tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23042008.post8598087985783756374..comments2024-03-29T02:32:15.437-04:00Comments on Remarkable: The Internalization of Quest Romance and Pop CultureGeoff Klockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09080580776997273785noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23042008.post-33244081781251221082008-10-09T09:01:00.000-04:002008-10-09T09:01:00.000-04:00I would love some crazy Star Wars sequels with a d...I would love some crazy Star Wars sequels with a dysfunctional ancient Luke. Get Aronofsky to do it the second Lucas keels over.Jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14740669500899738381noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23042008.post-24286405825507676572008-10-08T13:54:00.000-04:002008-10-08T13:54:00.000-04:00ben -- glad to have you start commenting. Keep it ...ben -- glad to have you start commenting. Keep it up. <BR/>I hope the fact that i am going to disagree with you here will not keep you from commenting in the future. <BR/><BR/>"A twisted but satisfying way to enjoy movies that are admittedly quite poor." This does not seem quite right. This is better: "the banality sort of has a justification" -- that's the problem. You can justify them sucking, but it does not make them suck less.Geoff Klockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09080580776997273785noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23042008.post-90479224064322791942008-10-08T13:46:00.000-04:002008-10-08T13:46:00.000-04:00I'm new here (in fact, never posted anything anywh...I'm new here (in fact, never posted anything anywhere), but I just have to comment on the Prequel thing: I personally LOVE the fact that episodes 1-3 are sort of blissfully unaware of any shift to internal in popular culture. In fact, if anything, they are determined to go backwards.<BR/><BR/>There's a sweet, if maybe somewhat perverse, symmetry to it -- they precede the original trilogy not only chronologically but also in terms of the development of popular culture. For example, compared to Han's pursuit of Leia, Anakin's quest for Padme can only described as banal, reduced to this kind of medieval troubadour worship. But viewed in this context, the banality sort of has a justification. It's the "yesteryear", "the simpler times", "the golden age", whatever you want to call it.<BR/><BR/>A twisted but satisfying way to enjoy movies that are admittedly quite poor. Now the sequels, those should not only be made but made awesome. I expect revisionary masterpieces. Internalized to the extreme. Yeah, it won't happen, but symmetry sort of demands it.Ben Valpohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00526571278787361745noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23042008.post-1149262522888541612008-10-08T10:26:00.000-04:002008-10-08T10:26:00.000-04:00Streebo,That would be up to Geoff. Geoff, you want...Streebo,<BR/><BR/>That would be up to Geoff. Geoff, you want to peruse the paper? (I'll get the student's permission of course)<BR/><BR/>And Geoff,<BR/><BR/>Why did Star Wars have to grow up?<BR/><BR/>I mean, saying that the Star Wars prequels should have been 'internalized' ... isn't that kind of like saying "It was fine for Homer to write the Illiad as an epic poem... but the Oddessey should have been realistic prose fiction"?<BR/><BR/>Don't get me wrong, I would LOVE to see someone take the Sci-Fantasy genre of Star Wars to this next level... I just don't see why Star Wars had to do it.<BR/><BR/>Can't Star Wars just be Star Wars?<BR/><BR/>(and, yes, I concede that Episode I is terrible... but that has more to do with stiff acting, horrible dialogue and an obnoxious, perhaps even pseudo-racist alien character than in the approach to the actual story)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23042008.post-82061492770768400422008-10-07T20:11:00.000-04:002008-10-07T20:11:00.000-04:00Thanks for sharing, Geoff. Thank you for the kind...Thanks for sharing, Geoff. Thank you for the kind shout out.<BR/><BR/>Scott - is there any way you can post the rest of this paper about The Mist? It sounds intriguing.Streeboramahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13246099190675220076noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23042008.post-64220862502377325312008-10-07T19:18:00.000-04:002008-10-07T19:18:00.000-04:00Actually, I just had a student turn in a paper tha...Actually, I just had a student turn in a paper that argues for the reverse of this in a review that he wrote of The Mist.<BR/><BR/>"Trying to inject depth into a movie about giant bugs and octopi that rip people apart is a bold idea, but it just doesn't work as well as Darbont may have originally dreamt [...]what Darabont does in the long run is to try to turn what should be 'movie' into a 'film'" (the overall paper laments that a what is,essentially, a good 'monster flick' is ruined by attempts to give it emotional depth... he also makes a good point about the designs of the monsters... and, yes, this is my star pupil for the semester... he's the kid with the Hardee's comment from last week)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23042008.post-30098546945013466532008-10-07T18:49:00.000-04:002008-10-07T18:49:00.000-04:00This actually reminds me of something we just cove...This actually reminds me of something we just covered in class which was the shift from Romantic Fiction to Realistic fiction... which would be, basically, that the conflict is not only internal but more subtle.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23042008.post-33543327481717524902008-10-07T18:48:00.000-04:002008-10-07T18:48:00.000-04:00The Office does this in relation to all other sit-...The Office does this in relation to all other sit-coms.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23042008.post-17070262307575429972008-10-07T16:20:00.000-04:002008-10-07T16:20:00.000-04:00"the Star Wars Prequels should have been to the Or..."the Star Wars Prequels should have been to the Original Star Wars movies what Battlestar is to Star Trek."<BR/><BR/>I agree 100% - pop culture grew up and Lucas didn't. Hence the universal disappointment. <BR/><BR/>I would add the following: in the realm of Tolkien-inspired epic fantasy (the Professor is to the genre what Wordsworth is to poetry), George R. R. Martin's <I>A Song of Ice and Fire</I> does this in relation to <I>Lord of the Rings</I>.Patrick Sandershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02410343584813208100noreply@blogger.com