The History Channel's "Star Wars: The Legacy Revealed"

The History Channel's "Star Wars: The Legacy Revealed"

As a consumate fan of "Star Wars" and a devout acolyte of history and mythology, this History Channel production held the promise of containing special appeal for me and, in this regard, it did not disappoint.

The stellar nature of "The Legacy Revealed" was due in no small part to the fact that it was directed by Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Kevin Burns in close association with Lucasfilm, Ltd. as well as the History Channel and contains generous helpings of interviews with numerous experts and scholars in the fields of mythology, religion and history. In addition, it was nominated for three Emmy Awards in Non-Fiction: "Outstanding Special", "Outstanding Writing" and "Outstanding Direction".

As most of us were able to discern from the very beginning, the "Star Wars" collective has always represented a rather broad exposition of the timeless struggle of good against evil; however, "The Legacy Revealed" pointedly connects specific dots between characters and events in classical mythology, actual events in human history and the George Lucas series of films for us in an eminently understandable and easy-to-follow progression.

For avid students of mythology like myself, "Revealed" points out specific parallels between typical, ancient "hero's journey myths" such as those expounded by Dr. Joseph Campbell in his book "The Hero With a Thousand Faces" and the characters of Luke and Anakin Skywalkers. Like the Sumerian Gilgamesh, the Greek Achilles or Odysseus, the Jewish Moses and even the Christian Messiah Jesus, the young Skywalkers begin as common, humble -- even oppressed and enslaved -- children who, pressed by circumstance and the universe-shattering events around them, eventually rise up to become consumate warriors only to have their respective paths to power diverge at critical junctures in their lives. While the slaughter of his adoptive family spurs young Luke toward his fateful role as a Jedi knight fighting to see the triumph of the good side of The Force (a metaphor for the cosmic or divine energy prevalent in the teachings of many religions), the murder of his mother puts young Anakin on the road to his eventual conversion to the "Dark Lord", Darth Vader (which is also faintly reminiscent of Satan's Fall from Grace).

As a Baby Boomer himself, George Lucas' familiarity with the themes of WW II and his coming-of-age in the turbulent times of the Sixties are, as "Revealed" points out, evident -- right down to the Empire's Army's use of the iconic Nazi colors of black, white and red -- throughout the "Star Wars" series of films. When we see the nearly never-ending, tightly grouped, precision-drilled ranks of the Evil Empire's "battle droids", we cannot help being reminded of those huge quadrants of Hitler's goose-stepping troops we have seen march past the lens in the jerky, black and white images of vintage newsreels. (Lucas even calls them "storm-troopers".) With the historical theme also of the Republic of Ancient Rome (the peoples' representatives are even called "senators") sprinkled generously throughout -- right down to the "Ben Hur"-like pod races.

Of course, in each and every hero-myth, there must be a "villain" and "Star Wars" has no shortage of them. From the Evil Emperor to Darth Vader to the "Sith" to Jabba the Hutt, we are treated to a vast array of characters whose ultimate goal is the destruction -- or conversion to evil -- of our heroes. "Revealed" delights us when it points out the similarities between Jabba and the dragons of many Celtic myths. In such myths, it is the dragon's job to hoard both the damsel and the gold. Who could forget the scene in "The Return of the Jedi" of Carrie Fisher in that metal bikini?

The mentor (a word first coined in reference to "Mentor" who watched over Odysseus's son, Telemachus, in Homer's epic tale "The Odyssey") relationship -- a near-fixture in hero myths -- is well represented in "Star Wars" by the roles of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda and Qui-Gon Jinn and carry all of the necessary elements. The mentor must not only instruct the hero in the ways of warfare, philosophy and politics, it is the mentor's duty to present to the young apprentice the object that represents his destiny. For King Arthur, of course, this object came in the form of the magic sword "Excalibur" but, for the young Skywalkers, it is a light saber -- the tool of a Jedi knight -- which Obi-Wan calls "...an elegant weapon of a more civilized age...". And, as in any hero-myth, the mentor must, before the greatest test the hero must face, also necessarily vanish or die (which all of the above-referenced mentor characters in the "Star Wars" films eventually do) -- leaving the young apprentice to carry on the essence of his mentor's teachings within himself ("Use the Force, Luke...").

Another element present in a vast majority of hero-myths is the role of "jester", "hanger-on" (or "chorus" as in the tradition of the Greek tragedies), whose job it is to provide comic relief to the intensity of the dramatic plotline and/or make observations/comments on the events being portrayed. These roles are well-satisfied in "Star Wars" by the characters of Jar-Jar Binks, C3-PO and R2-D2 (a duo which resembles to a great degree the comedy teams of old such Laurel and Hardy, Abbott and Costello or even [Dean] Martin and [Jerry] Lewis).

There are, as "Revealed" points out, however, themes within the "Star Wars" series that are unique and specific to comparatively modern (and nearly exclusively American) culture:

Tom Brokaw observes that character of Han Solo (a "loner type", as his name implies) is an archetype of the "cowboy", outlaw or gunslinger and calls all of the "Star Wars" movies "Westerns of the future". The Cantina Scene in the first episode also speaks to this interpretation.

After the battle on the fiery, lava-filled planet Mustafar (a place straight out of the Hell of the pages of Milton's "Paradise Lost"), a mature Anakin Skywalker is virtually raised from the dead by an extensive operation that makes him more machine than man -- a theme immediately reminiscent of Mary Shelly's monster in "Frankenstein".

A particularly pleasing (to me as a woman, anyway) modern "spin" that runs throughout the series is the fact that the "damsel" characters on the far-flung planets of "Star Wars" are neither helpless nor weak (as is so often the case in traditional mythology). In the very first episode, it is Princess Leia who -- when she, Luke, Han Solo and Chewbacca are pinned down by enemy fire -- grabs Luke Skywalker's blaster and blasts a hole in a grate covering an access panel to the Death Star's garbage elimination system, saying to Han Solo: "Someone has to save our skins. Into the garbage chute, Flyboy."  The "evil empire" is conspicuously devoid of women: The reason being, "Revealed" asserts, because there are none of the elements that the female archetype usually represents -- such as "life", "nurturing", "grace" or "light" -- in it, Even the name of Queen Abudahla's planet, "Naboo", is mythological in nature: Nabu was a Babylonian goddess of wisdom and, so, she is the "Queen of Wisdom".

"Revealed" also draws a parallel between the brother and sister characters of Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia and the Greek mythological twins Apollo and Artemis.

A large part of the impact of "Revealed" upon the viewer is due to the calibre of the professional experts who add their thoughts to the documentary by way of short interviews or vignettes throughout. A very partial list reads like a virtual "Who's Who" of academia, media, politics and literature:

• Tom Brokaw, Dan Rather, Stephen Colbert, Linda Ellerbee
• Nancy Pelosi and Newt Gingrich
• Joan Breton Connelly -- American classical archaeologist and Professor of Classics and Art History at New York University
• Steven Galipeau - Marriage and Family Therapist
• Mary Henderson - Author of bestselling books on American Theater
• Edward L. Hudgins - Director of Advocacy & Senior Scholar for the Atlas Society
• Dr. John C. Lyden - Editor of "The Journal of Religion & Film" and author of "Film as Religion"
• Dr. Carl A. Rubino - Computational Linguist, Typologist and author of "Alternative Universes: Literature, Ethics, and the American Dream"
• Joss Whedon - Screenwriter, Director, Producer, Actor, Composer

The insights that "Star Wars: The Legacy Revealed" brings to even the most "Star Wars"-savvy among us are truly fascinating but, even for those who have never attended a Star Trek Convention, the subject matter shows us the direction -- in a broader sense -- of modern theater and film and is very much well worth the watching...

 

I AM AN AMERICAN... (Poem)

I am an American…




Within me,
the blood of Texas martyrs flows
as one with the brave warriors
who massacred them.

Within me,
diligent Celtic kinsmen
and industrious Teutonic lines
are forever married.

Within me,
the nobility of the Cherokee,
practicality of the Scots
and Irish defiance lie.

Within me,
souls of the victims
of the Great Influenza Epidemic
                                                     live on.

Within me,
the epic war deeds
of a band of ragged Marauders
                                                     are kept.

Within me,
two celebrated families
of revered jurisprudence
                                                     are rendered.

Within me,
are mixed the vivid histories
of England, Scotland, Ireland,
Virginia, Tennessee and Missouri.

I am an American
 
                             and I am not alone…

TO KIM (wherever he may be) AND TO THE RIPPLES HE CREATED...

Creativity can solve almost any problem. The creative act, the defeat of habit by originality, overcomes everything. -- George Lois

The year was 1966. I was 13 years old and the Hippy Movement was bringing people from all over the world to a point about 50 miles south of the small town where I lived to witness its birth on the corner of Haight Street and Ashbury.

When the very first hippies moved in that anyone in our neighborhood had ever seen up-close, included among them was a little, red-haired girl (about two years old at the time) whom I came to know as Elizabeth, her mother, MaryAnn, and her step-father, Kim.

MaryAnn immediately got a job as a waitress on the lunch and dinner shifts at an Italian restaurant downtown, while Kim was a late-night cook at another restaurant several blocks away. The differences in their work schedules left a few hours on a couple of nights during the week when neither of them was available to take care of Elizabeth and I was fortunate enough to get the babysitting job.

How I loved their house! MaryAnn and Kim had all the cool records (real, vinyl ones) of the time: Sgt. Pepper, Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones. Additionally, Kim was a crafts person and artist of extraordinary talent.

Fascinated, I would spend hours watching him, learning how to make the beautiful things that he made with his hands. When I think back on it, I can appreciate how patient Kim was with me -- an eager, curious teenager who followed him around -- questioning his every move.

One day, I found him in the hallway between their kitchen and bathroom making a colorful collage that covered the ceiling and both walls. Amazed, I asked him how he created it.

Ever-tolerant, he patiently explained how he cut photographs from magazines and album inserts and the like and glued them together create a collage.

Holding up what looked like a small can of paint, he told me, “This is the stuff you need to make collages that last. It’s called Varathane® and it’s what they use on roller skating rink floors. It’s kind of expensive -- this little can costs more than a whole gallon of paint -- but, if you brush on several coats, one layer at a time, and allow each of them to dry completely before applying the next one, the surface will be hard, durable and washable and it will keep the colors from fading. It’s the best stuff there is!”

I couldn't wait to spend some of my babysitting money to purchase my very first can of Varathane® that summer to make my own collages. I’ve used up many, many cans of it since then...

On another occasion, I remember admiring a mobile that Kim made out of pieces of driftwood and shells. As was his practice, always, with me, he took special pains to show me how it was constructed, explaining how I could create one like it.

Kim, MaryAnn and Elizabeth moved away a couple of years later. I have no idea what happened to them but I couldn’t even begin to tell you exactly how many, many collages and driftwood mobiles that I’ve made in my lifetime (I’ll be 53 next month).
 
Recently, I happened to be driving past the apartment building where my mother I lived in the late 1960s and noticed that the apartment next door was open and a couple of men were working inside.

I’d long been curious to find out if a large collage that I’d made on the garage wall when I lived there in 1968 might still be there, so, I parked my car and hailed one of the workmen. He turned out to be the building’s current owner.

When I asked him about the collage, he assured me that it was still there -- adding that he’d replaced nearly every, single piece of sheetrock in the building over the 20 years that he’d owned the place, but, somehow, could never bring himself to tear out or paint over my collage. He said:

"From the first moment I saw it, I knew it was a very special work of art. It conveys the essence of the 60s so well -- those were turbulent, frightening years and, yet, in some ways, they were also wonderful, magical years... And you say you were only 16 when you made it? Amazing... I've always wondered about the artist."

He added that he believed that the present tenants were home at that moment and offered to go ask their permission for me to enter the garage to view the collage, if I wished. I jumped at the chance.

As I stood before the artwork that my young hands had fashioned so long ago, I ran my fingers gently over the pictures of surfers, flower children and newsmakers of the time – many of which I’d forgotten about long ago – and tears came to my eyes...

I could hardly believe that my collage was still there – that is, until I remembered the coat after coat of Kim’s Varathane® I'd dutifully applied to it over the several days following its completion.

“That’s how you make a collage that lasts,” I whispered to myself, wishing there was some way to let Kim know that -- through me -- his art had survived for all these years.

The skills that Kim taught me didn’t end with me, either. Over the course of my life, I have passed-on what he taught me – setting many other pairs of young hands in motion.

I’ve taught strangers, friends and even the children of friends -- many previously feared to be irretrievably lost to crime, drugs and despair -- how to make collages and driftwood mobiles.

I’ve seen children’s relationships with their parents strengthen as they hunted together along a beach for just the right pieces of driftwood to make their mobiles or thumbed through old magazines together looking for the most colorful pictures for their collages.

To think that it all began in 1966 with one young man who had the patience to teach the means of his arts to a pesky teenager who was so eager to learn. Even now, like slow-moving ripples across time and space, the influence of Kim’s art and humanity continue on their way across the surface of this huge pond we call Life...

And who can say just how far into the future those ripples might eventually extend or, in the end, how many people's lives will have been forever changed by them?

I cannot say. I am merely grateful to have been included in one small wave. . .

 "30"

 

 Photo above: A section of my kitchen cabinets showing a little of the collage skills that I learned from Kim -- along with some craft tricks inspired by him like the old silverware bent and made into handles.

If the verdict in the Scott Peterson murder case didn't scare you, it certainly SHOULD have...

Thinking back, it seems like it happened so long ago, so much has gone on in the world since then...

On March 16th, 2005, in a crowded courtroom in Redwood City California, Judge Alfred A. Delucchi formally sentenced Scott Peterson (accused of murdering his wife, Laci Rocha Peterson, and their unborn son, Conner) to death by lethal injection pursuant to the jury's November 12th, 2004 guilty verdict.*

To say that the trial was "highly publicized" would be a gross understatement. At the time, the Scott Peterson murder trial amounted to more like a chaotic, emotionally and media-fueled feeding-frenzy. It was the daily grist of water-cooler tirades, the opening story of hundreds of nightly news broadcasts worldwide and the platform of countless soapbox sermons.

Curiously (to my mind, anyway), unlike the O. J. Simpson trial before it, the Peterson trial proved no fodder for debate. Almost without exception, the court of public opinion appeared to have tried, convicted and sentenced Peterson before the actual opening arguments even began.

99.9% of the world seemed to agree that Scott Peterson was guilty; however, seemingly utterly alone in my trepidation, I questioned (and continue to question to this very day) just what crime the People's evidence proved "beyond the shadow of a doubt" he was guilty OF...

There is no question that the murder of wife and soon-to-be mother Laci Peterson (and her unborn son) was a callous, heinous and brutally inhuman act nearly beyond the ability of words to express it. There is also no question that Scott Peterson was proved to be a liar, philanderer and adulterer and that he appears to be morally bankrupt -- completely lacking the empathy and capacity for emotional attachment commonly found in most human beings -- while simultaneously exhibiting an overabundance of predisposition toward self-gratification and ego-centricity.

Fortunately for most of us flawed human beings, however, there are no laws on the books anywhere in these United States that prohibit possessing these traits in whatever measure. We all have flaws (mostly minor ones, thank goodness) but rarely are we put on trial for them as Scott Peterson was.

In the course of viewing the myriad court and law enforcement related dramas that we watch on television, we are often reminded that, in a court of law, it is real, concrete evidence that convicts the accused -- not personal opinions, innuendos, questionable personal philosophies or even past or present associations. Rather convictions should result from real, solid, forensic evidence and/or testimony by eyewitnesses or electronic means (photographs, videotape, phone recordings, etc.).

I submit that, based upon that premise, Scott Peterson should never have been found guilty of violating any law in the land because, in fact, the one piece of evidence submitted by the Prosecution in the case against him was circumstantial at best and as thin as the width of one human hair...

The Peterson case was fraught with problems from the start with stops and starts, precarious, borderline dismissive actions and questionable jurisprudence:

There was the change of venue from Modesto (Peterson's hometown) to Redwood City because of a perceived inability to provide an unbiased trial in an environment already saturated with high-running emotions. This fact alone speaks volumes as to the potential for consequential inadequacies in fair representation.

There was the shuffling of defense attorneys -- from veteran criminal lawyer Kirk McAllister to Public Defender Ken Faulkner to the pricey Mark Geragos -- each with its potential to "drop the baton", so to speak. In the last days of the trial, it seemed that Geragos was conspicuously absent (oddly coincidental to about the same time period of Scott Peterson's parents' announcement that they had filed bankruptcy due to expenses incurred in his defense).

More seriously, there was the nearly last-minute dismissal of two jurors -- one the jury foreman who, by all reports, was unquestionably the most detailed "notetaker" during the trial (and who, afterwards, confessed his predisposition toward a "not guilty" vote) and the other, whose alleged, momentary contact with the brother of the victim one day as all of the people concerned with the case filed into the courthouse (which could have been as an innocuous an exchange as excusing herself for bumping into him) was brought to the attention of the Court by, of all means, a "Court TV" videotape. So emotionally charged was the atmosphere surrounding this case, the dismissed foreman even cited actual "death threats" made to him from unrevealed sources which  contributed to his uncontested acceptance of dismissal from the jury.

One of the replacement jurors was even seen yawning -- presumably in boredom with the testimony being given at the time -- after being placed on the jury.

Adding to the melee was the attorney for witness (and fellow adulterer with Scott Peterson) Amber Frey: The flamboyant and outspoken Gloria Allred who, unlike all of the other participants, was not bound by the gag order prohibiting communications about the case to outsiders -- especially to the Press  -- a circumstance of which Ms. Allred took full advantage.

Ms. Frey's cooperation with law enforcement during the investigation surrounding Peterson is nearly legendary (a made-for-TV movie having been produced and shown on a primetime network). Unfortunately for the Prosecution, however, despite her repeated attempts via covert means to wrangle some statement -- any statement -- out of Peterson that might serve as a confession to the crime, Ms. Frey came up empty-handed.

When asked to be specific as to which aspect(s) of the Prosecution's case most influenced their guilty determination and subsequent death-penalty decision, copious media statements made by members of the jury after the trial ended cited Peterson's alleged "lack of [display of?] emotion", his penchant for telling untruths and his extensive contact with Amber Frey in the weeks following his wife's disappearance -- as well as a perceived lack of responsibility in protecting his wife and son from harm -- as deciding factors. Even by their own admissions, these factors were "hundreds of small 'puzzle pieces' of circumstantial evidence".

Fortunately for the entire American judicial system, "circumstantial evidence" has never been admissible for consideration in rendering a verdict in a U.S. court of law -- "fortunately", that is, with the glaring exception, it appears, of the Scott Peterson murder trial...

In fact, in support of their decision in the case, not one of the jurors cited the only real, solid piece of forensic evidence possessed by the Prosecution: The presence of a solitary human hair (determined by testing to have belonged to the victim, Laci Peterson) on a pair of pliers in a boat belonging to Scott Peterson.

Convincing argument could made that even this piece of evidence was entirely circumstantial.

One can imagine a hundred ways in which a single hair belonging to a man's wife could find its way onto pair of pliers that later wound up in his boat.

No testimony was ever offered claiming Laci had never set foot in the boat nor used the pliers. It is entirely possible she used the pliers at some previous and/or she was present in the boat (with or without Peterson) on many occasions and, during one of these occasions, her hair got on the pliers. There is simply no way to prove otherwise. This represents the textbook litmus test for "circumstantial evidence": A circumstance surrounding the evidence presented that could likely make it totally unrelated to the crime in question.

Yes, Scott Peterson is unquestionably a cold-hearted "cad" who cheated on his wife even as she carried their child in her womb and a liar, to boot -- but, try to imagine yourself in a similar scenario wherein you are absolutely, without question, NOT guilty of murdering your spouse...

Imagine, if you will, your local District Attorney dredging up every, single questionable conversation you have ever had with anyone about your relationship with your spouse and, indeed, the appearance of appropriateness of every relationship you have or have ever had with anyone.

Imagine just for a moment that law enforcement is scrutinizing every move you make -- no matter how inconsequential -- for the weeks and months following the shock of your spouse's murder under a microscope colored by their predetermination of your guilt and fueled by their great need to produce the perpetrator to quell the public's fear for its safety...

Ask yourself: Would the presence of one, solitary hair from my spouse's head on some object owned by me be enough to justify my receiving that lethal injection? If you are honest with yourself and the rest of the world, you must answer with a resounding "NO!".

The fact that Scott Peterson is where he is right now should give all of us -- each and every citizen of the United States -- cause to fear for our lives...


---------------------------
* Actually "verdicts" since Peterson was convicted of first-degree murder under special circumstances for his wife and second-degree murder for their unborn child.