Three Years of Hell to Become the Devil: Outgeeking Bainbridge

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Outgeeking Bainbridge

Now, I'd never take on Professor Bainbridge when it comes to wine: I haven't the taste buds. And on corporate law? More fool me to challenge the guy who authors textbooks. But outgeeking? There we're on more equal ground. And I'm afraid that his accusation that George Lucas has sold the soul of Star Wars to the Democrats just rings hollow.

Basically, the good Professor is upset because:

...Lucas betrayed the basic story arc of the Star Wars mythology in order to score these cheap political points. In the original trilogy, Luke struggled against the absolutism of Obi-Wan and Yoda. It was Luke who insisted that there was still good in Vader, which Yoda and Obi-Wan rejected.

The betrayal in question is in having Obi-Wan say to Anakin, after the latter has muttered some you're-for-me-or-against-me line, "Only a Sith thinks in absolutes."

Now, I've not seen the movie yet, and to the best of my knowledge, neither has Prof. Bainbridge, but to my mind his internal critique doesn't hold up. Bainbridge spends a great deal of time talking about how an older (presumably wiser) Obi-Wan was still doctrinaire and absolutist in his consideration of the Force. But if we consider this Obi-Wan to be less mature than Alec Guinness (and who wouldn't), then the plot still hangs together. Obi-wan may just be full of it. And there's no "betrayal" for "cheap political points" so long as the elder Jedi isn't doing anything more than the lightsaber equivalent of Godwin's Law: you know the conversation's over (and someone's limbs are about to go) when somebody mentions the Sith.

So why are so many assuming that Old Kenobi needs to be taken seriously? It seems that the New York Times found political meaning in the film:

"This is how liberty dies - to thunderous applause," Padm observes as senators, their fears and dreams of glory deftly manipulated by Palpatine, vote to give him sweeping new powers. "Revenge of the Sith" is about how a republic dismantles its own democratic principles, about how politics becomes militarized, about how a Manichaean ideology undermines the rational exercise of power. Mr. Lucas is clearly jabbing his light saber in the direction of some real-world political leaders. At one point, Darth Vader, already deep in the thrall of the dark side and echoing the words of George W. Bush, hisses at Obi-Wan, "If you're not with me, you're my enemy." Obi-Wan's response is likely to surface as a bumper sticker during the next election campaign: "Only a Sith thinks in absolutes." You may applaud this editorializing, or you may find it overwrought, but give Mr. Lucas his due. For decades he has been blamed (unjustly) for helping to lead American movies away from their early-70's engagement with political matters, and he deserves credit for trying to bring them back.

Dear goodness, we can only hope. I mean, if Democrats can't do better than Lucas's tin-ear for dialogue for their political bumper stickers, then I suspect the Republicans will get the geek vote. But now the New York Times has done the impossible: it's made me curious about the final Star Wars film.

Let's face it: Lucas is about as subtle as a chainsaw running through a screen door, at least when it comes to dialogue. I'd expect that even if Chewbacca were mouthing Bush-lite rhetoric, you wouldn't need to be Han Solo to figure out the reference. On the other hand, the New York Times could probably scan Beowulf and find hidden anti-Bush meanings.

So who is it? Is George L. taking on George B.? Or is this all a figment of the Times' fevered fantasies? Sadly, I'll have to see the film to find out, because when it comes to a conflict between the Lucas lack of subtext and the Greying Lady's determination to find same, we reach a level of difficulty almost equal to that of the Great Sci Fi Paradox: What happens when a bunch of clueless red-shirts, guaranteed to survive less than three minutes after a beamdown, meets a platoon of Imperial Stormtroopers, who can't hit a barn from inside it?

Comments

This article on a Cannes press conference might save you the trouble of going to the movie.
http://midwestsummerassociate.blogspot.com/
A wise man once pointed out that "Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar", and I think someone needs to remind Prof. Bainbridge that sometimes a trashy sci-fi B flick is just a trashy sci-fi B flick.....
The "wise man" was Freud, on the sometimes-noninterpretation-of-dreams. Less well known is his debt to Kipling. The original line went something like "Wine is only wine, but a cigar is a smoke."
I've noticed that people who are absolutist often think that they are nuanced. (Often because they know other people on their own side who are even more extreme, or have unexpressed feelings which are much nastier.)
TTP: I know it was Freud; I was under the impression that the quote was familiar enough that nobody (at least nobody well educated enough to be follwoing a first person narrative of American legal education) needed to be told who said it. :-)
Oh, perhaps I've underestimated folks. I was under the impression that a lot of people didn't know the source. Eh. Also I was trolling for the exact phrasing of the Kipling quote.
"Now, I've not seen the movie yet, and to the best of my knowledge, neither has Prof. Bainbridge..." And thus continues the conservative tradition of critiquing movies without having seen them. :)
If you notice, Dave, the above isn't a critique of a movie, but a series of questions about it. And having now seen the movie, if you want to carry water for Lucas's dialogue, I hope your back's pretty strong.

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Simi: The Belle of the Ball

We should have guessed it just by eyeing the beautiful people in the port. Simi was going to be something.

Waiting for our delayed ferry for Simi in the harbor of Rhodes, we were surrounded by what looked like a spread in the summer holiday edition of the Ralph Lauren catalogue. Bronzed, stylish Italian bodies decked out in their finely-pressed ‘island collection’ wardrobe, hide their faces behind wide-brimmed sunhats and stylish specs. They complimented those toned sun-kissed legs with fancy footwear and carried enormous designer handbags big enough for me to crawl right in. Yep, we’d traveled from the land of have-nots and were now arriving in the land of have-everything.

Gliding into the horseshoe-shaped harbor of Simi I really felt like I was sailing into a postcard. Renowned for having Greece’s most stunning harbor, it’s difficult for me to imagine any place more beautiful. The island has a prosperous history of shipbuilding and from my view on the sea it was abundantly clear. Freshly-polished wooden ships glisten in the water above the reflection of pastel-colored mansions casting down from the hillside.

Had we really only allotted two days for this island? Say it ain’t so.

We had no reservation or any idea where the heck we were going to stay. I’d spent the past few days on the phone trying to get us some sort of room, but everything seemed to be taken. Suppressing the planner-side of me, I had no choice than to follow my husband’s lead, flying by the seat of our pants. As his luck would have it (because you know he’d never hear the end of it) we scored a sweet pad.

Francisco, a burly, white-haired man, came to our rescue in the port. Promising a room with a view, we piled into his Audi station wagon and wound around the harbor and up the mountain dotted with graciously-renovated sea captain homes. Sad to say goodbye to my harbor view, we found ourselves in the mountaintop village of Horio.

In Horio, we settled into our studio apartment. For the first time in a long time, we had a place to eat, to cook, to lounge. We were elated. We even had a little balcony overlooking a mint-colored bay where we spent our first day soaking up the rays. It took no more than a few hours of exploring to be convinced we were here to stay.

What started out as one night, soon turned into five. We fell in love with the island of Simi, and even more so with the mountaintop village of Horio. Surrounded by the locals, we got a real flavor for life on the Greek Isles. We spent our days taking dips in the Agean Sea, lingering in cafes over ice coffees and indulging in traditional dishes at the local tavernas by night.

With no airport, no sandy beaches, no high-rise hotels and no glamourous and glitzy nightclubs, Simi is not everyone’s ideal island. But if you love exploring traditional villages with rocky pathways leading to churches high in the hills, if you enjoy hiking through the mountains to discover hidden inlets and bays, if you want to get to know friendly local people and dine at restaurants offering traditional island food, Simi just might be as special to you as it was for us.

For more on our Greek Isle hopping adventure check out:

Santorini, Simply Unforgettable
Rhodes: Where the Streets Have No Names
Our First Taste of Greece
Life, Greece & the Pursuit of Happiness

pixel Simi: The Belle of the Ball

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