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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Jericoacoara: A Special Place

DSC027331 300x225 Jericoacoara: A Special PlaceHigh on Ryan’s list of places to see since our last visit to South America was the village of Jericoacoara. It wasn’t its sheer isolation or monstrous dunes that succeeded in luring him in. The appeal was ironically based on its sing-songy name pronounced Jerry-qua-qua-rah.

Lucky for us, this next town on our round the world travel adventure did live up to its name. Jericoacoara, dubbed Jeri by visitors and locals, is an extraordinary place and, in my book, somewhat extraterrestrial. Perched on a remote peninsula on the northeast coast of Brazil, it’s home to an arid, desert climate set against a backdrop of palm trees, crashing waves and sandy beaches. The town is completely isolated, surrounded by miles of enormous sand dunes and rolling green hills. To get there you must survive a long, bumpy ride in an open air four wheel drive truck through sand dunes while enduring the intense, whipping winds of the area.

DSC02681 300x225 Jericoacoara: A Special PlaceAfter nearly 24 hours of traveling, we boarded the four wheel drive truck to Jeri. Here the sun set behind massive, yellow sand dunes lined with goats, donkeys and horses grazing on the shoreline. This overlooked a coast dotted with hard-bodied Europeans enjoying espressos, cigarettes and acai after a hard day of hitting the surf. Feeling drunk on pure exhaustion and the cocktail of sand that filled my mouth, it began to dawn on me what a special, yet peculiar place, we were journeying into. Had we stumbled upon the dusty Saharan Desert? The rolling green fields of Ireland? Or perahps the Italian Riviera? We were experiencing for the first time the unique vibe that is Jericoacoara.

DSC02789 225x300 Jericoacoara: A Special PlaceThe rare conditions of Jeri have made this remote destination a world-renowned wind sport Mecca and backpacker hotspot. We spent several days taking advantage of Jeri’s offerings. Embarking on a beach buggy tour through the dunes, we discovered a new favorite sport while sand surfing down 300 foot dunes into a crystal clear lake. We soaked up the sun each day while watching the daily congestion of wind and kite surfers who’d come from all over the world to test out Jeri’s waves. Desperate to get a taste of what the wind sport craze was all about, we rented a surfboard to try out the great long-boarding waves Jeri was said to offer.

Jeri has this way of sucking you in and many travelers stay a lot longer than they had planned. I’m not sure if it’s based on putting off the exhaustive trek back to civilization or the somewhat intoxicating vibe the place exudes. Either way, we thoroughly enjoyed a rather lengthy stay and equally dreaded the long journey back.

pixel Jericoacoara: A Special Place

Comments (2)

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  1. colin says:

    How did Laura get that far off the ground?? Big ups for a little girl!

  2. mom says:

    wow, what a journey!! You both seem to be having the greatest time ever but I still want you to hurry home.