I was going to offer my review of the new Star Wars movie, REVENGE OF THE SITH, but I think I'll hold off for now or maybe withdraw altogether. I'm feeling a little overwhelmed by Star Wars hype right now. Maybe you know the feeling? As an unabashed fan of Lucas' operatic space fantasy--clunky dialogue and all--I've been looking forward to the movie for a while, despite the general mediocrity and occasional cringe-inducing incompetence of the previous two "prequels".
However, that doesn't mean that I was willing to bask in the blinding light of the movie's hyperbolic hype machine for three weeks. It's interesting to me how everything in America now has to be hyped to death and then, when you think it can't possibly be hyped anymore, hyped yet again. I blame, at least partially, the incestuous interrelationships between all the media and entertainment companies. Every summer movie is hyped, marketed, cross-promoted and synergized to within an inch of it's life. Oh and by the way, there's strife in Iraq still and our own version of the Galatic Senate is debating rules changes that will strip the minority party of one of it's key tools of opposition. All hail Darth First and Emperor Bush! By another Whopper and get a yoda action figure free! Don't think that it's not all interconnected.
For now I'll let the topic drop so that America can have it's fun and line up at the multiplexes in droves this weekend. Next week I'll give my brief review of the film (preview: it's exciting and better than it needs to be, but not necessarily good enough to convert people who aren't already fans). After all, who am I to stand up against the Force--of Marketing?
"This is how liberty dies--to thunderous applause."
--line uttered by Padme Amidala (Natalie Portman) in Revenge of the Sith. Sound familiar at all?
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