Lucas Strikes Again!

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Title:	Lucas Strikes Again!
Creator:	Chris Callahan
Date(s):	May 25, 1981
Medium:	print
Fandom:	Star Wars
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Lucas Strikes Again! is a 1981 essay by Chris Callahan.

It was printed in The Jedi Journal #3.

Some Topics Discussed

• the movie The Empire Strikes Back
• fan reaction to the movie: character development, plot twists, speculation on the future and who is The Other
• the fanworks that could be created because of this movie: "Oh yes, the possibilities are endless. Thank you, George and Co.; thank you very much!"

Excerpts

George Lucas has done it again...and then some. THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK is even better than STAR WARS. That's a dangerous statement to make, I suppose, considering how truly great SW is (and how I did such ecstatic cartwheels over it in my reviews), but I stand by the assessment, for many reasons.

First: TESB isn't a carbon copy of its predecessor. It's very different, more serious, more open-ended. However, as many reviewers have already pointed out, it's the second act of a three-act play, and the second act is when it really gets down to business, leaving the loose-end tying for the third act. What will happen in that third act, currently known as REVENGE OF THE JEDI, is anybody's guess. We can hope it'll be at least as good as the first two. If it's better (even better than TESB) that'll be super-rich icing on the best cinematic cake we've ever had.

Second, etc.: it goes deeper into characterization of the major figures; it has visual effects that sometimes top those of SW (with the benefit of that learning experience plus time, the effect should be even better!); it gives hints of the scope of the historical and spatial context of the Rebellion; it carries the mythical orientation even further; and it presents questions for discussion that'll keep the fanzines swamped with material till well after the third movie comes out (in 198^ according to Craig Miller in an interview in ALDERAAN #8). SW was basically fun, with comicstrip characters who happened to be interesting enough to capture fannish imaginations and generate a lot of fiction and discussion of varying quality. TESB is more serious in tone, almost tragic in some ways, but for fen who enjoy thinking, this is all to the good. There's only so much anyone can do with just plain fun, even if the fun is built on a solid foundation of myth and psychology. A darker tone can lead to deeper and wider speculation and fictional development.

Think about it. Luke is a ostensible hero of SW, Lucas' alter ego (or Mary Sue, if you prefer), but Han, the ambiguous outlaw and Vader, the embodiment of evil, are the ones who caught on (Leia's role is fuel for another discussion entirely). After all, ambiguity and evil are more interesting than innocence and niceness. Luke may become more popular now that he's no longer such an innocent and has proved his own capacity for ambiguity and even potential for evil by ignoring Yoda's and Ben's entreaties. I'm looking forward to seeing what fen do with him now.

It's good to see some women among the rebels, and one of them even getting a speaking part, however small, and identification in the credits as a officer.

John Williams' score is absolutely beautiful! The first couple of times I played it (before I saw the movie even!) I wasn't sure I liked it as much as SW, but I've gotten thoroughly hooked. The Imperial theme and Yoda's theme are my favorites, tied, with the beginning of the love theme a very close second. I do dislike having the sides sequential, so I can't play them two and two without having to get up and flip the record (so I'm lazy!)

Wedge looks like he's gained fifty pounds. If I hadn't seen the familiar name in the credits and checked both program books, I'd've sworn another actor was using the name.

Chewie's eyes have changed color. In SW they were yellow and small, tho the book said blue and big. In TESB they're still small, but now they're blue. No com plaint about the color in book and movie agreeing finally, but why not be consistent with the previous movie? After all, there're lots of inconsistencies between the books and movies in both cases.

Along the same line is the change in the color on Han's pants. OK, so he wants a bit of a change - he switched shirts, too. But if the story handed out that Brian Daley used Lucas' ideas in his books is true, so those books are accepted parts of the Lucas canon, what happens to the idea in HAN SOLO AT STAR'S END that his red-striped pants were left over from his old military uniform? He wouldn't have had uniforms with different colored stripes. Fan writers (including myself) have various ideas on the significance of the stripes, some of which would allow for the color change - wonder what Lucas had in mind?

I think Yoda's 'another' is Leia. She was able to receive Luke's call for help; she's known Ben Kenobi for years and was possibly taught by him (she was able to resist the mind probe, remember - using a Jedi technique?); in mythical and psychological terms she's the logical candidate as the female half of the new order's beginning. Yes, I know getting Luke's call could have been a matter of a telepathic message being strong enough for a non-telepath to receive it even at a distance, and Ben proved in SW that the Force could be used to put ideas in other people's minds (tho that was at short range), but I think she's a genuine, if latent, talent. As for Vader (and Ben) not knowing her potential - Vader thinks Luke's been trapped in the freezing chamber and that the Emperor has overestimated the boy's ability (he himself certainty underestimates I), so apparently the Force isn't always present even to somebody as powerful as Vader. Maybe at the personal level it can be detected only when it's being used by the person in question; if so, if Leia has an undeveloped talent, she wouldn't be detected. As to her using a Jedi technique to resist the mind probe, it might be such a low-level use that someone not looking for it wouldn't notice it. Leia's younger than Luke, and if she's already had even a little training, say in pain-blocking techniques, she's at least as likely a candidate for in-depth training as he is - more so, since she's accustomed to self-discipline and dedication to a cause, and is basically more serious minded.

Can Lando be trusted? I think so. True, he was willing to allow a so-called friend to be tortured as bait for a total stranger, but he's obviously upset at Han's being handed over to Bobba Fett and at Vader's reneging on the original plan for Leia and Chewie. As he says, "This deal gets worse all the time!" He's a businessman with the ethics of a pirate, rather like Han, except that Han (I'm sure) wouldn't betray a friend to protect a business investment. However, I think Lando really regrets the way things turned out and will be doing his best to save Han - and will admit that Han has every right to beat the shit out of him at the first opportunity. It isn't clear what he's doing when he seems to be adjusting something on the side of the carbonite slab, but I think he's speeding up the thawing process to allow Han a chance to escape or at least defend himself before Jabba makes either impossible. (I plan to use this in a story, but since it's fairly obvious, I won't scream plagiarism if somebody else uses if after this article is published.)

I think Vader's lying about being Luke's father. True, everything Ben told Luke about his father could be interpreted two ways, and mythically it would fit in, but I don't believe it. The Emperor presumably would know if it were true, and Skywalker Senior was apparently a real threat while he lived; thus the Emperor wouldn't refer to "the son of Skywalker" if Vader were the father. Even if the Emperor meant the Skywalker persona before the Jedi became Vader, he's surely have considered the possibility that if the powerful father could be turned, the less-skilled son certainly could be. I think Vader's insistence on converting Luke is based not on fatherhood but on his knowledge of what a valuable ally the son of his former colleague could be, with proper training - why waste a potential resource? Especially if Vader has ambitions to overthrow the Emperor (and he does seem to, even tho in the book he's shown and genuinely, not just outwardly, afraid and respectful), he needs someone with Luke's talent. Vader is certainly powerful enough to convince Luke emotionally as well as intellectually, which not only partly guarantees that Luke won't be effective against him, it may help in conversion. I know the argument that "Darth Vader" is supposed to be a play on "Dark Father," but even if the rumor about Lucas' intention is true, it doesn't have to mean that Vader is literally Luke's father. The "Dark Father" can be a spiritual father as opposed to the physical "Light Father," both being strong influences on the child who'll combine the two somehow. Psychologically and in mythical terms that makes sense too - Vader being the representation of Luke's own dark side that he has to come to terms with in order to become mature and whole. On the more obvious side, "Darth Vader" could also be "Dark Invader," a psychological invader attacking at the mental and emotional levels as well as the physical. In any case, the really important factor, to my mind, is not whether Vader actually is Luke's father, but whether Luke believes he is.

Addendum: Post-Noreascon II: During the question-and-answer period after the preview of the TV special "The Making of THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK," Gary Kurtz said, in answer to a question about the identity of the "other" that we won't be seeing this person for a while. This could mean either a new character who'll be introduced later in REVENGE OF THE JEDI (or even later), or it could refer to Han Solo, who won't be seen for a while, till after he's unfrozen. Of course it could also mean wouldn't be appearing again till later, but as a leader of the Rebellion, well...I must admit a friend was partly responsible for my beginning to change my mind, but between her and Kurtz, I'm coming around to the view (common among fanfic) that Han does have the Force with him, and he may turn out to be the other. Kurtz also said 1983 for release date, so for the next two years or so we can only speculate.