connection Lucas seems to be drawing is that of folks doing evil deeds for what they think are the right reasons. The easiest examples for the two conflicts he mentioned about be My Lai and Abu Grabe. Now before we go off on tangents about denying or apolgizing for these two incidents, let me just say that Lucas is being a bit disingenuous about his movies having much deeper meaning than the serials and samurai movies he ripped off in the first place.

[Hook Dem]

http://img163.echo.cx/img163/5014/fairrington6qv.jpg (http://www.imageshack.us)

[Nbadan]

http://www.infowars.com/images2/cartoons/emperor_bush_dictator_quote.jpg

http://www.infowars.com/images2/cartoons/vader_nwo.jpg

[Nbadan]

Winger bloggers continue to attack Star Wars 3...some calling for a boycott


"There is no question that this ridiculous movie iss an anti-Bush propaganda piece. They even have a line in it about how he (the Emperor -- Bush, not Frist) controls the House, Senate and now he is trying to control the judges. That's nearly a direct quote. When the Emperor (Bush) declares emergency powers the Senators clap and Bush Basher Padme Portman comments sadly this is the way democracy dies -- with applause. Annakin Skywalker to save his wife slaughters innocent Jedi children. Who slaughtered American children? Remember WACO? Lucas doesn't. Of course, THOSE kids were right wing extremists. It's OK to kill THEM. Lucas takes shots at the military, mad killers who exterminate all in their paths."

"At the end, the Jedi and good people go into "exile". This is the only part of the movie I supported. How about Canada, you wonderful "Jedi" knights on the Left. Plenty of room for you there and it would improve the IQ of both countries immediately.

Conservatives SHOULD boycott this film, not because it'll do any good but because 1) it isn't worth seeing and 2) you won't have to see your values and your president insulted."

"Please--if anyone wants a series that seriously attacks Capitalism, take a look at Star Trek. Its a liberal fantasy where everyone is free of having to work for a living because machines simply make anything you want materialize. There are no corporations or if there are any, they are portrayed as evil. The whole universe is run by a benevolent state that focuses on learning and science. I even remember Picard launching into a diatribe about how civilization had "gotten past" that grubby Capitalism and that people were now free to pursue art and science."

Link (http://www.lucianne.com/threads22.asp?artnum=215255)

[mookie2001]

neocon would make a landing area for black helicopters at his house
if only his retina and thumbscans could be used for him to fly in it
and he'd have to show his medical records and bank statements to government officials when they dropped by

[Useruser666]

What exactly is this thread about again? Oh wait, I know! Bullshit! :lol

[mookie2001]

What exactly is this thread about again? Oh wait, I know! Bullshit! :lol

HA






neocon would make a landing area for black helicopters at his house
if only his retina and thumbscans could be used for him to fly in it
and he'd have to show his medical records and bank statements to government officials when they dropped by

the truth and I stand behind it

[NeoConIV]

Alright, some of you bozos need to go to your local drugstore and buy a quick reality check. Serious.

Chrenkoff is just making some points on his blog about some of Lucas' comments.

This is TRULY ridiculous:


George Lucas might not endorse it, but the liberal advocacy group MoveOn.org is summoning the Force to help preserve the Senate filibuster.

In a new television campaign to be launched this week, MoveOn is drawing parallels between Star Wars: Episode III The Revenge of the Sith and the partisan battle over the confirmation process for federal judges. The television spots will compare the film's plot, specifically the intergalactic power grab by Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, with the rise of Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tenn.http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/sfl-ajudgeads18may18,0,537309.story?coll=sfla-news-nationworld

:lol :lol :lol



Then I saw on FNS, ON THE SENATE FLOOR, some democratic senator with a giant picture of Palpatine, trying to make his case with Revenge of the Sith as his parallel.
:lol

For real fellas, Walgreens has reality checks for about 2 bucks. Buy a few.

[scott]

Just went you thought some people couldn't get any nerdier.

[ChumpDumper]

It's about as stupid as any football analogy ever used in politics. What's your point? Looks like both sides are using this pop culture phenomenon How is this different from anything else -- ever? Listen to just about any speech by just about any politician and they'll make some kind of reach to incorporate pop culture.

"Where's the beef?"

"Don't Worry, be Happy"

etc.

[violentkitten]

thread synopsis:
right wing nuts and left wing nuts attempt to lay claim to a popular piece of art part ccmmxiv

[mookie2001]

neocon would make a landing area for black helicopters at his house
if only his retina and thumbscans could be used for him to fly in it
and he'd have to show his medical records and bank statements to government officials when they dropped by

[E20]

I re-watched Episodes IV-VI and man I got to say the the lightsaber battles seemed bad now because of episodes I-III. The Obi-Wan and Vader fight was incredibly slow compared to now with all the new technology. I'm pretty sure they can edit just the fight scenes of the orginal Star Wars so they can look somewhat faster.

[MannyIsGod]

I thought overarching was the exclusive playground of democrats.
:lmao

WTF?

BTW, this movie kicks ass. I dug it.

[Useruser666]

I re-watched Episodes IV-VI and man I got to say the the lightsaber battles seemed bad now because of episodes I-III. The Obi-Wan and Vader fight was incredibly slow compared to now with all the new technology. I'm pretty sure they can edit just the fight scenes of the orginal Star Wars so they can look somewhat faster.

Who wants to make the fight scenes faster? The faster ones look fake. Too much CGI is overkill. There is just something about a foam Star Destroyer moving past the camera that is visually appealing.

[Extra Stout]

For chrissakes, you really have to want to see parallels between Star Wars and the Iraq war in order to see them. And right-wingers are complaining now that Lucas is anti-Bush?

Lucas had the basic storyline, all the way from Anakin as a slave boy to the death of the Emperor, in his head in the mid-'70s. It has nothing to do with Bush. Lucas will tell the Hollywood folks what they want to hear. He's an obedient little liberal.

If right-wingers are getting bent out of shape about this, it's projection. The story is so general it's like a horoscope. Forces of good feel limited by their own ethics when trying to fight evil blah blah blah will they succumb to evil in trying to fight evil blah blah blah. The closest parallels to the Empire are Nazi Germany and the USSR. If the right wing is now seeing parallels to the U.S. government in Lucas' tale, then they are being stupid.

It's just as easy to spin Star Wars as an anti-left precuationary tale with the Republic Senate as the U.S. Senate, Palpatine as Hillary Clinton, Condi Rice or another prominent neo-con as Anakin Skywalker, and the Joint Chiefs as the Jedi Council. if Republicans don't get their act together and sweep out the corruption, a brilliant scheming evildoer may be able to sweep in, make a key strategic alliance with a powerful neo-con, and plunge America into horrible darkness.

[Useruser666]

So is Bush, Darth Vader or Anakin? :lol

[Spurminator]

I don't know, I thought the political commentary of Part III was pretty blunt. I'm just not reaching the same conclusions as some on the Right about its overall message.

[Duff McCartney]

Damn some people are morons. The same people that see political parallels (IE NeoCon) are just the same as the stupid nerds that question every single contradiction in the movie.

NeoCon, do you also know what model of X-Wing Luke Skywalker flew to Dagobah?

[Spurminator]

What's wrong with seeing parallels to current events in art?

I don't know how anyone can see Ep. 3 and not notice the allusions to recent political speeches in several of the lines. They're not subtle at all.

[Duff McCartney]

What's wrong with seeing parallels to current events in art?

I don't know how anyone can see Ep. 3 and not notice the allusions to recent political speeches in several of the lines. They're not subtle at all.

Well I probably should have rephrased it and said that people who see them and make a big deal out of them. That's just ridiculous.

[Spurminator]

No argument here.

[MannyIsGod]

What gets me, is that even if Lucas did make Anti America art (which it's not, but whatever), doesn't he have a right to do so? I swear, it's ridiculous how much conservatives get offended when you don't think along their lines in any situation.

[E20]

Who wants to make the fight scenes faster? The faster ones look fake. Too much CGI is overkill. There is just something about a foam Star Destroyer moving past the camera that is visually appealing.
666,
I don't know how moving at a fast pace is CGI they've done it in other movies where they have to acutally go through sword training and phsyical workouts to get ready for they're roles just becaue the light in the lightsaber is CGI doesn't make it unamusing but, I must admit some of the battles were too long for my taste. Also are you saying the fight between Kenobi and Vader where they circled each other for 10 times and had 8 slashes during that fight was more entertainig than the one with the flips and actual Jedi force wielding action? They make the force sound like it will give you heigtened abilities so why not mirror it towards the movies and who thinks that The Obi-Wan of old(Alec Guniess) is a better actor than the new one?(Ewan Mcgreor?)

[NeoConIV]

I just LOVE it when people put words in my mouth. Back to the original post please. It's real simple you fucking tards.

Lucas makes suggestive remarks that the United States ala George W Bush is 'possibly' taking the country from a democracy to a dictatorship.

Chrenkoff makes comments to rebuff what he thinks Lucas is saying.

I post Chrenkoff's comments.

That's it.

Get off my fucking nutz already.

[Nbadan]

When life emulates art - Rummy plans the building of Death Stars


If you ever doubted the PNACers were crazy, it is time to stop doubting.

"Just three days before Weiner's piece appeared, military analyst William Arkin reported in the Washington Post that "early last summer, Defense Secretary Donald H Rumsfeld approved a top secret 'Interim Global Strike Alert Order'," preparing the way for devastating attacks against hostile powers developing weapons of mass destruction, air strikes that could be carried out more or less on demand anywhere on the planet and, if so desired, included a "nuclear option"."

"One of the imagined future weapons for Rumsfeld's "global strike" force, for instance, turns out to be a CAV (common aero vehicle) that, from space, could theoretically hit any target on Earth with a massive dose of conventional munitions on half an hour's notice."

" For instance, according to Weiner, one such weapon, Hypervelocity Rod Bundles (nicknamed "Rods from God"), aims "to hurl cylinders of tungsten, titanium or uranium from the edge of space to destroy targets on the ground, striking at speeds of about 7,200 miles <11,590 kilometers> an hour with the force of a small nuclear weapon". In this way, the boundaries between the previously almost unusable nuclear option and more conventional war-fighting options are slowly - and quite consciously - being blurred by the Bush administration."

"Space superiority is not our birthright, but it is our destiny," Space Command's General Lord told an Air Force conference in September. "Space superiority is our day-to-day mission. Space supremacy is our vision for the future."

"As Theresa Hitchens of the Center for Defense Information pointed out in a recent article, "Orbiting 'death stars' to attack ground targets are being considered""

Atimes (http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Front_Page/GE27Aa02.html)

General Lord :lol

George Lucas couldn't have written this any better, or any worse!

[ChumpDumper]

and who thinks that The Obi-Wan of old(Alec Guniess) is a better actor than the new one?(Ewan Mcgreor?)Guiness was known as one of the better actors in the history of English film. Ewan has a long way to go to be considered in the same league, but his whole performance in the series was an homage to Alec and one of the only real reasons to watch Episodes I and II more than once. I don't know if you've seen any of Guiness' other work, but his work with David Lean (Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago, Bridge over the River Kwai) is great stuff.

[Spurminator]

I thought Ian McLellan (sp?) was very good as well... It's funny, I was telling my friend how incredible I thought his impersonation of the Emperor from Return of the Jedi was... only to find out that it was the same actor....

[ChumpDumper]

McDiarmid

I get all those Ians confused too -- imagine my consternation when Ian McKellen and Ian Holm were in the Lord of the Rings films together. If Jethro Tull had been on the soundtrack somewhere, there would've been real trouble.

I was wondering if it was going to be the same actor too before Episode I since I didn't know how old he was (he just turned 60 last year).

[Spurminator]

Oh right, duh.


If Jethro Tull had been on the soundtrack somewhere, there would've been real trouble.

:lol

[Nbadan]

http://www.cagle.com/working/050519/thompson.jpg

http://cagle.slate.msn.com/working/050524/rogers.gif

[NeoConIV]

If we don't achieve space superiority, China will. Hell, they might get superiority regardless and militarize it...and we all know what happens then...

[ChumpDumper]

Maybe we should've thought twice about giving China all our money and jobs then....

[NeoConIV]

Maybe we should've thought twice about giving China all our money and jobs then....
Think it has a little more to do with their paranoid schizphrenic communist government, but your point is taken.

[ChumpDumper]

Which came first? It's not like they fooled us or anything.

[E20]

ChumpDumper,
I know Guiness is an A+ actor but, some fags at school say that they like the new Obi Wan compared to the old Obi Wan because of the visual effects used in the scenes. I just like his acting and his role in Episodes IV-VI and if you had the Vader vs Kenobi fight today with better effects he'll just blow out the new Kenobi in so many catogeries.

[ChumpDumper]

Yeah, I mean look what they did with Christopher Lee -- that's just the advance of technology. It comes down to what you watch the movies for -- I can't believe some of the actors in I-III actually got worse in their roles over the course of the films. Lucas sure wasn't a help in this regard

[Duff McCartney]

Personally I think the lightsaber fights in the first three blow out of the water the other two. They were just way superior, the way jedi fights should have been.

But that said, you had an old man and a dude that was like half machine fighting. No way they could have done stuff that great.

[Useruser666]

For the technology the had way back then, they produced more realistic effects than all the CGI in the world today. I feel CGI is way over used in movies today. Too much is tried to be done with CGI even if it's not the best medium.

The Luke vs. Vader fight in the Return of the Jedi was the best of all of them.

[ChumpDumper]

User is right -- no one emoted the rage of the dark side quite as well as Hamil did in that scene. Those damn Ewoks ruined a movie that could've been at least as good as Ep. III.

[E20]

But they should have been able to use the flips and faster paced action because of there skill with the force, if a 870 year old Yoda could do flips with great agility then they should have been able too.

[Guru of Nothing]

I get all those Ians confused too -- If Jethro Tull had been on the soundtrack somewhere, there would've been real trouble.


Dudes, Cleveland Rocks !!!