More thoughts on Star Wars

I already posted about why John Williams is the man. Here are a couple more thoughts about why Old Star Wars (OSW - episodes iv, v and vi) is and will probably always be better than New Star Wars (NSW - episodes i, ii and aiaiai):

Pontification the First

I have heard several people complain about the 'accentual stereotyping' done by Lucas in NSW (pronounced 'ensue', if you will): The Gungans speak a form of pidgin that stereotypes them as indigenous, ignorant, tribal people; the evil Galactic Trade Federation speaks with a heavy 'Asian' accent; the unshaven, brutal, slave-owning Watto speaks with a Middle-Eastern accent. I could hear the stereotyping, but it never bothered me because, while I don't believe in all of Lucas' visions, I don't think he did it to be malicious, but rather that he did it because that's the stereotype that lives in his mind, and as such it's how his vision played out.

But I noticed in OSW (pronounce 'ohsue') that Lucas almost completely avoids accents. Yes, there are a few notable exceptions: The Imperial Moffs and officers speak with a British accent; the Rebels speak with a flat, American accent (which goes unnoticed by us Americans, but I'm sure the Brits pick up on it). Rather, in OSW Lucas leans more on language to get across the differences in race. In the cantina in the semi-beginning of Ep IV, Greedo and Han carry out a bilingual dialogue; Jabba the Hutt speaks Huttese; Chewie...doesn't really 'speak' so much as rumble; even R2 has his own 'language' that requires C-3PO's translations most of the time.

This leads me to two conclusions:
1) OSW was written toward a more adult audience, who were expected to be able to read the subtitles. This idea is also reflected in the slightly darker look of the movies (contrast any scene in OSW with any scene from Naboo in Ep I), the more mature/developed characters (contrast the old, serious, but peaceful Obi-wan with the young, grumpy, almost comical Obi-wan), and the somewhat sex-charged dialogue between Han and Leia (contrast with just about any conversation anywhere between Anakin and Padmedala).
2) By virtue of actually having a role to fill, C-3PO avoids falling into the same category as Jar Jar Binks : that of the annoying side-kick with no real purpose but comedy. Instead, C-3PO is a vital part of the group's communications with several important characters: Jabba, the Ewoks, R2, etc. If Jar Jar had had a redeeming role to fill, perhaps he would have fallen more into the droid's 'annoying but loveable' category, rather than becoming the bane of the first movie.
3) Lucas, if you're going to make movies aimed at a younger audience, you should really leave out the dismemberment followed by burning. Wife and I were both rather dismayed to see kids in the audience at the end of Ep III.

Pontification the Second

Han and Leia are the best part of the movies.

I know, everone who wishes he were a Jedi will disagree with me. But watching the trilogy for the first time as adults, wife and I were both struck by how funny the banter between the two is as Han tries to convince Leia that she's in love with him, and Leia tries to convince Han that she's not.