Diatribe # 47

Warning: This post may be offensive to Star Wars fanatics. Stop reading now if you don't want to get all riled up. You've been warned.

So. What is it with men and Star Wars?

I mean, really. All of the boy(friends) I've had, except for D. (the only one who really mattered, but anyway), were nuts about Star Wars. They were all over 30, but they were still obssessed over this sci-fi adventure series, which, admittedly, was ground-breaking for its time, but in light of the last three movies (before the original trilogy), it's not that great anymore. In fact, it's become downright horrible. Fans will make excuses for the awful dialogue, saying that really isn't the point, you can't be a visionary AND a good screenwriter at the same time, but let me tell you, buddy: dialogue's precisely what makes a movie visionary. Good dialogue stems from good action, which in turn comes from good plot. Good dialogue isn't about beautiful words and poetic flourishes, it means using words in new and interesting ways to tell a story. That means, you don't even have to use words, as silences can be very potent (Lost In Translation, The Pianist). My favorite movie, Wim Wender's Wings of Desire, has intense, heart-stopping philosophical meditations, and most of it is rendered in dialogue, as the camera pans across cold, damp Berlin before the fall of the Wall.

But I know why boys like Star Wars: it panders to the Peter Pan in all of them. They don't want to grow up, and Star Wars, the illusion of being a Jedi Knight in their minds, out to save the world, allows them to remain boys forever.

I used to be able to tolerate it, now I'm just plain annoyed with it. V. was talking about it all damn night, and sorry to tell you, V., that's not really helping you score points with me.

I have to confess this, though: I might not like Star Wars, but I really find Yoda adorable.