July 17, 2024 ā¢ 52 mins
Can a film franchise transcend its medium to become a cornerstone of the mythology of ancient aliens? Join us as we unpack the extraordinary cultural impact of Star Wars since its inception in 1977. With insights from Joe Landry, Laurie Oldford, and special guest, Larry Oldford.Ā We explore how Star Wars has not only revolutionized cinematic experiences but could also serve as a future oral tradition in a post-apocalyptic world. We reflect on its transformative influence on audiences and its potential to be perceived as historical lore by future generations.
Controversies have been part and parcel of Star Wars adaptations, and we tackle these head-on, from the introduction of midichlorians of the Force to Disney's recent direction with the franchise. We discuss how these decisions have shifted the narrative, sometimes alienating long-time fans. The debate extends to whether Disney's focus on contemporary ideologies over traditional storytelling has impacted the essence of the saga. Despite differing opinions, our shared love for the franchise remains evident, and we invite our listeners to form their own views and join us for future episodes filled with engaging discussions.
*The content of this podcast is based only on the views of the hosts and are not those of the motion picture corporations, franchises, or guilds; nor does it imply any endorsements from them.*
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Joe (00:02):
Hello everybody, thank you for joining us on Alien Talk
Podcast.
This is the show where wediscuss all things about aliens
and UFOs and, as always, wherewe push the limits of our
understanding.
Joe Landry and Roy Olford hereonce again to seek out the truth
and find the facts pertainingto the highly discussed issues
about extraterrestrial life andthe existence of UFOs.
So this is the fourth show inour series covering the
(00:25):
mythology of sci-fi, where weclosely examine the so-called
truth in fiction to find whatlies within the great
imaginations, to reveal ourintuitive knowledge.
When we return, we're going tospend time talking about sci-fi
phenomena that has touched ourculture in everything from
fantasy storytelling topolitical ideology to military
(00:45):
illusion.
That, of course, is the motherof space opera, science fiction
and action thrillers, the onethat holds the standard of
creativity and cannot becompared to anything else in the
movie-making industry.
It is Star Wars.
Not only has it completelytransformed the motion picture
experience of nearly everyone,but has also defined the nuances
of every generation since itsinitial release, which is now
(01:08):
nearly 50 years ago.
So stay tuned.
We'll be back in one subjectthat rhymed.
Greetings.
We're technically aconversation, a podcast for
curious people by curious people.
(01:28):
On our podcast, we do things just a little bit different
Every week we share a new topicand the other hosts have no idea
what the topic will be.
Joe (01:35):
Our topics are all over the place, from light and funny to
dark and sometimes spooky.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
We've covered everything from true crime,
historical events and people,the supernatural and the occult.
I like that Urban legends andfolklore.
Joe (01:48):
My favorite.
(01:49):
No matter what we cover, we try to make the episodes
interesting and funny.
Speaker 4 (01:54):
Don't mean to be the bad guy, but our lawyer said we
legally couldn't call our showfunny.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
We have a lawyer.
Let me tell you what I told ourlawyer.
Come here so I can show you howfar I can legally stick my
high-heeled boot up your Checkus out at
technicallyaconversationcom,apple Podcasts, spotify or
wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 4 (02:11):
Technically a Conversation.
We're like a lifestyle brandyeah.
Joe (02:18):
Okay, so I can't think of too many other movies that have
been made that have left animpression on the world in the
way that Star Wars has.
Everyone knows about it.
I think everyone has seen it.
The release of all the episodesspans a period of about 40
years.
With each one, the verybeginning, the opening, hits you
the same exact way as it didwith the very first one you ever
(02:39):
saw.
Now, lori, I'll never forgetwhen I first saw Star Wars back
in 1977.
It was on my ninth birthday andI just thought it was the most
incredible thing I've everwitnessed.
It truly broke the mold formotion pictures and what
producers, directors and actorscould deliver to audiences, as
well as what audiences wouldeventually come to expect from
(03:00):
the big screen at the cinemas,from the big screen at the
cinemas.
Speaker 5 (03:03):
Yeah, you're definitely right about that, joe
.
Star Wars is truly the greatestsci-fi film of all time and is
also the largest movie franchiseof all times.
I can't think of any other thathas had such an enormous impact
on modern Western culture.
Whenever there areconversations at the workplace,
a quote from any of the StarWars characters will most likely
(03:26):
be used in the conversation.
Somehow it's even been used inother movies, such as the one
called Reign of Fire, which is apost-apocalyptic movie about
dragons that have spawned andalmost annihilated the human
race.
There is a scene in that moviewhere two characters perform a
play for young children and thestory they enact is a lightsaber
(03:50):
fight between Luke Skywalkerand Darth Vader.
So I love that movie and Ireally enjoyed that scene
because that's exactly what willhappen in our future society
after an apocalyptic event.
Not saying dragons are going tobe roaming our skies, but I'm
referring to the stories ourfuture generations will tell
(04:10):
without the technology andlifestyle we have today.
So if there ever happens to bea cataclysmic event World War
III or asteroid crash orwhatever then these Star Wars
stories will eventually becomeoral tales told by surviving
humans, and maybe some peoplewill have copies of the books
(04:30):
and will later be found and read.
However, over time, the storieswill become tradition, handed
down from generation togeneration for hundreds, perhaps
even thousands of years, andonce someone stumbles upon a
book of Star Wars found hiddenaway in some jar or enclosed
airtight case, well, they becomesomething like the Dead Sea
(04:53):
Scrolls, and what I mean is willthey be referred to as a
history of a civilization thatwe knew of in a faraway galaxy,
and will the translators thinkthat these stories are just
legend or based on truth?
How will they know?
Joe (05:11):
Right, and if such future historians are to come across
some material about the saga,they would probably view it as a
mythical fable, in the same waywe do at this point in time
about something like the Epic ofGilgamesh or the Hindu
Mahabharata.
They would probably see it assomething that serves as an
imaginative agent expressinghumanity's quest for immortality
(05:32):
and for connecting with theunknown.
So today we have a very specialguest joining us who is very
knowledgeable about the lore ofthe Star Wars universe, and,
laurie, I will give you thehonor of introducing him.
Speaker 5 (05:46):
Thank you, Joe.
And that special reason isbecause the special guest is my
son, my only begotten son, as Ilike to say, and his name is
Larry and he is about to bepromoted in the US Air Force and
he is a very intelligent youngman.
And welcome to the show, Larry.
Speaker 4 (06:08):
Thanks, Dad, Very excited to be here.
Disclaimer before we start theopinions expressed by me in this
podcast are my viewpoints aloneand not of the Department of
Defense.
Thanks for having me on.
Speaker 5 (06:20):
Of course, I couldn't imagine doing this type of show
without your input.
You know, joel, star Wars islike a religion in our family.
I love it, my wife loves it andour children love it.
See what I did there.
Remember the conversationbetween Luke and Leia in Return
of the Jedi, where Luke istelling her about the Force
being strong in his family?
Joe (06:40):
Yes, I do get it.
So, larry, first of all, thankyou for joining us and also
congratulations on your upcomingpromotion.
Thank you, we're excited to hearwhat you have to offer to the
discussion tonight, as ourthesis, if you will, is to
examine the underlying humanmythology, philosophy and
(07:00):
symbolism that forms thepowerful theme of the storyline
and characters of Star Wars.
The renowned Carl Jung oncesaid that imagery, symbols and
myths are how our unconsciousminds are unveiled.
So we've been discussing thesescience fiction movies in ways
that perhaps most people don't,that being, not to focus so much
on the saga and the plot but onthe psychological fabric and
(07:24):
the fantasy much on the saga andthe plot, but on the
psychological fabric and thefantasy and that it reveals our
innate desire to get in touchwith the world of the
extraterrestrial, the world ofthe mysterious and even the
ethereal realm of the divine.
So, larry, star Wars isdefinitely a story about ancient
aliens.
We know that because of theopening text, where we see
displayed right before the start, a long time ago, in a galaxy
(07:47):
far, far away.
What is it that has made it soimpactful?
Speaker 4 (07:56):
that this movie's popularity now spans across four
generations.
Well, first of all, what Ienjoy most about the stories
within Star Wars is theirprofound impact on our everyday
lives.
It's not just the narrativethat stands out, it's the entire
experience, from the iconicsoundtrack to the meticulous
pacing and the themes thatresonate through the characters'
actions and motivations.
Take, for example, the throneroom scene in Return of the Jedi
(08:20):
.
In my opinion, this is one ofthe greatest moments in creative
storytelling.
Without diving too much intodetails, the scene embodies
themes like loyalty to family,even when things seem
irredeemable.
So Luke believing that they'restill good invader, maintaining
your virtues in the darkesttimes.
So this is when Luke throwsaway his lightsaber and refuses
to keep on fighting, strivingfor noble ambitions, so like him
(08:45):
being you know, saying I'm aJedi, like my father before me,
and selflessness leading toredemption.
And obviously, this is whenVader sacrifices himself for his
son.
The storytelling in this sceneis gripping and engaging.
The dialogue between theEmperor and Luke is sharp and
dynamic.
This is that constant back andforth between the Emperor and
(09:06):
Luke is sharp and dynamic.
This is that constant back andforth.
This creates a tense atmospherewithout resorting to exposition
dumps.
The contrast between the throneroom's lingering tension and
the fast-paced action of theDeath Star battle adds layers to
the movie-going experience.
Most importantly, thecharacters' motivations are
believable and relatable.
(09:26):
Luke's struggle to stay calmwhile the Emperor taunts him is
something many can sympathizewith.
It's kind of like dealing withthat annoying kid at recess who
just wants to be ornery.
You know the Emperor says youwant this, don't you?
We all know that kid.
Well, anyway, all thisculminates together into why it
(09:47):
has an effect on our lives.
Today.
We have bonded with thesestories it tells on an emotional
level, due to how much we cansympathize with it, along with
the philosophical undertones ithas and how effective the
storytelling is.
Speaker 5 (10:02):
Yeah, very well put, larry.
You know, star Wars is full ofmythology, theology and even
Eastern mysticism and Daoism,and there is no better place to
discuss a franchise full ofaliens than on Alien Talk
Podcast.
In an article by Reuterscomdated December 4, 2015, by JL
Surgeon, titled Star Wars ProvesTreasure Troll for Philosophers
(10:26):
, discusses the nature of goodand evil, free will, the
prophecy of a chosen one and thetrue nature of the Force.
George Bakken, a professor ofphilosophy at Adams State
University in Colorado, saidthat Star Wars is very powerful
because it helps us understandourselves in the light and dark
(10:46):
side of the Force, and we feelthis in our lives when we have
this pool of immediategratification, but a desire to
achieve long-term goals than 30years.
Academics, students and peopleof faith have used Star Wars as
(11:07):
a springboard to explore themeslike moral ambiguity, father-son
relationships, concepts offeminine beauty and the yearning
for something better in life.
Joe (11:20):
Yeah, there is even a book that they reference, by an
author named Caleb Grimes.
He wrote Star Wars Jesus, whichillustrates young Luke
Skywalker's initial yearning forsomething more in life and how
it echoes to our desire to knowa personal God.
So, indeed, spiritualism is amajor theme in Star Wars, and
even well before Backen andGrimes, whose works are pretty
(11:43):
recent, well before Backen andGrimes, whose works are pretty
recent.
It was a book that came outaround 1977, same year as the
movie by a guy named FrankAllnut.
It's titled the Force of StarWars.
I remember looking it over atone point, and what it is is a
literary comparison between allof the mystical aspects of the
movie with Christianity.
For instance, it drew theanalogy of the force with God
(12:07):
and with Obi-Wan Kenobi withJesus.
Luke Skywalker wasrepresentative of the Jewish
converts to Christ, han Solo wasthat of Gentile converts and,
of course, the Emperor was Satan, darth Vader was the Antichrist
, and so, while it served as agood analysis and comparative
mythology, it is very outdatedand no longer relevant.
(12:29):
Remember it came out beforethere was ever a trilogy.
It was just the one movie whenthis book came out.
So it doesn't take into theaccount of how Luke is Darth
Vader's son or how he isPrincess Leia's sister.
It doesn't take into theaccount of the role of Yoda in
the Jedi Council, which becomemore prominent later.
So as more episodes unfold, wesee that Allnut's description of
(12:51):
the Force as being somethinglike the Judeo-Christian god
doesn't hold true to the story'sdialogue, and when the book was
published, I don't even thinkthe Emperor was named yet as
Palpatine, and I doubt that itis a very prolific book any
longer.
But it is clear that there is areligious tone to the whole
saga.
Apparently, there are evencollege courses on philosophy
(13:14):
that use the movie as its basis.
So, larry, do you think part ofthe whole appeal of Star Wars
to the masses has something todo with the spiritual and
theological aspect to it?
Speaker 4 (13:32):
Well, it's not surprising to me that academia
is using Star Wars as aspringboard to explore deeply
into philosophy, mysticism,mythology, theology and
spiritualism.
This is something I've beenbenefiting from for my entire
life.
Building on your points aboutthe nature of the light side and
dark side and our desire for apersonal God, I am a firm
advocate of these concepts.
I believe that having some sortof belief system is essential
(13:55):
for gauging the quality of ouractions.
Without a moral compass orvirtues, how can we really hold
ourselves accountable?
This is why I agree with yourstatements and further emphasize
the impact of Star Wars.
It helps people formulate abelief system and moral compass
rooted in the ologies and theisms that have a successful
track record for thousands ofyears.
(14:16):
Furthermore, star Wars isincredibly engaging, and I
imagine it's easier for collegestudents to conceptualize deeper
, complex concepts when they arepresented through a familiar
and compelling story.
Speaker 5 (14:30):
You know, joe.
You know we remember when StarWars first came out and how it
shocked the world, and I oftenthink about how life would be
like if Star Wars did not exist.
So imagine if there was no evilSith Lord named Darth Vader.
It's like we are living in theright place and time for it to
be such a cultural phenomenon.
(14:50):
It makes you wonder if itsinfluence was instilled upon
George Lucas by somethingsupernatural, and I mean sure he
got some of his inspirationfrom Flash Gordon and all but
America had to exist for StarWars to come about, and composer
John Williams was born with themusical talents to conduct
(15:11):
these perfect scores of music tocoincide with these stories.
So can you imagine Star Warswithout the John Williams scores
?
The music enhances our sensesand builds the experience to
even more enjoyment of the films, like Larry said earlier, and
sometimes I would just play thesoundtracks to relax and, you
(15:31):
know, to even get inspirationsometimes.
And the point I'm trying tomake here is that what if there
is, you know, something on scenethat's behind the consciousness
of man, that it influences theminds of people to do certain
things and to bring thosethoughts to fruition?
So what if our consciousness isconnected to something more
(15:53):
powerful that is also veryancient, that is a symbiote that
attaches itself to a host suchas a human body.
Could the memories of thatintelligence be influencing the
imagination of its hosts?
If that's the case, then aremovies like Star Wars hints from
lost civilizations in galaxiesfar, far away?
Joe (16:16):
Well, for one, I certainly can't imagine a world without
Star Wars.
That's something I can'tconceive.
It is so ingrained into thefabric of our culture.
Remember how, in theTheosophist School of Blavatsky
and Steiner, we talked aboutthat at some point there is a
notion of the Akashic Records,which is an energy field that
(16:37):
contains every thought, emotion,concept, idea and event, every
cognitive process that everexisted and ever was and ever
will exist.
Why?
With every mind being connectedfrom the past, it's like every
mind being connected from thepast to the present and from
everywhere within the cosmos.
(16:58):
And we've always known that StarWars was way ahead of its time.
I mean from the very beginning.
It was just decades ahead ofits time, and you can see the
influence of Flash Gordon andBuck Rogers and even Star Trek.
But it is its own genre.
It is unique.
It does seem to have its rootsin the idea of collective memory
, of collective unconsciousness.
(17:20):
Consider the Indianmathematician who lived over 100
years ago.
Named Shrivanabhasa Ramanujan,he was able to derive these very
complex equations from calculusand number theory that were so
elaborate that they're even usedtoday by researchers in the
field of quantum physics.
(17:41):
He was known to have said manytimes throughout his life that
an equation has no meaningunless it represents a thought
belonging to God.
Speaker 5 (17:51):
Well, yeah, and that's what I was talking about.
And in an article by RoshniChakrabarti with India Today,
dated December 23rd 2022, statedthat Ramanujan was certainly
ahead of his time.
He was self-taught and turnedout to be one of the most
(18:12):
significant mathematicians inhistory, and by the time he was
13 years old, he worked on hisown sophisticated theorems, even
calculating the exact length ofthe Earth's equator by using
analytical geometry.
And his mother actually claimedto have had a vivid dream from
the patron goddess of the familynamed Namagiri, who ordered her
(18:36):
to stand no longer between herson and the fulfillment of his
life's purpose.
So you have to wonder ifcreating Star Wars wasn't George
Lucas's ordained purpose inlife.
Joe (18:52):
And Ramanujan actually credited his own ingenuity to
the goddess Mahalakshmi, who issaid to have appeared to him in
a dream and from whom drops ofblood fell to the ground.
And from them the drops ofblood, there appeared scrolls
which contained these veryintricate calculus equations
that he was eventually able todecipher, and at the end of his
(19:13):
life, ramanujan left behindthree large notebooks filled
with almost 4,000 equations andtheorems.
So did his beliefs in Hinduismand Transcendentalism play some
kind of role in his intellectualenlightenment, and if so, is
that an example of how ingenuityand knowledge come from, an
(19:34):
energy that we can tap into soas to take our minds to a higher
level and accomplish thingsthat, as we have seen, some
incredible people do?
Speaker 4 (19:48):
Larry, you have anything to say, I do.
It is interesting thinkingabout all that stuff.
It's also interesting to thinkhow the world would actually be
if Star Wars didn't exist.
Shockingly, some people mightnot even be affected, as there
are a great many people whohaven't even seen Star Wars yet.
Its subliminal impact on ourculture is undeniable.
The creative practices ofcountless individuals have been
(20:11):
influenced by Star Wars.
Just take the Acolyte series,for example.
It's heavily influenced by StarWars as Kathleen Kennedy tries
to reshape the narrative bydoing the complete opposite of
what Star Wars stands for.
But ultimately I feel peoplewould still be influenced in
similar ways with anotherintellectual property if Star
Wars will be there.
People resonate with what madeStar Wars popular Its themes,
(20:33):
its storytelling and itscharacters.
If Star Wars didn't exist,another franchise like I think
Dungeons Dragons was out aroundthe time or some other
technological marvel of its timewould have likely filled that
cultural niche.
But I think it's the ideas andthe values that resonate and
those can find a home in manydifferent forms of storytelling
(20:54):
or even beliefs like the forcewell, when we return after this
important ad, we'll get into theforce and a possible connection
to chi from Buddhism.
Speaker 5 (21:05):
So we'll be right back.
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(22:41):
So we were saying about theforce, which is a central aspect
that sticks out in the film isa mystic power throughout the
universe that many folks wouldsay is akin to God, and my
favorite quote is when Yoda isteaching Luke about it, where he
says for my ally is the force,and a powerful ally it is.
(23:04):
Life breeds it, it makes itgrow Luminous beings, are we not
this crude matter?
You must feel the force aroundyou, between you, me, the rock
everywhere.
Joe (23:24):
And this idea of an all-powerful force and how to
use it sounds similar to theChinese chi't it.
Well, yeah, it does.
You didn't use your yoda voice,though.
I mean, it's not not quite thesame, but I'll give you some
latitude there no one doesbeings are we?
Speaker 5 (23:34):
there's crude matter all right.
Joe (23:37):
So, yeah, chi uh, or prana, as it's referred to in hinduism
, is supposed to be a life forceenergy, and it is found in all
living things, but humans havethe ability to manipulate and
utilize it in special ways.
Some people are believed to bebetter able at doing that than
others.
Take Yuri Geller, the famousIsraeli psychic, who was said to
(24:00):
be able to carry outtelekinesis, which is the
manipulation of matter, by usingthe mind, by using thought.
He was supposedly able to bendspoons and make clocks stop
ticking and then start up again,and there was a BBC documentary
that aired in July of 2013where Geller, as he, was known
(24:21):
as a psychic spy for Mossad,which is the Israeli
intelligence agency, like ourversion of the CIA.
He claimed he was able to erasethe memory from hard drives and
floppy disks if you can recallwhat those actually are by
simply chanting the word eraseand then visualizing what should
(24:42):
be erased, projecting themental processes out into the
physical world.
Now, geller also stated thatthis telekinetic ability was
given to him byextraterrestrials.
So, even if this cannot beverified or proven, he, like
anyone else, may have had anextraordinary capacity to quote,
(25:02):
hear the voice, unquote, maybeeven send it.
So while his spoon bending maynot hold up to scrutiny, we must
remember that he is not thefirst person who was said to be
able to move matter withouttouching it.
The Bible does have many storieswhere the laws of motion are
violated.
Inertia and chemistry areviolated in these stories of the
(25:24):
Bible.
What seems more important,though, is scripturally speaking
.
The message is revealed throughvisions and dreams that God is
speaking, so as to be recordedin the form of writing.
Speaker 4 (25:39):
In addition to that, there's also thinking of chi.
So there's also thinking of qi.
So there's an article on themindjournalcom titled Do you
often wake up between 3 am to 5am?
This is what it means.
It talks about qi, energy intraditional Chinese medicine,
and it sounds a lot like theforce.
The article says Our body isfull of channels through which
(26:00):
energy is directed to our wholebody.
These channels are calledmeridians.
Kind of sounds likemidichlorians in Star Wars, the
intelligent life forms in StarWars galaxy that live in all
living things.
They form a symbioticrelationship with their hosts,
like you were talking aboutearlier, dad.
The force speaks through thesemidichlorians and the higher
(26:20):
your midichlorian count, themore sensitive you are.
Dad, the force speaks throughthese midichlorians and the more
, the higher your midichloriancount, the more sensitive you
are to the force.
So, going back to the article,it also says that if a meridian
is troubled, then chi cannotflow through it.
So I guess, in this sense,having fear and anger would be
troubling traits to the flow ofmeridians, as it leads to
suffering.
(26:40):
This aligns with Yoda'steachings about fear, anger and
suffering disrupting one'sconnection to the force.
It's fascinating how theseconcepts, whether chi or the
force, speak to a universal ideaof energy and balance that
transcends cultures and connectsdeeply with our understanding
(27:01):
of the world and ourselves.
Joe (27:03):
Well, you know another thing that's interesting the
word midichlorian sounds a lotlike the word mitochondria,
which is an organelle in thecytoplasm of our cells.
Its function is to regulaterespiration, which in turn
controls how our bodies areconverting glucose into energy,
changing ATP adenosinetriphosphate into ADP adenosine
(27:26):
diphosphate, in order to keep usliving.
It's the power plant of thecell.
It also contains DNA thatoriginally comes from the
mother's side, and there is atheory called symbiogenesis, in
which cells of complex organismsevolve from those of simpler
ones through symbiosis or comingtogether and working together
(27:47):
to form a more sophisticatedcellular development into a more
complex cell.
So it doesn't actually seemlike, you know, the script
writers put too much imaginationin coming up with the idea of
midichlorians.
They seem to just borrow itfrom what they already know
about mitochondria.
Speaker 5 (28:05):
Well, midichlorians were not even mentioned at all
in the original trilogy.
They were first brought up in1999 when the Phantom Menace
came out, episode one.
So to me it seemed a littlestrange that something like the
Force, a mystical, heterogeneousand immaterial entity, would be
(28:28):
dependent upon little creaturesinhabiting our cells.
And the Force in the firstmovies is never talked about in
that way.
So it is definitely a lateradaption that was put in there
and it helps lead up tosubsequent episodes in which
characters like Rey and Kylo Renare strong in the Force, like
(28:52):
really right from birth andbased on their midichlorian
count.
And that's not at all how wegrew up understanding the Force
when we were watching or talkingabout star wars no, not at all.
Joe (29:04):
And I remember seeing that scene, uh, where, uh, uh, like
quite one gin, he takes a bloodsample from anakin he got a cut
and he's able to do an analysison his blood and he, you know,
sends it, you know, um,telemetrically to obi-wan Kenobi
, who's in the ship, and hereads the midichlorian counts.
I'm thinking, what is hetalking about?
(29:25):
And of course, he says thatit's off the chart, it's even
higher than Master Yoda's, and Ijust thought, well, that kind
of kills what I have alwaysthought about the Force, about
the light side of the Force andthe dark side of the Force.
It's just simply, you know, youhave these midichlorians.
The force, um, it's just simply, you know you have these
midichlorians.
So does that mean there aregood ones and bad ones, if
you're, you know, on the darkside of the force.
(29:46):
So I, I really I didn't likethat.
I thought the force should kindof be left alone, as being
something more mystical.
And, uh, you know, I, I thinkthe disney star wars is like the
worst thing ever.
Um, there's really nothing moreI can say about it.
I, I know that is my opinion.
Others may and do disagree.
However, I just think it hasdrifted so much from the content
material of the originaltrilogy.
(30:08):
The original character arcswith the pervasive struggle of
good versus evil the dark sideof the force in a very
straightforward context, as wellas the special effects and the
cinematics that seemed genuineat the time.
Now they seem over the top,almost to being completely
absurd, and I think that is nowonly Star Wars in name, meaning
(30:32):
that these new shows, in myopinion, are all just money
grabs, and I also realize thatthere's a generational thing to
it, and I may be judging itrather harshly.
What do you think, laurie?
Speaker 5 (30:45):
Well, I'll harken back to what I said earlier and
again.
These are just my opinions,just our opinions.
But Disney and Lucasfilm, theyjust need to write good
storytelling and then produce itin non-biased movies and series
.
Now, I enjoyed Rogue One and Ican watch it over and over again
(31:07):
, like the original trilogy andeven the prequels.
I also enjoyed the ForceAwakens and I had high hopes for
the next two, but I ended upbeing grossly disappointed.
I know that you can make I meanyou can't make everybody happy,
of course, but someone willalways disagree with what you
(31:28):
make.
However, it is so much worsewhen you try and push agendas
down people's throats.
It's not different than areligious fanatic attempting to
push their religious beliefsdown your throat and say that
they are right and you are wrongand that you are wrong.
(31:49):
If lost my thought, if youcould, you know if you should
join them without any evidencewhatsoever to prove that they
are on the right side of history, as they so often claim.
Now, kathleen Kennedy, sayingthat the force is female angers,
(32:10):
a mostly male fan base.
You're going to expect that andmost of them haven't even
thought of the force in that way, like you, joe, like you were
saying you know, you haven't.
The force is, it's a mysteryand we're thinking of it as like
a god.
You know, we don't know if maleor female, it's just there,
it's just this power.
(32:30):
And the force is just that.
It's an unseen spirit world.
It's neither male nor female.
So, but to push a personalagenda, it seems she now has a
huge audience to pander to, andso the Force now becomes female
and Leia becomes better thanLuke.
She bests them, she flies likeMary Poppins through space.
(32:51):
Rey, immediately, is a wielderof the Force without any
training.
Bo-katan is better than JynJardin, et cetera.
I mean nothing but pure.
I guess you'd say it's a lot offeminism and male bashing.
And I guarantee you, if Disneywould have avoided this whole
woke thing and focused on agreat storyline, like the books
(33:15):
and canon, they would have.
I think they would have madebillions upon billions and Star
Wars would have taken off likecrazy in movies, series and
merchandise sales.
Because right now themerchandise sales they just
completely suck because of thenew toys, whatever that are
based on these new characters,and it wouldn't have been
(33:38):
through, I mean, it would havebeen through the roof if they
had did these really good,strong characters.
I'm a business owner and Ibelieve strongly that they made
a horrible business decisionwhen they did that.
And we're not.
Like I said earlier, I enjoyedRogue One and that had a female
(33:58):
lead.
I mean I enjoyed Aliens thathad a female lead.
Sig mean I enjoyed aliens thathad a female lead.
You know Sigourney Weaver andyou know was Ripley and also.
But it's just this agenda thatit's pretty obvious and blatant
that they are trying to push.
That's annoying.
Joe (34:15):
Yeah, this is completely different.
I mean the whole content of it.
It just seems forced andawkward.
I mean the whole content of it.
It just seems forced andawkward.
It's like Kathleen Kennedy'sown feminist manifesto put into
visual display on the moviescreen.
So, daniel, I mean being amillennial what do you think
(34:36):
about that in terms of you knowwhat your dad and I are saying,
because we're the old guys andwe remember Star Wars a lot
different than you do when yougrew up with it.
Our take is going to beconsiderably different.
What do you think about thiswhole Kathleen Kennedy way of
portraying Star Wars?
Speaker 4 (34:51):
Yeah, my viewpoint aligns pretty close to yours Not
a big fan of new Disney StarWars in the direction that they
have taken new Disney Star Warsin the direction that they have
taken.
I think what makes it extravolatile is Kathleen Kennedy.
She keeps on contradictingherself and will not admit to
pushing an agenda, but it'sreally obvious.
I have a quote from her.
(35:12):
Actually, she said many timeswomen get a terrible rap in the
Star Wars world because toxicmen have been led to believe
that this franchise is only forone demographic.
We are aiming to represent morewomen gaining leading roles in
many of our upcoming features.
So look, it's normal and finefor people in positions of power
(35:34):
slash influence like this tohave their own opinions on
things regarding the creativedirection of the franchise, to
have their own opinions onthings regarding the creative
direction of the franchise.
However, the issue I have isthat she has zero respect for
Star Wars and George Lucas'vision.
(35:54):
She is essentially piggybackingoff of the success of Star Wars
and what made it successful, andshe's shoehorning in her own
ideologies and then eventuallyreplacing the ideologies that
made people resonate with StarWars in the first place, and
then she's using that as aplatform with no consideration
of how it will actually affectthe fan base.
I don't like how she has aclear motive and agenda, but it
tends to kind of gaslight thefan base into believing that
(36:16):
there's nothing there at allnothing there at all.
All of this actually reminds meof a little video where george
lucas is sitting with kathleenkennedy in an interview and
george keeps on talking aboutstar wars being.
You know the story about goodand evil and how power corrupts,
etc.
But while he's talking about ithe's glancing over at kathleen
kennedy to every chance that hecan get when discussing the evil
(36:39):
portions of it, which I foundhilarious.
So it really shows her kind oflike, her true colors from like
the second that they acquiredthe star wars ip.
Speaker 5 (36:52):
Yeah, and she also said that this doesn't mean that
we are deliberately trying tothrow away dedicated and loyal
fans at all.
That's not what it means.
She claims that we are notseeing the big picture and that
they are trying to paint apositive narrative of women by
women.
So there is an agenda that itmust be pushed at all costs, it
(37:14):
seems, and because they areright and everybody else is
wrong.
So I think this will be a goodtime to bring up the newest
installment in the Star Warsuniverse on Disney+, which is
the Acolyte series.
Now, I watched the first fiveepisodes.
I was fine with the first two.
I fast forwarded three and fourand enjoyed actually enjoyed
episode five.
Look, I'm fine with diversity.
(37:35):
First two, I fast-forwardedthree and four and enjoyed
actually enjoyed episode five.
Look, I'm fine with diversityin the movies.
Okay, you can have people fromall walks of life in the movies.
This is America and that's howit should be.
However, I disagree with giantmedia corporations like Disney
putting forth these agendas andthat's exactly what they're
(37:57):
doing.
And you know it's an agendawhen the president of Lucasfilm,
like Kathleen Kennedy, you know, wears these T-shirts saying
like the force is female.
And you know Leslie Hedlund,director of the Acolyte,
laughing and joking around in aninterview and saying, oh, it's
the gayest star Wars.
Yet you know, and you know,they are alienating a large part
(38:19):
of the fandom when they make,you know, these comments there's
, there's no need for this insuch a beloved franchise.
So why did?
Why is Disney being so biasedand in such a war with the fan
base that they label, you know,you know, as demand babies?
Speaker 4 (38:40):
well, I haven't actually seen the accolade, but
I know what to expect.
Due to disney's recent trackrecord with the ip, um, many,
way too often I've gotten burnedby the new series that comes
out.
You know I get you star warsfan.
I there's the anticipation, Iget ready to watch it and I just
end up getting burned becausemy expectations are too high.
(39:02):
Uh, mandalorian, season three,perfect example.
Uh, flop due to sidelining.
Sidelining the main characterin order to prop up the female
counterpart, so bukatan in thiscase.
Um, very bold strategy when themain audience for the
Mandalorian are dads, theDadalorians right.
So again, it's just weirdbusiness decisions or them
(39:22):
prioritizing their ideology overactual storytelling.
Or you know what the audienceactually wants.
The same thing happened withKenobi Making Obi-Wan look like
a doofus to prop up aseven-year-old Leia who is
somehow more competent than theJedi Master.
It's just small things likethat, you know.
Tying into my original pointabout you know the importance of
believable and relatablecharacters and additionally,
(39:47):
disney has a nasty trend ofcreating poorly written female
characters and then blaming thebacklash on so-called man-bab
babies being an ist or a phobe,or insert insult here.
From what I've heard, this isactually the case with the
Acolyte.
It has terrible dialogue,unbelievable character
(40:09):
motivations, such as that onemain character who killed the
Jedi and then all of a sudden,like halfway through the series,
completely switched hermotivation because she found out
how sister her sister was, um,alive still, despite her trying
to kill her at the verybeginning of the series.
It's just all over the place,um, but anyway, essentially, uh,
(40:31):
it's the complete opposite ofthe throne room that I the
throne room scene that Imentioned at the beginning of
the podcast Star Wars has alwaysbeen about great storytelling
and relatable characters, andwhen those core elements are
compromised, it's no wonder thefan base reacts negatively.
The focus should be on craftingcompelling narratives that
(40:52):
everyone can enjoy withoutalienating a significant portion
of the audience.
Joe (40:57):
Yeah, I agree, I couldn't.
I too think the franchise,after being bought out by Disney
, has taken a very unsuitableturn toward wokeism and feminism
, such that it weakens theintegrity and the main theme of
the actual story itself, thestory that we've all grown to
love.
We see that it is now not thesame Star Wars.
It is something else altogether.
(41:18):
A politically correct or a woketelling of any space opera type
sci-fi doesn't fit the genre atall.
It doesn't belong there,anymore than cowboys belong in a
kung fu movie, or they believethat cowboys should be in a
movie about ancient greece.
It just doesn't fit.
It all seems forced and to meit doesn't seem enjoyable.
(41:42):
The original trilogy was thecore story and everything else
that we're seeing derives fromit, but something that has, uh,
spun off completely differentand unheard of from anything
that I can certainly remember.
You know, the Acolyte, theMandalorian Rogue, one Shoka.
These are all brand new storiesand they reek of identity
(42:03):
politics, which is not in theLucas original, and it's for
that reason, aside from the oldepisodes, that I'm not all that
fond of the franchise and whatit has become.
I really don't even want towatch any of the new series.
Uh, the whole meaning of thestory.
The entire overall plot hasbeen altered so as to fit a
contemporary ideology, insteadof just simply tapping into the
(42:26):
genuine artistic and literarycreativity of the script writers
um, I do agree.
Speaker 4 (42:34):
Um, there are some things made by disney star wars
that I actually do like and nowthat you mention it, like
mandalorian season, one perfectexample.
I feel like a lot of dads likethat one too, you know, because
master man badass goes through,you know, gets business done and
then he's, you know, dad, thelittle baby yoda right or a Bad
(42:54):
Batch, is basically just arevitalization of the Clone Wars
.
I loved every bit of that and Iwas actually going to decide
when it ended because I knewthat I've got nothing else to
really look forward to.
But anyway, I find it deeplyfascinating that a company would
spend $4 billion on an IP witha built-in audience and not
respect what drew in thataudience in the first place.
(43:17):
It's literally the easiestmoney any company could have
made, and they made the onecourse of action that screws
everything up.
I don't think Disney as acorporation is intentionally
doing this, since they do reallycare about the bottom line, and
this is evident with theirmarketing in Saudi Arabia and
China, where they minimize orcover up the black characters to
(43:37):
bring in more draw for themovie.
What I believe is reallyhappening is that we have
activists in positions of power,such as Kathleen Kennedy and
Kevin Feige, who have convincedthe shareholders in some manner
that these messages will onlymake them money and that
legitimate criticisms are theloud minority and illegitimate
(43:57):
because they are like a racistor sexist or again insert any
insult.
Um, I think, I think we willsee a massive turn in the tide
as disney's bottom line is beingheavily affected every
quarterly earnings report.
Um, it's been stated by Disneythat Marvel and Lucasfilm are
their worst performing divisions.
(44:18):
So if anything is going to bechanged first to fix their
bottom line, I feel like it willbe those two.
They really need to go back tothe basics and just focus on
great storytelling and respectthe core elements that made the
franchise beloved in the firstplace.
Speaker 5 (44:34):
Yeah, like I said earlier, I mean Kathleen Kennedy
does have an agenda, it seems.
Even in the Acolyte they'retrying to show a vergence in the
Force with the two femalecharacters 100 years prior to
the time of young AnakinSkywalker.
They were conceived by twolesbian witches who somehow
manipulated their own version ofthe Force called the Thread.
(44:56):
He even got to mess with theForce, I mean.
But now this now makes Anakin'sversion less of importance, it
seems.
Look, I get it.
We all know Star Wars is fiction.
You can do what you like instorytelling when it comes to
fiction, but that's not thepoint here.
The point is the agenda, and itis blatantly in our faces.
(45:19):
The Acolyte even shows the Jediin an evil way.
It's much like the police forceof today.
Just like Ben Kenobi said, fora thousand generations the Jedi
Knights were the guardians ofpeace and justice in the Old
Republic, before the Dark Times,before the Empire.
So why not do a series or movieto reinforce that?
You know, this is where theagenda comes into play.
(45:42):
It's now making the good guysbad and the bad guys good.
It reminds me of 2 Timothy 3,verse 1 and verse 3, and this
knows also that in the last days.
Perilous times shall comewithout natural affection,
(46:03):
trucebreakers, fossil cruisers,etc.
And then it says in verse 3,and despisers of those that are
good.
Joe (46:13):
You guys both bring up very excellent points in what you're
saying, and it also makes methink of what's mentioned in
Isaiah 5, 20, with how terribleit will be for people who call
good things bad and bad thingsgood, who think darkness is
light and light is darkness, andhopefully that will not come to
(46:34):
define this age in which welive Hard to say at this point,
but hopefully, like you said,daniel, things will take a turn,
at least in the production ofthe Star Wars universe.
I mean, there's one thing Iknow, and I'll say this ever
since I've been living insouthern Arizona the summer
times here have always made methink that I'm living on the
(46:55):
planet Tatooine.
You know desert environment,the landscape, the blazing sun,
the picturesque sunsets therewere only two suns, right?
I sometimes imagine myself hereas Luke Skywalker when I look
out towards the horizon atsunset.
If it was a double sunset.
Speaker 5 (47:14):
Yeah, I don't think one sun is enough here in
arizona.
Um, I wonder, uh how, how hotit would be here if we had two
suns in the sky, and, uh, Ihonestly don't think uh life
could survive no, I don't.
Joe (47:30):
I don't think so.
I'm guessing that the earthwould have to, uh, be double the
distance from the suns.
Um, maybe more, uh.
Even then, life probablycouldn't be sustained here.
Speaker 5 (47:39):
So a a tattooing like double sun is definitely
fictional yeah, no kidding,anyway, um, I think that would
do it for this episode, which Itruly enjoyed.
Um, and just so you guys knowwe're all for, for you know,
strong women and everybody ofall walks in life enjoying this
(48:03):
country and getting to share inits riches and its blessings.
So, but on our next show wewill be moving away from our
series on the mythology andsci-fi and instead we will be
doing a show about the alienrelics with our good friend
Aaron Long.
(48:23):
If you check out his AncientAstronaut Theory Facebook page
and we've had Aaron on severaltimes now you will see the many
posts he did on these possiblealien artifacts.
So what else are we eventuallygoing to find buried under our
feet?
Joe (48:41):
Could be very interesting and insightful.
So please join us for that, anda special thanks to our guests
for coming on with us.
Larry, it was truly a pleasure.
You did great, and maybe on apodcast with your old man isn't
so bad now, is it?
Speaker 4 (48:59):
yeah, not that bad.
Well, anyway, thank you, uh,joe and dad, I really enjoyed
being on.
I I love star wars and this wasa.
Speaker 5 (49:06):
Uh, it was a great experience, thank you you're
welcome and it was uh greathaving you with us, son, and and
yeah you did, you did great andyeah I couldn't think of, I
wouldn't be able to forgivemyself if I did this podcast,
this episode, without you.
Speaker 4 (49:26):
I wouldn't have forgiven you either.
Joe (49:29):
Very nice.
So anyway, folks, I rememberthese comments are our opinions
and they are just that opinions.
So anyway, folks, rememberthese comments are our opinions
and they are just that opinions.
Our program is not endorsed byany motion picture corporation,
franchise, actors Guild orWriters Guild, nor are we giving
any endorsement to them.
We're just some guys talkingand you are certainly free to
agree or disagree with us.
(49:50):
Either way, we hope you enjoyedthe dialogue and we hope you
return with us for our nextepisode.
So until then, stay safe, staypeaceful and stay curious.
Hello everybody, thank you for joining us on Alien Talk
Podcast.
This is the show where wediscuss all things about aliens
and UFOs and, as always, wherewe push the limits of our
understanding.
Joe Landry and Roy Olford hereonce again to seek out the truth
and find the facts pertainingto the highly discussed issues
about extraterrestrial life andthe existence of UFOs.
So this is the fourth show inour series covering the
(00:25):
mythology of sci-fi, where weclosely examine the so-called
truth in fiction to find whatlies within the great
imaginations, to reveal ourintuitive knowledge.
When we return, we're going tospend time talking about sci-fi
phenomena that has touched ourculture in everything from
fantasy storytelling topolitical ideology to military
(00:45):
illusion.
That, of course, is the motherof space opera, science fiction
and action thrillers, the onethat holds the standard of
creativity and cannot becompared to anything else in the
movie-making industry.
It is Star Wars.
Not only has it completelytransformed the motion picture
experience of nearly everyone,but has also defined the nuances
of every generation since itsinitial release, which is now
(01:08):
nearly 50 years ago.
So stay tuned.
We'll be back in one subjectthat rhymed.
Greetings.
We're technically aconversation, a podcast for
curious people by curious people.
(01:28):
On our podcast, we do things just a little bit different
Every week we share a new topicand the other hosts have no idea
what the topic will be.
Joe (01:35):
Our topics are all over the place, from light and funny to
dark and sometimes spooky.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
We've covered everything from true crime,
historical events and people,the supernatural and the occult.
I like that Urban legends andfolklore.
Joe (01:48):
My favorite.
(01:49):
No matter what we cover, we try to make the episodes
interesting and funny.
Speaker 4 (01:54):
Don't mean to be the bad guy, but our lawyer said we
legally couldn't call our showfunny.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
We have a lawyer.
Let me tell you what I told ourlawyer.
Come here so I can show you howfar I can legally stick my
high-heeled boot up your Checkus out at
technicallyaconversationcom,apple Podcasts, spotify or
wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 4 (02:11):
Technically a Conversation.
We're like a lifestyle brandyeah.
Joe (02:18):
Okay, so I can't think of too many other movies that have
been made that have left animpression on the world in the
way that Star Wars has.
Everyone knows about it.
I think everyone has seen it.
The release of all the episodesspans a period of about 40
years.
With each one, the verybeginning, the opening, hits you
the same exact way as it didwith the very first one you ever
(02:39):
saw.
Now, lori, I'll never forgetwhen I first saw Star Wars back
in 1977.
It was on my ninth birthday andI just thought it was the most
incredible thing I've everwitnessed.
It truly broke the mold formotion pictures and what
producers, directors and actorscould deliver to audiences, as
well as what audiences wouldeventually come to expect from
(03:00):
the big screen at the cinemas,from the big screen at the
cinemas.
Speaker 5 (03:03):
Yeah, you're definitely right about that, joe
.
Star Wars is truly the greatestsci-fi film of all time and is
also the largest movie franchiseof all times.
I can't think of any other thathas had such an enormous impact
on modern Western culture.
Whenever there areconversations at the workplace,
a quote from any of the StarWars characters will most likely
(03:26):
be used in the conversation.
Somehow it's even been used inother movies, such as the one
called Reign of Fire, which is apost-apocalyptic movie about
dragons that have spawned andalmost annihilated the human
race.
There is a scene in that moviewhere two characters perform a
play for young children and thestory they enact is a lightsaber
(03:50):
fight between Luke Skywalkerand Darth Vader.
So I love that movie and Ireally enjoyed that scene
because that's exactly what willhappen in our future society
after an apocalyptic event.
Not saying dragons are going tobe roaming our skies, but I'm
referring to the stories ourfuture generations will tell
(04:10):
without the technology andlifestyle we have today.
So if there ever happens to bea cataclysmic event World War
III or asteroid crash orwhatever then these Star Wars
stories will eventually becomeoral tales told by surviving
humans, and maybe some peoplewill have copies of the books
(04:30):
and will later be found and read.
However, over time, the storieswill become tradition, handed
down from generation togeneration for hundreds, perhaps
even thousands of years, andonce someone stumbles upon a
book of Star Wars found hiddenaway in some jar or enclosed
airtight case, well, they becomesomething like the Dead Sea
(04:53):
Scrolls, and what I mean is willthey be referred to as a
history of a civilization thatwe knew of in a faraway galaxy,
and will the translators thinkthat these stories are just
legend or based on truth?
How will they know?
Joe (05:11):
Right, and if such future historians are to come across
some material about the saga,they would probably view it as a
mythical fable, in the same waywe do at this point in time
about something like the Epic ofGilgamesh or the Hindu
Mahabharata.
They would probably see it assomething that serves as an
imaginative agent expressinghumanity's quest for immortality
(05:32):
and for connecting with theunknown.
So today we have a very specialguest joining us who is very
knowledgeable about the lore ofthe Star Wars universe, and,
laurie, I will give you thehonor of introducing him.
Speaker 5 (05:46):
Thank you, Joe.
And that special reason isbecause the special guest is my
son, my only begotten son, as Ilike to say, and his name is
Larry and he is about to bepromoted in the US Air Force and
he is a very intelligent youngman.
And welcome to the show, Larry.
Speaker 4 (06:08):
Thanks, Dad, Very excited to be here.
Disclaimer before we start theopinions expressed by me in this
podcast are my viewpoints aloneand not of the Department of
Defense.
Thanks for having me on.
Speaker 5 (06:20):
Of course, I couldn't imagine doing this type of show
without your input.
You know, joel, star Wars islike a religion in our family.
I love it, my wife loves it andour children love it.
See what I did there.
Remember the conversationbetween Luke and Leia in Return
of the Jedi, where Luke istelling her about the Force
being strong in his family?
Joe (06:40):
Yes, I do get it.
So, larry, first of all, thankyou for joining us and also
congratulations on your upcomingpromotion.
Thank you, we're excited to hearwhat you have to offer to the
discussion tonight, as ourthesis, if you will, is to
examine the underlying humanmythology, philosophy and
(07:00):
symbolism that forms thepowerful theme of the storyline
and characters of Star Wars.
The renowned Carl Jung oncesaid that imagery, symbols and
myths are how our unconsciousminds are unveiled.
So we've been discussing thesescience fiction movies in ways
that perhaps most people don't,that being, not to focus so much
on the saga and the plot but onthe psychological fabric and
(07:24):
the fantasy much on the saga andthe plot, but on the
psychological fabric and thefantasy and that it reveals our
innate desire to get in touchwith the world of the
extraterrestrial, the world ofthe mysterious and even the
ethereal realm of the divine.
So, larry, star Wars isdefinitely a story about ancient
aliens.
We know that because of theopening text, where we see
displayed right before the start, a long time ago, in a galaxy
(07:47):
far, far away.
What is it that has made it soimpactful?
Speaker 4 (07:56):
that this movie's popularity now spans across four
generations.
Well, first of all, what Ienjoy most about the stories
within Star Wars is theirprofound impact on our everyday
lives.
It's not just the narrativethat stands out, it's the entire
experience, from the iconicsoundtrack to the meticulous
pacing and the themes thatresonate through the characters'
actions and motivations.
Take, for example, the throneroom scene in Return of the Jedi
(08:20):
.
In my opinion, this is one ofthe greatest moments in creative
storytelling.
Without diving too much intodetails, the scene embodies
themes like loyalty to family,even when things seem
irredeemable.
So Luke believing that they'restill good invader, maintaining
your virtues in the darkesttimes.
So this is when Luke throwsaway his lightsaber and refuses
to keep on fighting, strivingfor noble ambitions, so like him
(08:45):
being you know, saying I'm aJedi, like my father before me,
and selflessness leading toredemption.
And obviously, this is whenVader sacrifices himself for his
son.
The storytelling in this sceneis gripping and engaging.
The dialogue between theEmperor and Luke is sharp and
dynamic.
This is that constant back andforth between the Emperor and
(09:06):
Luke is sharp and dynamic.
This is that constant back andforth.
This creates a tense atmospherewithout resorting to exposition
dumps.
The contrast between the throneroom's lingering tension and
the fast-paced action of theDeath Star battle adds layers to
the movie-going experience.
Most importantly, thecharacters' motivations are
believable and relatable.
(09:26):
Luke's struggle to stay calmwhile the Emperor taunts him is
something many can sympathizewith.
It's kind of like dealing withthat annoying kid at recess who
just wants to be ornery.
You know the Emperor says youwant this, don't you?
We all know that kid.
Well, anyway, all thisculminates together into why it
(09:47):
has an effect on our lives.
Today.
We have bonded with thesestories it tells on an emotional
level, due to how much we cansympathize with it, along with
the philosophical undertones ithas and how effective the
storytelling is.
Speaker 5 (10:02):
Yeah, very well put, larry.
You know, star Wars is full ofmythology, theology and even
Eastern mysticism and Daoism,and there is no better place to
discuss a franchise full ofaliens than on Alien Talk
Podcast.
In an article by Reuterscomdated December 4, 2015, by JL
Surgeon, titled Star Wars ProvesTreasure Troll for Philosophers
(10:26):
, discusses the nature of goodand evil, free will, the
prophecy of a chosen one and thetrue nature of the Force.
George Bakken, a professor ofphilosophy at Adams State
University in Colorado, saidthat Star Wars is very powerful
because it helps us understandourselves in the light and dark
(10:46):
side of the Force, and we feelthis in our lives when we have
this pool of immediategratification, but a desire to
achieve long-term goals than 30years.
Academics, students and peopleof faith have used Star Wars as
(11:07):
a springboard to explore themeslike moral ambiguity, father-son
relationships, concepts offeminine beauty and the yearning
for something better in life.
Joe (11:20):
Yeah, there is even a book that they reference, by an
author named Caleb Grimes.
He wrote Star Wars Jesus, whichillustrates young Luke
Skywalker's initial yearning forsomething more in life and how
it echoes to our desire to knowa personal God.
So, indeed, spiritualism is amajor theme in Star Wars, and
even well before Backen andGrimes, whose works are pretty
(11:43):
recent, well before Backen andGrimes, whose works are pretty
recent.
It was a book that came outaround 1977, same year as the
movie by a guy named FrankAllnut.
It's titled the Force of StarWars.
I remember looking it over atone point, and what it is is a
literary comparison between allof the mystical aspects of the
movie with Christianity.
For instance, it drew theanalogy of the force with God
(12:07):
and with Obi-Wan Kenobi withJesus.
Luke Skywalker wasrepresentative of the Jewish
converts to Christ, han Solo wasthat of Gentile converts and,
of course, the Emperor was Satan, darth Vader was the Antichrist
, and so, while it served as agood analysis and comparative
mythology, it is very outdatedand no longer relevant.
(12:29):
Remember it came out beforethere was ever a trilogy.
It was just the one movie whenthis book came out.
So it doesn't take into theaccount of how Luke is Darth
Vader's son or how he isPrincess Leia's sister.
It doesn't take into theaccount of the role of Yoda in
the Jedi Council, which becomemore prominent later.
So as more episodes unfold, wesee that Allnut's description of
(12:51):
the Force as being somethinglike the Judeo-Christian god
doesn't hold true to the story'sdialogue, and when the book was
published, I don't even thinkthe Emperor was named yet as
Palpatine, and I doubt that itis a very prolific book any
longer.
But it is clear that there is areligious tone to the whole
saga.
Apparently, there are evencollege courses on philosophy
(13:14):
that use the movie as its basis.
So, larry, do you think part ofthe whole appeal of Star Wars
to the masses has something todo with the spiritual and
theological aspect to it?
Speaker 4 (13:32):
Well, it's not surprising to me that academia
is using Star Wars as aspringboard to explore deeply
into philosophy, mysticism,mythology, theology and
spiritualism.
This is something I've beenbenefiting from for my entire
life.
Building on your points aboutthe nature of the light side and
dark side and our desire for apersonal God, I am a firm
advocate of these concepts.
I believe that having some sortof belief system is essential
(13:55):
for gauging the quality of ouractions.
Without a moral compass orvirtues, how can we really hold
ourselves accountable?
This is why I agree with yourstatements and further emphasize
the impact of Star Wars.
It helps people formulate abelief system and moral compass
rooted in the ologies and theisms that have a successful
track record for thousands ofyears.
(14:16):
Furthermore, star Wars isincredibly engaging, and I
imagine it's easier for collegestudents to conceptualize deeper
, complex concepts when they arepresented through a familiar
and compelling story.
Speaker 5 (14:30):
You know, joe.
You know we remember when StarWars first came out and how it
shocked the world, and I oftenthink about how life would be
like if Star Wars did not exist.
So imagine if there was no evilSith Lord named Darth Vader.
It's like we are living in theright place and time for it to
be such a cultural phenomenon.
(14:50):
It makes you wonder if itsinfluence was instilled upon
George Lucas by somethingsupernatural, and I mean sure he
got some of his inspirationfrom Flash Gordon and all but
America had to exist for StarWars to come about, and composer
John Williams was born with themusical talents to conduct
(15:11):
these perfect scores of music tocoincide with these stories.
So can you imagine Star Warswithout the John Williams scores
?
The music enhances our sensesand builds the experience to
even more enjoyment of the films, like Larry said earlier, and
sometimes I would just play thesoundtracks to relax and, you
(15:31):
know, to even get inspirationsometimes.
And the point I'm trying tomake here is that what if there
is, you know, something on scenethat's behind the consciousness
of man, that it influences theminds of people to do certain
things and to bring thosethoughts to fruition?
So what if our consciousness isconnected to something more
(15:53):
powerful that is also veryancient, that is a symbiote that
attaches itself to a host suchas a human body.
Could the memories of thatintelligence be influencing the
imagination of its hosts?
If that's the case, then aremovies like Star Wars hints from
lost civilizations in galaxiesfar, far away?
Joe (16:16):
Well, for one, I certainly can't imagine a world without
Star Wars.
That's something I can'tconceive.
It is so ingrained into thefabric of our culture.
Remember how, in theTheosophist School of Blavatsky
and Steiner, we talked aboutthat at some point there is a
notion of the Akashic Records,which is an energy field that
(16:37):
contains every thought, emotion,concept, idea and event, every
cognitive process that everexisted and ever was and ever
will exist.
Why?
With every mind being connectedfrom the past, it's like every
mind being connected from thepast to the present and from
everywhere within the cosmos.
(16:58):
And we've always known that StarWars was way ahead of its time.
I mean from the very beginning.
It was just decades ahead ofits time, and you can see the
influence of Flash Gordon andBuck Rogers and even Star Trek.
But it is its own genre.
It is unique.
It does seem to have its rootsin the idea of collective memory
, of collective unconsciousness.
(17:20):
Consider the Indianmathematician who lived over 100
years ago.
Named Shrivanabhasa Ramanujan,he was able to derive these very
complex equations from calculusand number theory that were so
elaborate that they're even usedtoday by researchers in the
field of quantum physics.
(17:41):
He was known to have said manytimes throughout his life that
an equation has no meaningunless it represents a thought
belonging to God.
Speaker 5 (17:51):
Well, yeah, and that's what I was talking about.
And in an article by RoshniChakrabarti with India Today,
dated December 23rd 2022, statedthat Ramanujan was certainly
ahead of his time.
He was self-taught and turnedout to be one of the most
(18:12):
significant mathematicians inhistory, and by the time he was
13 years old, he worked on hisown sophisticated theorems, even
calculating the exact length ofthe Earth's equator by using
analytical geometry.
And his mother actually claimedto have had a vivid dream from
the patron goddess of the familynamed Namagiri, who ordered her
(18:36):
to stand no longer between herson and the fulfillment of his
life's purpose.
So you have to wonder ifcreating Star Wars wasn't George
Lucas's ordained purpose inlife.
Joe (18:52):
And Ramanujan actually credited his own ingenuity to
the goddess Mahalakshmi, who issaid to have appeared to him in
a dream and from whom drops ofblood fell to the ground.
And from them the drops ofblood, there appeared scrolls
which contained these veryintricate calculus equations
that he was eventually able todecipher, and at the end of his
(19:13):
life, ramanujan left behindthree large notebooks filled
with almost 4,000 equations andtheorems.
So did his beliefs in Hinduismand Transcendentalism play some
kind of role in his intellectualenlightenment, and if so, is
that an example of how ingenuityand knowledge come from, an
(19:34):
energy that we can tap into soas to take our minds to a higher
level and accomplish thingsthat, as we have seen, some
incredible people do?
Speaker 4 (19:48):
Larry, you have anything to say, I do.
It is interesting thinkingabout all that stuff.
It's also interesting to thinkhow the world would actually be
if Star Wars didn't exist.
Shockingly, some people mightnot even be affected, as there
are a great many people whohaven't even seen Star Wars yet.
Its subliminal impact on ourculture is undeniable.
The creative practices ofcountless individuals have been
(20:11):
influenced by Star Wars.
Just take the Acolyte series,for example.
It's heavily influenced by StarWars as Kathleen Kennedy tries
to reshape the narrative bydoing the complete opposite of
what Star Wars stands for.
But ultimately I feel peoplewould still be influenced in
similar ways with anotherintellectual property if Star
Wars will be there.
People resonate with what madeStar Wars popular Its themes,
(20:33):
its storytelling and itscharacters.
If Star Wars didn't exist,another franchise like I think
Dungeons Dragons was out aroundthe time or some other
technological marvel of its timewould have likely filled that
cultural niche.
But I think it's the ideas andthe values that resonate and
those can find a home in manydifferent forms of storytelling
(20:54):
or even beliefs like the forcewell, when we return after this
important ad, we'll get into theforce and a possible connection
to chi from Buddhism.
Speaker 5 (21:05):
So we'll be right back.
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(22:41):
So we were saying about theforce, which is a central aspect
that sticks out in the film isa mystic power throughout the
universe that many folks wouldsay is akin to God, and my
favorite quote is when Yoda isteaching Luke about it, where he
says for my ally is the force,and a powerful ally it is.
(23:04):
Life breeds it, it makes itgrow Luminous beings, are we not
this crude matter?
You must feel the force aroundyou, between you, me, the rock
everywhere.
Joe (23:24):
And this idea of an all-powerful force and how to
use it sounds similar to theChinese chi't it.
Well, yeah, it does.
You didn't use your yoda voice,though.
I mean, it's not not quite thesame, but I'll give you some
latitude there no one doesbeings are we?
Speaker 5 (23:34):
there's crude matter all right.
Joe (23:37):
So, yeah, chi uh, or prana, as it's referred to in hinduism
, is supposed to be a life forceenergy, and it is found in all
living things, but humans havethe ability to manipulate and
utilize it in special ways.
Some people are believed to bebetter able at doing that than
others.
Take Yuri Geller, the famousIsraeli psychic, who was said to
(24:00):
be able to carry outtelekinesis, which is the
manipulation of matter, by usingthe mind, by using thought.
He was supposedly able to bendspoons and make clocks stop
ticking and then start up again,and there was a BBC documentary
that aired in July of 2013where Geller, as he, was known
(24:21):
as a psychic spy for Mossad,which is the Israeli
intelligence agency, like ourversion of the CIA.
He claimed he was able to erasethe memory from hard drives and
floppy disks if you can recallwhat those actually are by
simply chanting the word eraseand then visualizing what should
(24:42):
be erased, projecting themental processes out into the
physical world.
Now, geller also stated thatthis telekinetic ability was
given to him byextraterrestrials.
So, even if this cannot beverified or proven, he, like
anyone else, may have had anextraordinary capacity to quote,
(25:02):
hear the voice, unquote, maybeeven send it.
So while his spoon bending maynot hold up to scrutiny, we must
remember that he is not thefirst person who was said to be
able to move matter withouttouching it.
The Bible does have many storieswhere the laws of motion are
violated.
Inertia and chemistry areviolated in these stories of the
(25:24):
Bible.
What seems more important,though, is scripturally speaking
.
The message is revealed throughvisions and dreams that God is
speaking, so as to be recordedin the form of writing.
Speaker 4 (25:39):
In addition to that, there's also thinking of chi.
So there's also thinking of qi.
So there's an article on themindjournalcom titled Do you
often wake up between 3 am to 5am?
This is what it means.
It talks about qi, energy intraditional Chinese medicine,
and it sounds a lot like theforce.
The article says Our body isfull of channels through which
(26:00):
energy is directed to our wholebody.
These channels are calledmeridians.
Kind of sounds likemidichlorians in Star Wars, the
intelligent life forms in StarWars galaxy that live in all
living things.
They form a symbioticrelationship with their hosts,
like you were talking aboutearlier, dad.
The force speaks through thesemidichlorians and the higher
(26:20):
your midichlorian count, themore sensitive you are.
Dad, the force speaks throughthese midichlorians and the more
, the higher your midichloriancount, the more sensitive you
are to the force.
So, going back to the article,it also says that if a meridian
is troubled, then chi cannotflow through it.
So I guess, in this sense,having fear and anger would be
troubling traits to the flow ofmeridians, as it leads to
suffering.
(26:40):
This aligns with Yoda'steachings about fear, anger and
suffering disrupting one'sconnection to the force.
It's fascinating how theseconcepts, whether chi or the
force, speak to a universal ideaof energy and balance that
transcends cultures and connectsdeeply with our understanding
(27:01):
of the world and ourselves.
Joe (27:03):
Well, you know another thing that's interesting the
word midichlorian sounds a lotlike the word mitochondria,
which is an organelle in thecytoplasm of our cells.
Its function is to regulaterespiration, which in turn
controls how our bodies areconverting glucose into energy,
changing ATP adenosinetriphosphate into ADP adenosine
(27:26):
diphosphate, in order to keep usliving.
It's the power plant of thecell.
It also contains DNA thatoriginally comes from the
mother's side, and there is atheory called symbiogenesis, in
which cells of complex organismsevolve from those of simpler
ones through symbiosis or comingtogether and working together
(27:47):
to form a more sophisticatedcellular development into a more
complex cell.
So it doesn't actually seemlike, you know, the script
writers put too much imaginationin coming up with the idea of
midichlorians.
They seem to just borrow itfrom what they already know
about mitochondria.
Speaker 5 (28:05):
Well, midichlorians were not even mentioned at all
in the original trilogy.
They were first brought up in1999 when the Phantom Menace
came out, episode one.
So to me it seemed a littlestrange that something like the
Force, a mystical, heterogeneousand immaterial entity, would be
(28:28):
dependent upon little creaturesinhabiting our cells.
And the Force in the firstmovies is never talked about in
that way.
So it is definitely a lateradaption that was put in there
and it helps lead up tosubsequent episodes in which
characters like Rey and Kylo Renare strong in the Force, like
(28:52):
really right from birth andbased on their midichlorian
count.
And that's not at all how wegrew up understanding the Force
when we were watching or talkingabout star wars no, not at all.
Joe (29:04):
And I remember seeing that scene, uh, where, uh, uh, like
quite one gin, he takes a bloodsample from anakin he got a cut
and he's able to do an analysison his blood and he, you know,
sends it, you know, um,telemetrically to obi-wan Kenobi
, who's in the ship, and hereads the midichlorian counts.
I'm thinking, what is hetalking about?
(29:25):
And of course, he says thatit's off the chart, it's even
higher than Master Yoda's, and Ijust thought, well, that kind
of kills what I have alwaysthought about the Force, about
the light side of the Force andthe dark side of the Force.
It's just simply, you know, youhave these midichlorians.
The force, um, it's just simply, you know you have these
midichlorians.
So does that mean there aregood ones and bad ones, if
you're, you know, on the darkside of the force.
(29:46):
So I, I really I didn't likethat.
I thought the force should kindof be left alone, as being
something more mystical.
And, uh, you know, I, I thinkthe disney star wars is like the
worst thing ever.
Um, there's really nothing moreI can say about it.
I, I know that is my opinion.
Others may and do disagree.
However, I just think it hasdrifted so much from the content
material of the originaltrilogy.
(30:08):
The original character arcswith the pervasive struggle of
good versus evil the dark sideof the force in a very
straightforward context, as wellas the special effects and the
cinematics that seemed genuineat the time.
Now they seem over the top,almost to being completely
absurd, and I think that is nowonly Star Wars in name, meaning
(30:32):
that these new shows, in myopinion, are all just money
grabs, and I also realize thatthere's a generational thing to
it, and I may be judging itrather harshly.
What do you think, laurie?
Speaker 5 (30:45):
Well, I'll harken back to what I said earlier and
again.
These are just my opinions,just our opinions.
But Disney and Lucasfilm, theyjust need to write good
storytelling and then produce itin non-biased movies and series
.
Now, I enjoyed Rogue One and Ican watch it over and over again
(31:07):
, like the original trilogy andeven the prequels.
I also enjoyed the ForceAwakens and I had high hopes for
the next two, but I ended upbeing grossly disappointed.
I know that you can make I meanyou can't make everybody happy,
of course, but someone willalways disagree with what you
(31:28):
make.
However, it is so much worsewhen you try and push agendas
down people's throats.
It's not different than areligious fanatic attempting to
push their religious beliefsdown your throat and say that
they are right and you are wrongand that you are wrong.
(31:49):
If lost my thought, if youcould, you know if you should
join them without any evidencewhatsoever to prove that they
are on the right side of history, as they so often claim.
Now, kathleen Kennedy, sayingthat the force is female angers,
(32:10):
a mostly male fan base.
You're going to expect that andmost of them haven't even
thought of the force in that way, like you, joe, like you were
saying you know, you haven't.
The force is, it's a mysteryand we're thinking of it as like
a god.
You know, we don't know if maleor female, it's just there,
it's just this power.
(32:30):
And the force is just that.
It's an unseen spirit world.
It's neither male nor female.
So, but to push a personalagenda, it seems she now has a
huge audience to pander to, andso the Force now becomes female
and Leia becomes better thanLuke.
She bests them, she flies likeMary Poppins through space.
(32:51):
Rey, immediately, is a wielderof the Force without any
training.
Bo-katan is better than JynJardin, et cetera.
I mean nothing but pure.
I guess you'd say it's a lot offeminism and male bashing.
And I guarantee you, if Disneywould have avoided this whole
woke thing and focused on agreat storyline, like the books
(33:15):
and canon, they would have.
I think they would have madebillions upon billions and Star
Wars would have taken off likecrazy in movies, series and
merchandise sales.
Because right now themerchandise sales they just
completely suck because of thenew toys, whatever that are
based on these new characters,and it wouldn't have been
(33:38):
through, I mean, it would havebeen through the roof if they
had did these really good,strong characters.
I'm a business owner and Ibelieve strongly that they made
a horrible business decisionwhen they did that.
And we're not.
Like I said earlier, I enjoyedRogue One and that had a female
(33:58):
lead.
I mean I enjoyed Aliens thathad a female lead.
Sig mean I enjoyed aliens thathad a female lead.
You know Sigourney Weaver andyou know was Ripley and also.
But it's just this agenda thatit's pretty obvious and blatant
that they are trying to push.
That's annoying.
Joe (34:15):
Yeah, this is completely different.
I mean the whole content of it.
It just seems forced andawkward.
I mean the whole content of it.
It just seems forced andawkward.
It's like Kathleen Kennedy'sown feminist manifesto put into
visual display on the moviescreen.
So, daniel, I mean being amillennial what do you think
(34:36):
about that in terms of you knowwhat your dad and I are saying,
because we're the old guys andwe remember Star Wars a lot
different than you do when yougrew up with it.
Our take is going to beconsiderably different.
What do you think about thiswhole Kathleen Kennedy way of
portraying Star Wars?
Speaker 4 (34:51):
Yeah, my viewpoint aligns pretty close to yours Not
a big fan of new Disney StarWars in the direction that they
have taken new Disney Star Warsin the direction that they have
taken.
I think what makes it extravolatile is Kathleen Kennedy.
She keeps on contradictingherself and will not admit to
pushing an agenda, but it'sreally obvious.
I have a quote from her.
(35:12):
Actually, she said many timeswomen get a terrible rap in the
Star Wars world because toxicmen have been led to believe
that this franchise is only forone demographic.
We are aiming to represent morewomen gaining leading roles in
many of our upcoming features.
So look, it's normal and finefor people in positions of power
(35:34):
slash influence like this tohave their own opinions on
things regarding the creativedirection of the franchise, to
have their own opinions onthings regarding the creative
direction of the franchise.
However, the issue I have isthat she has zero respect for
Star Wars and George Lucas'vision.
(35:54):
She is essentially piggybackingoff of the success of Star Wars
and what made it successful, andshe's shoehorning in her own
ideologies and then eventuallyreplacing the ideologies that
made people resonate with StarWars in the first place, and
then she's using that as aplatform with no consideration
of how it will actually affectthe fan base.
I don't like how she has aclear motive and agenda, but it
tends to kind of gaslight thefan base into believing that
(36:16):
there's nothing there at allnothing there at all.
All of this actually reminds meof a little video where george
lucas is sitting with kathleenkennedy in an interview and
george keeps on talking aboutstar wars being.
You know the story about goodand evil and how power corrupts,
etc.
But while he's talking about ithe's glancing over at kathleen
kennedy to every chance that hecan get when discussing the evil
(36:39):
portions of it, which I foundhilarious.
So it really shows her kind oflike, her true colors from like
the second that they acquiredthe star wars ip.
Speaker 5 (36:52):
Yeah, and she also said that this doesn't mean that
we are deliberately trying tothrow away dedicated and loyal
fans at all.
That's not what it means.
She claims that we are notseeing the big picture and that
they are trying to paint apositive narrative of women by
women.
So there is an agenda that itmust be pushed at all costs, it
(37:14):
seems, and because they areright and everybody else is
wrong.
So I think this will be a goodtime to bring up the newest
installment in the Star Warsuniverse on Disney+, which is
the Acolyte series.
Now, I watched the first fiveepisodes.
I was fine with the first two.
I fast forwarded three and fourand enjoyed actually enjoyed
episode five.
Look, I'm fine with diversity.
(37:35):
First two, I fast-forwardedthree and four and enjoyed
actually enjoyed episode five.
Look, I'm fine with diversityin the movies.
Okay, you can have people fromall walks of life in the movies.
This is America and that's howit should be.
However, I disagree with giantmedia corporations like Disney
putting forth these agendas andthat's exactly what they're
(37:57):
doing.
And you know it's an agendawhen the president of Lucasfilm,
like Kathleen Kennedy, you know, wears these T-shirts saying
like the force is female.
And you know Leslie Hedlund,director of the Acolyte,
laughing and joking around in aninterview and saying, oh, it's
the gayest star Wars.
Yet you know, and you know,they are alienating a large part
(38:19):
of the fandom when they make,you know, these comments there's
, there's no need for this insuch a beloved franchise.
So why did?
Why is Disney being so biasedand in such a war with the fan
base that they label, you know,you know, as demand babies?
Speaker 4 (38:40):
well, I haven't actually seen the accolade, but
I know what to expect.
Due to disney's recent trackrecord with the ip, um, many,
way too often I've gotten burnedby the new series that comes
out.
You know I get you star warsfan.
I there's the anticipation, Iget ready to watch it and I just
end up getting burned becausemy expectations are too high.
(39:02):
Uh, mandalorian, season three,perfect example.
Uh, flop due to sidelining.
Sidelining the main characterin order to prop up the female
counterpart, so bukatan in thiscase.
Um, very bold strategy when themain audience for the
Mandalorian are dads, theDadalorians right.
So again, it's just weirdbusiness decisions or them
(39:22):
prioritizing their ideology overactual storytelling.
Or you know what the audienceactually wants.
The same thing happened withKenobi Making Obi-Wan look like
a doofus to prop up aseven-year-old Leia who is
somehow more competent than theJedi Master.
It's just small things likethat, you know.
Tying into my original pointabout you know the importance of
believable and relatablecharacters and additionally,
(39:47):
disney has a nasty trend ofcreating poorly written female
characters and then blaming thebacklash on so-called man-bab
babies being an ist or a phobe,or insert insult here.
From what I've heard, this isactually the case with the
Acolyte.
It has terrible dialogue,unbelievable character
(40:09):
motivations, such as that onemain character who killed the
Jedi and then all of a sudden,like halfway through the series,
completely switched hermotivation because she found out
how sister her sister was, um,alive still, despite her trying
to kill her at the verybeginning of the series.
It's just all over the place,um, but anyway, essentially, uh,
(40:31):
it's the complete opposite ofthe throne room that I the
throne room scene that Imentioned at the beginning of
the podcast Star Wars has alwaysbeen about great storytelling
and relatable characters, andwhen those core elements are
compromised, it's no wonder thefan base reacts negatively.
The focus should be on craftingcompelling narratives that
(40:52):
everyone can enjoy withoutalienating a significant portion
of the audience.
Joe (40:57):
Yeah, I agree, I couldn't.
I too think the franchise,after being bought out by Disney
, has taken a very unsuitableturn toward wokeism and feminism
, such that it weakens theintegrity and the main theme of
the actual story itself, thestory that we've all grown to
love.
We see that it is now not thesame Star Wars.
It is something else altogether.
(41:18):
A politically correct or a woketelling of any space opera type
sci-fi doesn't fit the genre atall.
It doesn't belong there,anymore than cowboys belong in a
kung fu movie, or they believethat cowboys should be in a
movie about ancient greece.
It just doesn't fit.
It all seems forced and to meit doesn't seem enjoyable.
(41:42):
The original trilogy was thecore story and everything else
that we're seeing derives fromit, but something that has, uh,
spun off completely differentand unheard of from anything
that I can certainly remember.
You know, the Acolyte, theMandalorian Rogue, one Shoka.
These are all brand new storiesand they reek of identity
(42:03):
politics, which is not in theLucas original, and it's for
that reason, aside from the oldepisodes, that I'm not all that
fond of the franchise and whatit has become.
I really don't even want towatch any of the new series.
Uh, the whole meaning of thestory.
The entire overall plot hasbeen altered so as to fit a
contemporary ideology, insteadof just simply tapping into the
(42:26):
genuine artistic and literarycreativity of the script writers
um, I do agree.
Speaker 4 (42:34):
Um, there are some things made by disney star wars
that I actually do like and nowthat you mention it, like
mandalorian season, one perfectexample.
I feel like a lot of dads likethat one too, you know, because
master man badass goes through,you know, gets business done and
then he's, you know, dad, thelittle baby yoda right or a Bad
(42:54):
Batch, is basically just arevitalization of the Clone Wars
.
I loved every bit of that and Iwas actually going to decide
when it ended because I knewthat I've got nothing else to
really look forward to.
But anyway, I find it deeplyfascinating that a company would
spend $4 billion on an IP witha built-in audience and not
respect what drew in thataudience in the first place.
(43:17):
It's literally the easiestmoney any company could have
made, and they made the onecourse of action that screws
everything up.
I don't think Disney as acorporation is intentionally
doing this, since they do reallycare about the bottom line, and
this is evident with theirmarketing in Saudi Arabia and
China, where they minimize orcover up the black characters to
(43:37):
bring in more draw for themovie.
What I believe is reallyhappening is that we have
activists in positions of power,such as Kathleen Kennedy and
Kevin Feige, who have convincedthe shareholders in some manner
that these messages will onlymake them money and that
legitimate criticisms are theloud minority and illegitimate
(43:57):
because they are like a racistor sexist or again insert any
insult.
Um, I think, I think we willsee a massive turn in the tide
as disney's bottom line is beingheavily affected every
quarterly earnings report.
Um, it's been stated by Disneythat Marvel and Lucasfilm are
their worst performing divisions.
(44:18):
So if anything is going to bechanged first to fix their
bottom line, I feel like it willbe those two.
They really need to go back tothe basics and just focus on
great storytelling and respectthe core elements that made the
franchise beloved in the firstplace.
Speaker 5 (44:34):
Yeah, like I said earlier, I mean Kathleen Kennedy
does have an agenda, it seems.
Even in the Acolyte they'retrying to show a vergence in the
Force with the two femalecharacters 100 years prior to
the time of young AnakinSkywalker.
They were conceived by twolesbian witches who somehow
manipulated their own version ofthe Force called the Thread.
(44:56):
He even got to mess with theForce, I mean.
But now this now makes Anakin'sversion less of importance, it
seems.
Look, I get it.
We all know Star Wars is fiction.
You can do what you like instorytelling when it comes to
fiction, but that's not thepoint here.
The point is the agenda, and itis blatantly in our faces.
(45:19):
The Acolyte even shows the Jediin an evil way.
It's much like the police forceof today.
Just like Ben Kenobi said, fora thousand generations the Jedi
Knights were the guardians ofpeace and justice in the Old
Republic, before the Dark Times,before the Empire.
So why not do a series or movieto reinforce that?
You know, this is where theagenda comes into play.
(45:42):
It's now making the good guysbad and the bad guys good.
It reminds me of 2 Timothy 3,verse 1 and verse 3, and this
knows also that in the last days.
Perilous times shall comewithout natural affection,
(46:03):
trucebreakers, fossil cruisers,etc.
And then it says in verse 3,and despisers of those that are
good.
Joe (46:13):
You guys both bring up very excellent points in what you're
saying, and it also makes methink of what's mentioned in
Isaiah 5, 20, with how terribleit will be for people who call
good things bad and bad thingsgood, who think darkness is
light and light is darkness, andhopefully that will not come to
(46:34):
define this age in which welive Hard to say at this point,
but hopefully, like you said,daniel, things will take a turn,
at least in the production ofthe Star Wars universe.
I mean, there's one thing Iknow, and I'll say this ever
since I've been living insouthern Arizona the summer
times here have always made methink that I'm living on the
(46:55):
planet Tatooine.
You know desert environment,the landscape, the blazing sun,
the picturesque sunsets therewere only two suns, right?
I sometimes imagine myself hereas Luke Skywalker when I look
out towards the horizon atsunset.
If it was a double sunset.
Speaker 5 (47:14):
Yeah, I don't think one sun is enough here in
arizona.
Um, I wonder, uh how, how hotit would be here if we had two
suns in the sky, and, uh, Ihonestly don't think uh life
could survive no, I don't.
Joe (47:30):
I don't think so.
I'm guessing that the earthwould have to, uh, be double the
distance from the suns.
Um, maybe more, uh.
Even then, life probablycouldn't be sustained here.
Speaker 5 (47:39):
So a a tattooing like double sun is definitely
fictional yeah, no kidding,anyway, um, I think that would
do it for this episode, which Itruly enjoyed.
Um, and just so you guys knowwe're all for, for you know,
strong women and everybody ofall walks in life enjoying this
(48:03):
country and getting to share inits riches and its blessings.
So, but on our next show wewill be moving away from our
series on the mythology andsci-fi and instead we will be
doing a show about the alienrelics with our good friend
Aaron Long.
(48:23):
If you check out his AncientAstronaut Theory Facebook page
and we've had Aaron on severaltimes now you will see the many
posts he did on these possiblealien artifacts.
So what else are we eventuallygoing to find buried under our
feet?
Joe (48:41):
Could be very interesting and insightful.
So please join us for that, anda special thanks to our guests
for coming on with us.
Larry, it was truly a pleasure.
You did great, and maybe on apodcast with your old man isn't
so bad now, is it?
Speaker 4 (48:59):
yeah, not that bad.
Well, anyway, thank you, uh,joe and dad, I really enjoyed
being on.
I I love star wars and this wasa.
Speaker 5 (49:06):
Uh, it was a great experience, thank you you're
welcome and it was uh greathaving you with us, son, and and
yeah you did, you did great andyeah I couldn't think of, I
wouldn't be able to forgivemyself if I did this podcast,
this episode, without you.
Speaker 4 (49:26):
I wouldn't have forgiven you either.
Joe (49:29):
Very nice.
So anyway, folks, I rememberthese comments are our opinions
and they are just that opinions.
So anyway, folks, rememberthese comments are our opinions
and they are just that opinions.
Our program is not endorsed byany motion picture corporation,
franchise, actors Guild orWriters Guild, nor are we giving
any endorsement to them.
We're just some guys talkingand you are certainly free to
agree or disagree with us.
(49:50):
Either way, we hope you enjoyedthe dialogue and we hope you
return with us for our nextepisode.
So until then, stay safe, staypeaceful and stay curious.
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