Please contact us
with corrections
or breaking news
Star Wars: A Sacred Text for the Generations? by Lorenzo Estébanez
'Star War' fanatic Lorenzo Estébanez recalls when he was converted to the cult of "Star Wars" when observing a boy, about his own age at the time, at the Yoda Fountain, the Letterman Digital Arts Center, the Presidio, San Francisco. photo: D. Blair
My introduction to the "Star Wars"' universe—my Road to Damascus moment—happened when I was three, but it’s one of the most vivid memories I have. Sitting in the dentist's office, entranced by a pop-up book of the "Empire Strikes Back," I was interrupted by my father suddenly telling me this book was in fact a movie. Astounded, I naturally demanded to see it and, by that weekend, "Star Wars," 1977, was in our VCR, and I was planted in front of the TV, without a clue that what I was about to see would change the course of my childhood.
From the opening credit crawl, I was a boy transfixed. My mother read me the description of the intergalactic civil war, and within minutes I had witnessed a space battle, a beautiful princess in danger, robots, lasers, and a terrifying villain in black named Darth Vader. For the next 120 minutes, I experienced every emotion a four-year-old boy is capable of having. When it was over, I begged my parents to let me watch it again but it was bedtime, so I begrudgingly followed their orders to retire. I arose at the crack of dawn, however, and watched "Star Wars" again. And then, once more, the first three of at least a half a hundred of viewings.
So it was that in a time long ago, in a city far, far away called Brooklyn, "Star Wars" became this boy's religion.
Alas, that time was during the franchise’s fallow years. Between the release of "Return of the Jedi" in 1983 and the release of the revamped "remastered series" in 1994, there were no toys on shelves, no animated series on TV, and no Internet enabling a global community of fanboys (and we are largely male) to connect. With the exception of rebroadcasts on TV and the occasional book or tie-in specials, these were dark days for a budding “Star Wars” fanatic.
Since I had little reason to assume otherwise, from about the age of four to eleven, I thought I was the only kid devoted to “Star Wars.” Finally in the fifth grade, a substitute teacher joked that the Mayflower landed “a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away,” and it dawned on me that my favorite movie was actually the most popular film of all time. I may have not been a very clever child.
Luke Skywalker, played by Mark Hamill, bravely stands up to evil in the first 'Star Wars,' 1977. photo: courtesy Lucasfilm
Clever child or not, I recognize an opportunity when I see one. When CineSource's editor-in-chief told me that a Marin County issue was to follow CineSource's popular Oakland and Berkeley issues, AND that they had yet to write a proper article on George Lucas, "Star Wars" or the whole Lucasfilm enterprise, I knew that meant opportunities galore may be knocking.
Maybe I’d get an interview with the great creator himself. Perhaps under the guise of talking about "Red Tails", Lucasfilm’s WWII thriller about the Tuskegee airmen scheduled for release for January 20, 2012, I could tour their secret memorabilia gallery and other inner sancta only surviving Jedi are entitled to see.
In retrospect, that might have been a little farfetched. Nevertheless, if I could charm the right member of their marketing department, I was certain—at least my three-year-old self was certain—that I could score a free T-shirt, if not a free lightsaber, not to mention an excellent article for CineSource. My editor sent out an all-points bulletin for some sort of entry into Lucasfilm and I started calling its PR offices around July 4th. It would take me a while to be disabused of this dream.
Nevertheless, I can thank the Lucasfilm publicity combine for connecting me to the wider world of “Star Wars” fandom back in the 90s. When Lucas re-mastered the trilogy for a new VHS boxset, in 1994, the “Star Wars” franchise kicked into high gear. The modest Lucasfilm Fan Club magazine became the Star Wars Insider, which I read religiously. Until the new line of action figures hit shelves in 1995, I would read the back pages of the Insider and order catalogs of old “Star Wars” figurines, just to look since there were no more to buy except at collector prices.
Since the 1994 remasters, however, “Star Wars” assumed the massive presence on our cultural landscape it occupies today. George Lucas's small changes in the remastered trilogy presaged the 1997 "Special Edition," which substantially altered the original films by incorporating CGI and new production techniques.
Two years later came “Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace”—probably the most anticipated film of all time. The teaser trailer itself caused theaters to sell out showings of "Meet Joe Black"—shocking when you think about it: sell out "Meet Joe Black," possibly 1998's least-memorable film. "Episodes II" and "III" followed in 2002 and 2005.
"Episode III: Revenge of the Sith," the last of the new trilogy, finally showed the perdition of Anakin Skywalker and the birth of Darth Vader. Meanwhile, Lucas’s meticulous control over his franchise has brought “Star Wars” to encompass an expanded universe of tie-ins, from LEGO Star Wars video games to the "Clone Wars" animated movie and TV series.
Although some may say he is just milking his golden cow, since accessories and licensing bring in more than the actual film, he undoubtedly feels it all enhances the thrall of the epic. Lucas has famously lamented the idea that films are never finished, only abandoned, and he seems determined to never give up on this story.
He did give up, however, the dream of turning Lucasfilm into a studio that could produce other directors, probably because he realized that this was his big story, that it was becoming a modern sacred text, and that it required careful attention.
Two generations of Lucasfilm fans reconnect with the stories that changed their lives. photo: D. Blair
Desperate to contact and perhaps receive some confirmation from the oracle of my youth, I was finding myself increasingly frustrated as my emails to various possible contacts were getting bounced around. I reasoned that my best chance to get the kind of answers that I was looking for was to ask the artist himself. I soon discovered Lucas would be in Europe for the season—reminding me that a season becomes a legitimate measure of time to spend abroad after you achieve a certain level of success. No matter—I only half-expected charm alone to net me a one-on-one with the visionary-in-chief.
I was particularly curious about the upcoming release of the “Star Wars” films in 3D, an advancement Lucasfilm has kept relatively mum about. A natural question would be what kind of changes are going to be made to the series in its new incarnations—a question that speaks to the unique space "Star Wars" occupies for fans and in our culture at large.
Lucas has caught a lot of flak from fans over the years, for changes made in the "Special Editions," for many aspects of the new trilogy, and for reworkings that appeared in the DVD releases.
The day I write this, in fact, Lucasfilm announced that it will replace the Yoda puppet in "The Phantom Menace" with a CGI Yoda character. It could be said that the decision enhances continuity, but detractors will say it's revisionism in the extreme to add a CGI character to a film that's only 12 years old. Or ask a nerd what they think about "Greedo shooting first." They'll know what you mean, and in all likelihood they will have very strong opinions on it.
There’s a telling moment in "From Star Wars to Jedi: the Making of a Saga," a TV documentary that aired on PBS in 1983—and my most cherished cassette growing up. Between behind-scenes of shooting "Return of the Jedi," young George is talking about how he never got to fully exploit the promise of the world he had created.
“I always felt on my first films, if I went back to make another film, in that environment, and those characters, I could make a hell of a better movie.” It may have not been apparent in 1983, but this is the sense of meticulous control over his universe led to the slew of changes over the years.
With the release of "Red Tails" a few months away, and six “Star Wars” films coming in September, it didn’t surprise me that Lucasfilm didn't have much time for the press, regardless of the devotion of this author or the fact that CineSource is the only film/video art/production magazine in Northern California. With my dreams of a backlot tour, not to mention a Sir George face-to-face, evaporating in the face of an onrushing deadline, I resolved to at least talk to SOMEONE. My fallback option on that quest, I reasoned, would be to simply show up at Lucasfilm’s offices. I pulled up Google Maps and entered “Yoda Fountain,” which directed me to the Letterman Digital Arts Center (LDAC) in San Francisco's Presidio.
Of the three first 'Star Wars' leads, Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), Princess Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher) and Han Solo (Harrison Ford), only Ford continued on a stellar career path; indeed, he become the highest grossing actor in history. photo: courtesy Lucasfilm
The LDAC, which sits on 23 acres of green hills a stone’s throw from the Golden Gate Bridge, became Lucasfilm headquarters in 2005. Their publicity department boasts that this is the first time in the company’s history that corporate activities, visual effects, and gaming were brought together under one roof. "Maybe The Man himself is there right now?" I thought. "Probably not." In all likelihood, he’s at Skywalker ranch, the sprawling property in Marin County that has been Lucasfilm’s home since 1978.
Lucas’s properties in Marin have come to include Skywalker, Big Rock and Grady Ranches—collectively encompassing over 6,100 acres. Skywalker and Big Rock Ranches hold Skywalker Sound, Skywalker Properties, and Lucasfilm Animation. Grady Ranch, currently in the process of being developed, is being held up by community reservations over the size of the complex. In addition to Lucas’s Bay Area holdings, 2012 will see the opening of Lucasfilm Singapore, a incredible building shaped like the Jawa Sandcrawler that brought C-3PO and R2-D2 into Luke’s possession.
Finally, the big day came, I got out of work at my other job early, and headed to San Francisco seeing signs of immanent possibilities everywhere. In fact, as I crossed the Bay Bridge, the NPR announcer thanked the George Lucas Educational Foundation for their continuing support and good work. Today was the day!
It took me a surprisingly long time to find the Yoda fountain which presumably greets visitors to the Center. I was expecting something imposing, with gleaming chrome, maybe a massive arch, claiming the peninsula for Lucas’s empire the way Skywalker Ranch has claimed the North Bay. Instead, the Yoda sculpture on the fountain is about the size of the actual Yoda. This is Northern California, after all. In Hollywood, this fountain would spew thousands of gallons a minute while busloads of tourists queued up to pose goofily next to Luke’s muppet mentor.
Maybe a modest fountain was a totally appropriate place for me to meditate on "Star Wars," in a Zen kind of way. "Star Wars" was and remains a film that changed the way people think about movies. It revolutionized special effects while subordinating them to the story, introduced the Blockbuster model, changed the way that films are marketed, and drew influence from everything from Kurosawa films to "Buck Rogers" serials. More than that, though, it is archetypal, tapping into something primal and transcendent in the human psyche. Lucas owes as much to Jung and Joseph Campbell as he does to "The Hidden Fortress" and Flash Gordon. I hadn't really stopped to consider it, in my rush to get a Lucasfilm contact and a story, but I noticed part of me still connecting intrinsically with those film, all these years later.
Entering Lucasfilm’s unobtrusive public lobby, I perused the bookcases and the replicas of “Star Wars” memorabilia stuck unobtrusively between non-”Star Wars” hardbacks. The awards behind glass were similarly modest; some Clios, and what looked like an MTV movie award. The only indication of the Lucas empire’s global size and success are the few magazines and books sitting on tables throughout the lobby—”Star Wars” comics in Polish, Star Wars Magazine in German, and the Indiana Jones Illustrated Guide in English and Japanese.
The author contemplates romantic notions of overcoming evil in the shadow of Darth Vader. photo: D. Blair
Standing menacingly along this wall are a life-size Darth Vader as well as enigmatic bounty hunter and fan favorite Boba Fett. Boba Fett’s Mandalorian armor looks too clean to have gotten anywhere near the grime of an actual movie set. Sure enough, a placard at the base reads “Star Wars replica – 002.” Lucas must keep the real ones under lock-and-key somewhere, but at least these are the original replicas. Maybe the actual originals are in that gargantuan government warehouse at the end of "Raiders of the Lost Ark."
I walked up to an employee and asked how people respond to the lobby. “People like it, they wish they could see more,” I’m told. Makes sense. In 1995, my father had just moved to San Francisco following my parent’s divorce, and it was my first exposure to dad’s new city. The first place we went was to the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts to see the “Art of Star Wars” exhibit, the largest collection of “Star Wars” props and art theretofore assembled and exhibited to the public. For the ten-year-old me learning to live with dad’s new life in a strange city, this was about the best damn introduction I could’ve gotten. I still cherish my two copies of "The Art of Star Wars."
Standing in that Lucasfilm lobby, the grown me wanted to see more, too. Rather than a museum-full of “Star Wars” goodies, I had to make do with some replicas. Some of which, I’ll admit, I’d come close to buying in the past. Indeed, the employee told me that there’s a gift shop “only open to employees and their guests.” My mind reels at the possibilities, but unfortunately, the meticulous control over all aspects of the “Star Wars” universe precludes me from being surprised. Almost for confirmation, I ask this employee if she’ll allow me to quote her. She winces and wags her head in the negative.
Actually, the next day a representative from Lucasfilm finally got back to me—perhaps, I thought, due to my mention that we were "going to press" in a couple of days. She offered any help that she could give with fact checking, which was great, coming after weeks of emails and phone calls. As soon as they heard that something was going to print, all of a sudden they had time to help us out! ...Hollywood.
But the positive side. I looked around the lobby for a few more minutes, picking up the German edition of Star Wars Magazine. On the cover were two computer-animated characters I didn’t recognize, lightsabers locked in combat. The two combatants were most likely from the constellation of "Clone Wars" characters totally unfamiliar to me.
The complex ending of 'Star Wars,' with Luke Skywalker confronting Darth Vader, his father, who dies defending him from the villainous Emperor Palpatine, speaks to classic quest narratives of transcendence and redemption. photo: courtesy Lucasfilm
A mother stood near her son, who seemed about three or four, and was entranced. I asked her if he loved "Star Wars." “Oh yeah,” she beamed, “we’re big fans.” I smiled at her and her son before going to spend a bit more time with the bronze Yoda. Seeing that boy, I thought about the moment from "Star Wars" when Obi-Wan Kenobi first began training Luke in the ways of the Jedi: “you’ve taken your first step into a larger world.”
I wonder if "Star War" fandom will guide and stay with him, despite the inevitable disappointments, as it did with me. "Star Wars" is unarguably woven deep into our cultural tapestry. And if it is now going to inspire a third generation of kids, does that mean "Star Wars" has become one of our culture's sacred texts? Posted on Aug 25, 2011 - 09:34 AM