even though I think he stretches the argument too far I thought it was a good read. He wrote a similar one about LOTR too if you want to look it up (it's in the Salon.com archives)

>what exactly do you mean "identify with" and "resonance?" do
>you just mean how popular the franchise is, how many tickets
>it sold?

No, I mean how much people really take Star Wars to heart. I don't know if you get it in the UK, but there's this sitcom called That 70's Show that's a good example, it's about a teenage kid and his friends growing up in middle america in the 70's, and the kid Eric is obsessed with Star Wars, whenever he faces a dilemma he'll ask himself "Hmm, what would Luke Skywalker do in this situation?", or when his father sends him to run an errand he'll go "this is like when Uncle Owen sent Luke to Toshii station to pick up some power converters".

And the thing is he's not some anti-social freak, he's just an average, everyday kid, in fact he's the everyman character on the show. It's really a pretty fair depiction of the average American kid, and the resonance Star Wars had with them, athough comedically exaggerated somewhat.

>there's different ways to look at it... the Lord of the Rings
>and Chronicles of Narnia were written ages ago but people
>still read them, children still read them. Will Star Wars have
>that longevity? especially after the debacle of the new films

I think it will. I was surprised when Phantom Menace came out by how much kids were getting into the whole saga, and not just the Jar-Jar kiddie nonsense Lucas threw in. I was in the theater watching it and this 7-8 year old kid was sitting in front of me, and he was all excited going on to his father about Anakin - not because he won the pod race or blew up the trade federation starship, but because he was gonna turn into Darth Vader.

Just this weekend I was in a bookstore near all the Star Wars stuff and heard a 10-11 year old kid telling his mother how excited he was about Revenge of the Sith because Anakin finally turns into Darth Vader. They're little kids, but they're excited about it for the exact same reason our generation is.

As for LOTR and Chronicles of Narnia, people still read them, but in America they are not and never were anywhere near as popular or influential as Star Wars. Maybe in Britain, but no way in the States.

>interesting
>possibly he gives Lucas too much credit (I mean, how far does
>he really think this morality thing through?)

Well he does actually have a fair point with Lucas here: in an interview Lucas once said that the ideal form of government would be a benign dictator cuz he could get things done. And in AOTC Anakin echoes this sentiment when he's talking to Padme about the problems with the Galactic Senate. I think Brin takes the morality thing a little too far as well, but he does have a point.

>and also, a major thing he didn't mention was that
>demigod/elite stories often just an excuse for one really
>tough guy vs another.

Yeah, that is basically the format for most superhero comic books.

>Harkonen aren't as tough as Atriedes aren't as tough as
>Sarduaker aren't as tough as Fremen aren't as tough their
>leader Maud'dib. Maud'dib isn't as tough as Leto his son

Hmmm, I think the demigod/elite thing in Dune is more for the messianic aspect of the story, but yeah "God made Arrakis to train the faithful" plays into the one tough guy vs. another thing as well.

>same reason we watch the world cup

so soccer really is just an excuse for hooliganism - I knew all that "beauty of the game" stuff was a load of crap! (j/k)

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