That Elegant Scruffy Look
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| Title: | That Elegant Scruffy Look |
| Creator: | C.R. (Illinois) Jones |
| Date(s): | summer 1981 |
| Medium: | |
| Fandom: | Star Wars |
| Topic: | |
| External Links: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
That Elegant Scruffy Look is a 1981 Star Wars essay by C.R. (Illinois) Jones.
It was printed in Shadowstar #3.
Some Topics Discussed
- changing aesthetics in science fiction media
- mention or discussion of "The Shape of Things to Come," A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, Raiders of the Lost Ark, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Outland,
- Bau-Haus style, Art Nouveau style
- how Stephen Spielberg and George Lucas' film are keeping us all from terrible, unimaginative aesthetics
Excerpts
The scruffy look. We know it so well today from such elegantly mangy films as A New Hope, and The Empire Strikes Back, and especially now from Raiders of the Lost Ark. Scruffy is comfortable, like a very old, limp, worn pair of jeans. Scruffy is more like real life, at least the way most of us live it. But how did we get here from the old sterile view of the future fa vored by the major films of the past?
The earliest "science fiction" type films tended to be neat and clean, portraying a work man-like orderly world, just like the popular view of a good factory: a "clean and shining new world, free of the dirt and corruption of the past." This simply reflected the fascination of the turn of the century world with a "brave new world," a shining new toy for man. The upper
classes— who made and watched the films, in general — liked to think about all those nice new toys of technology that all those workers were producing. The workers, however, were confined to the grit and foul pollution of their factories and mines. They saw in a shining future a promise for escape from squalor. Machines would save them from the grime and grief.
We now come to the current trends, which are best characterized by "mass marketing mediocre."
High tech is becoming an "in" style, with glass and steel, brushed chrome and teak popular ma terials. These seem to be derived from the high-class stereo receiver or computer console. But guess what? We are back to refined heavy metal and rivets. However, we have also come through a cultural shock period of regression and reaction to "conventional lifestyles." Dirty-dirty hippies took over schools and the headlines; then, we all grew up, at least to a certain extent. Lots of people still love the relaxed look, or "California Layback," since it entails less spiffing up and polishing of our selves and our personal worlds. It allows us to relax in comfort rather than maintain artificial, showcase environments in our homes.
And how does this show up in our contemporary films?
Scruffy is in. The Millennium Falcon is so laid back in terms of spit-and-polish as to be absolutely horizontal. The posh Death Star for all its shiny corridors and slick environment has leftovers from its construction still littering the back alleyways and accesses. Tatooine is rather run down over all. A film like Outland is downright grimy and oily. The Roger Gorman films present a gritty, lived-in universe, and one that is dimly lit in a manner that represents
It seems that we are used to living in a less than polished environment. We have learned to live in and love — a cluttered world, learned to like the greasy insides of our hot-rods or pet cars, or enjoy working with our hands in all manner of do-it-ourself projects. The most comfortable place in our existence may be our own personal spaces, which may be cluttered. Ergo, we feel at ease with imaginary universes that are equally lived-in.
Perhaps part of this acceptance of Scruff stems from the way our places of employment and public environments are kept spic-and-span perforce. Or, perhaps, our parents tended to enforce
excessively intense rules of showcase cleanliness. But whatever the cause, today s people are personally happy with Scruff.
Stylistically, the heavy-iron look is in, reacting against the sterilty of 2001. Art Nouveau still appears on occasion as an exotic element, as in Empire; exotic, yet familiar. Bespln harkens back to Alex Raymond and his art nouveau; this also reflects other types of architecture and interior decor which we, the readers amongst the masses, have seen in various historically-intended articles and retrospectives, not to mention older films. High tech is getting mixed with all the best and most visual themes and styles of past architecture. This look may be generally referred to as "applied Star Wars," and is showing up in the real world as designers tend toward more exposed structural elements and stronger visual themes in design-forms and accoutrements. (This trend will shortly be mixed with pseudo-Arabian as Raiders begins to warp the public consciousness.)
Where will it all end? Probably with another undirected flood of tacky crud from the mass marketeers, ignoring good taste and the best that our designers can come up with. Happily, fine films will continue to experiment with new designs, giving us glimpses of fascinating worlds and their fine styles of living.
Keep on doin' 'em, George, Steven, and crew!