The Double Edged Sword of Star Wars

As an art form, I believe that movies at their best should be an honest witness to the human experience. I believe that movies should be a testimony to our species and a celebration of that species. I recall the movies that had a profound impact on me. I feel that “American Graffiti” is the most notable teller of the story of American innocence and its looming downfall all synchronized with an amazing rock and roll soundtrack. I think “The Best Years of Our Lives” give testimony to the struggles of coming back, the sacrifice of war and a look at PTSD before it was ever defined. “Rascal” is a cinematic telling of a young boy finding his place in the world, “My Side Of The Mountain” again is the telling of a young boy trying to find himself in a world that he is not entirely comfortable with. ‘A League of Their Own” is one of my favorite movies because it tells of young female athletes being provided a chance to excel on a wider stage. One of the tragedies of our society is our treatment of women and the squandering of their talent. These movies bear repeat watching and are touchstones of our collective culture.

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In June of 1977, a group of us cut class from high school and decided to go see the noon show of this movie called “Star Wars”. We sat near the back and chatted waiting for the movie to start. I had friends phone me in a frenzy of youthful exuberance after watching this movie. I had drunk all my Coke and had a ton of ice, so I decided to drop a few cubes down a friend's back. Not the kindest of actions. This theater was a single screen, built in the art deco style in the 1950’s with a glorious marquee and an amazing concession stand.? It was an ideal place to watch any movie.

?The lights dimmed, as I re-adjusted myself in my IRWIN seat the floor through the medium of sticky soda syrup momentarily prevented my sneaker from moving. The lush velvet drapes opened and three non-descript trailers played. The auditorium got darker. The projectionist was obviously a pro. Feature presentation announcement, then the always amazing 20th Century Fox header ( Disney has gotten rid of the work Fox had done which I think is more than petty and short sighted.) Simple green titles with the words ``Lucasfilm”,? then the title “A? Long Long Time Ago In A Galaxy Far Far Away” in light blue slowly dissolved on the screen, followed by the title “Star Wars” in midrange deep yellow, it flew away. Then the opening crawl, positioned at a 45 degree angle. After the crawl melted into a star field, a space ship being pursued by a humongous form of another spaceship entered the top of the frame. Laser fire, the pulsing of engine and the more than compelling soundtrack composed by John Williams.

?An emotional, artistic, and joyful tractor beam sucked me into that movie. It changed me. It hyper excited the movie going market and inspired many a young person to be inspired to seek a career in the movies. I was one of them.

?The business of movie going was profoundly changed by “Star Wars”. It altered the expectation of what a blockbuster was and deeply changed the story structure. It moved from a real life drama based on traditional themes to giant expansive tales engorged by the generous use of special effects. It promoted the use of motion control and later the use of computer-generated images.

George Lucas and his fellow writer decide to take traditional Hollywood genres and put them into a cinematic blender. They took the genres of? science fiction, the Western, the war film, the samurai film and the sword and sorcerer movie and made it something totally new. Building on the excitement of Jaws, Lucas and co. hyper inflated the idea of the summer blockbuster. As lines were woven around the block, people would see “Star Wars” multiple times, Star Wars made the model for the movie trilogy.

?Star Wars established the fact within the movie business that often the box office could be dwarfed by the revenue coming from merchandising rights. This is the dark side of the impact of Star Wars.

?Within the storyline of Star Wars, there is the Force. The Force has a dark side and a light side. To exist with the realm of the dark side was to live in a world of negative emotions such as passion, anger, and hatred. Within the dark side lived greed, the fear of change, and the living with anger and regret. Those who were unable to the dark side within themselves were soon destroyed by it.

?I think there is significant allegory to where the success of Star Wars has shaped the movie business. It raised the bar of success significantly, shifted the economic focus and in many ways eroded the traditional business of movies.

The first grouping of Star Wars movies was released between 1977 and 1983. There were three sets of movies released, collectively doing 10 billion at the box office. Further billions were generated by TV shows, streaming offerings and of course merchandising.? The blockbuster became the sole focus of American movies. In many ways due the success of Star Wars Lucas' domination of American movies.

Hollywood movies are no longer about storytelling? but about spectacle, concept and merchandising.