Neal Stephenson on Star Wars in the NYT

SnapShot writes "Neal Stephenson has an editorial in the New York Times about the difference between the old Star Wars and the new Star Wars, and the difference between geeking out and vegging out. Oh, and computer scientists and engineers are the Jedi of the U.S." From the article: "Likewise, many have been underwhelmed by the performance of Hayden Christensen, who plays Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader. Only if you've seen the "Clone Wars" cartoons will you understand that Anakin is a seriously damaged veteran, a poster child for post-traumatic stress disorder. But since none of that background is actually supplied by the Episode III script, Mr. Christensen has been given an impossible acting task. He's trying to swim in air."

Comments

end of an era

[no_opinion]

His last statement about the end of the U.S. as a major force resonated with me. I've been thinking about the fact that it's becoming harder for us to compete in a global marketplace since China etc., can build pretty much anything we can for less. It seems like the only export that other countries can't replace to the same extent is entertainment media (movies, music). Granted there are always regional creators (like Bollywood), our movies and music are big hits overseas and it's rarely the other way around. However, those products are so easy to pirate, what's our major export in 10 years time? Without spending money to bring ourselves back into the technological lead vs China, India, Japan, and Russia it's certainly not going to be IT. And without changing our attitude about protecting IP, it's not going to be movies, music, games, or software.

Re:Truth

[daeley]

Think about it like this: if a religion makes people happy and gives them a way to feel better about themselves, why should an atheist care?

An atheist doesn't. The problem arises when the believer runs around trying to cajole/convert/cremate the folks that don't believe the same way.