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Star Wars as Pulp Sci-Fi
mikelove writes "Salon has an article arguing that Star Wars owes its origins to pulp science fiction and not Joseph Campbell-esque mythology. Finally SOMEONE is realizing this... Also makes the suggestion that Lucas/Kasdan didn't really write The Empire Strikes Back, which makes a certain amount of sense when you compare it to Lucas' other screenplays."
A good companion to this article is another Salon Article that ran in 1999 by David Brin. Excellent read on why Star Wars' morality sucks. :)
Sometimes it's best to just let stupid people be stupid.
Joseph Campbell is a scholar of mythology and heroic fiction, and has published a number of books on the subject. His main point (and here I distill overmuch) is that there are certain classic heroic/mythic themes that ring a chord across all cultures.
You are correct that John W. Campbell was the editor of Astounding and Analog in its heyday, and did much to further the careers of the likes of Isaac Asimov, Gordon Dickson, Frank Herbert and numerous others. But the reference to Joseph Campbell was correct.
-- Alastair
You obviously haven't seen Hidden Fortress. I bought it a few months ago because I had heard the same thing you did. It's not true. If I hadn't been told of the Star Wars connection, I wouldn't have noticed it on my own. It's about a princess, protected by a general, fleeing a rival kingdom that has conquered her own. Two stupid peasants provide comic relief along the way. Not exactly a direct copy of SW.
If you want American movies that blatantly steal from Asian films, watch Resevoir Dogs and City on Fire back to back.
-B
Better yet, compare the Kurosawa versions with their American remakes:
Seven Samurai vs. The Magnificant Seven
Yojimbo vs. A Fist Full Of Dollars
Hidden Fortress vs. Star Wars
I guess Lucas' ego grows in proportion to the profits from this franchise. Hey, anybody notice how much Episode I crap is still stuck in toy stores?
Actually, most of Kurosawa's works have been translated into inferior Western films. Mind you, he did borrow from Shakespear's plays King Lear (Ran), and Macbeth (Throne of Blood). Seven Samuri = The Magnificent Seven, The Hidden Fortress = Star Wars, Yojimbo = Fistful of Dollars, Sanjuro = For a Few Dollars More. At least Scorcese had the decency to show up in Dreams just before Kurosawa's death!
John Maynard Keynes: "When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do?"
Why overanalyze it? It just ruins it.
I doubt that anyone with more than a passing acquaintance with written science fiction would want to over-analyze Star Wars. It's bloody obvious. Tatooine = Dune. Coruscant = Trantor = Rome. Jedi Knights = Lensmen. Luke = the callow kid starring in 90% of SF...
The thing is, somehow this Joseph Campbell (not to be mistaken for the great magazine editor of the "Golden Age") won't admit to ever reading anything just for fun in his whole life, and so is unaware of all the SF stories Lucas "sampled". Instead, he goes back to the ancient myths -- which are the same sort of stories as bad SF writing, but age has made them academically respectable. And Lucas suddenly discovers his work becoming respectable among the snooty crowd, and is lapping it up...
I would mod down dumbasses like you who didn't read the article. Nowhere in the article does it claim lucas wrote the Empire Strikes Back, and in fact it does claim Leigh Bracket and Kasdan did. Instead you read the comments and think you know what the article says. Guess what, he claimed Bracket wrote most of Empire Strikes Back, and that Kasdan and Lucas cowrote Return of the Jedi, the weakest of the series.. (until the phantom menace)
Oh well, you're a dumbass thats all I have to say.