curated: why we don’t ‘see’ Star Wars anymore…
Many good thoughts here — ones I agree with — in this New York Times piece by essayist and cartoonist Tim Kreider. The headline and subhead give you a taste:
We Can’t See ‘Star Wars’ Anymore
The cultural industry that the 1977 film spawned has ground its original charm and wonder out of existence.
The cultural industry that the 1977 film spawned has ground its original charm and wonder out of existence.
I especially like and second this:
Subsequent sequels, tie-in novels, interstitial TV shows, video games and fan fiction have lovingly ground this charm out of existence with exhaustive, literal-minded explication: Every marginal background character now has a name and a back story, every offhand allusion a history. But Mr. Lucas’s universe just doesn’t have the depth of Tolkien’s Middle-earth; it was only ever meant to be sketched, not charted. Sequels and tie-ins, afraid to stray too far off-brand, stick to variations on familiar designs and revive old characters, so there’s nothing new to discover.
This was the problem with Solo: A Star Wars Story, and it’s a big problem with Rise of Skywalker… my review of which soon, when I can rouse myself from my disappointment in it is here.
h/t reader Danielm80
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