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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Cambodia Remembers: A Day at the Killing Fields

Skulls1 Cambodia Remembers: A Day at the Killing Fields

Piles of skulls from the thousands of victims buried at The Killing Fields

Ten miles outside of Phnom Penh lies Choeng Ek, also known as the Killing Fields. Today it’s a memorial commemorating the suffering and lives lost under the Khmer Rouge. Yesterday, it was the place where men, women and children were brought by the truckload before being executed and dumped in mass graves in the ground.

Mass Cambodia Remembers: A Day at the Killing Fields

A sign marks the spot of a mass grave of 450 victims

I was overcome with such emotion walking the grassy fields of a place where the bodies of thousands of victims lay. A sign marks the spot where the truck arrived, full of blindfolded prisoners. A sign marks the spot where more than 450 bodies were found in a mass grave. No sign is needed to mark the spot where piles of children’s clothing were found. The miniature t-shirts and pants tell the story.

Tree Cambodia Remembers: A Day at the Killing Fields

The 'Killing Tree,' against which babies' skulls were crushed

One memory that I can’t get out of my mind is the site of the ‘killing tree,’ against which young babies were swung and skulls smashed. They were then dumped in the hole in the ground that stands before it.

Pagoda Cambodia Remembers: A Day at the Killing Fields

A Buddhist pagoda houses thousands of bones of the victims

They’ve built a Buddhist pagoda at the center of the memorial to house the thousands of skulls uncovered here. Most of the skulls have a crack down the middle or dents in the side. Prison guards rarely wasted a bullet on these prisoners and often beat them to death instead.

Children Cambodia Remembers: A Day at the Killing Fields

Curious Cambodian children peak through the fences of The Killing Fields

We walked in silence around the perimeter of the grounds, lined with a wire fence and children begging for small change. Just feet away from us lied the unearthed mass graves of countless others. I began to wonder where was the talk of this genocide in my history lessons? Why don’t more Americans know more about what went on here – that three million people died in Cambodia and the United States, in a roundabout way, was involved in the crisis that lead to the Khmer Rouge takeover? Why hasn’t more been done to bring the perpetrators to justice? Many still walk freely. Only now are some finally being prosecuted for their horrific crimes against humanity.

I couldn’t help but leave The Killing Fields silent, solemn and deeply-affected by images that will stay with me forever.

If you’ve been inspired like I have been, I can’t recommend enough reading the memoir First They Killed My Father and watching the film The Killing Fields.

pixel Cambodia Remembers: A Day at the Killing Fields

Comments (2)

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  1. roundwego says:

    @Matt – Thanks for the heartfelt comment. Cambodia left a mark on us. It’s hard to put into words what we experienced there but hope the photos do a bit to capture the moments. We appreciate the continued support and enthusiasm on our travels! Hope to fully connect soon.

  2. Matt says:

    Your commentary during yours and Ryan’s adventure has been consistently insightful. The honest reflections about the conflicting awe inspiring beauty, history, struggle, and tragedy of the places you have travelled to have been a pleasure to read and makes us feel almost as though we’ve gotten to debrief with you (at least a little bit). Looking forward to hearing more online and live eventually.
    Matt