Why Star Wars is bad fantasy…
Fantasy films have been moneymakers for Hollywood recently—the Marvel, Harry Potter, and Star Wars series come to mind. The Marvel movies, based on that venerable comic book enterprise, don’t pretend to be serious—both DC Comics and Marvel Comics were once kids’ introductions to fantasy. I like the origin stories the most because I missed them in my comics reading as a kid. The Harry Potter series of books represent Rowling’s verbose description of a magical world, a bit juvenile at the beginning but darker as it went along, and so verbose that they made two movies of the last book. She has tried to keep it going—is that Broadway show as verbosely boring as those later novels? The series had examples of Deus ex Machina all the way through it. Magic is the epitome of fantasy, of course, and Rowling wouldn’t argue with that classification. But the Star Wars movies really turned me off. None of Lucas’s or Disney’s hype calls them fantasies. What’s more, they’re bad ones.
First, there’s the rampant plagiarism of sci-fi classics and action traditions. I consider ninja classics’, Edgar Rice Burrough’s, and Isaac Asimov’s influences plagiarism, but I suppose the statute of limitations applies and prevents the last two writers’ estates from taking legal action. You’d think Japan would make a national outcry about the ninja-like material too, but that’s not the first time Hollywood has distorted that tradition, turning reality into fantasy.
Second, there are glaring absurdities. Consider that freaky, sizzlin’ light saber. It’s not really a saber, of course—it’s not curved. While ninja warriors might covet such weapons, they are absurd weapons in that galaxy so far, far away. By the way, some wag said that Star Wars isn’t really fantasy because it’s in this universe, but Harry Potter occurred on Earth and no one denies it’s fantasy, so I’ll ignore that argument. But back to the light saber: Remember this scene from an Indiana Jones movie? An evil ninja-like combatant threatens Indy, swishing his sword back and forth in a menacing display of speed and skill. Indy pulls out his gun and plugs his attacker. Now translate that to Star Wars. I’d just pull out my blaster (or ray gun, or whatever they call it) and blast the guy with the light saber who’s threatening me, just like Indy did. Swords were appropriate for the Jedi warriors on Burroughs’s Martian stories that Lucas plagiarized, but they’re absurd in Star Wars (yes, Lucas plagiarized even the name Jedi as well as the concept).
Third, while we still have princes and princesses in the modern era (a particular nasty prince in Saudi Arabia and the British queen’s son are modern and anachronistic examples of princes), Lucas’s use of them is also absurd. They turn Star Wars into one big formulaic fairy tale. Of course, the entire Star Wars social structure is absurd, including the Senate and Empire, both stolen from Asimov and morphed into ugly fantasy. Whatever those speeds obtainable by the Millennium Falcon are, empires are hard to maintain among the stars. Loose trade unions a la the EU are only possible because the starships in use are the fastest means of communication—and that’s not fast enough to grip that galaxy far, far away in the iron hand of Lucas’s evil empire.
Fourth, the fantasy world of Star Wars doesn’t have consistent rules. Rowling also fails at that in her fantasy series, but it’s not so obvious as Star Wars. Lucas and other Star Wars directors fail miserably at this in their movies—or maybe their screenwriters are the real culprits. (Most Hollywood screenwriters have no idea how to write a good fantasy, so their screenplays are bad ones.) A fantasy universe has to have a consistent set of rules. Each Star Wars director makes them up as he goes, especially Lucas.
I’m not against fantasy. I just want it to be done right. I’ll read it and watch it on the silver screen if it is done right. Star Wars doesn’t do it right. And don’t come at me saying, “It’s not fantasy. It’s sci-fi.” It’s not sci-fi, it’s bad fantasy. Viewers are delusional if they think it’s sci-fi. And they should also realize it’s bad fantasy.
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Comments are always welcome.
Want some really good fantasy? Check out Veiled Memory by S. P. Brown (a sequel is on the way) and Kilts and Catnips by Zoe Tasia. The first fantasy describes a dark conspiracy involving Celtic runes that are mysteriously ancient; the second takes a few Celtic legends and plops them down into a modern setting. I reviewed both in this blog. They’re writing comrades at Black Opal Books, but I’ve discovered that searching through small press catalogs is a great way to find new and exciting authors…at least new for me. And you can avoid the overwhelming lists at Amazon that way. Black Opal Books are available wherever books are sold, and directly from the publisher. Support indie publishers like Black Opal.
Around the world and to the stars! In libris libertas!
