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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Mobile Luxuries

Queenstown NZ 57 e1264829391802 Mobile LuxuriesIf you can excuse butchering up the muffler, killing the car battery and the daily grinding of gears, I guess you could say slowly but surely we started getting the hang of campervan travel. That’s when the real fun began.

Our mobile digs gives us unparalleled mobility and flexibility. We aren’t tied to any plane, bus or train schedule so we can take in the sights and sounds at our own pace. This made stops at every scenic lookout point and roadside farmer’s market customary and exploring the remote countryside a reality.

Best of all, New Zealand is made for campervan travel. There are thousands of motor camps dotting the country that welcome oversized loads like our Bertha. We soon learned, however, that the real experience to be had is all in the Department of Conservation.

New Zealand’s Department of Conservation (God bless them) has mapped out the most breathtaking locales in the country and converted them into remote, pristine campgrounds. It is here, in the most majestic settings imaginable, that we go to bed each night and wake up each morning. We find ourselves sleeping at the foothills of snow-capped mountains, on the banks of crystal-clear streams, on the beaches of deep blue lakes, atop roaring waterfalls, hidden in the forests of National Parks and among the wildlife of maritime reserves. Each evening as we pick out our campsite, scoping the map for those cheerful blue dots, we feel like Magellan about to embark on an incredible discovery. And upon our arrival, we are never disappointed.

Discovering these sites and the beauty that surrounds has been a true highlight of my New Zealand experience. Here is a look at some of those places we are experiencing:

Fiordland National Park 161 e1264827643988 Mobile Luxuries

Deer Creek Flat | Fiordland National Park, New Zealand

Glenorchy NZ 591 e1264828618963 Mobile Luxuries

Kinloch Scenic Reserve, NZ | Round We Go

Southern Lakes NZ 571 e1264828126354 Mobile Luxuries

Boundary Creek Lake Reserve, New Zealand | Round We Go

Queenstown NZ 53 e1264828032451 Mobile Luxuries

Moke Lake Reserve, New Zealand | Round We Go

True to the isolation of the grounds, campsites are basic with minimal facilities. Often with toilets there is rarely running water and showers are a rare treat. The vistas, however, surely do more than make up for the loss of luxury. I find it much easier to adjust to showering out of a bucket each morning knowing the frigid waters are a small price to pay for the surrounding beauty and my New Zealand adventures.

pixel Mobile Luxuries

Comments (2)

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  1. roundwego says:

    Deer Creek Flat was amazing! Took a bucket shower near the stream under a full moon in the valley of the mountains upon our arrival. Was a moment I’ll never forget.

  2. Evan says:

    I camped in the same exact spot at Deer Creek Flat! Talk about a beautiful place to wake up at.