Serentiy beats out Stars Wars

POSTED BY: Synthetic
UPDATED: Wednesday, April 4, 2007 14:43
VIEWED: 6137
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STORYMARK

Wednesday, April 4, 2007 2:43 PM

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Originally posted by Decaf:
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Originally posted by Storymark:
Maybe. I'd agrue that Casablanca's reputation is still based more on quality than momentum, but I'll roll with it. But even so, I don't think you'll find many people calling Star Wars a classic who havn't seen it.

Don't get me wrong, it is a classic. My annoyance that the claim comes just as often from ignorance. My suggestion that Star Wars was in a similar position isn't based on the same kind of ignorance... most people don't invest themselves in their opinions. It's easier to take the majority view and adopt it as your own. Star Wars has had its reputation for a long time, and the longer it has it, the easier it is to accept it without question.

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Some of it was invented for Star Wars.

Granted, much of the technical marks Serenity has would have been infinitely more difficult for Lucas, but I must be more insistent on my views of the story itself. George Lucas is given far more credit than I believe he deserves. I would go so far as to say it wasn't really him that made Star Wars into something worth respecting, much less being fanatic about. But then the question isn't about the skill of the creator/director, so I suppose it has little bearing. I guess I'm biased in my dislike of both the success of his bumbling and the way he has damaged what he had.

Well there you go, you're letting your personal feelings for the creator of the movie to color your feelings for the movie itself.

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Ok, that was a tangent... the story. Calling it a coming of age story really has to account for all three movies in the trilogy, which is an advantage Serenity did not have. Maybe I've grown cynical over the years, but I believe most people can relate to a story about being betrayed by their government. Serenity is a story about respect. The PAX is the ultimate expression of disrespect. To be angry at someone, you must respect their ability to hurt you. To love someone, you must respect their ability to love you. To protect someone from themselves, you must decide that they are incapable of such a simple task themselves. Maybe I'm reading myself into the story, but that's how it came across to me. I wish Firefly could be included to get the story a fuller setting (as the Star Wars movies are invariably taken with respect to each other) but my vote will remain with Serenity (or Blade Runner, but that's for another discussion)

I disagree that you need to look at the whole trilogy to see the coming-of-age story. Yes, Luke continues to progress through the other 2, but Star Wars is the only film in the series that really functions on it's own, without the other films. And Luke has a very clear coming-of-age character arc through the story. Entire books have been written on just that facet.

And I don't disagree that being betrayed by the government is a theme that a lot of people can relate to, but I don't think everyone does by any means. There are plenty of people who actually think the government does an okay job, or don't care, or aren't old enough to undertsant, or whatever. Everyone has grown up, that's what I mean when I speak of universal themes. Mistrust of the govenrment is apowerfull one, and very relevant to a lot of people, but not nearly as many.

"I thoroughly disapprove of duels. If a man should challenge me, I would take him kindly and forgivingly by the hand and lead him to a quiet place and kill him."

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