The Star Wars Condundrum

I have to preface this by saying I grew up a huge Star Wars nerd. I'm not embarrassed to admit it. It used to be my world. I played the video games and read the books and used to have all of these toys. If I could I would be a Jedi. I know I'm not alone in this - in fact I'm probably in some kind of a majority for young boys growing up in the 90s. I grew up a little bit (read: not too much) and don't watch Star Wars everyday like I did when I was seven, and I don't think about it everyday like I did when I was seven, but when people talk about it, I usually - quickly - transform back to the seven year old. I probably knew more about the Star Wars universe than I did about America's history. Again, I've grown up a little bit since then. Now I obsess over TV shows and sports.

Anyways, this isn't about my Star Wars knowledge - although I guess it fueled this conversation - but more about the series new place in movie/Hollywood/sci-fi lore now that the new movies have been out for over five years now.

I don't really know anyone that liked the "new trilogy" - because it was so radically different than the original. The acting was terrible, the special effects were too much, everything felt rushed. The only thing that people could say - as hardcore fans - was that they appreciated the story of Anakin becoming Vader. But I was thinking about it from a kid standpoint, like when I saw the originals when I was young, and what will they think? Because after all, it's always about the kids.

They can't possibly understand. The new three have all of these special effects and CGI and seem so bad ass, while the originals are so simple and just straight up look different (and by different I mean worse.) They can't understand why Yoda is moving around and kicking ass in the first three and then in the last three he can barely walk; why the clone troopers look so much cooler/effective/stronger/intelligent than the stormtroopers, any of it. It doesn't make any sense. Is my kid going to love Star Wars as much as I did? Or is s/he going to want to be a wizard of Harry Potter's world (ps the new movie sucked)? It's not up to me, but I'm just curious on what will be the future for the next generation of youth.

I almost think that it will change the legacy of the movies because they look so different. And the thing to blame I think is CGI - it gave Lucas too much freedom to do what he thought in his head. It's not a terrible idea to be constricted to the 80s special effects - which I really never thought were THAT bad. I've seen bits and pieces of all six movies on SpikeTV this long weekend, and I actually really liked the originals effects with space flying etc. I haven't seen the films for at least a year, so I realized some problems that I must have missed (like how come the lightsaber doesn't destroy everything it touches? Sometimes, it didn't. Puzzling) but I see now.

I'm not sure if I'm losing my childhood innocence/imagination but the original stories don't really make sense. It's almost like George Lucas made them up as he went along. The whole Vader being their father? Luke and Leia were into each other, and then they find out their twins? Building a second Death Star? All seems kind of crazy.

Either way, what's done is done. They had to make the prequels because people were clamoring for them. It would of been better if they made them about 20 years earlier, but that wasn't up to me.

I still really love the films. I can't say they're my favorite anymore - I think I lost my passion for films when I started watching good TV shows and our ADHD continues to cripple us so that we really are unable to sit and watch without multitasking or talking or doing something else that takes our attention away from whatever we were planning on doing.

The films are still classics. They continue to be a part of pop culture, as people reference and quote etc. about them. Everyone knows who Darth Vader is. They always will. It may not be on the tip of their tongues or something they think about ever, but they know.

To close, I wanted to put up my favorite image from the series - the twin sunset on Tatooine. It may or may not have been my background on my desktop for a while....

May The Force Be With You.

Social Network

I swear I have more things on my mind than what I watch on film/tv. That's just the only thing I have that's worth blogging about.

That being said, I saw Social Network last night. I was really looking forward to seeing it - the combination of Aaron Sorkin and David Fincher was TOO good to pass up. Add in the idea of the creation of Facebook and it's a home run. I think I wrote this exact same paragraph before about American Idiot. I'm losing my creativity and my brain.

I knew going in that the movie wasn't totally true. It was Hollywood-ified. There were parts added for the convenience of the story. It's my understanding that most of it is true though, based off what I read.

The movie was good. It was neurotic. It really kind of describes how college (and as we grow out of college, the "real world") is now. You friend a girl you meet and class, probably one you don't really know outside of some glances, and determine if you're interested in her or not by her pictures (while she's showing the pictures that show her in her self-perceived "best light" - while you do the exact same thing) and find out the relationship situation and see who she's friends with etc etc. That's Facebook. Maybe not always about girls, but about people. Most likely people you don't know well.

I don't know if me or my friends could imagine college without it. It's such a strange concept. Seriously. And I'm not even talking about "stalking" girls. Just communicating with friends - especially those who you haven't seen in a while. Seeing what others are up to. Sharing your crazy stories. Writing a happy birthday wall post. And so on. I'd go to parties and people would say "Facebook Me." It's just how we operate.

It's changed the generation. We can't socialize normally. I know more about some people thru Facebook then I learned from hearing them speak. We hide behind our phones and our iPods and blogs and don't actually communicate anymore. It's absurd. I can't say I'm not guilty either, it's just the truth of our generation.

The only thing that really killed the movie for me was Justin Timberlake. He sucks as an actor. It was such a joke putting him in. It was just to make some kind of a "celebrity buzz" since most people wouldn't of known who Jesse Eisenberg is. Stop acting JT. Just make some more music for girls to go crazy over. Don't say "Bong hit!" in the middle of a movie. Ever.

I loved Fincher's vision. It was shot so well. It had a "Fight Club" pacing without going Tyler Durden crazy and no fighting. I also love to reference Fight Club and Tyler Durden whenever possible, so maybe I'm stretching it. Sticking feathers up your butt doesn't make you a chicken.

Zuckerberg came across as too smart for his own good - which is probably true. He's brutally honest and unable to communicate the way normal people do. It's interesting. I have never actually seem him talk, but I could believe he's something like this. It's also interesting to see the way the site developed, how the lawsuits came through, among other things. Something so simple that changed everyone's life.

Overall, it was good, I just think there was so much hype. Too much hype kills everything. And too much hype is why Facebook succeeds.

Ode to Fight Club

It's a slow day at work. I've been up since 6:30 AM. I don't have much else to do than blog or apply for jobs. I'm doing both, cause I'm definitely not studying.

Over the weekend I watched Fight Club. It's been a while since the last time I've watched it, probably about a year?

It's always a very thought provoking movie that has caused me to write several academic papers (yes, as in for class) about the current state of the American society in 21st Century America.

Before I start lecturing, I should give my history with Fight Club. In my senior year at the Prep, I took a banned books class. It wasn't really banned books, but it was more "controversial" books. That class might of been the only class I've ever enjoyed reading for school. We read some great books like Fight Club, Harry Potter, Requiem for a Dream, Trainspotting, and American Psycho. My teacher used to call it "cool books class."Couldn't be more spot on. At an all guys school, what could be cooler than reading "real" books, not the traditional "academic" books.

Anyway, so I hadn't read or seen the movie yet. I just wasn't really into movies. I'm still not compared so some of my friends in COM/CFA, but that's also because film is their major, so that makes a difference.

I read the book. If you haven't, do it. It's great. Particularly if you haven't seen the movie. I think it's always better to read the book beforehand - how many times does someone say the book was better than the movie? Almost always. One just takes more time than the other. Sometimes much more time depending on your ADHD.

The book/movie totally change your mind about life. At least for me. We've set ourselves up in this convoluted system where our possessions own us. We aren't free. "The things that you own end up owning you," as Tyler would say. Think about it. We've become so into our cell phones and furniture and iPods and iPads and HDTVs and our nice pair of jeans and our cars and so on and so on. We've enslaved ourselves. We work just so we can buy stuff we don't really need.

The character of Tyler Durden is an interesting man, even though he isn't real. He has a unique way of thinking that's radical yet feels true. People have these dreams but never follow through. For example, if you really wanted to be an athlete, you would have to commit everything you had to it. I'm sure most guys dream of playing professional sports, but don't commit to it. Tyler represents the thinking that we were meant to have - Do what you want to do. Don't have any reason to hold yourself back. If you want to get in a fight, why not? If you don't want to get married, who cares? Instead, do whatever. Keep evolving however, don't settle.

The concept of the "white male" is really what's under the microscope - and it has really evolved, and now they don't really have an identity. As everyone kind of "melts" into the Melting Pot concept, there is no more class that's more powerful than others. In history, it was traditionally the white male. No longer is that the case. Everyone's catching up - and in some areas certain demographics do better. So these relatively "successful" men have no concept of what to do anymore - no longer are they the most powerful people in the room. Not only that - add in the rapid development of divorce - children raised by single parents can really intimidate the masculinity (or femininity in the opposite sense) of the child and leave them without an identity. All they have is their possessions from their money. No personal sense of purpose or accomplishment. Is your life seriously about working as a waiter your entire life? What about a police officer? Or maybe a secretary?

The problem with Tyler's lifestyle is that it's flawed. No one can just afford to stop everything they're doing and sever ties with their situation. In Tyler's ideal world, there is choice. You have the choice to let go everything you have and pursue something serious. Unfortunately it isn't that simple. Tyler is the extreme of one side. We need to find the happy medium. Tyler's everything we want, but without paying the price. It's an interesting sacrifice. There's so many things I would love to do (travel, live on the beach, drink clean water) and I can't because I'm fighting the system to succeed. As is everyone else. I don't usually "read" into movies and books, but I really believe that Fight Club is a great social commentary that really let's out a message under the guise of a sleep-deprived narrator. Anyways, let's go get that life we want. The pursuit of happiness.