David Brin on "Attack of the Clones" 538
dpt writes "Science fiction author and scientist David Brin caused quite a stir at the time with his article on The Phantom Menace, and now here are his thoughts on Episode II. Not being as harsh, it hasn't received much attention, but it's an interesting read anyway."
Re:Article slashdotted (page 2) (Score:0, Interesting)
"Gee whillikers, R2, the folks out there sure are in a pickle. What's that, girl? Solve the whole plot by diving my tiny ship into the center of a big bad-ass one, and set off a chain reaction to blow it up from the inside while we run away real fast? What an idea! Gee, I'll bet THAT'S never been done before!"
Note that the only "Star Wars" movie without this dreadfully clichéd trick is "The Empire Strikes Back," again showing how that movie towers over the others. Actually, I guess "Phantom Menace" is logically the first time the stunt gets used, since it's the "earliest" of the movies, so let's be forgiving. But then, if Anakin did this as a boy, don't you figure he'd remember the nasty little design flaw, 40 years later, when he helps Tarkin and the Emperor build the Death Star? (This may be Clue No. 1 to a great underlying plot secret, one potentially capable of transforming the whole series! A fantastic surprise that'd actually make sense of the whole saga! Care to guess?)
Originalities
I confess there was one really original thing in "The Phantom Menace," something I have truly never seen before. I could not believe my eyes when I read the yellow prologue letters flowing across the screen at the very beginning of the film: A sci-fi action movie whose premise is based on taxation of trade routes and negotiations over tariff treaties? Now that
Self-indulgences
It happens time and again. You create a beloved universe -- then spend most of the sequels wallowing in emotional reunions, or worse, spend most of the prequel introducing characters to each other, dwelling on each moment for long stretches laden with emotional music. R2, meet Threepio! (For the very first time!) Obi-Wan, meet Anakin! Anakin grew up with Greedo! Naturally, there are cameos by Tuskan Raiders and Jabba the Hut and every other old friend, for nostalgia's sake. Anyone notice the delegation of Spielberg's "ET" aliens in the Senate chamber, uncharacteristically willing to associate with humans for a change?
And there's more! Anyone notice the names of the other candidates for Chancellor? Minister Antilles of Alderan? Maybe the dad of Captain Antilles, the first dude Vader crushes to death in the first movie? Cousin of Luke's wingman, Wedge Antilles? Could it be a coincidence? Destiny? (Or maybe Clue No. 2?)
Again, to be fair, the nostalgia thing has been done even worse by others. Remember "Star Trek, The Motion Picture"? Wasted half an hour worshipping the Enterprise from the outside before we even got aboard. Get on with it!
Illogicalities
"We won't train young Skywalker 'cause he might turn dangerous." So instead of assigning the most experienced teachers to keep an eye on him, and train him to be a good guy, you'd just toss him and his mega-force talent out on the street? Or else, under duress, you'll finally agree to let a recent novice (Obi-Wan) deal naively with the menace on his own? Great idea! Of course this terrible decision leads to catastrophe, so it's all Yoda's fault from the very beginning. (Or is it another clue?)
According to Stefan Jones, "In the first film, the Force was a kind of martial art/Zen archery kind of thing. Rather egalitarian: Obi-Wan even offers to teach scoffer Han Solo the ropes. Goofy comic-book mysticism, but kind of charming and innocent in a Hong Kong kung-fu movie sort of way."
But as the Übermensch effect took over, the Force grew elitist. You had to be born with it! In a progressive universe, Yoda & Co. would set up Jedi-arts studios in every mini-mall on Coruscant -- the way karate has saturated suburban America -- giving millions of kids exposure to a little discipline and fun, plus a chance to better themselves through hard work, and maybe outperform what cynical grownups expected of them. But Yoda thinks he can diagnose at age 6 who's got it, who hasn't, and who is pre-destined to fail before they try. Only demigods need apply
Too bad we had to leave the Virgin Mary -- I mean Mom -- on Tatooine (presumably to give birth to Uncle Owen). But once the queen and Obi-Wan get away to Coruscant, can't they access their Galactic Express accounts and buy mom's freedom out of petty cash? I guess they forgot. Some heroes.
We Jedi protect the innocent! So let's take a 6- year-old along on a raid into the enemy's heavily defended HQ! (Then tell him to hide in a fighter cockpit "for safety.")
Vader grew up on Tatooine, yet he finds the place unremarkable 40 years later in "A New Hope." In the same film he senses nothing unusual about C-3PO, his beloved first-born droid. (Or his own daughter, for that matter!) In any event, this coincidence makes Tatooine the last place anyone would hide Vader's newborn son -- Luke -- 20 years hence!
Naturally, this hustling of babies will wind up being the major subplot of Episode III -- which ought to be a real bummer of a movie: Coruscant and a zillion other planets are gonna have to fry as the emperor takes over, since that would only happen over the dead bodies of every decent citizen with any spirit. What a lovely way to finish the saga! But we'll still cheer as Obi-Wan manages to grab the twins, Luke and Leia, saving them from Dad's evil clutches as billions perish behind them. Hurrah!
Re:Article slashdotted (page 3) (Score:1, Interesting)
Hey, I put up with all those underwater fishes chasing a blaster-equipped ship because I thought we were gonna get a trip "through the planet's core!" Why mention it, if you're not gonna show it?
Uh
If the queen can drum up so much Senate support that she's able to fire the good chancellor, wouldn't someone lend her a few fast ships with cameras, to broadcast atrocities going on back on Naboo?
Also Today
"Star Wars" despots vs. "Star Trek" populists
Why is George Lucas peddling an elitist, anti- democratic agenda under the guise of escapist fun?
The Republic has no police
force? No news media to verify the queen's story? No big planets who are sick of the Trade Federation and hankering to pounce on the federation's big mistake? No commercial competitors of the Trade Federation, eager to do likewise in hopes of getting the franchise? No past victims of the Federation Robot-Army, eager for revenge? Everybody's a wimp except for two Jedis and some funky amphibian rastafarians?
Democratic institutions are always foolish or useless in "Star Wars." Even the Jedi High Council is blamed by Yoda for voting to allow Anakin to be admitted for training, over Yoda's "wise" objections. Only impulsive commands by anointed leaders have any validity in the Lucasian Universe.
Worst of all, Lucas forgets one of the chief lessons of filmmaking -- give your villains great lines! Remember "Die Hard"? "Blade Runner"? "The Empire Strikes Back"? Hell, even the lamentable "Return of the Jedi" featured a marvelously awful emperor sneering at the hero seductively (if illogically).
So what do we see in this movie? Liam Neeson (Qui-Gon Jinn) gets separated from his nemesis, Darth Maul, by a force field. The adversaries pause and glare at each other before resuming the fight. What a great time for Maul to give his side of the story -- his seething need for revenge against the Jedi! Maybe some riveting mumbledy-jumble about the Jedi having crushed and suppressed one whole side of the Force for a thousand years, thus creating awful imbalance in the universe! (Maybe Neeson even half agrees! After all, he's the one wanting to restore "balance," which presumably means bringing back enough of the Dark Side to make sort of a Zen-twilight gray
Hey, Maul's harangue wouldn't even have to make sense, so long as it told us something about the cause that little Anakin will later adopt as his own. Less than a minute of villainous rant could have packed a lot of juice into their vendetta. But no.
Pseudoscience gimmicks
Here's an idea. Let's take the energy symbiote mitochondria inside our cells and mystify them into "midichlorians" (apparently swarms of some sort of symbiotic magical fairies inside of each of us) to give a pseudo-techno gloss to Lucas' new religion. To be fair, "Star Trek" does the same damn thing all the time.
Nevertheless it brings us back to the different ways the two traditions -- "sci-fi" and science fiction -- would treat Superman. If these symbionts empart great powers to people, can't we find a way to give common folk more of them? A blithe contentment with genetic determinism is one thread this "Star Wars" universe shares with most ancient tales -- and with the Nazis.
Still, even from this Campbellian Übermensch-hero premise -- that only a genetic elite get to share in the Force -- there is a big logical problem in "The Phantom Menace." Consider: Young Anakin acts with godlike poise and heroism at every turn, yet Yoda accuses this brave kid (packed fulla midichlorians) of being too afraid to be a Jedi? Do I sense a jealous under-plot here? Like maybe old Yoda fears competition? Could he be the hidden hand? Maybe this is the true reason he'll lie to Luke, 40 years later, about his father! Certainly no other explanation for the lie is ever given. None. Not one. Ever.
(Now here's a thought. How come we never see Yoda take on an enemy with a light saber? Come on master, fire it up and battle a Sith Lord! That's a battle I'd pay to see! His secret advantage? A long time ago, oven mitts were made of asbestos!)
Could this be Clue No. 4? Maybe Anakin's conversion into Darth has a reason darker than any hinted at, so far. It sure makes more sense than Yoda being so flaming incompetent. (He can foresee the future, but can't sense something as big as "this kid's gonna someday fry planets and kill every Jedi"? How convenient.)
Forgivable stuff -- and the rest
Perhaps the biggest torrent of Internet complaining over "Episode I" concerns something that I'm inclined to overlook: the comic relief character, Jar Jar Binks. It may surprise you to learn that I'm not going to waste any time disparaging poor Jar Jar, or dwelling on hints at "Yes, Bwana" racism. I can take at face value Lucas' assurances that he meant well. Likewise, I found the Ewoks in "Return of the Jedi" to be a bit rankling, but bearable, perhaps even plausible! Hey, what's the harm? I can dial down my mental age in order to enjoy a good Flash Gordon-style sci-fi romp. Cute-dumb sidekicks ain't the real problem here, folks.
Even simpleminded heroes can be excused. For all the faults of every other lying Jedi, Luke Skywalker is a true hero throughout episodes IV-VI -- a good dude who remembers his friends and keeps his common touch. A demigod who never lies or forgets a promise. He's not very bright -- and can't act -- but he's a genuine good guy, all the way. And he gets a lot done, whenever he forgets Yoda's advice and lets himself get a little mad.
Despite all the clichés, plot inconsistencies and other criticisms I've levelled in this article, I am not suggesting that movie "sci-fi" tales need the same level of logic and character and intricacy you find in first rate science fiction. That would be asking way too much. Anyway, there's a place in this world for eye candy. Even the tsunami of schlock "Star Wars" merchandise flooding every store and mall doesn't raise my ire. Go for it, George!
If those were my sole complaints, I would not have taken the time to write all this down.
It's when a director relentlessly tries fiddling with our cultural moral compass that we should sit up and take notice. I'll trust Steven Spielberg with such power, because he's earned it. He's proved again and again that he loves this civilization -- an open society of rambunctious citizens -- that gave him so much. He's one of us, only more so.
George Lucas, on the other hand, should stick to producing simple action-adventure films -- good clean fun -- and lay off preaching. It's simply not where his gifts lie.
Evil (Score:5, Interesting)
A girlfriend of mine had a cat that would sit and watch you all day long, not moving, not reacting to anything. If you got close enough, it would try to claw your eyes out. If you escaped and could still use your eyes, you would see the cat sitting there looking at you calm and cool. That cat was evil.
Giving into anger is more about making a person evil than it is about displaying emotion. Any master is calm, cool and collected. Luke was a student, not a master. They wanted him to be an evil student, and the quick path to that is anger.
Overall, I don't think that article was any more accurate or insightful than the movie it chose to criticize. It, too, was somewhat obvious and full of factual errors. (Lucas did not direct all five movies, for example.) I'm glad he found it entertaining, though.
Twinge of Jealousy? (Score:3, Interesting)
To me, something about Brin's vehemence moves him from "critique for criticism's sake" into "personal beef with Lucas"-land. Or more likely he envies Lucas' success compared to what he considers more legitimate and well-written sci-fi (his own work?).
What AotC Needed... (Score:4, Interesting)
Of course this is just one CS majors ramblings, but I would have liked to see that.
The Case for (Score:5, Interesting)
Lucas' peers (Score:3, Interesting)
Yes! Lucas needed to whittle the Jedi down in a tragic and colorful way. But couldn't he have shown them suffering calamity despite behaving cleverly and well? Doesn't he have peers to workshop this stuff against?
Good question but I suspect that Lucas honestly believes that he has no peers. It's unfortunate because the scripts that came out of his colaboration with Kasdan were pretty good, IMHO. Yes, I know Lucas co-wrote AOTC with someone from Indiana Jones Chronicles but I argue that this guy was just a yes-man for Lucas. Lucas really needs to team up with a good, known writer to come up with an interesting story for Episode 3. Maybe he'll come to his senses and realize that he needs some help in the script department for his final Star Wars film. We can only hope.
GMD
Beauty is only skin deep... (Score:5, Interesting)
The problems and holes in TPM could have been fixed with some quick editing and a couple of reshot scenes. It wouldn't have approached the first Star Wars, but then again very little does.
AotC was so utterly, unredeemably bad that it is unfixable. Sheesh - once glance between Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher in ESB carried more romantic tension than 30 minutes of moping between what's his name and Natalie. "Let's go to the mall Anni". As my 8 y.o. said "Yuck". How perceptive is the mind of a child.
sPh
Darth & Obi Wan ... a team? (Score:5, Interesting)
It would definately make Lucas look like a genius, but like the good doctor, I don't believe that Lucas would be smart enough (or would let his ego deflate enough) to use this terrific plot that has been presented infront of him.
Consider the possibilities: Yoda and the Emperor working together the whole time
This would also answer the question of how the Emperor became so powerful with the force
Think about it
That story line definately has possibilities!
the fix-all? (Score:3, Interesting)
Well, I think I might be on to what he's talking about. How cool would it be if Anakin's drop into the Dark Side was manipulated and guided by Yoda (and maybe some other elite Jedi) with the expectation that he'd eventually bring balance to the force in VI: ROTJ? Yoda ( or perhaps a council even higher than the ovenmit?) allows certain attrocities to go unchecked because he has a higher prophecy to fulfill. When I think about the possibilities, this could really put a brilliant and completely new spin upon the Star Wars universe. If done correctly, it really could be the next Empire Strikes Back in terms of having a plot that is more than predictable pubescent garbage (don't get me wrong, I love Star Wars).
But at any rate, those are my thoughts, and I'll admit that I don't read the forums and gossip websites at all. Does anyone else have any ideas as to what this "something special" which David Brin is referring to might be?
Re:The Biggest Problem... (Score:2, Interesting)
And whats with the political intrigue so simple a child can follow it? Was that his intention? Perhaps he hopes it will sell more toys, if kids want to reenact the Senate debate.
And the racial stereotyping? Is it some sort of one-upsmanship with Star Trek? I don't know which is more offensive, the Shylock Ferangi or the "ah so" Trade Federation. Oh, oh! Meesa Jamaican retard!
I still enjoy the old films. I even liked the Timothy Zahn sequels. That's why I hate these movies, it's like George Lucas wanted to take a big chunky dump on everything he's done before.
Re:What happens when you have a kid (Score:2, Interesting)
We wasted a 'movie night' on TPM so we passed on AotC. If the reviews (professional and peer) were outstanding we would have seen it, but they were all 'it's better, but not great.'
When I heard that it was going to be out on IMAX, I considered going to it but as my wife said "Why, so we can see a so-so movie on a bigger screen?"
Re:the fix-all? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Blah (Score:3, Interesting)
2. The droids are all named by their model number. In a universe, it's clear that there are likely millions of each model droid. There'd be no reason to think that a C3PO is the C3PO he dealt with about 20 years prior.
3. Droid memory erasures, as mentioned by many people.
4. If you watch the original film, Owen goes out of his way not to select C3PO or R2D2. It's Luke who's so damn adamant about getting C3PO, and they only get R2 because the other unit burnt out before it moved 50 feet... My thought is that he had some sort of subliminal memory of droids like these ones, and thus didn't like them. If memory serves, he actually bitches about them to Luke in Episode IV. He's also very pushy about Luke taking them up to Anchorhead to have their memories erased. Interesting.
Though I do like your comment about Padme and the oil bath.
Good Point: Y O D A (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Darth & Obi Wan ... a team? (Score:3, Interesting)
One of Brin's Salon articles from 1999 contains this quote: "How come we never see Yoda take on an enemy with a light saber? Come on master, fire it up and battle a Sith Lord! That's a battle I'd pay to see!" Maybe Lucas does pay attention.
He certainly dropped that stupid midichlorian crap quickly enough.
Re:The Biggest Problem... (Score:3, Interesting)
"Battlestar Galactica" came out in 1978 and "Buck Rogers" in 1977--both were capitalizing on Star Wars to some degree. ("Rogers" was probably in the planning stages before Star Wars' release but they clearly knew of the movie, and "Galactica" never made much effort to hide its influences. And, while I'm honestly not much of a "Star Trek" fan, when the original series was good it was good on a level that George Lucas never came close to. The Empire Strikes Back made an effort, but mostly thanks to screenwriter Leigh Brackett (who's almost certainly responsible for the clever plot twists and delightful character development).
I really didn't expect too much from the new trilogy because I lost a lot of respect for Lucas the more I watched his career and the more I learned about the development of Star Wars itself. (The Phantom Menace is much closer to his original draft for Star Wars, before people convinced him that he needed to have a mythic story and turned him on to Joseph Campbell.) I had, however, expected that Lucas might have been wise enough now to recognize his limitations and to bring other screenwriters on from the start. Instead. Sadly, that doesn't seem to be the case.
Re:Phantom Menace (Score:3, Interesting)
Same thing that Hitler did, several of the Roman emperors, and so on.
In the first movie, he gets the largely ceremonial post of Supreme Chancellor; he officates the Senate, which basically means he gets to 'recognize' who is speaking. Also, he likely gets to form 'subcommittees' for things that the Senate has decided to 'investigate' such as the problems on Naboo. Otherwise, probably lots of kissing babies and opening bridges.
Also, and far more insidiously, he plants the idea that the Senate is too big and bloated to actually do anything in a timely fashion.
In II, he engineers a war crisis. Then, he gets himself granted 'emergency powers.' The analog here is Republican Rome; an Emperor would appoint a Dictator (Speaker) who would wield absolute power during times of war, then hand control back to the civilian gov't when the crisis was past.
Now that he has those powers, he can keep them until HE decides that the 'crisis' has passed. But it won't have. He'll next put into place the command struture of the Empire; Moffs rule systems, Grand Moffs rule sectors, and report back to him. The Senate, at this point, is rubber stamping things. Then, as we hear at the start of IV, he dissolves them, and the Republic becomes the Empire.
Also, expect him to do something to turn the Galaxy at large against the Jedi; he'll probably point out how they were completely incapable of stopping the Kamino insurrection, for example. Then, he'll have them hunted down and killed behind the scenes.
Re:Twinge of Jealousy? (Score:3, Interesting)
Also there's a Hard Science fiction discussion group - one of the oldest & best on the internet - that you could check out at http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
And of course I would prefer the world pay me as much as Lucas & give me his resources. Like any american egotist I think I'd do a better job. So? I recognize the irony and acknowledge it with a smile.
The point you miss, with your leap to diss my character, is that I have laid out for you all the elements that could make GL's universe actually make sense. It's right there and I'm not the only one who could weave the elements together. Elements that would make Anekin's struggle and fall less of a silly farce and more of a truly intense and surprising(!) twist.
I'll bet some of you can figure it out.
No, it ain't jealousy. It's the deep resentment of a movie goer and sci fi fan with high standards. EMPIRE STRIKES BACK promised us a fantastically wonderful story, enjoyable by the adult in all of us, as well as the kid.
We haven't been given that. I have as much a right as anybody to complain.
With cordial regards,
David Brin
www.davidbrin.com
PS come on by and talk about some real science fiction
Re:Blah (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:The reason it will never happen (Score:3, Interesting)
I always felt that the hate that fuels the most powerful of the Dark Side is self-loathing. Vader hating himself for what he has become, and what he must do to maintain order. Palpatine could be driven by a hated of all that opposed his dream of a unified government, of all of those bickering fools. And probably a good deal of self-loathing for realising what price he paid for power.
Yoda's lesson at the end of Episode 3 could be that in denying all emotion, the Jedi imbalanced their souls. That with their concentration on the science of the Force, they forgot that it was a mystic power above science and "midichlorians". The Balance that Anakin/Vader brings is the balance between rational logic and passion. A spiritual illumination (rathar than a metaphysical balancing) that almost comes too late.