Posted by TheMojoPin at 208.1.219.2 on November 16, 2001 at 16:50:54:
In Reply to: Milton, Spenser and the Whole Mythological Taco... posted by CaribbeanKangaroo (S.Townsley) on November 16, 2001 at 16:36:12:
Man, I LIKE you. This thread rules.
: (For those who came in late...)
: Wedge is the Not-Biggs of the Star Wars galaxy, (that is, whereas Biggs was blown up over the first Death Star, Wedge survived and subsequently attacked numerous other Imperial military targets, ultimately including the "Power Regulator Tower on the North Side".)
Wait, THAT guy? Holy crap, there's a big Fett-like movement around him? He appears for like 5 minutes in the first three films, and that's it...
: MOJO:
: If this is what Lucas was going for, well, more power to him, but somehow I doubt that...
: STEVE:
: Never underestimate the level of detail an artist puts into his work. (Look at "Paradise Lost"!)
Granted, and Lucas' original idea for the trilogy was very untainted by what it would become...I don't know how well-read Lucas is, but he sure has seen a TON of films, and this is definitely a recurring theme...
: MOJO:
: So maybe it's more apt to say [Fett is] like a physical manifestation of the Castle of Pride and its inhabitants from "The Faerie Queen"? But I like the idea of him being Solo's shadow...and if the Milton analogy holds, does that make his fellow bounty hunters like the other demons cast down in "Paradise"? And if he really is just a clone, that opens up ALL kinds of comparisons to Sin and Death...
: STEVE:
: Actually, Spenser's Castle Pride is more manifested in the form of the "Magic Tree", wherein Luke attacks the Darth Vader shadow, revealing his own face....(But if you've read "The Faerie Queene", I'm sure you've noticed the incredibly striking similarity, when the dwarf is shouting "Don't go in that cave! Don't go!"...)
Oh man, I forgot about the cave part! That's incredible! Combine that with how Red Cross Knight is healed and taught to overcome his allies and you have a direct parallel with what Yoda does for Luke. King Arthur basically represents Obi-Wan Kenobi...the land is ruled over by an evil dragon (The Empire) forcing the good people into hiding (The Rebels)...in the "Faerie Queen," RCK is cast down twice while fighting the dragon, as Luke is first in "Empire" and then again by the Emperor in "Jedi"...now what does RCK come across each time? A tree of life, and some kind of life-giving spring? Or swamp?
: However, you're pretty close. I'm sure there's a case to made there.
I think we're both really onto something...I'd love to find some kind of full analysis of these kinds of themes running through the films...
: MOJO:
: But then what does it mean that he vanquishes Fett in such an accidental manner, and essentially blind, with the assistance of his best friend/life partner? I'ts not necessarily a concious explusion of his "dark side" then, is it?
: STEVE:
: After his "resurrection", Solo moves from seeing "a big dark blur" into seeing "a big light blur"...this is the (perhaps over-) simplified representation of how Solo has abandoned his shadowy past. Removing the physical manifestation of his shadows is no task for him--he has already unconsciously (or perhaps inconspicuously consciously) done it: "Boba Fett? Boba Fett? Where?"
I like this theory...but there's got to be some kind of key point to be made with the fact that Han can't do this without his life-partner, Chewie...who does Chewie represent? If Han becomes RCK, then Chewie is obviously his Una, as that in both cases the "hero" cannot survive without his pure companion...Chewie is never made out to be the dark anti-hero that Han is, and so he functions as Han's walking, talking source of salvation...
-TMP