George Lucas Plumbs the Depths of Nostalgia

 (c) by Mark Dempsey

Imagination is more important than intelligence - Albert Einstein

Like most of my generation, I've watched the Star Wars series since I was young. One more recent addition is the "Light and Magic" documentary (on Disney+) about how Lucas' projects produced today's special effects. Lucas and his coworkers pioneered digital, computer-generated effects, even providing the impetus to invent Photoshop, the grandaddy of all photo-editing software.

Lucas himself has larger ambitions than special effects in his films, too. At one point in the documentary, he says cultures are all founded on myths. Lucas previously confessed Joseph Campbell's scholarship about myths was one of his inspirations. Star Wars is a myth, a story that can conceivably lead to a culture. The question of questions: would this new culture be an improvement, or simply the occasion for more drama.

The idea that myths are foundational to cultures is really nothing new. There's no record, for one example, that George Washington chopped down a cherry tree and confessed he "could not tell a lie" to his father. That's a foundational myth for the USA. So is the idea that the founding fathers were some saintly men with special access to truth and wisdom. They were smart men, but seriously flawed. Many of them were slave owners. Thomas Jefferson even had a 14-year-old slave mistress, Sally Hemmings, something that would horrify the #metoo generation.

Lucas describes his pitch to Hollywood studios for Star Wars as a film that included World War II dogfights, but in space. That means that, in reality, Lucas is actually reviving nostalgia, dressed up with special effects. His "American Graffitti" film gave us nostalgia about cruising (driving around) in California's Central Valley, so that's not particularly new, either.

And that's part of the problem with Star Wars. It's just more wars--as though we haven't had enough of them. And the warfare is a throwback. The idea that space wars will include tail gunners is frankly unrealistic. The myth looks to me to be more of the same, not a cultural shift.

One interesting sideshow is the work ethic of the Industrial Light & Magic workers. They were recruited from the special effects nerds who loved movies about Flash Gordon, King Kong, Godzilla and the Kraken. They were passionate about their work, and would often work 18 hour days to produce the special effects Lucas, James Cameron ("The Deep") and Stephen Spielberg ("Indiana Jones") would use to make their movies. 

The passionate commitment to work was a driving force in the successful completion of the kind of effects now available for filmmakers worldwide. There are few such eloquent tributes to a love of work as "Light and Magic." 

One special effects wizard tells how his daughter became reluctant to grow up. He answers by encouraging her to become a filmmaker, then she can remain a child.

Is science fiction influential? Scientific American notes that modern tech billionaires are striving to make the science fiction of past eras a reality. They love the gadgets (some of which can work, others not) and ignore the political assumptions behind the technology.

More and more, I've started reading the credits to films, and not just Lucas' sci-fi fantasies, just to see how many people have supported this particular illusion to make it believable. It takes some work not to be fooled.