The Force will be discussed at great length later. It is after all, the pivotal point of the Star Wars saga as it is of New Age alternative medicine, New Age meditations and the martial arts. [Please read this writer’s articles on those subjects.] Though the new prequels have been widely contrasted unfavorably with the original trilogy, the Star Wars universe remains a cultural institution of immense proportions. Its impact on Hollywood alone has been incalculable. Says Steven D. Greydanus http://decentfilms.com/sections/articles/2535, “It’s impossible to imagine Raiders of the Lost Ark, E.T., The Matrix*, or The Lord of the Rings without Star Wars. *see pages 33, 42 In fact, Lucas’ bitterest critics charge Star Wars with nothing less than ‘ruining’ Hollywood by turning it from the gritty, ‘relevant’ sophistication of films like The Godfather and Taxi Driver toward juvenile fantasy, spectacle, and romanticism. Here’s a typical complaint from Peter Biskind’s gossipy manifesto Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex-Drugs-andRock’n’Roll Generation Saved Hollywood : ‘When all was said and done, Lucas and Spielberg returned the 1970s audience, grown sophisticated on a diet of European and New Hollywood films, to the simplicities of the pre-1960s Golden Age of movies… They marched backward through the looking-glass’. Those with different values, obviously, might care to see it the other way round: It was Lucas and Spielberg who "saved Hollywood" from the decadence of the "sex-drugs-androck’n’roll generation" and brought old-fashioned good-versus-evil storytelling back to theaters. That’s not to say that Lucas’ critics don’t have a point. Artistically, the flaws and limitations of the Star Wars films- and of its many less distinguished heirs, from Independence Day to Tomb Raider - are inescapable. They are silly, indifferently acted, poorly thought out in some respects, and not infrequently inconsistent verging on self- contradiction. As Lucas’s saga progressed, moreover, the flaws have become more pronounced…” As with Role-Playing Games [RPGs], and the movies, cartoons and toys associated with them, Christians are divided on the Star Wars issue. Christian books and sites are dedicated to defending the culture, some of them making out laborious comparisons with events in the Bible and with the life and message of Jesus Christ himself. As with RPGs, Catholics are not to be outdone in this. Both sides of the picture will be presented in this report, starting with the pro-Star Wars lobby. For internet readers, headlines and important points related to the pro faction [which includes those who, taking a ‘neutral’ stance, do not elaborate], will be highlighted in red colour, and the Christian arguments in blue, as far as is possible.
THE PRO-STAR WARS LOBBY. “HE WHO IS NOT FOR ME IS AGAINST ME” [MT. 12: 30] 1. Alec Guinness' Journey ROME, JUNE 23, 2005 [http://www.zenit.org/] by columnist Elizabeth Lev ZE05062322 [ZENIT [http://www.zenit.org/] is a highly reputed Catholic news agency which otherwise I have never faulted.] This year, Italy's first taste of the summer film frenzy was the last installment of the Star Wars saga, "The Revenge of the Sith." The die-hard Star Wars fans of Rome dutifully went and came away with the same dissatisfaction produced by the other two new films. While certainly better than the last two, even this final episode seems to lack something. Discussing the movie with colleagues later, we agreed that one of the key elements missing was Alec Guinness as Obi Wan Kenobi*. Speculating further, the question arose of whether Guinness' firm Catholic faith played a part in the moral authority and the gravitas of Obi Wan. While it is well known that the mighty "Force" of Star Wars is more Buddhism Lite than anything remotely Christian, Guinness infused his character with something not found in the later Jedi Knight renditions. Unlike Jedi master Windoo who knows much but never expresses faith in the Force or super-ninja Yoda and his Forcedriven martial skills, Guinness' Obi Wan offered an example of spiritual peace and, most indelibly in the mind of the children who saw it, an example of self-sacrifice. Timely enough, the subject of Guinness' conversion was back on bookshelves last year with Piers Paul Reid's biography "Alec Guinness: An Authorized Biography." Together with Guinness' own description of his conversion to the Catholic faith in "Blessings in Disguise," it appears that life does imitate art. Both the spiritual and material origins of Sir Alec Guinness were inauspicious. An illegitimate son of a woman who barely provided for him, he was confirmed in the Anglican church at 16 when he, in his own words, "arose from under the hands of the Bishop of Lewes a confirmed atheist." As he trained for a stage career he also started searching for a religion. His myriad of early characters - Osric in "Hamlet," Herbert Pocket in "Great Expectations" and the astounding eight parts in "Kind Hearts and Coronets" - reflected the numerous stops on his quest for faith, from Buddhism to Tarot cards. While Guinness himself asserted that the catalyst to his conversion was his son's recovery from polio, there was a long, slow preparation to what would be greatest part. As Guinness started to find himself drawn to the Catholic Church looking for inner peace, he started taking priest roles in film. In 1954, he accepted the part of Father Brown in the screen adaptation of stories of G.K. Chesterton's beloved clerical sleuth. Then in 1955, he played the heroic cardinal in the controversial film "The Prisoner," a film banned by both the Venice and Cannes film festivals for its negative depiction of Eastern European Communism. Adapted from a stage play, it is an intense psychological duel between an interrogator representing the totalitarian regime and a prelate charged with being overly political. While the story is loosely based on the story of Cardinal Mindszenty of Hungary, the character of the cardinal has startling parallels with the actor's own life. The shame of a poor background and an unpresentable parent, and the desire for glory to cleanse himself of the past, are all used against the cardinal in his psychological torture. This must have resonated very deeply in Guinness. In 1956 Guinness converted. He lived out his life as a very prominent Catholic in England, becoming vice president of the Catholic Actors Guild but also a lector in his home parish of St. Lawrence in Hampshire.