Minister of Free Inquiry's Journal

Subject:	"People should get a life." ...Well, Happy Life Day, everyone! And may the Farce be with you!!!
Time:	5:07 am.
Mood:	quixotic.
Music:	Meco, "Theme/Cantina Band: 12in Disco Mix".

Help! I'm stuck in an abyss of retro sci-fi caricature... watching the Star Wars Holiday Special!!! (yes, this is actually a link to watch the entire 1 hr 56 min 53 sec file on Google Video).

If you actually manage to watch the entire train wreck of "Episode IV 1/2" ...it will be as if you had been subjected to the Ludovic treatment: you will never be able to erase these images from your memory and samples of the musical numbers will play on tape-loops in your head like earworms, until the end of your days.

...including songs and comedy routines by such 1970s talents as Jefferson Starship, Diahann Carroll, Art Carney, Harvey Korman, and Bea Arthur!!! ...as well as a Heavy-Metal style animated short which origianlly introduced Boba Fett... and one of the most bizarre elements of these files originally dubbed on VHS/Betamax, are all the 70s commercials (including pitches for Union-made American automobiles fighting against corporate ads for cars... as well as poorly disguised attempts to appeal to burgeoning Liberals, Feminists, & African-Americans competing with horrid stereotypes of gender & ethnicity used to sell all sorts of commodities... this was one of the most expensive TV shows of its time, so these ads were superbowl "quality").

Perhaps this ridiculously campy relic provides a well-deserved context of humility for the growing number of people in the real world who identify their own religion on census forms as "Jedi Knight." As quoted in a 2006 news article: "In Canada, where census surveys ask for religious affiliation, just 1,525 reported being Scientologists. By comparison, about 20,000 people identified themselves as being Jedi, a fictitious mind-control faith that originated in 'Star Wars' movies." One can only hope they intend this as a metaphor (allegory?), rebellion, &/or satire; but I have met too many geeks that give Otaku a bad name... like the so-called "Otherkin" and similarly deleuded fans who can't entirely tell the difference between fantasy and reality (albeit a fuzzy boundary, at certain times; but please learn to fly beginning from the ground, ok?). To their credit, I recognize that there are situations during some film & sporting events which can be referred to as liminoid (pseudo-ritual which doesn't quite manage to provide a transformative experience). And I also admit that I have been subject to similar criticisms, myself... for my fascination with RPGs as a method to produce transformative experience.

( From what I understand, George Lucas had never dreamed that the Jedi Knights would become a real-world religious cult... )

I wonder if any of these real-world "Jedi Knights" (aka Star Wars Otherkin) have attempted to adapt the Wookie's ceremonies into some kind of Kabbalistic ritual?

The family prepares to go the festival at the Tree of Life, gathering crystals together and joining them above their heads. Magically, along with many other Wookiees, the family is next seen in space, travelling toward a bright star. They walk into it, arriving at the great Tree of Life, where many Wookiees dressed in red robes are gathered.

( oops, i shouldn't have asked... at the very least, it has become a virtual ritual! )

But if you haven't heard Princess Leia's address from The Star Wars Holiday Special, check it out:
"This holiday is yours, but we all share with you the hope that this day brings us closer to freedom and to harmony and to peace. No matter how different we appear, we're all the same in our struggle against the powers of evil and darkness. I hope that this day will always be a day of joy in which we can reconfirm our dedication and our courage, and more than anything else, our love for one another. This is the promise of the tree of life."

( Then just wait until you hear the lyrics she sings: )
( Beatrice Arthur's number is straight outta Bob Fosse's Cabaret... it's also the best thing you'll see in this TWO-HOUR variety show. )
( And don't you want to know what Grandpa Wookie, Attichitcuk (Itchy) fantasizes about with an erotic virtual reality machine? )
( Thrills that seem like they will never begin & scenes that feel like they will never end: )

There's an ominous line towards the end, as Trader Saundan feeds a cover story to the Empire (who are searching for the missing Stormtrooper that had just been dispatched by Han & Chewie): "Yes sir, identification is very important...it helps you maintain contact with the Empire at times like this!"

And more recently, in another example of how art imitates life: There was a special preview promoting a Star Wars Robot Chicken special (do yourself a favor & watch all 23 minutes... it's absurdly funny!)... George Lucas actually voices a confession to his therapist that the Star Wars Holiday special is his mea maxima culpa.

--

( But my favorite line from the whole sordid affair is originally communicated by Artoo & translated by Threepio: )

( Further analysis of Star Wars mythology: )

As George Lucas himself cautioned, "It's only a movie. People should get a life."

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