May the Links Be With You

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Star Wars, Star Wars, Star Wars, also Star Wars. So, what the hey, I thought I’d jump on the hype and do a little link list of my pieces on the franchise over the years.

Star Wars and the 4 Ways Science Fiction handles race.

Star Wars’ Original Scum-Caked Brilliance.

The Star Wars reboot and how Hollywood sci-fi doesn’t care about the future.

Slave Leia as uneasy sexual fantasy (about Han Solo)

Star Wars and a universe without women.

Star Wars and a universe with boring gender roles (or, let Octavia Butler write Star Wars)

Lupita Nyong’o, Star Wars, and keeping black actors off-screen

And, finally, why the Force Awakens will probably suck.

Why Darth Vader is My Favorite Superhero

Okay, maybe not favorite, but as far as morally ambiguous asthmatic cyborgs go, Anakin Skywalker is at the very top.

If you doubt his superhero creds, do the checklist yourself. Superpowers? That lightsaber would be plenty, but he could also go head-to-baldhead with Professor X in a telekinetic wrestling match. Secret double identity? Vader/Skywalker is self-explanatory, and if it wasn’t a secret there’d be no Episode 5 shocker: “Luke, I’m your father!” Masked costume? Can’t get more masked than a grill-mouthed, aviator-lensed Samurai helmet. Plus he struts around in a cape.

Of course the main objection to Vader joining the Guardians of the Far Far Away Galaxy isn’t wardrobe or weapon related. It’s his mission: eradicate all Jedi knights, his Galaxy’s actual Guardians. In fact, it would seem to put him near the top of the supervillain roster, just under his evil mentor, Emperor Palpatine.

But Anakin was born with a larger mission: to bring balance to the universe. He is the highest manifestation of the Force, the immaculately conceived uber-child of the midi-cholorians, those symbiotic lifeforms that surge in the cells of all Jedis. In fact, he has the highest midi-cholorian blood count ever recorded, 20,000 per cell, eight times higher than the 2,500 of mere humans (yeah, I couldn’t stomach Episode One either).

So Anakin is the Chosen One, the guy foretold by ancient legend—basically King Arthur or a laser-wielding Jesus Christ. But what exactly does the prophecy mean? According to the Jedi, those evil Sith lords throw the Force off balance and so it’s a Jedi’s duty to battle them. Thus the Chosen One would “destroy the Sith and bring balance to the Force.” Sounds good, but that’s not exactly the happy ending they got.

Episode Three wedges in the unfortunate phrase “the Jedi and then” between “destroy and “the Sith.” Does that mean the Force and its microscopic avatars are all metaphysical morons?  Oops. Sorry about the annihilation of your entire Jedi Order. Our bad. Thanks for worshipping us though.

I think the Jedi read their prophecies through Jedi-tinted glasses. I think the Force was tired of them and the Sith see-sawing the universe on its back. A never-ending battle between good and evil is fun and all, but after 25,000 years maybe that Manichean match-up starts looking like the problem, not the solution. If war is the enemy, then all warriors, Sith and Jedi alike, are obstacles to peace.

So the Force took things into its microscopic hands, impregnated an unsuspecting slave woman, and released the biggest Force-wielding superhero of them all, letting him and his Sith boss slaughter every Jedi knight in existence, except for his first mentor who chops off three-quarters of his limbs while dunking him in a river of lava, after which his lying boss clamps him into a wheezing cyborg suit. That’s all in the fine print of the Chosen One job description.

Then the Force chills for a couple of decades, letting the Sith-administered Empire explode a few planets and whatnot, until the Chosen One gets around to offing mentor number two, plus himself in the lightning-discharging process, and so finally destroying the conveniently tiny two-guy Sith Order. End of all Force manifestations in the known universe. Balance Accomplished.

That is until the Empire of Disney assumed control of the Lucas Republic and released Darth Abrams on the Star Wars franchise. Episode Seven awakens the Force on December 18th, overturning all of Anakin’s brutally hard work. The guy sacrificed everything for the greater good, and now that little punk son of his, Luke, has been rebuilding the damn Jedi order, throwing the Force off balance again? If I were a midi-cholorian, I’d be pretty pissed right now!

Although George Lucas originally said he had three trilogies in mind, he later admitted the third was less prophecy and more publicity. The catastrophically bad prequels were always more-or-less part of the implied backstory, but he just thought it sounded cool to say later sequels would parallel the actors’ actual ages. Thus Luke Skywalker and Mark Hamill are both 63 now. That’s adorable and all, but not exactly the premise for a three-film blockbuster extravaganza.

In other words, the Force and the creator of the Force both considered the story over. But director J. J. Abrams is a good choice for beating a dead sci-fi horse back to life. He yanked the Star Trek franchise back into existence too, even dragging the late Leonard Nimoy into his parallel continuum reboot. I expect no less from his reborn Star Wars.

Though I do hope he’s noticed that Mr. Hamill bears more than a little resemblance to Senator Palpatine these days. Could it be mere coincidence that the ex-Jedi has made a post-Star Wars career voicing animated supervillains, including that uber-Sith Lord, the Joker?

Sadly, the universe’s greatest superhero, Darth Vader, won’t be there to save the day again.

Two Puzzles About Photographic Fiction

IndyIntoBy a photographic fiction I mean any work of fiction where at least part of the narrative is communicated to the audience via photography of some sort. The most obvious example of photographic fiction is live action cinema, although photocomics are another kind of photographic fiction that will be of great interest to typical PencilPanelPage readers.

Now, one natural thought we might have about photographic fictions, as opposed to non-photographic fictions, is that the characters in these stories appear exactly as they are depicted in the photographs that partially or completely make up the fiction. As a result, we might be tempted to accept the following two claims:

  • In A New Hope, Han Solo’s fictional appearance (e.g. what he looks like when other characters see him, and how we are to imagine him appearing when we are experiencing the fiction) is the same as Harrison Ford’s actual appearance.
  • In Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones’ fictional appearance (e.g. what he looks like when other characters see him, and how we are to imagine him appearing when we are experiencing the fiction) is the same as Harrison Ford’s actual appearance.

HanIntoBut now consider the ten-page comic titled “Into the Great Unknown”. “Into the Great Unknown” appears in issue #19 of the anthology comic Star Wars Tales. In this story Han Solo and Chewbacca crash the Millenium Falcon in a forest on an unknown planet after a blind hyperspace jump. The Falcon is irreparable, and Han is eventually killed by the locals (who turn out to be late 18th century inhabitants of the Portland area). More than a century later the wreckage of the Falcon is discovered by – wait for it – Indiana Jones, with Chewbacca, who is now also Sasquatch, observing from afar.

Now, even though the stories in Star Wars Tales are explicitly non-canonical (in virtue of a framing story we need not get into), it still seems that the following are plausible constraints on a proper interpretation of this story:

  • Everything fictionally true of Han Solo in the canonical Star Wars fiction is also true of Han Solo in the imaginary/non-canonical story “Into the Great Unknown”.
  • Everything fictionally true of Indiana Jones in the canonical Raiders of the Lost Ark fiction is also true of Indiana Jones in the imaginary/non-canonical story “Into the Great Unknown”.

Note that we don’t, of course, want to accept the converses of these statements – that’s the upshot of the story being non-canonical.

But if all of this is right, then it would seem to follow that, when interpreting “Into the Great Unknown”, we should accept the following:

  • In “Into the Great Unknown”, Han Solo’s fictional appearance is the same as Harrison Ford’s actual appearance.
  • In “Into the Great Unknown”, Indian Jones’ fictional appearance is the same as Harrison Ford’s actual appearance.

But these, in turn, imply:

  • In “Into the Great Unknown”, Han Solo and Indiana Jones are identical in appearance.

And surely this is not something we are meant to imagine to be true in the story. Of course, the story is in some sense meant to make us metafictionally ponder the role that appearance and actor identity plays in the nature of fiction. But it would be a mistake to assume, within the fictional world portrayed by this ten page comic, that Chewbacca is immensely confused when Indiana Jones appears on the scene, since Indy looks exactly like his old, now dead friend Han Solo. Wouldn’t it?

HarrisonIntoActually, things are even a bit more complicated than this. The above discussion assumed that the photographs that provide much of the content of A New Hope (or Raiders of the Lost Ark) provide us with accurate, objective, reliable information regarding Han Solo’s appearance (or Indiana Jones’ appearance) in virtue of providing us with accurate, objective, reliable information about Harrison Ford’s appearance. But this is too simple. Even if we accept the controversial claim that, when viewing a photograph, we genuinely see the objects depicted in the photograph, this does not mean that we see such objects as they truly are in the world. This point is nicely emphasized by Susan Sontag in her influential On Photography:

But despite the presumption of veracity that gives all photographs authority, interest, seductiveness, the work that photographers do is no generic exception to the usually shady commerce between art and truth. Even when photographers are most concerned with mirroring reality, they are still haunted by tacit imperatives of taste and conscience… In deciding how a picture should look, in preferring one exposure to another, photographers are always imposing standards on their subjects. Although there is a sense in which the camera does indeed capture reality, not just interpret it, photographs are as much an interpretation of the world as paintings or drawings are. (1971: 6-7)

In other words, when we look at a photograph of Harrison Ford, we don’t see Harrison Ford as he actually appeared when photographed, but instead see Harrison Ford as mediated through the stylistic, technical, and aesthetics choices of the photographer.

Nevertheless, it does seem like we are meant to take the photographs that appear in photographic fictions to be unmediated and (all else being equal) accurate depictions of the fictional characters being depicted. Thus, when viewing Star Wars, we are being shown Harrison Ford’s appearance as mediated by the aesthetic/technical/stylistic choices of Gilbert Taylor (A New Hope‘s cinematographer) and others, but we are being shown Han Solo as he really appears within the fiction. In other words, the various interpretational choices made by Taylor and others interfere with our direct access to what Harrison Ford looked like at the exact moment he was photographed, but those same choices are partially constitutive of what Han Solo looks like during the fictional events depicted by those same photographs. In short, the information these photographs provide regarding the appearance of the fictional characters depicted in the films is more reliable than the information the same photographs provide regarding the appearance of the actors who play those characters.

But this makes the situation even more puzzling than before. First off, it seems like we still ought to accept:

  • In “Into the Great Unknown”, Han Solo and Indiana Jones are identical (or nearly identical) in appearance.

since the photographs that provide us with canonical information regarding the appearance of both of these characters do depict these characters as having identical, or nearly identical, appearances. But we need not accept that:

  • In “Into the Great Unknown”, Han Solo looks exactly like Harrison Ford.
  • In “Into the Great Unknown”, Indiana Jones looks exactly like Harrison Ford.

We’ve already seen the reason: Our information regarding the fictional appearance of Harrison Ford is always mediated via the choices made by the photographer. In short, Han Solo looks just like Indiana Jones, but this is compatible with it turning out that neither of them looks very much like Harrison Ford (although they will both look very much like the relevant photographs of Harrison Ford). And this is just plain weird.

 

Starwars Land

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It’s difficult to believe that it’s already been a few years since Disney acquired Lucasfilm for $4 billion. The acquisition was about the biggest news one could possibly dream up for the entertainment industry and was quickly followed by the promise of a new Star Wars trilogy. It was an incredibly exciting development considering many fans of the iconic sci-fi franchise have clamored for a final trilogy for years. And once it was ultimately announced that widely respected director J.J. Abrams (who incidentally directed the recent reboot of Star Trek extremely successfully) was working on it, general excitement turned into eager anticipation.

The new trilogy is set to kick off later this year when Star Wars: The Force Awakens hits theaters as Episode VII of the saga. This is sure to become the biggest story in all of entertainment as the year goes on, but the truth is that the upcoming film is far from the only significant development since Disney officially took over Lucasfilm.

Perhaps most exciting for fans is the progress being made toward spin-off movies. Episode VII (and the VIII and IX to follow) is going to be the biggest and most important project in a new era of Star Wars. Yet, almost as soon as Disney gained control of the creative rights, there have been rumors of various side projects that will accompany the main saga. These rumors are ongoing, but throughout 2015 we’ve seen tangible progress made toward one in particular: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is due out in 2016. Recently, the first cast photos were released, featuring the likes of Felicity Jones and Mads Mikkelsen, among other noteworthy actors. The film will tell the story of how a rebel squadron initially sought to steal plans for the Death Star.

But the introduction of new films isn’t the only way in which Disney has already asserted its firm control over the George Lucas empire. In fact, one of its first major moves actually resulted in less Star Wars-related entertainment for the public to enjoy. Following the purchase of Lucasfilm in 2012, Disney controlled various Star Wars-themed slot machines and casino games, which alongside those related to Marvel characters were popular among fans. However, in an effort to uphold its principles of providing family-friendly entertainment, Disney removed these machines from U.S. casinos in 2013, only about a year after the acquisition.

The decision drew the ire of some in the casino community, particularly Las Vegas Sands owner Michael A. Leven. He’s quoted in the aforementioned Guardian article as saying Disney’s opposition to resort expansion (with gaming integration) in Florida “demeans them significantly.” Leven’s opposition to Disney’s withdrawal from the casino industry makes perfect sense given that his casinos often rely upon diverse slot offerings for the bulk of their activity. The Venetian Palazzo, one of the Sands group’s most famous properties in Vegas, offers thousands of slot machines in a single venue, specifically arranged in a way that keeps gaming varied and entertaining. Losing popular licenses like those of Marvel and Star Wars characters naturally takes away from the variety in such slot machine banks.

Property owners aside, the decision was also a disappointment to a lot of fans; but a more recent decision made by Disney will further its Star Wars entertainment empire in a way that no casino game ever could have. In fact, the company might have just made a move that could be even more financially lucrative than carrying on the film saga. News broke earlier this month that Disney will actually be creating “Star Wars Lands” to add to its existing theme parks. Not unlike the introduction of the Wizarding World Of Harry Potter to Universal Studios several years ago, these new parks will invite droves of fans from all over the world as they bring George Lucas’s fiction to life in a way never before attempted.

It’s really starting to feel like there’s an exciting new Star Wars announcement coming out of Disney every month or so. One thing’s certain: the biggest name in entertainment is in full control of our favorite galaxy far, far away.

Vom Marlowe on Wonder Woman, Bondage, and Princess Leia

Vom Marlowe had a short, thoughtful comment on Trina’s post, which I thought I’d highlight here.
 

I think that plenty of women notice the bondage–I certainly did. I think it’s part of the Marston/Peters charm. But it’s not the bondage itself that is the charm, it’s the way the kink is handled that made early WW so successful.

For a more modern version, I always loved the scene in Return of the Jedi when Leia strangles Jabba The Hut with the literal chains of the patriarchy. There she is, in the absurd bikini, and instead of just being this pretty cheesecake, she uses her bonds to save the day and get herself the biggest of the big guns. If she was just stuck there and then got rescued, well, I’d have hated it.

Same thing with WW. Old school WW is always getting tied up and then freeing herself, and tying up other people, and it’s all good clean kink. I’m sure some women (and men) don’t notice the bondage or ignore it in favor of other aspects of the character–such as her love of peace, or her invisible plane or whatever.

But WW is awesome in part because being female is awesome; I mean, to me that’s what Marston/Peters is all about. Being female saves the day–there aren’t many stories like that whatever the format. I think modern writers often write WW as being female as something that has to be overcome or is weird, like green hair–to me, that’s the trouble with all the reboots. The writers can’t figure out a way to tell a story that makes her successful because of her femininity (and I suspect that maybe they don’t even try, as in A/C’s version).

The index for the roundtable on Wonder Woman #28 is here.