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Now when I talk about SW, I have to specify the old ones!

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I was at a party the other night, and couple guys were talking about if anyone saw King Kong. They then went on to say, "King Kong is not as good as Lord of the Rings."

I then said, "Which did you like better Lord of the Rings or Star Wars?"

He replied, "Of course Lord of the Rings, it is so much better."

I then said, "No, not the new SW movies, the old ones with Han Solo & Luke Skywalker."

He then said, "Oh, the old ones.........those movies are still great, I would probably take them over Lord of the Rings. I thought you were talking about the ones with Jar Jar!"

I then shook my head, "I don't recognize the ones with Jar Jar."

Just the fact that it is now the trilogy of Jar Jar, tells me it is a punchline now, and to everyone you have to specify older SW films and newer SW films if you talk about them now.

Can we send the PT to Kamino, and get Syfo-Dyas to erase it from the movie history files!

The cocky librarian could say, "If you can't rent the PT at Blockbuster Video, then it must not exist!"
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Anytime I tell people that I am a Star Wars fan I ALWAYS make sure that I tell them "The original trilogy, not that prequel crap." The fact that I have to do that is painful enough. Damn you Lucas.
"I am altering the movies. Pray I don't alter them any further." -Darth Lucas
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Originally posted by: CO

Can we send the PT to Kamino, and get Syfo-Dyas to erase it from the movie history files!


You might be unlucky though, and the Kaminoans might clone it instead.
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hopefully the prequel hype will die down and star wars will be remembered again as the original films
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Originally posted by: battlewars
hopefully the prequel hype will die down and star wars will be remembered again as the original films


Lucas won't let it, I am sure of that. The 3D Clone Wars series, the live-action series, the video games, and his planned 3D theatrical releases of all six will prevent that from happening.
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Originally posted by: Adamwankenobi
Originally posted by: battlewars
hopefully the prequel hype will die down and star wars will be remembered again as the original films


Lucas won't let it, I am sure of that. The 3D Clone Wars series, the live-action series, the video games, and his planned 3D theatrical releases of all six will prevent that from happening.



zzzzzzzz

"Yub Knub" by Warrick Davis
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i meant after the shows are over, hopefully itll go back
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Originally posted by: battlewars
i meant after the shows are over, hopefully itll go back


Well, yeah, then I'm sure it'll die out. All of star wars will die out then.
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I think that the OT will remain strong. The PT is popular now because, well, it is popular. It is the most recent. But what is everyone talking about? That is right - ROTS. Nobody is talking about TPM or AOTC. Why? Because they are 6 and 4 years old respectivly.

In 15 years lets see how well the PT holds up against the OT. I'm pretty sure that most people will be identifying again with OT.
"I am altering the movies. Pray I don't alter them any further." -Darth Lucas
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I honestly believe that all of SW will fade away eventually. Not that it will become unknown, but that it will not be as well known as ANY of it is now. People will look at SW as a whole and say "Yeah, those were fun classics." But they will be regarded as, say, Indiana Jones is now. People will appreciate it, but it won't be something everyone will continue to know about.

The one thing about the general public that we sometimes forget as that, as a whole, they aren't such film citics as we are. Generally, they seem to be quite casual when it comes to such things. As TheCassidy said "They are controlled by the media. They will simply move on to the next big thing." I mean, film buffs will still love and cherish them, but to everyone else, they'll be just another series of so-called classics from the past.
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yeah but i dont think indiana jones has permeated popular culture as much as star wars has, arent there more websites devoted to star wars than to indana jones?
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Well, what I mean is that most of this pop culture influence has come from those who grew up when the OT was released. When those people fade away, so to will SW, I'm afraid.
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Originally posted by: Adamwankenobi
Well, what I mean is that most of this pop culture influence has come from those who grew up when the OT was released. When those people fade away, so to will SW, I'm afraid.


There's a big difference between Pop-Culture and Sub-Culture. I would argue that Star Wars fandom has become a Sub-Culture in that there is a certain language we all speak and symbology that we recognize as indelibly Star Wars. There are certain key phrases and perceptions of Stat Wars that we all tend to identify with great ease. Face it - we've developed our own system of communication over the course of close to 40 years.

Pop-Culture influence doesn't really come from those who either grow up with something or cherish something. It has to be latched onto by the mainstream in order for it to permeate into the public conciousness and become something...bigger than what it really is.

Indiana Jones and Star Wars are actually really good examples of the difference. In the 1980's up until now, I still see people wearing fedoras and leather jackets that are key signifiers of the image of Indiana Jones. That's Pop-Culture influence. In the 1980's up until now, I've yet to see someone walking down the street wearing a jet-pack or a Stormtrooper helmet. If I go to a convention where a group of like minded individuals are gathered, on the other hand, the odds of seeing someone decked out as a Jedi are pretty good. Those people are, like us, a member of a Sub-Culture - folks devoted to a certain topic or entity that is set apart from the public conciousness.

Pop-Culture tends to be fickle - it changes like the wind. Sub-Culture, however, tends to thrive and survive even under the worst possible conditions. It's when the public recognizes this Sub-Culture that things tend to crossover into the realm of Pop-Culture, like the launch of a new films for example. Then, after the dust settles, everything goes back to "normal."

Don't fear the end of Star Wars. There's still people that dress up like Dorothy and the Tin-Man for God's sake. It's all good, baby.
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Pop culture mostly refers to the original SW, and for anyone that wasn't there, it appealed to the masses. Every sequel after that appealed to just SW fans.

Here is total tickets sold for each SW movie: (Source: Boxofficemojo.com)

SW (1977) - 178,000,000
ESB - 98,000,000
ROTJ - 94,000,000
TPM - 84,000,000
AOTC - 53,000,000
ROTS - 59,000,000

Now putting aside rereleases and people knowing that the movie was coming to DVD in 6 months, no SW movie comes close to the original. In the summer of 77, everyone saw SW, not just the fans. You could recommend it to everybody cause it was a standalone movie. It wasn't about the Skywalker drama, or the Emperor plotting to take over, it was a simple movie of good vs evil, and it shows cause even ESB & ROTJ just equal as many people seeing the original, and they are still universally loved by the fans. The prequels you could see the dip, and as I said, the numbers are a little lower because of DVD coming out quicker, and the PT will never be re-released, but it is still not even close the the original, and substantially lower than the OT.

Pop Culture refers to a reference that any Joe Blow on the street will know, but doesn't necessarily have to like the subject.

For instance, President Reagan named a missile defense system to save our butts from Nuclear War after 'Star Wars'! Do you think he did it because he was a fan of the movies? No, cause every person in the US at that time new what that meant.

He called the Soviets the Evil Empire, and once said in a speech, "the Force is with us!" Everyone new what they meant, but Im sure they didn't run out and see ESB opening weekend.

In movies, bad guys are sometimes referred to Darth Vader, teachers are known as Yoda, and put two donuts on your ears and ask the person whose hairstyle that is? I guarantee they say Princess Leia.

The PT had none of these, and in fairness, that is how much a phenemenon the OT is, because most movies dont have ten million pop culture references. The Matrix has "Bullitt Time"

Alot of fans forget the impact of the original SW because it is titled Episode IV now, but at the time it transcended the summer blockbuster and movies in general. ESB moved the series to just SW fans liking it, and there is nothing wrong with that, just as the PT has brought in new fans, but as you notice the numbers decrease everytime. We may think the PT lovers audience is huge, but I am starting to have my doubts. Think how many of us seen the PT in the movies, some of us saw it twice, and most of us here don't like it or love it. And it still isn't up to the OT numbers, so I am starting to believe that the PT lovers may be alittle smaller than even I thought it was during this run of movies.
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The OT had such an impact because it was new and groundbreaking. By the time the PT rolled around, it naturally wasn't that big of a deal to the general public. For the most part, they probably only were interested in TPM and ROTS, as the media wanked them to death. And then of course, there were the original fans, who had in their heads what the PT would be like. And when it didn't deliver their expectations, well, things turned nasty.
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Originally posted by: Adamwankenobi
Originally posted by: CO

Can we send the PT to Kamino, and get Syfo-Dyas to erase it from the movie history files!


You might be unlucky though, and the Kaminoans might clone it instead.


From SW.com:

Though outwardly polite, the Kaminoans foster an intolerance of imperfection. They see such flaws as potential poisons to an ideal gene pool. They closely monitor their cloning projects for any deviations in biochemistry, subjecting wayward clones to extensive conditioning to pull them back in line.


I highly doubt the Kaminoans would want to clone something as bad as the PT. Or, they would make it better before they did.

I have a bad feeling about this...
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i truly think star wars will always be around only because it tapped into myth for the american audience. cant say the same thing for indiana jones even if they are considered better films
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Originally posted by: CO The Matrix has "Bullitt Time"




what's that? a CG Steve McQueen?


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Originally posted by: battlewars
i truly think star wars will always be around only because it tapped into myth for the american audience. cant say the same thing for indiana jones even if they are considered better films


Great! I guess since I'm Canadian I just don't get it so I may as well fuck off.

Actually, I think I'll do that anyway because this place and Star Wars in general have become a real drag.
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It's just that typical american ethnocentricity. A flaw more and more common among americans these days.
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Originally posted by: battlewars
how do you know i didnt mean north america?


Even that is ethnocentric, as Star Wars has had a huge impact literally all around the world (most places, but not all).
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anyways all i meant was that americans have star wars the same way greeks have their myths, whats the big deal? i never said no one else can be affected by it
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Originally posted by: battlewars
anyways all i meant was that americans have star wars the same way greeks have their myths, whats the big deal? i never said no one else can be affected by it


I understand what you meant, but it is very true about American ideology. Americans have a very strong tendancy to assume everything is meant for them or effects only them. It's a flaw of the culture.
"I am altering the movies. Pray I don't alter them any further." -Darth Lucas