Star Wars on Trial (5 page)

Fantasy, by contrast-real fantasy, not the mocked-up pseudo-me dieval horseshit Some People like to pretend encompasses its whole range-is about what already is. It's not about what we might become; it's a metaphor for who we already are.

Each of us.

Fantasy's landscape is the map of our dreams; it is peopled with our personal monsters, and the struggles of its heroes are metaphors for our own.

Which brings us back to Truth.

Now, I have to tell you something about what I mean by Truth, too. I'm not talking about engineer's truth, here: the kind of truth that is visible by microscope, measurable by laser balance or quantifiable by any contortion of mathematics. That kind of truth is commonly referred to as fact, and as such has no need for the uppercase T. There is another, dicier aspect of reality also commonly referred to as truth, and that is the kind that we turn to courts and juries to decide. These are truths that are still describable in plain language, but about which there may be legitimate disagreement, because they can't be reduced to straightforward observation, or measurement. Guilt or innocence, proportional blame-these are what we call decidable questions. Ones that have more or less final answers. That's what we're pretending we're up to here. But we're just pretending.

Because that's still lowercase truth.

When you get to Truth, in the upper case, you face questions of meaning. Maybe I should say Meaning. Uppercase Truth deals with Who We Are, and What It All Means.

That's when direct language begins to fail. Closing in on that kind of Truth, direct statement falters on asymptotic approach-the closer you get, the less useful it becomes. You need imagery to even get into the atmosphere, and metaphor for landing gear.

Which brings us back to Star Wars.

Because uppercase Truth is the real subject of Star Wars. Not who we might be, or what might happen someday, or what ought to happen or what we should worry about happening in the future. Star Wars isn't about the future.

There's a reason why the whole saga takes place "a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away....

Its not anchored in time or place. It's not about some other galaxy. It's not about the future, or about 1977, or 1980, or 1983, 1999, 2002 or 2005. It's about wherever is here, and whenever is now.

That's a function of myth, and make no mistake: Star Wars is and always has been exactly that. Not only myth, but arguably (and argue is exactly what we'll be doing here, isn't it?) the most powerful mythic cycle of the twentieth century.

The opening passage of the Tao Te Ching is commonly translated "The Name that can be named is not the Eternal Name," but-as with all works that deal with Truth-the Tao Te Ching is elliptical, and metaphoric. That particular passage might also be translated, for example, as "The Way that can be weighed is not the Eternal Way"

It's worth noting that Stephen Mitchell, in his seminal translation, noted (as George Lucas seems very likely himself to have been aware) that the passage can also be translated as "The Force that can be forced is not the Eternal Force."

Star Wars is about Big Questions.

That's why we bother.

This is why it's worth your time to bother, too:

Because when you get to Truth, you don't get (pace Regis Philbin) any final answers. You can't measure it, and you can't trust a jury of your peers to decide the question.

Only you can decide what it means, because in the end, what it means ... is what it means to you.

THE COURTROOM

DROID JUDGE: Welcome, ladies, gentlemen, clones, droids and other sentient organisms. You all know why we are here. A series of charges have been made against the multimedia empire known as Star Wars. These charges are as follows:

CHARGE #1: The Politics of Star Wars Are Anti-Democratic and Elitist.

CHARGE #2: While Claiming Mythic Significance, Star Wars Portrays No Admirable Religious or Ethical Beliefs.

CHARGE #3: Star Wars Novels Are Poor Substitutes for Real Science Fiction and Are Driving Real SF off the Shelves.

CHARGE #4: Science Fiction Filmmaking Has Been Reduced by Star Wars to Poorly Written Special Effects Extravaganzas.

CHARGE #5: Star Wars Has Dumbed Down the Perception of Science Fiction in the Popular Imagination.

CHARGE #6: Star Wars Pretends to Be Science Fiction, but Is Really Fantasy.

CHARGE #7: Women in Star Wars Are Portrayed as Fundamentally Weak.

CHARGE #8: The Plot Holes and Logical Gaps in Star Wars Make It Ill-Suited for an Intelligent Viewer.

(Noise in the courtroom grows as the charges are read.)

DROID JUDGE: (hammering his gavel) Quiet down, quiet down. I intend to run this courtroom in a fair and disciplined fashion, and that means no outbursts from the gallery. Yes, I'm looking at you, Wookiees. Now, to begin, counselors will make their opening statements.