Star Words: Episode IV, Part 8
May. 9th, 2019 11:38 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
matrilBack at Ben's house, we learn that the old man did indeed know Luke's father -- who was not the lowly navigator Owen claims, but rather a brave and noble warrior like Obi-Wan. Here we have the first mention of the Jedi, as well as a number of other references whose full story wouldn't come about for another two and a half decades. The Clone Wars...the greatest pilot in the galaxy...the old Republic...Darth Vader.
While we can certainly dither about Obi-Wan's distortion of the truth and the way everything shifted with the big reveal at the end of the next film, I'd rather focus on the power and eloquence of his words. With just a few brief sentences, he paints a picture of the decline of something beautiful, the tragedy that he has witnessed and the bittersweet, wistful memories of better times. One of them, spoken as Ben offers Luke his inherited lightsaber, is one of my favorites.
"This is the weapon of a Jedi Knight. Not as a clumsy or random as a blaster. An elegant weapon, for a more civilized age."
From an Episode III entry you'll know that I enjoy the playful little reference to this line as Obi-Wan tosses aside a blaster in disgust. But it's more than that. It's so evocative, and creates a mythos around a concept that could have otherwise been kind of silly. I mean, it's a glowing sword. But old Ben endows it with dignity, history and power. It's tantalizing to imagine a time when sabers were the weapon of choice. We learn from the prequels that Obi-Wan is recalling the past through rather rosy lenses, but we can dream along with him.
Lightsabers and blasters. It's a marvelous fusion of east and west, of graceful samurai and gun-toting mavericks, filtered through old-time space opera serials, transformed into something entirely new.
Next, Imperial politicking gets overshadowed by Vader's histrionics....
While we can certainly dither about Obi-Wan's distortion of the truth and the way everything shifted with the big reveal at the end of the next film, I'd rather focus on the power and eloquence of his words. With just a few brief sentences, he paints a picture of the decline of something beautiful, the tragedy that he has witnessed and the bittersweet, wistful memories of better times. One of them, spoken as Ben offers Luke his inherited lightsaber, is one of my favorites.
"This is the weapon of a Jedi Knight. Not as a clumsy or random as a blaster. An elegant weapon, for a more civilized age."
From an Episode III entry you'll know that I enjoy the playful little reference to this line as Obi-Wan tosses aside a blaster in disgust. But it's more than that. It's so evocative, and creates a mythos around a concept that could have otherwise been kind of silly. I mean, it's a glowing sword. But old Ben endows it with dignity, history and power. It's tantalizing to imagine a time when sabers were the weapon of choice. We learn from the prequels that Obi-Wan is recalling the past through rather rosy lenses, but we can dream along with him.
Lightsabers and blasters. It's a marvelous fusion of east and west, of graceful samurai and gun-toting mavericks, filtered through old-time space opera serials, transformed into something entirely new.
Next, Imperial politicking gets overshadowed by Vader's histrionics....
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Date: 2019-05-09 10:35 pm (UTC)I've been tempted to apply the last sentence of your quotation to the yellow-and-chrome Naboo fighters as well.