MeehanStarWarsProject

A Long Time Ago, in a Galaxy Far, Far Away...
For some people, the term "literature," at first glance, may have the connotation of classic novels written in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. However, in examining the word and its imlpications a bit closer, one finds that "literature" covers a very broad range of media: everything from written texts to songs to movies and even internet webpages. Essentially, in the modern, electronic world, various texts engage audiences in ways that were not previously possible with written and print cultures. Today, the technologies that have begun to take over the print culture have produced very interesting effects on print itself. While more and more people utilize technologies such as the Internet, Nooks, Kindles, and other electronic means by which they read, books that were otherwise inaccessible to the public have become as easy to access as simply clicking a button. Not only are these forms of media more readily accessible, but Rushkoff also argues that they are a major proponent in an increase in the numbers of people who read, stating:


 * "So far, computers haven't made people read less; they make us read more. Most of the kids I've met online have astonishing literacy skills. No matter how visual the World Wide Web might get in its surface, it's still a word-based medium when you follow anything through or try to glean any real information ."

In essence, the "wired world" in which we live has opened up new opportunities that were not feasible more than a few decades ago. We are currently so reliant on the technologies of today that we sometimes forget the technologies that led up to their creation and were remediated by today's mediums.



This project analyzes the ways in which the Web has affected the Star Wars movies. Star Wars, since its creation in 1977 by George Lucas, has become a household name, so to speak. While in present times, the Internet has had a prolific effect on this, the movies were completed well before the Web had evolved into its current state. Therefore, the promotion of these films was less influenced by the Internet at the time of their creation, unlike many of the movies made today. The Internet has become a means by which producers can advertise movies inexpensively and the Web was not so much of a factor in this aspect of the film industry until recently - within the last five years, in fact. Especially with the advent of social media such as Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace, film producers can quickly access their audiences, who in turn share the filmmakers' posts with their friends, and the advertising of the production snowballs because of the audience. The Web therefore acts as a means by which filmmaker and audience directly interact, unlike days past in which the producer would rely on commercials and posters to advertise the movie, and hope that fans would accumulate the interest to see his film. Since the Star Wars franchise was established well before the explosion of the Web, it is interesting to observe how online communities formed around the film saga that depicts a classic good versus evil struggle.

Specifically, this wiki page delves into three types of the many onlinve communities surrounding ''Star Wars. ''First, and one of the most prevalent, is the knowledge base of the series. Several Wiki and spoiler pages have arisen to answer questions and fill in blanks left untouched by the movies themselves. The fans, in this instance, really took the Star Wars universe and expanded upon it profoundly. Second, this project examines the numerous debates and disputes that fans have regarding many aspects of the movies themselves. The intensity of these debates ranges from mild-mannered, casual discussions to full-blown, heated debates, and it is very interesting to note how the Internet has facilitated many of these. Finally, my Wiki page analyzes the ways in which fans have taken the films into their own hands and recreated and made their own versions of Star Wars. Although the page could be extended to do in-depth analyses of the fan fiction novels, I elected to inspect the plethora of fan films and art pieces that have been created and posted to the Web through sites such as YouTube and FanPop. The ways in which fans have engaged the Star Wars universe in these media are very intriguing - they include everything from amateur videos to professional-quality, feature-length fan films to concept artwork and fan-made sketches. Because the fan base for the Star Wars saga incorporates themselves into the work and actively engage and create their own adaptations and spinoffs of the movies, the film series becomes a literary work that has been further propetuated by the Internet.

Knowing the Force: Knowledge Communities of Star Wars
Since the advent of the Encyclopedia in th eighteenth century, people have been seeking ways to pool their knowledge and accrue more knowlege from others. Recently, the Internet has facilitated an explosion of such communities, especially in the form of Wiki pages. Several million articles have been written, or "published," on such pages, and the number of articles and Wiki pages increases daily. In these communities, however, scholars are not the sources of knowledge and information posted, but rather average people serve this purpose. And for the fans of Star Wars, this has very far-reaching implications.

Wookieepedia: The Star Wars Wiki
In terms of the knowledge communities centered around Star Wars, Wookieepedia certainly is one of the most prevalent. The site was created in 2005, just months before the release of the final installment to the Prequel Trilogy, and has grown into quite a formidable source of Star Wars information. Wookieepedia: The Star Wars Wiki boasts nealy 93,000 pages spanning any and every topic related to the saga. These pages include information about all of the characters (including those not mentioned in any of the films), all of the planets in the galaxy, all of the different sepcies in the galaxy, and many other facts about the Star Wars universe. ​



One of the most notable and detailed pages on Wookieepedia accounts the life of Anakin Skywalker, the character around whom the two movie trilogies focus. The page begins with a brief overview of his life as is described in the movies themselves. It then moves into a very detailed account of his entire life, including the reasons for which he was born. All aspects of his life are explained on this page in detailed summaries of where and when certain events took place. A majority of the article is comprised of information never mentioned in the Star Wars movies, but in Star Wars: The Clone Wars - the animated series that has been running on Cartoon Network for four seasons, and in the plethora of Star Wars books. Some of the information never given in the movie series was therefore made more easily accessible by the Wookieepedia page, as very enthusiastic fans found the original information in these forms, then condensed it into a single webpage that can be found by anyone in the world and read to find out more information on the life of Anakin Skywalker. The communal effort to reveal his life is only one of several thousand on Wookieepedia, and one of several million on the Web collectively.

Super Shadow: Spoiling Star Wars
Another communal effort on the fans' part is to try to "spoil" the Star Wars series: a website called simply Super Shadow. I stumbled upon this website through a debate forum that discussed whether or not Darth Maul's death in the first movie was fair. However, in examining the contents of the page itself, it was interesting to see how much information these fans had compiled. In fact, there was no shortage in the amounts of information to be found on this spoiler community's page. The way in which the page is set up is one such that followers of the spoiler site post questions regarding a given topic, and then the creators of the page update with their opinions on the questions. For example, the creators of this page examine, in great detail, the possibilities offered by the production of a sequel trilogy, and they speculate on what would happen in the movies, when the expected release dates would be, and who would potentially star in them. SuperShadow responded to the question of when they could expect a release briefly, stating that Episode 7 will be released in 2021, Episode 8 in 2024, and Episode 9 in 2027. They further explain in later posts that they would release more knowledge to the public as it became available. This is very similar to the communities that arose around Survivor , and for obvious reason: fans want to know the behind-the-scenes, "secret" information on the production that they follow. In some cases, the followers of this page did the speculations, while the creators merely responded with their own opinions, which made the spoiling community page into somewhat of a discussion or message board. This actually makes the Star Wars movies into a text with which the readers interact, although not always directly. They engage the text through conversing and speculating on plot elements and characters that may arise in the future, as well as discuss elements of the movies that have already been filmed.

Galactic Plots and Disputes
In the Star Wars series, several questions were left unanswered by George Lucas in the films. While watching, one might ask himself, "Why is Darth Maul only in one episode of Star Wars?" or "Who shot first? Han or Greedo?" Several hundred webpages ranging from forums to blogs and even video channels have arisen on which people argue their views on these matters, sometimes quite adamently.

Darth Maul: Was his death "fair?"


Several Star Wars fans were very disappointed by the Prequel Trilogy as a whole; they were expecting movies that lived up to the legacy of the Original Trilogy. While most fans have come to the consensus that the Prequels were horrid and the Original movies were amazing, however, they do disagree certain aspects of the Prequel Trilogy. One disagreement that arose fairly quickly after the release of Episode I: The Phantom Menace was the question of whether or not the death of Darth Maul was fair. The Killer Movie (KMC) forum had a very lengthy discussion about this. The debate begins with Assassin Maul asking the simple question "Was Mauls death fair?" The question istelf is not one regading interpretation of the text - the movie is clear with the fact that Obi-Wan Kenobi defeats Darth Maul via cutting him in half. However, this debate goes into much more detail than just "Yes, it was fair" or "No, it was unfair," people within the debate picked apart the aspects of the scene itself.

This particular discussion board quickly becomes a debate after only four posts. While Assassin Maul felt that his death was unfair, and really doesn't give any reason why, Darth Revan replied with "It was his own fault for being overconfident. Plus, "fair" doesn't matter in a duel to the death." A few of the later posts agree with Darth Revan, however the debate takes several divergent paths from here. One of which dicusses the transfer of Sith Apprentices from Maul to Dooku and finally to Vader. This point is very tangent to the original discussion, however, it is later related in the sense that other users step up and explain how his death was crucial to the overall plot of the trilogy. In essence, the people posting on the forum draw a connection between the fairness of Maul's death and the transfer of "power" between Apprentices. From this point, however, the debate continues with its original course, and some participants used some rather interesting dialects to convey their points. For example, a user named SithQueen posted:


 * "Yo Darth Mauls death was friggen unfair. Obi wan took his masters lightsaber and Maul had his lightsaber broken really I think Maul should have won!!!!!  ... Being cut in half was the worst way to die worse that Boba fett dieing in a burp in the dessert. ... Let Maul die an honolrable death and stay away from CHEATING SCREWY JEDI SCUM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!       "

Although SithQueen's response to Darth Maul's death had several grammatical flaws, her message is really quite clear: Darth Maul's death was unfair. Other posters, such as Sodo's, were more eloquent and analyzed Maul's situation more closely:


 * "I'm a big fan of Maul. He's da shiznit. However, I have to say no to this one. When I saw the end of it at TPM, I was in awe. How could he die like that? I went storming out of the theatre. At least 10 people gave me weird looks. Then I realized what happened. He got cocky and overconfident. It's his fault, not Obi's. Obi didn't do anything unfair. Maul's death was his own fault. You don't have to agree with me, all of you other Maul fans. I'm just saying my piece."



Sodo's response to the question of "Is Darth Maul's death fair?" perfectly sums up the side of the arguement that says it was. Many of the other fans who agreed had the consensus view that Maul became overconfident in his abilities and gloated when all he needed to do was simply kill Obi-Wan.

Lucas, however, in the animated television series Star Wars: The Clone Wars, explains that Darth Maul never actually dies after his defeat at the hands of Obi-Wan. Rather, he escapes Naboo, has his lower half reconstructed, and years later seeks his vengence on Obi-Wan with his bionic legs. The "reconstructed Maul" is depicted to the left.

Who shot first: Han Solo or Greedo?
Possibly the most famous, and ongoing debate that arose from the Star Wars saga deals with one scene in Episode IV: A New Hope, in which Han Solo meets a bounty hunter by the name of Greedo in the cantina in Mos Eisley. After speaking to Greedo for a minute or so, it becomes clear that some sort of fight is imminent. This is where the debate comes in. Many fans who have seen the original films claim that "Han shot first and killed Greedo before he had a chance to fire at Han." However, since the re-release in 1997, in which Lucas went back and edited some scenes, it appears in this version that Greedo shot and missed, and Han retaliates by shooting him. This minor revision to the movie sparked an enormous outrage from the fans who grew up on the original version of the film.

Many people have posted YouTube videos in an attempt to prove their points regarding who shot first, and those who comment on them still argue whether Han shot first. For instance, the video clip to the left is from the original 1977 release of Episode IV, and based on the footage in this clip, it does appear that Han fires without Greedo ever shooting back. The commentary on this video became extremely heated, and some rather colorful language was used. For example, one viewer, who was defending the side arguing that Han shot first, replied to the video with:


 * "George Lucas should do.a blu-ray/ dvd release of the original films. Not the ****ing special edition or any of the other crap versions. After watching return of the jedi and seeing Hayden Christensen pasted in the end I was like WTF. I grew up with the originals and George lucas butchered﻿ my child hood."

It is interesting to note that such a miniscule change in the film was a cause for such ardent responses. However, it is very befitting that the YouTube user who posted this comment has the username "RageUnchained," as it is obvious that he is outraged by the alterations made by Lucas. The overwhelming opinion on this matter is that Han shot first, and that quickly became a motto of sorts for the fans of the original movies.

On the other hand, there are many who argue, Lucas included, that Greedo shot first and Han Solo was merely firing out of retaliation. In fact, Lucas himself said after releasing the Special Edition version of the film that he didn't want Han to appear to be a ruthless killer, and that this was mainly for the younger kids who were watching. On this side of the arguement, an observation that can be made is that there are knowledge communities that have formed to collect Lucas' opinions and share them in their arguments. Thus, the knowledge communities surrounding Star Wars end up playing crucial roles in the debates as well.

Star Wars Revisited: The Remediation of the Saga
From fan art to feature-length, fan-made videos, ths Star Wars saga has been remediated countless times. More prevalent, and more widely-accessible currently are the videos created by fans. In fact, Star Wars has developed a cultish following of groups of fans who create their own renditions of Star Wars that incorporate many of the elements of the original movies. These groups have even started fan film conventions that occur annually and award prizes in different categories of film.

Fan Films
The example to the right, The Solo Adventures, won "Best Animated" film in the Star Wars Fan Film Movie Challenge last year. In his five-minute animated short, Daniel Smith creates the story of why Jabba the Hut put a bounty on Han Solo in the first place. It even incorporates a smuggler droid who is similar to a lesser-known bounty hunter, IG88, who appears very briefly in Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. The ending of this short also explains the whereabouts of Jar-Jar Binks: a very hated character from the Prequel Trilogy. While this short is a prime example of a fan revisiting and recreating Star Wars and making his own adjustments to it, literally hundreds of other videos have been made - some with a very high budget, others without. However, many of these videos have one element in common: the use of special effects that mimic those of the actual Star Wars movies.



A recurring theme amongst the myriad of fan films created is the lightsaber duel. Many of these videos are shorts, and lack a plot, however, and the sole focus in these videos is the special effects of the lightsaber. The lightsaber, possibly the most iconic aspect of Star Wars, is the weapon wielded by the Jedi and Sith, therefore it is a very widely-used and central feature of many fan films. The concept behind most of these films is simple: choreograph a complex duel to the death in which there is minimal dialogue and possibly the use of force powers. However, certain videos, generally those with some amount of funding, incorporate a story and some dialogue within the context of the fights. For instance, this particular video, entitled "Star Wars - Contract of Evil" attempts to explain a portion of Darth Maul's path to becoming the apprentice of the Sith lord, Darth Sidious. The video very much so demonstrates the remediation of Lucas' works in several ways. First, it utilizes one of the characters from the Prequel Trilogy and attempts to tell a portion of his story. Also, as was stated before, the use of lightsabers is very extensive in this short film, and the key to the success of many of these videos is the quality of the lightsabers and the amount of action in the fight. However, it is clear that the makers of this film had a significant amount of money with which they were able to produce they high-quality effects, makeup, and write a basic story and script, as their intent was to come as close to perfectly replicating the actual Star Wars characters as they could.

Other videos, such as this, use common editing software, such as Adobe Creative Suite, that can be bought at an electronics store. In the video below, the "Star Wars Kids " are more-or-less just average high school kids who use basic editing software to generate the lightsabers over top of wooden swords.



Although the video has no real story, and is just a group of kids fighting with lightsabers, it still recreates the classic and spirit of the Star Wars films, thereby remediating Lucas' work. The quality of "Star Wars Kids," unfortunately, is not too high, as one can easily see where the person who did the effects was an amateur. This video, and hundreds like it, are commonly uploaded to YouTube, and have only been a really recent development, arising in the last decade or so. This is largely because of two factors: first, video editing software of this caliber was not readily available to the public until the last decade, and YouTube was not in existence until the late 2000s.

Fan Art
Another form of remediation facilitated by the Web is a very large base of fan art. Many communities, such as fanpop, allow user to share their works with the entire world. It should be noted that this is very different from the Knowledge Communities that have formed around Star Wars, as the fan art communities do not attempt to explain anything that takes place in between the movies. The fans in these communities simply recreate the charaters and post their renditions of the Star Wars characters, enabling anyone in the world to view their works. The pieces range from simple drawings, or concept drawings, of different characters, and share their works by means of the Internet with webpages like fanpop.



In the picture to the right, this fan made a drawing of some of the main characters all playing in a rock band in an apparently sold-out venue. The artist, who posted anonymously, is capturing his favorite characters and clearly depicts them as something that is, to him, "awesome." As is explained in the caption of the meme, "Awesome: It's comforting to know that no matter what you do in life it will never be as awesome as this picture."

Links & Resources
YouTube

Wookiepedia - The Star Wars Wikipedia

Killer Movies Forum

Super Shadow - Star Wars Spoiling Community

FanPop - Star Wars Fan Art