Speculations on Lewis' opinion of Star Wars

[Guest]

Forgive me if this is not the correct forum for this quesion.

What do you think Lewis would think of the Star Wars universe? I know that Lucas is heavily influenced by Joseph Campbell's writings. Would Lewis see Star Wars as a great modern myth of good triumphing over evil, or would he consider the movies as a harmful vehicle for Campbell's ideas?

[Alan]

[Bill]

[a_hnau]

I think Lewis would have had things to say about "The Force" - which (in the films) has a good side and a bad side. Probably this is pure Dualism. (although - correct me if I'm wrong - didn't "The Force" actually turn out to be to do with some kind of microorganisms in the blood? sounds a bit like the 'is God a virus' question?)

I'm mostly reminded of the debate between Ransom and Weston in Perelandra where Weston has effectively called the Dark Powers into him, and is trying to convince Ransom that all spirituality, and all spirits, are the same.

This is what irritates me about Harry Potter (tho' I love watching the films as entertainment) - there seems to be no attempt to explain the source or the moral value of the magic and power that is freely used in the films, but they assume that there is moral good (represented by Dumbledore, Harry, Hermione, and Hagrid) and moral evil (represented by Voldemort and Malfoy), without actually saying from where the distinction arises (except that God is completely left out - Lewis's 'argument from morality' is of course fundamentally that you can't have moral absolutes without a personal Supreme Being)

[Guest]

[a_hnau]

Hmmm, thanks. I don't know about anyone else, but this rather disillusioned me about The Force - if a Christian is supposed to have any illusions about a thing like that? :)

[AslansGirl]

You know, as much as I loved those movies when I was little, the older I get the more I think they were rather poorly thought up. I don't claim to be an expert. There are allot of confusing things, everything is very vague, not allot of consistency. Lukas seems to be making things up as he goes along. They don't have to make sense as long as there is a cool light-saber duel at the end (which was the only thing that saved Episode II from being a total waist of time IMO.)

[a_hnau]

I think you're right. I'm reminded, though, of two things Lewis said. He wrote (while discussing what, if any, fiction - 'falsehoods' - we should tell children) that there's no point in withholding stories of boogie men from children, they'll think up enough things to be afraid of - we should tell them about fictional bad guys as long as we also tell them about fictional heroes who beat the bad guys so they have some hope when they are afraid. He also said that if you deprive people of spiritual food (where I'm applying this to things like The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, stories that embody true myths) they will gobble poison (stories that seem to them, like Star Wars, to offer meaning but in fact lead down blind alleys). I would put things like X-Files in this category too (though I was astonished by the quote they gave Sculley right at the end - "We were searching for God, but I think He's been here all along").

[Kanakaberaka]

[K_Grape]

[Kanakaberaka]

[Guest]

[magpie]

[Solomons Song]