Let it be clearly stated that George Lucas and his cohorts have purposely attempted to influence and indoctrinate their viewers with an eastern, new a

Star Wars: One World Religion According To George Lucas

Hating Harry While Endorsing George

“Everyone hates Harry Potter.”

Those were the words from an adult who was justifying her praise and adoration for a completely unbiblical, new age epic called “Star Wars” while simultaneously lecturing the world on the evils of witchcraft.

Mind you, witchcraft and the new age are theological twins.

But she felt safe in her endorsement of Star Wars because “a lot of good people, including my pastor, love Star Wars.” Meanwhile, she felt comfortable casting stones at Harry Potter followers because her pastor and church were nearly unanimous in their condemnation of the little Wizard.

Condemning Satan Consistently

Let it be known that this ministry condemns the endorsement of witchcraft and, specifically, the Harry Potter indoctrination. We also condemn the godless, anti-Biblical message of indoctrination found in the George Lucas film series, “Star Wars”. Consistency is very becoming of a believer.

We do not, however, condemn all forms of fiction or fantasy. We thank the Lord for blessing us with Veggie Tales, Focus on the Family’s many animated features (Adventures In Odyssey) and others that we have used in bringing up three little girls and working in youth ministry for 15 years. We also thank God for giving us Frank Peretti, Jannette Oke and the fictional works of Dave Hunt, Tim LaHaye, Jerry Jenkins, Oliver North and others. Imagination is wonderful when it is Biblical.

Nor do we condemn the portrayal of the supernatural in parable form. We believe that Christian authors C.S. Lewis (Chronicles of Narnia) and J.R.R. Tolkien (Lord of the Rings trilogy), among others (Pilgrim’s Progress, etc.), present outstanding forms of godly, useful fictional parables. The message is Biblical in the works of each of these men while good triumphs over evil without the use of or endorsement of blatant witchcraft and/or new age technique and influence.

Let it be clearly stated that George Lucas and his cohorts have purposely attempted to influence and indoctrinate their viewers with an eastern, new age (quasi-Buddhist) belief system. Serious Christians will read the evidence and act accordingly.

Pathway to Apostasy

Lucas was raised in the midst of lukewarm Methodism. The “social gospel” is a bloodless message that teaches the world that Jesus was an “example” to be followed, rather than the Biblical fact that He was Messiah dying as our Substitute to pay for our sins. As an adult, Lucas looked eastward and, being influence greatly by his Mormon friend Gary Kurtz, found commonality in the moral message of all religions. 1

The typical account of the eastern/new age influence upon the making of Star Wars is as follows:

“Lucas eventually came to state that his religion was "Buddhist Methodist." Gary Kurtz, a Latter-day Saint who had studied Comparative Religion extensively in college and on his own, was pivotal in introducing Lucas to Eastern religions (particularly Buddhism) and Native American religion, and discussing with Lucas how best to improve "Star Wars" by giving it a believable but sufficiently universal religious underpinning. Kurtz was the producer of "Star Wars" and "The Empire Strikes Back" and also did some work on the "Star Wars" screenplay.” 2

The account on adherents.com goes on to explain:

“I wanted a concept of religion based on the premise that there is a God and there is good and evil. I began to distill the essence of all religions into what I thought was a basic idea common to all religions and common to primitive thinking. I wanted to develop something that was nondenominational but still had a kind of religious reality. I believe in God and I believe in right and wrong. I also believe that there are basic tenets which through history have developed into certainties, such as 'thou shalt not kill.' I don't want to hurt other people. 'Do unto others...' is the philosophy that permeates my work." [Source: Ryder Windham. Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace Scrapbook. Random House (1999), pg. 11.] 3

The knowledgeable Bible student will recognize that Lucas has bought into the New Age lie. God is not a person but a principle of being. His use of the term “nondenominational” is not to be understood in the sense of not being of one or the other Christian denomination. Rather, he actually means “non-sectarian” and “non-exclusive”. This is the new age lie that would have us believe that all paths lead to God and that Jesus is NOT the only way as He said in John 14:6 and as Peter taught in Acts 4:12.

We are not contending that we know the heart of George Lucas. We can only judge his words and deeds, not his intentions. Nonetheless, you will never hear Lucas refer to the Cross, the empty tomb, eternal life or eternal damnation. His is an innocuous religion bent on human potential, rather than the glorification of the Savior. It is bloodless (Colossians 1:14) and without any cure for “the wages of sin” (Romans 6:23), which is eternal death and separation from God (John 3:6-17).

In an interview referenced by adherents.com and posted by Time magazine as of the writing of this article, Lucas was pointedly asked about religion by Jess Cagle. The exchange was simple:

“Q: What religion are you?

“A: I was raised Methodist. Now let's say I'm spiritual. It's Marin County. We're all Buddhists up here.” 4

The authenticity of the Buddhist confession of George Lucas is confirmed by Christian and Buddhists alike. For example, the eastern influence of Lucas’ films is included in the Pagan Invasion documentary titled, “East Versus the West.” This production of Jeremiah Films is co-hosted by Chuck Smith and Carol Matriciano. I personally asked apologist and author Dave Hunt (prominently featured in the film) about the Pagan Invasion reference to the new age indoctrination in the Star Wars films written and produced by Lucas. Hunt assured me that his research had confirmed the claims found in the Pagan Invasion documentary. 5

Also confirming the Buddhist credentials of Lucas are the many Buddhist web sites which embrace him as one of their own. We refer you to one clear example at the site hosted by Buddhist Faith Fellowship of Connecticut. One article on the site is titled, “Star Wars and Buddhism.” This paper was published by Eli Williamson-Jones. It was originally a reading. The site states, “This reading was discussed on June 5, 2005.” 6 We can conclude that Lucas has been the center of discussion at Buddhist meetings. They definitely see him as a fellow adherent.

The God of Forces

“May the Force be with you.” The entire storyline of Star Wars is based upon the ability of the “good”, personified in Luke, to defeat the “evil”, personified in Darth Vader. As anyone alive the past decade knows, Luke ends up being the son of Darth Vader. The message is simple: it’s all relative. Darth and Luke are two from the same. It’s the Yin and Yang. Notice how the definition of Yin Yang even makes direct reference to the “forces”:

“In Chinese philosophy, these terms represent the two complementary forces in the universe that together form the basis of everything: yin is female, passive, dark, cold or wet, and negative; yang is masculine, active, bright or light, warm or dry, and positive.” 7

This idea of “forces” being a “God”, denying God’s very real personality and relationship with man, is the real idea behind Humanism and the whole Secularist world view that has engulfed the minds of Americans by and large. One of the most influential men of the 20th century is John Dewey. Thought by many non-Christians to be the greatest American philosopher in our short history, Dewey’s confession of faith sounds eerily similar and demonstrates that the position Lucas holds is pervasive throughout modern American academia. Dewey stated:

“But this idea of God, or of the divine, is also connected with all the natural forces and conditions—including man and human association—that promote the growth of the ideal and that further its realization. We are in the presence neither of ideals completely embodied in existence nor yet of ideals that are mere rootless ideals, fantasies, utopias. For there are forces in nature and society that generate and support the ideals. They are further unified by the action that gives them coherence and solidity. It is this active relation between ideal and actual to which I would give the name "God." I would not insist that the name must be given.” (Emphasis ours.) 8

This is exactly what we find in the Unitarian Universalist movement. A position in total agreement with the Occult, New Age, Buddhist position taken by George Lucas and found in his Star Wars series.

Star Wars presents “the Force” as an impersonal power that is made up of both sides of all that exists. The Bible says that this Buddhist/ New Age God of forces will be the religion of the man who will come upon the scene at the end of time and envelope all world political and religious power into one oligarchy of which he will ascend as supreme ruler (Daniel 11:38—please note that most new translations change “forces” to “fortresses”, thus HIDING the coming religion of “forces” that will be adhered to and promoted by the Antichrist.). He will eventually declare Himself to be God, just before being destroyed (2 Thessalonians 2:4 kjv).

George Lucas is just one of millions who are unwittingly paving the way for this final world religion (2 Thessalonians 2:7-12 kjv).

Star Wars IS the Menace

We will not labor the point. The truth of the matter is obvious to any truth seeker. George Lucas is a decent man, as far as fallen human beings go. But his religion is not Biblical and he has filled his Star Wars film series with Buddhist/ New Age teaching.

And lukewarm Christianity will mock those who point out the obvious in an effort to simply warn the saints of the danger of over-exposure to this kind of indoctrination, especially in the lives and minds of children. But there is a remnant who is on guard. And we must be vigilant, enduring to the end.

Spread the word. Jude 3 (kjv).

— G. A. Miller

FOOTNOTES:

1 Please note that the new age leanings of Mormonism and Freemasonry are clearly documented by many former Mormons and Masons, such as Ed Decker of Saints Alive ministries.

2 “The Religious Affiliation of Director: George Lucas,” posted: http://www.adherents.com/people/pl/George_Lucas.html 8-05.

3 Ibid.

4 http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101020429/qa.html

5 “Pagan Invasion, The (Volume 4): East Versus West.” Jeremiah Films. Copyright 1991. Copy available for purchase at http://www.jeremiahfilms.com

6 http://buddhistfaith.tripod.com/pureland_sangha/id40.html

7 The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. Copyright © 1993 Columbia University Press.

8 John Dewey, “Faith and It’s Object.” One of many lectures in a series entitled, “A Common Faith.” Posted by Harvard Square Library as a page on the “Notable Unitarian Friends” section. Posted at http://www.harvardsquarelibrary.org/unitarians/dewey.html, as of 8-7-05.

“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
“For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
“For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. “
Romans 10:9-11 kjv

Meesa tink he tink he smarter than meesa

Christianing the Dark Side:
Star Wars, Judaism and Church History
by E.W. Wilder

Koenrad Kuiper, writing in the Journal of Popular Culture in the mid 1980s suggests that "[the] Star Wars trilogy creates and recreates imperial myths which serve to sustain imperial culture" (77). He goes on to contend that the Empire of George Lucas’s long ago and far away world recreate these myths for us now as, essentially, a form of social control. Since Kuiper was writing, however, we have been graced with the first in the Star Wars series, The Phantom Menace.

The Phantom Menace has opened to tepid reviews and the expected box-office success. Its staying-power has been perhaps a bit disappointing for all at Lucasfilm, but the film has definitely made a cultural impact. Interesting in light of Kuiper’s thesis is that this latest addition to the Star Wars mythology concerns itself with two beginnings: the beginning of the evil Empire of the other three movies, and the beginning of Anakin Skywalker, father to Luke Skywalker and the future Darth Vader. The genesis of both the Empire and Darth Vader in one film is more than coincidence. Rather than Star Wars sustaining an imperial myth, the new film argues for an interpretation that the series, taken as a whole, represents an intricate commentary on the history of Christianity, from its pure beginnings to its ultimate corruption as a quasi-political entity controlling much of Europe.

The first and most striking suggestion of this is the fact that Anakin Skywalker’s is a virgin birth. When Qui Gon Jinn, the Jedi master who trains Obi-Wan Kenobi, asks Anakin’s mother who the young prodigy’s father is, she responds: "There is no father." Young Skywalker is later described by Jinn as a "virgence": a virgin birth. The conclusion that is nearly impossible not to draw from all of this is that Anakin Skywalker is, at the very least a Christ-like figure. I contend that Lucas presents us with a symbol of Christ himself: Anakin’s origins are as a slave on a back-water star, one hostile to the galactic Trade Federation that will later become the evil Empire. The Federal powers are governed, much like the Roman Empire, by a senate, one that, at the time of The Phantom Menace, is largely becoming ineffective. This is much like the Roman senate at the time of Jesus. Jesus, too, came from a region far from the center of the roman government, and hostile to the rule of Rome. He was born into a working-class (although not slave class) family under inauspicious circumstances.

From his discovery of Anakin, Qui Gon Jinn takes the super-naturally talented young boy under his wing. He arranges for him to be brought before the Jedi council, who reluctantly agree to have him trained. All around, however, the Jedi agree that the "fate of" Anakin Skywalker is "uncertain." Their feelings about him are clouded, although they acknowledge his budding power. Jinn himself is described by the council as being a bit of a rogue. The parallels between Skywalker and Jinn and the Jedi council, and John the Baptist, Jesus and the Rabbis of the day becomes apparent. John the Baptist was a radical preacher of his day. Outside of the normal order of church hierarchy, he posed both a threat and was an important ally in winning-over the people to religion in an increasingly secular age. His coming presaged the coming of a greater one: Jesus. Jinn himself intends to train Skywalker, but, just like John the Baptist, his career is cut short by his untimely death. The killer in Christ’s case is both the Roman rulers and the existing Jewish religio-governmental establishment. Qui Gon Jinn is killed by a Jedi trained in the Dark Side by Senator Palpatine, later the emperor of the fledgling Empire of the other three movies. This evil Jedi, Darth Maul, is, just like Pontious Pilate, a tool of the existing power structure, used by them to further their ends.

Interesting in terms of the future of Anakin Skywalker (and impossible to determine until the two films intervening between The Phantom Menace and Star Wars are made) is Anakin Skywalker’s pledge to come back to Tatooine, the planet of his birth, to free all of the slaves. His message, just as that of Jesus, is one of liberation. His prospects as a doer of good are, in the first movie, excellent. Jesus, before being cast as the foundation of a great church, is a very hopeful figure, preaching political and spiritual freedom–even going so far as to proclaim victory over death itself. If slavery can be seen as a symbol of death, then Anakin Skywalker promises as much.

But this also points out the limitations of my current exploration. Without the two as yet to be finished parts of the story, Skywalker’s true colors as a young man are impossible to divine. We do know, however, that Anakin Skywalker later becomes the epitome of evil in the universe, Darth Vader. Kuiper contends this name to mean "Darth (death) Vader (father)," and therefore to represent that concept within a Christian framework (85). Here it could just as easily represent the Dark Father: Jesus as corrupted by its association with an evil Empire. This Empire, I suggest, is the church itself, becoming corrupt as it falls away from its Rabbinical (Jeddinical) roots to build its own corrupt European power-structure. This church helps to create and sustain feudalism in Europe, subjugates Jews and establishes widespread anti-Semitism in the name of a savior killed by Jews. The Phantom Menace therefore implies that Christ as God-the-Father becomes corrupt and evil as Christianity becomes the established faith.

At one point during the first three Star Wars movies to be released, Luke Skywalker confronts Obi-Wan Kenobi about his father. Kenobi has to admit that it is, indeed, Darth Vader, despite the fact that he has previously told Luke that his father was dead. Obi-Wan explains that Luke’s father, Anakin Skywalker, effectively died when he became Darth Vader. Presumably, upon becoming Darth Vader, Anakin Skywalker becomes part of the evil Empire. The lesson we can draw is that it was the imperial nature of the established church in Europe that corrupted Christianity: as a localized and specifically Jewish liberation movement, the teachings of Jesus were uncorrupt and pure. By blending them with the trappings of a great Empire, they became evil. By this logic, Jesus (Anakin Skywalker) dies when he becomes Christ, the Father of the Christian church (Darth Vader). We can further extrapolate this to mean that Christ’s "resurrection" is in fact a re-creation into the figure of a Dark Lord. By Jedi (Rabbi) standards, he is dead, as Jedism (Judaism) has no concept of life after death except in the memories of the living. This is evident when Obi-Wan and the Jedi master Yoda appear to Luke Skywalker in visions in the second and third films: his memory of them keeps their spirits living. The defeat over death proclaimed by Christian mythology is, as presented by Lucas, an evil thing, unbecoming of the religious traditions from which it sprang, and antithetical to a more natural Jedi-death which accepts the spirit-world of the living Jedi memory.

The influence of the Church on the psyche of Europe cannot be underestimated. Considering the anti-Semitism Christianity in Europe engendered, one cannot help but consider the obviously Nazi imagery surrounding the Empire in the first three films of the series, episodes four through six. Not even bothering to disguise the name, the Empire’s shock-troops are referred to as "Stormtroopers," the same name Hitler gave to his elite fighting force. We can only suspect that Lucas is implying a link between the establishment of Nazism in Germany and the establishment of the Church with its Holy Roman Empire, the predominant emperors of which were German in extraction. This idea would make Nazism the result of Christianity itself, Christianity’s inevitable offshoot in Europe. Under this interpretation, the savior of the Jews becomes their Dark Lord; their liberator becomes the means of their enslavement.

Unfortunately, all of this can only be speculative at this point. We cannot yet know the role Anakin Skywalker will play in the forthcoming films. To a certain extent, we can never know the true influences of Christianity on the social ferment out of which the Nazi party sprang. But the parallels here are enormous: Star Wars, taken as a series, is the history of the Church encapsulated, from humble beginnings and budding Empire, to corruption and ultimate dissolution. One can only speculate about the revival of traditional Christianity currently exploding upon America: is there reason to believe that the Religious Right will become that new Empire? Will the new war for liberation be right now in a galaxy quite close to home?

Addendum

It has been brought to my attention by many an astute reader that Darth Maul should more accurately symbolize King Herod. They are correct, of course--an oversight I should've caught. I appreciate the input, and should take the opportunity to note that the Darth Maul/Herod connection still works symbolically, representing the pathway toward an institutionalized and therefore corrupt Christianity.

Works Cited

Kuiper, Koenraad. "Star Wars: An Imperial Myth." Journal of Popular Culture 21.2 (Spring) 1988. 77-86.

Lucas, George. The Empire Strikes Back. Lucasfilm Ltd. 1980
—The Phantom Menace. Lucas. 1999.
—Return of the Jedi. Lucas. 1983.
—Star Wars. Lucas. 1977.

...it's a Trojan horse for New Age beliefs

Many find religion in George Lucas' 'Star Wars' series

By MARK I. PINSKY
The Orlando Sentinel

ORLANDO -- To some Christian viewers, the climactic tableau of "Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith" could be a slightly off-kilter Nativity scene:

A wise man rides in from the desert on a camel-like creature. He presents an infant -- perhaps the "chosen one" who will redeem the universe, according to prophecy -- to his adoptive parents. The question is inescapable: Is little Luke Skywalker a stand-in for Jesus?

"The image of an out-of-the way place, the birth of a child, the promised one, the one that provides hope -- there's a lot of parallels to the birth of Christ," says Dick Staub, author of "Christian Wisdom of the Jedi Masters."

Now apparently complete, the "Star Wars" saga is giving theologians almost as much to contemplate as it has given moviegoers. Much has been made of the near-religious devotion fans have had to George Lucas' six films, but "Star Wars" also has spawned book battles, with writers claiming the movies for their own faith traditions.

Is the series just a jumble of many faiths and traditions? A fanciful meditation on the nature of evil? Or a six-part Christian allegory about the fall and redemption of Anakin Skywalker, the central character who becomes Darth Vader?

Christian elements

Staub and another author argue that the movies have strong Christian elements, while the head of an evangelical seminary insists the movies are anti-Christian, Trojan horses for New Age beliefs.

Reg Grant, a specialist in media and communication at Dallas Theological Seminary, agrees up to a point with Staub about the Christian imagery at the end of the latest "Star Wars" installment.

"Is he presented as the chosen one?" asks Grant. "Sure. The sun is rising, his parents are gazing into a new dawn."

But using this sequence to call "Revenge of the Sith" a "Christian movie" may be "reading too much into it," Grant says. "The main Christian element of the six films is redemption through sacrifice."

There is a critical difference between the biblical Nativity and the movie's, says the Rev. John Yake: Skywalker is not Jesus.

He saves the galaxy, but he does not herald the end of an age or a final, divine judgment, says Yake, a Catholic priest and the author of "Star Wars and the Message of Jesus: An Interpretive Commentary on the Star Wars Trilogy."

What is the Force?

The final scene in Sith may come from another part of the New Testament, according to Reggie Kidd of Reformed Theological Seminary in Oviedo, Fla.

"Perhaps that scene is supposed to bring to mind the exile of baby Jesus into Egypt," he says. "There's too much symbolism" to ignore from a Christian point of view, he says, including one character's virgin birth and a slaughter of young innocents.

Nature of the force

Much of the debate centers on the nature of the Force, which Lucas told Time magazine in 1983 was God. Sixteen years later, Lucas told Bill Moyers that he put the Force into Star Wars "to try to awaken a certain kind of spirituality in young people -- more a belief in God than a belief in any particular religious system."

Some Christians compare the Force to the Holy Spirit. Others reject this notion because, with a light side and a dark, the Force has a duality. Also, as Obi-Wan Kenobi explains to Luke, the Force can be commanded.

"Theologically, there seem to be nods in many directions, from Zen Buddhism to Confucianism to Hinduism to Christianity," Kidd says.

The Force is "antithetical" to Christianity, says Norman Geisler, president of Southern Evangelical Seminary in Charlotte, N.C. "It differs on every major point."

The Force is impersonal rather than personal; its nature is both good and evil, dark and light; it offers reincarnation, rather than resurrection, says Geisler, author of "Religion of the Force."

"It's a pantheistic religion," in contrast to monotheistic faiths such as Christianity, Judaism and Islam, he says.

Worse, he says, "it's a Trojan horse for New Age beliefs. Parents send their kids to the theaters thinking they're going to be entertained, but they're really getting indoctrinated into an Eastern belief system that is contrary to their parents.'"

Eastern faiths

Although they might disagree with the term "indoctrinated," followers of some Eastern beliefs see their own faiths reflected in the films.

Dr. John Porter, a University of Arizona trauma surgeon, believes Taoism is the predominant theme.

"One way to describe the Force is the universal energy that surrounds all beings and connects everything -- that's the Tao," says Porter, author of "The Tao of Star Wars."

And much like the Force, "balance and harmony are the essence of Taoism," he says. "Both elements exist in everything -- good and evil."

When characters talk about "walking a path," and when Yoda warns Luke to get rid of attachments, "those are Taoist principles as well," says Porter, who is also a professor of clinical surgery.

However, "The Dharma of Star Wars" argues that the series is essentially Buddhist.

"The quest for peace, for justice -- I can apply Buddhism to those themes very easily," says Matthew Bortolin, author of "The Dharma of Star Wars."

"In the saga, a lot of the dialogue is about mindfulness, concentration, letting go and just the general meditation," says Bortolin, an educational consultant who waited 30 hours to see the first midnight show of "Revenge of the Sith" in Los Angeles.

The diminutive character Yoda is very much like a Zen master. "Meditation is confronting ourselves and the Dark Side elements within us," he says "Buddhism is about the human condition.

Of course, followers of many religious traditions would say the same thing. Some believers in Judaism see their view of the human condition depicted in Lucas' movies. Rabbi Alexander Seinfeld sees clear similarities between "Star Wars" mythology and Jewish mysticism.

"I remember after having learned more about Jewish tradition, I became convinced that Lucas must be Jewish!" says the rabbi, author of "The Art of Amazement: Judaism's Forgotten Spirituality."

Lucas has described himself as a "Buddhist Methodist."

No exculsive claim

However, no religion has an exclusive claim on the Star Wars imagery, says Rabbi Scott Sperling, who discussed "Star Wars" in an adult-education class in the early 1980s at the Synagogue for the Performing Arts in Los Angeles.

"Any film gives you the opportunity to read into it what you will," he says.

Now regional director for the Mid-Atlantic Council of the Union for Reform Judaism, Sperling has seen all the previous "Star Wars" movies multiple times, and he can still do a dead-on imitation of Yoda.

Among the identifiably Jewish elements Sperling sees in the series are "the importance of ancestors, and ... of wisdom that is passed from one generation to the next. And discipline, that religion is designed to maximize the inclination toward good, and minimize the inclination toward evil. Seeking the good is the highest calling of a human being."

Still, some ministers remain convinced that Christian symbolism is predominant in the saga.

In the first "Star Wars" episode, "A New Hope," Obi-Wan Kenobi sacrifices his life to save Luke. Just before he does, his light saber and Darth Vader's form a cross. In "The Empire Strikes Back," Vader tempts Luke in a conversation that seems lifted directly from the Gospels, where Jesus is tempted by the devil. When Luke rejects Vader's offer, and falls from the catwalk, he lands on an electronic weather vane, which also forms a cross.

These scenes invite some Christians to explore the religious dimension of the films.

A small Presbyterian church in Cincinnati completed the first month of a three-month course called "The Gospel According to Star Wars" just as the latest installment opened in theaters.

The course is the latest in a series, says the Rev. Russell Smith of Covenant-First Presbyterian Church, who is using a Bible study program developed by congregation members.

"Christianity teaches the truth behind these stories that resonate deeply," says Smith, who from 1996 to 2000 attended divinity school at Reformed Theological Seminary, where he was a student of Kidd's.

The purpose of such courses, he says, is "seeing the hints of truth, beauty and goodness out there in popular culture, out there in fine art and how these things point us back to God. They become a springboard into some very deep, powerful conversations."

. . .

George Lucas = Rich-ass racist MoFo

In keeping with the "Change of Format" context, I've decided to post an excerpt from my not-so-out-of-date Master's thesis.

Especially appropriate at the moment, as kids and adult across the globe throw money like never before at George Lucas and his Star Wars empire, this chapter, "Jar Jar Binks and Otherness in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace" spells out exactly why you don't want to leave little Tommy in front of the tube/screen without your undivided attention.

. .

George Lucas is a racist

Yes, this post is about The Phantom Menace, and about five years to late, but in my defense, there was no diogenesclub.net five years ago.

A lot of people have made off-handed remarks that this or that character is a racist stereotype, mostly Jar Jar Binks, but to my knowledge, no one has ever looked at the movie as a whole to notice, pigeon English aside, how racist the movie actually is.

The original Star Wars had a message. It didn't hit you over the head with it, but it was there. The point of Star Wars (or at least one of them) was that the human spirit triumphs over technology. The point of The Phantom Menace was that racism is wrong. I know this because I was hit over the head with it. Obi-Wan kindly dumbs it down for us and Boss Nass to understand:

OBI-WAN: You and the Naboo form a symbiont circle. What happens to one of
you will affect the other.

The much maligned midi-chlorians were introduced to hit the point home:

QUI-GON: We are symbionts with the midi-chlorians.
ANAKIN: Symbionts?
QUI-GON: Life forms living together for mutual advantage. Without the
midi-chlorians, life could not exist, and we would have no knowledge of the
Force.

Get it? He used that big word 'symbiont' both times so we wouldn't miss out on the wisdom being proffered. To refresh your memory, The Phantom Menace involves a conflict between the amphibious Gungans and the humanoid Naboo. They can't get along, and while they share their planet peacefully, they are entirely segregated from one another.

It's not hard to map these two races onto our own world, the Naboo are the white majority and the Gungans are, well, whatever oppressed minority you like, blacks, hispanics, native americans, you name it. So, over the course of the movie, the two races put aside their differences and defeat the moderately evil Trade Federation. And everybody learns a lesson.

Here's the thing: The Gungans are idiots and the Naboo aren't. At no point do the Naboo ever say anything bad about the Gungans. But the Gungans will bring it up at the drop of a hat. The Gungans are paranoid and unjustified in their dislike for the Naboo, while the Naboo just want to be friends. The Naboo are a bunch of upper class white people sitting in a cocktail lounge saying, "Of course I would have black friends, but I just don't know any blacks," while the Gungans are sitting around in the separate-but-equal underwater homes, blaming everything on whitey.

The Naboo we meet in the movie are beautiful, peaceful, smart, and dignified. Here are the four Gungans with speaking parts:

Jar Jar Binks
Aside from noting that he's arguably the most hated fictional character of all time, with Barney at a distant second, I don't think I need to say much about the big Double-J.
Boss Nass
By far the most paranoid and bigoted Gungan in the movie. He sends every Gungan into battle (except himself) simply because the Queen of the Naboo vaguely implies that she doesn't think she's smarter than the Gungans. But not before he spits all over himself.
Also note that he is given the title Boss, not a dignified royal title like humanoid characters get. (Lucas tries to have his cake and eat it too by making Amidala an elected(!) queen.)
Captain Tarpals
He comes close to being a old, respectable Gungan warrior, except that he says doo-doo not once, but twice.
The one who says "Theysa comin!"
Sadly, the Gungan who has only one line seems to be the smartest Gungan by default.

So basically, Lucas is saying in own his roundabout way, that minorities should stop being so stupid and paranoid and help us kindly white folk in our ivory tower whenever we ask. This wouldn't bother me so much, except that Lucas has gone out of his way to teach us a trite lesson of tolerance and equality, going so far as introducing something as lame as midi-chlorians, and he's in fact supporting the exact opposite view! Maybe Lucas has made some sort of genius Starship Troopers-esque meditation on the hypocrisy of the civil rights movement, but I sincerely doubt it.

Oh yeah, and that movie sucks besides.

Star Wars: Lucas strikes back

George Lucas: Defending The Phantom Menace

Star Wars creator George Lucas has defended his latest film The Phantom Menace against allegations of racism - and told BBC Two's Newsnight he blames the Internet for helping to create such stories.

Criticism has been levelled at the movie - a prequel to the original Star Wars trilogy which started in 1977 - in the US, particularly over the character Jar Jar Binks.

Reviewers have attacked Binks' Carribean accent - and have also complained about other supposed stereotypes in the film.

But Lucas hit back in an interview with Newsnight presenter Kirsty Wark - and blamed fans on the Internet who took an instant dislike to the new character.

George Lucas: "It's completely absurd - Jar Jar was not drawn from a Jamaican"

He said: "Those criticisms are made by people who've obviously never met a Jamaican, because it's definitely not Jamaican and if you were to say those lines in Jamaican they wouldn't be anything like the way Jar Jar Binks says them.

"They're basing a whole issue of racism on an accent, an accent that they don't understand. Therefore if they don't understand it, it must be bad.

Jar Jar Binks: Has come under fire for alleged racial stereotyping

"How in the world you could take an orange amphibian and say that he's a Jamaican? It's completely absurd. Believe me, Jar Jar was not drawn from a Jamaican, from any stretch of the imagination."

He said the allegations said more about the people making the claims than they did about his film.

"There is a group of fans for the films that doesn't like comic sidekicks. They want the films to be tough like Terminator, and they get very upset and opinionated about anything that has anything to do with being childlike.

"The movies are for children but they don't want to admit that. In the first film they absolutely hated R2 and C3-PO. In the second film they didn't like Yoda and in the third one they hated the Ewoks... and now Jar Jar is getting accused of the same thing."

Internet fascination

Lucas with Jake Lloyd on the set of the film

He believes the US media's fascination with the Internet created the controversy.

"The American press uses the internet as their source for everything, so when people were creating Websites saying, 'Let's get rid of Jar Jar Binks, he's terrible' and some of the critics were describing him as a comic sidekick, they came in and they started calling the film racist."

He added: "It started out as a way of just selling newspapers and then other people have sort of picked it up. But it really reflects more the racism of the people who are making the comments than it does the movie."

"I've never taken a position on technology"

Lucas also insisted the storyline of Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace had not suffered because of the amount of special effects in the film.

He said: "The big complaint about the first film was that it was a special effects movie and that there was no character to the story. It was a children's film, and that is pretty much the way the critics have addressed all the movies.

Lucas feels the storyline has not been overwhelmed by the technology used in the film

"We are moving into a different era in terms of cinematic experience. I liken it more to the move from painting frescos in the mid-15th century - when you had to finish that piece of plaster that day otherwise you couldn't go on.

"Now we've moved into the era of oil paintings, which gave the artist more control and more time to think about what they're doing."

Lucas also said he was uneasy about the cost of the film's merchandise - which is due to make over $1bn by the end of the year.

"It would be great to give everything away for free"

He said: "I wish there was a world where nobody had to get paid and people could just do things for free but they don't. All the tens of thousands of people that make the toys and the films, they all have to pay their bills and so they demand to be paid.

"Most people don't like toys and don't think children should be able to play with toys. But I'm a big fan of toys, and I think it helps kids be able to play and expand their imaginations. To contribute to that is I think a good thing.

"I'm not ashamed of doing anything, if we could convince Hamley's to cut their prices I'd certainly be the first person to encourage that."

Is Ziro The Hutt The First Gay Alien In ‘Star Wars’ History?

Published by Shawn Adler on Tuesday, August 12, 2008 at 5:30 pm.

He’s a purple Hutt, bedazzling in sky blue tattoos, a peacock feather nestled behind his rumbled head, a character “Empire Online””called “a cross-dressing pimp” who holds court in “Downtown Coruscant.” He’s sure to be the most talked about new character in the entire Republic when “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” is released August 15. And he’s absolutely “FAB-U-LOUS!”

Ok, let’s be straight for a second: Jabba’s uncle, Ziro the Hutt, a new character introduced specifically for the upcoming animated series, is a gay stereotype that makes what Jar Jar Binks represented to the island of Jamaica look subtle by comparison. It’s not the look or design that pushes it over the top into stereotype, of course, but the voice (performed by Corey Burden), a lispy, high-pitched twang purposively reminiscent of Truman Capote.

So how did a character who wasn’t even supposed to speak English wind up sounding like that? Because George Lucas insisted on it, “Clone Wars” director Dave Filoni confessed.

“Ziro, Jabba’s uncle, originally spoke in Hutt-ese, like Jabba and then he had a different sluggish voice just like Jabba, and then George one day was watching it and said ‘I want him to sound like Truman Capote.’ He actually said that and we were like ‘Wow!’ ” Filion revealed. “It’s a hybrid of it but the inspiration is definitely there on Capote. It’s one of those things that takes him from being an interesting character and I think really does put him over the top and does something. He’s a favorite among the crew here.”

Whether he becomes a FAN favorite, or a character reviled along the lines of Jar Jar, remains to be seen, of course, although it’ll no doubt be the latter if conversation among journalists after a screening of the film Sunday night is any indication.

But just because Ziro the Hutt is a stereotype, that doesn’t actually make him the first gay “Star Wars” character, Filion insisted. He’s actually not straight either, but biologically asexual.

(And, by the way, mark this down at number one in the folder labeled “Conversations I Never Thought I’d Have About ‘Star Wars’ Characters.”)

“He’s of questionable [sexuality] at least as a slug. They tell me that these slugs can be either male or female depending. That’s something I guess that slugs and snails do,” Filion said. “I wasn’t aware of that but I have continuity experts that tell me these things and I’m like. I guess Jabba is [his son’s] mother AND father from a certain point of view. It’s interesting.”