Subject:
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Re: Clearer catalog images of new 1999 sets
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.starwars
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Date:
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Sun, 6 Dec 1998 17:32:52 GMT
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Reply-To:
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beaker@pobox.comSTOPSPAMMERS
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Viewed:
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864 times
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Also sprach Jesse Long:
: Maybe by this time they've realized that it might as well be cheesy and not
: done anything to correct it. Maybe they even want it that way. I wouldn't
: put it past them. This film has a serious following of people who wouldn't
: change a thing.
What follows is *long*, and may qualify as More-Than-You-Wanted-
To-Know(tm)
The cheesiness is a deliberate artistic conceit on Lucas' part.
Lucas (and his friend, Stephen Speilberg) have an artisic philosophy
that holds that mythology is both important to culture and largely
impoverished in modern times. Lucas has written several articles about
this.
The theory holds that mythology, like the Roman and Greek tales we learn
in lit classes, or for that matter, Biblical parables, have an important
function in binding a culture together, serving as a mass expression of
certain commonly held beliefs. The explicit religious significance of
mythology is far less important than the implicit cultural significance.
Witness the fact that in this country, even professed atheists generally
hold typically Western Christian values.
The problem with this is that in modern times, mythology is weakened by
the corruption of oral culture. This can get rather deep into
communication theory; there's a good book on orality and literacy by
Thomas Ong if you are really interested. But the point is that in our
modern, literary culture, the strength of oral tradition and the
cultural glue it forms is weakened. If one values that cultural glue, a
new vehicle for it must be discovered.
Lucas determined early in his career that film was such a vehicle. Star
Wars and the ensuing sequels were his greatest experiment. Speilberg's
'E.T.' and Indiana Jone's films are similar experiments. The tales are
large, sweeping morality plays, with simple themes and unsophisticated
dialog, much like older, more traditional mythology. The films affirm
basic, uncontroversial, 'universal truths' ... Star Wars films tell us
that we make our own destiny, that power may be used for good or evil,
that that choice is ours to make. It teaches us that pride and anger
are destructive vices, and that loyalty and human compassion are the
strongest human drives. Indiana Jones films are alike in the theme that
the quest for knowledge is both more rewarding and nobler than the quest
for power or wealth. 'E.T.' has been described in doctoral theses as a
virtually verbatim retelling of the story of Christ, with the advent of
a powerful being coming to earth, spreading a message of peace and love,
being killed by evil men interested in their own power, subsequently
rising again and appearing to his 'believers, and leaving earth
permenantly changed for the better.
Has the experiment worked? In terms of these films becoming part of the
cultural common knowledge, thy have succeeded well. All of these films
are hugely popular. All of them are hugely popular on an international
basis. Significant portions of the world population have seen and liked
these films. Lucas would argue that the secret of their success is
precisely that they focus on themes we can all agree on. The films all
age well, as mythology should, precisely because they are timeless
stories. Perhaps the greatest evidence that the experiment succeeded is
that the terms and situations of the film have entered popular culture,
from satires and political cartoons to the ultimate conference granted
by Ronald Reagan, who understood the parables perfectly, when he
characterized the Soviet Union as the 'Evil Empire' ...
So the answer to the question, 'why is the acting cheesy?' is that
sophisticated acting and dialog would cloud and complicate the simple
goals of the films. Simple dialog is memorable, and powerful in its own
way. The films are written to serve the ultimate purpose of the
director.
<pant><pant><pant> Whew!
/ _ _ / _ _ "There's so much comedy on TV these days. Does that
()(-(//((-/ cause comedy in the streets?
- Dick Cavett, mocking the TV-violence debate
============= Jim Baker -- Weather Weasel Extraordinaire ==============
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Message has 2 Replies:
 | | Re: Clearer catalog images of new 1999 sets
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| Unfortunately, cheesy != simple ... at least, as they apply to movie dialog. Overuse of "You're our only hope!" and "I've got a bad feeling about this!" are *not* elements of simple dialog. Neither is bad acting. But they are elements of sheer (...) (26 years ago, 7-Dec-98, to lugnet.starwars)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: Clearer catalog images of new 1999 sets
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| Terry K wrote in message <366a1232.2907329@lu...et.com>... (...) Maybe by this time they've realized that it might as well be cheesy and not done anything to correct it. Maybe they even want it that way. I wouldn't put it past them. This film has a (...) (26 years ago, 6-Dec-98, to lugnet.starwars)
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