George Lucas's prequel trilogy is nothing short of prophetic

[DerekG]

The writer/director may draw a lot of ire for his flat characters, but little is made of the Byzantine plotting in his prequels. It could be argued that the pall that hangs over these films--the rise of the Emperor--is the one thing he did right and, in light of our "War on Terror," might actually make these new pictures of his pretty damn subversive.

Let's look at the framework of the story. The saga's central villain, Palpatine, has everything to gain from the events of the first two films. In Episode I, he allies with, and summarily betrays, corporatists whom the former inspired to launch an invasion for a sphere of influence. In Episode II, these disenchanted capitalists will soon be part of a mass secession from the Republic, which leads to civil war. Interesting enough, Palpatine didn’t simply take advantage of the emergency powers given to him in the wake of the Clone Wars; we find out he actually installed a crony (Christopher Lee’s Count Dooku) to inspire these rebels (shades of LIHOP, or, if you think about it, MIHOP). Thus, no matter what is to transpire, Palpatine wins. And the fact that he's empowered by an insidious theology (the Dark Side) is an interesting parallel to Christian Reconstructionism.

I realize that the screenplays to the first two films were penned long before the events of 9/11, but Lucas has to be cognizant that his "vision" mirrors current events.

Damn it, if Lucas could write, he'd be the next Orwell.

[BrklynLiberal]

1. Maybe George Santayana knew what of he spoke...

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

2. Um. I think that's a stretch

[ragin_acadian]

3. absolutely,

Lucas's story was that the "republic" had become corrupt, and thus the trade federation backed dooku would right the wrongs by destroying the republic.

eery, isn't it?

[RBHam]

4. you get it...

Lucas has enough contacts who are in the know - he probably saw this coming a long time ago.

[T Town Jake]

5. Surely you jest....

...surely.

[thebigidea]

6. it predicts a world of soulless filmmaking where actors are just props

a futuristic, totalitarian world where films serve as a commercial for merchandising...

a nightmare dystopia where good dialogue is ditched in favor of really annoying computer generated characters...

I hate those stupid movies, what a huge waste of time. What happened to the filmmaker who made THX-1138? It was almost comical to hear him on the commentary track drone on about how THESE were the kinds of films he really wanted to make.

Well, what's stopping him from making those kinds of films again?

[DerekG]

9. Well, the Orwell of space opera anyway

I do have a proclivity for overreaching...

[FrankBooth]

7. Actually, this makes sense

I once read Lucas talking about books he thought were very important, one of which was "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich."
It seems obvious to me that this story was very influenced by his knowledge of that book (as well as another on the list, "The Hero with a Thousand Faces," Joseph Campbell.)

[OrlandoGator]

8. "So this is how liberty dies...with thunderous applause."

This is one of Padme's lines in the upcoming Episode III: Revenge of the Sith when Palpatine declares himself Emperor.

I also think that Lucas is expressing his feelings on this administration through these films.

[OrlandoGator]

10. Kick.

:kick: