May The Fierce Be With You (Episode II)

(Part of a double entry - not a double trilogy)

I had to go watch the new and last Star Wars Episode. When I say "had to", I mean it, brainwashed that I was by my cereal box, my "Telly box" (damn Brits), and any support you can think of.

On the overall, it's much better than the two others "less than IV" Episodes. However, I'm concerned by the impact on kids. I usually disregard the arguments against violence and children exposition to it. But this time, I am thinking that I wouldn't like to take my kids to such a movie. This is especially problematic as there is so much advertising, PR and (I insist) brainwashing (brain-pushing?) around the Star Wars franchise.

Sorry about the spoilers, but let's sum up quickly what your kids might see at your local theatre:

  • a few arms being severed
  • a few legs too
  • and some heads
  • and Darth Vader burning alive
  • enough?
Of course we were waiting for something ugly happening to Anakin Skywalker. And you have to be 12 to see the movie in most countries. But this is the movie industry being hypocrit when you consider how the product is pushed to young audiences: there is a limb-cutting light sabre in every Frosties box at my local Tesco. That's hot! (I am not quoting Darth Vader).

Comments

Ricardo said…
But the movie is so awful!! :-) I mean, I was really surprised with the first 15 minutes. Those miserable minutes! It's incredible how you can make an action scene with such a lack of involvement, feelings, soundtrack, etc. Bad movie making, really. The actors are not great (mainly the guy playing Anakin), but my opinion is that most fault goes to Mr. Lucas himself. Poor cutting, miserable directing.

See you soon.

mbaeurope.blogspot.com
25/5/05 09:06
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

France - UK, Import/Export

In case you care about the French language, aujourd'hui c'est la 12ème Journée de la Francophonie (12th Day of the Franch Language). So you might want to check what's hapenning near you - maybe some wine and cheese tasting? ;) I had planned to go to see a French movie to celebrate, taking advantage of the French Film Festival here is Sydney but unfortunately, Raquel wasn't feeling well... Anyway, this is a nice opportunity to notice the growing number of French expats around the world. French people settling in the UK is a recurrent BBC topic for instance ( I was even part of one of their article ). And here is the last article in the series. The whole part about French writer Marc Levy sucks (IMHO) but there are some gems: [Penny Zoldan] said her agency, Latitudes, sold about 500 properties a year and estimated that more than 500,000 Britons owned property in France - many more than French people own in Britain. But there are certainly increasing numbers of F...
Read more

Skype...Out?

Skype...Out? So, it seems Skype turned down something like $3bn from News Corp. Not their exit strategy then. I hope they had a good reason or good faith in their future. With IM rivals becoming serious on transmitting more than text (like the new Yahoo!Messenger with voice - more here ), it’s a bold bet, especially as it is a game Microsoft is already in. But then, I haven’t done any research on the subject. My guesses: Maybe the 42 million users are turning a nifty profit. Maybe subscription figures are growing exponentially – hard to sell when this kind of figure is through the roof (the kind of problem I wish to have one day). Maybe they think they are worth more than 72$ a user. I know that’s a GONE(c) (Good Old New Economy) way of putting a value on a company. Of course, at 500$ per user, they would be worth $21bn. Then maybe , Niklas Zennström has a huge ambition for his company – he does look like Bill Gates . Finally, maybe they didn’t like the idea of being boug...
Read more

Mr. Robot, give me a Job

"Mr Robot, give me a job". That's what you'll need to sing using the air of " Mr. Sandman " to get a job at Google and other large companies pretty soon. I found this article published in January in the New York Time burried deep in my Factiva feeds by cleaning up this week-end: Google Answer To Filling Jobs Is an Algorithm ! In short: Have you ever made a profit from a catering business or dog walking? Do you prefer to work alone or in groups? Have you ever set a world record in anything? The right answers could help get you a job at Google. Google has always wanted to hire people with straight-A report cards and double 800s on their SATs. Now, like an Ivy League school, it is starting to look for more well-rounded candidates, like those who have published books or started their own clubs. Desperate to hire more engineers and sales representatives to staff its rapidly growing search and advertising business, Google -- in typical eccentric fashion -- ...
Read more