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Technology, George Lucas, Star Wars, and why The Phantom Menace Sucks

The 3D release of Star Wars, The Phantom Menace hit theaters this weekend and appears to be a success. Before anyone saw it--or the other two prequels, Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith--there was a lot of hype about the tremendous number of technical breakthroughs employed to create the films. Things like them being the first major films to be shot using digital cameras, Jar-Jar Binks being the first completely CGI character ever created (predating Gollum), and a host of other innovations. On the other hand, count me among those who feel that these three films were a grave disappointment.

And one major reason why is that Lucas seems to have forgotten some of the very ideas and lessons he tried to instill in the first three films (Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi). One of the key themes in the first three films was about the relationship between humanity and technology. Remember, the first film was made in the pre-PC era when computers and digital technology were just on the cusp of entering our daily lives. There was a lot of concern about what this may mean for humanity. Coming during the height of the Cold War, which was in part created by one humanity's last major "breakthroughs", the ability to slice open the atom and create nuclear weapons, it wasn't at all unreasonable to be concerned about the dark side of technological advancements. What happens when humans create things that are more powerful than our ability to understand and control? What if we become too dependent on this technology? Is something of our humanity lost in the process? As technology embeds itself every more thoroughly into our lives--mine, too--these remain timely and important questions that we should keep asking.

So one of the themes in the original Star Wars trilogy is about the consequences of technology running amok. This plays out on several levels--from the enormous destructive power of the Death Star (which looks, unsurprisingly, not unlike the original atom bomb, Fat Man) to the very personally employed technology that is solely responsible for keeping Darth Vader alive. Vader lives fully encased inside technology, it covers every inch of his body, and without it, he would die. He even speaks and sees through it. It has blended completely with him. There would be no "him" without it. Yet, at the same time, his outfit is black and, at least at first, we believe him to be the very embodiment of evil. Technology has not only cloaked but possibly destroyed his humanity. It is no accident, then, that in the final installment, Return of the Jedi, Vader reclaims his humanity and turns back to goodness by removing his helmet, the technology that kept him alive.

On the other hand, the "good guys" also use plenty of technology, too. Light sabers, starfighters, and R2-D2, are just a few examples. The difference is that "good" knows how to use technology without becoming overwhelmed and ruled by it. It's a tool that remains under control of the human spirit and never an end in itself.

This, I think, goes a long way in explaining why the first three films were good and the most recent three…not so much. Lucas seems to have entirely forgotten his own lessons. In the Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith, he seems far more focused on showing off his technological achievements than emphasizing much more important "human" things like writing a good script/story, choosing his actors wisely, and then actually directing them appropriately. All the things that make a movie truly great are treated as second-class citizens to his own technological playtime. Yes, the original Star Wars was itself a technological wonder for its time but clearly Lucas himself never understood, or forgot, the real reason why the first three films are so loved: their human, mythological, and spiritual dimensions. The techno-breakthroughs were thoroughly secondary.

The whole thing leads to an almost-too-unbelievable-to-be-true meta-situation where his own movies and themes comment on and explain his own producing, writing, and directorial failings.

There’s something illuminating and instructive about this beyond the opportunity for us to be aware of our own relationship with technology. Often, we intuitively know what our biggest weaknesses are, because that's what we point out in others. Lucas must have seen the tendencies in himself to become overwhelmed by lesser important things at the expense of the more important. This happens to us all at one point or another. Intellectually, we know to be cautious about some trait or environmental situation, yet still, we end up sucked into it again and again.

The solution, of course, as we explore in The Bliss Experiment book, is we must learn to cultivate inner awareness of our thoughts, actions, and motivations, and then using certain tools, calmly and gently guide ourselves away from danger and towards more positive and ultimately fulfilling higher states of consciousness. Intellectual knowledge is never enough. It always must be accompanied by genuine practice--and not just once and then forgetting about it forever after. Our awareness and choices must be continuously practiced and affirmed over time.

Tags: awareness, culture, film, pop, technology

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Comment by Greg on March 5, 2012 at 12:44pm: I actually liked the story lines of the Star Wars prequels. It helped me understand more how and why Darth Vader turned bad. It made sense to me.

Comment by JessicaH on March 5, 2012 at 12:36am: I also wonder why I didn't know about this movie until now either. I love the Star Wars series. I saw someone asked if they were supposed to want to watch it. Everyone has different tastes and don't feel bad if you don't want to see it or don't like SW. I myself never have seen a single Lord of the Rings movie and never really cared if I ever did. LOL

Comment by Jennifer Dunn on March 1, 2012 at 6:43am: Really appreciated this post. Great food for thought. Im going to discuss this with my dad later today - he's a big Star Wars fan and will enjoy your perspective! :)

Comment by lena gogol on February 27, 2012 at 3:47am: Oh, I have never seen Star Wars. But I constantly hear about it. Everybody says it is a great movie. I should watch to it, shouldn’t I?

Comment by Amber Newton on February 26, 2012 at 2:59pm: Oh wow, you make SUCH a good point, in that Lucas hasn't kept control of the tech available to him, and hasn't used it for good.

My personal theory on why the chapters I II and III were so bad is as follows:

I believe that George Lucas' ex-wife wrote IV, V and VI. My reasoning on this is that the reason Lucas wouldn't release the films on DVD for such a long time is he was waiting on the divorce's resolution that his now ex-wife be granted a percentage of the profits from any sales of the original three films. He claimed it was because tech wasn't advanced enough for him to be happy with how they looked (or I seem to remember this being the case), but it really was a statute of limitations on his ex-wife benefiting from renewed sales of those original three films. When it came time for him to make good on his promise of I II and III, the real writer was no longer around, and as a result, absolute crap was penned and cast and overly-produced.

But, that's just a theory.

There is absolutely something to be said for things which are actually there, not filming in front of a greenscreen, not adding in CG extras or main characters post-filming. Chewie was real, and tangible, and played by a brilliant physical actor. Jar Jar was not there, looks fake, and is based on the movements of some real dude who, I'd argue, is not the brilliant studied specialist that Peter Mayhew is. That's just personal opinion, though. But I really do connect so much more with movies filled with fantastical things made real, not just CGd into a scene or the whole thing. I love a few of Pixar's films, but I feel like I'd connect so much more if it was those great stories in tangible, constructed universes. Although they are tough stories to do. I kind of feel the same about CG animation vs. hand-drawn animation, especially Disney films. Beauty and the Beast vs Tangled? No contest. Tangled is lovely, but I wish it were hand-drawn pencil animation, not blobs of pixels manipulated in various programs.

I think that's good commentary, too, on making our dreams reality. The power to do so takes work, and we're rewarded for it. Relying on shortcuts like computer algorithms in CG or not taking what's in our heads and making it real, just leaving it in our heads? That's not powerful, and it's not taking advantage of our full potential and creativity as humans.

Comment by Anthony Meeks on February 26, 2012 at 7:55am: I agree, much emphasis is given on the technological side, boasting the special effects and less focus on the storyline. But still it is Star Wars and people will have to like it because of the reputation of the first three movies.

Comment by BrendaBee on February 25, 2012 at 4:18am: I'm an avid Star Wars fan. As long as the movie is as good as the rest of them, I will be sold. I can't wait to see it now that I've heard about it.

Comment by Sunny on February 24, 2012 at 10:45pm: Nice one.. I agree with you in this as well, the Phantom Menace part of the Star Wars is really a more cartoonis(h) type, a little more lack of story perfection with the animation technology.. But, really they had the courage to develop a really unique type of movie, that was not being offered much, during that time.

But yes, definitely it lacks the cultivate inner awareness of thought, actions and some motivational aspects as well. And well, I liked the last line - Our awareness and choices must be continuously practiced and affirmed over time.

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