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Are Star Wars References Overkill?
Mar. 10th, 2011 08:09 pmI think I might have run a poll on that once, but I figure I'll discuss it more in detail after seeing a response on another (non-fandom) blog. This guy mentioned that he couldn't stand Star Wars references in comedies and they simply aren't funny. You've probably guessed correctly he's not a fan. He dismissed the argument it's a classic, saying that you don't see those kinds of references for "Casablanca" and Star Wars isn't even all that good to begin with.
Hmm, why are Star Wars references so ubiquitous and is that a good, bad, or indifferent thing? Most of us, myself included, were tickled back in the '90s to see or hear a pop culture shout out to the saga. Why? Because for so many years, Star Wars had dropped off the radar, I despaired that my favorite movies no longer mattered to anyone else but me. It was cool that after so many years, someone out there in Tinseltown was giving it the proper respect. In my old fanzine Blue Harvest, we used to run a whole column on Star Wars references. I even wrote a whole piece on every reference on "The Simpsons" and that was up to about 1996! You can blame Kevin Smith for starting that whole trend with "Clerks" in 1994.
Now, it's pretty commonplace. One reason is that unlike a single film like "Casablanca," Star Wars spans six movies, a t.v. show, and a crapload of tie-ins. It's like a bush that's still growing. A new fan is born somewhere in the world approximately every 1.5 seconds. It has an almost freakish way of remaining relevant no matter what else comes down the pike and no matter how old the movies get. Perhaps key to that is Lucasfilm finding ways to freshen them up, like, I don't know, re-releasing them in 3D. Only a select few in pop culture ever reach that kind of permanence: The Beatles, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis, etc.. And to be honest, I think Star Wars even has a greater "now" appeal than even those others do.
Another thing is an awful lot of people working in entertainment today were inspired at least in part to get into the biz by Star Wars. I always say that Star Trek inspired people to become aerospace engineers and scientists while Star Wars inspired people to become artists, filmmakers, and musicians.
And I think another reason is that there is a dwindling number of cultural touchstones that are recognizable to people of different ages. When I was kid, a miniseries like "Roots" could draw half the t.v. viewers in the country. Now, unless it's the Super Bowl, there's nothing that can draw those numbers anymore because of cable, the internet, video games, etc.. We don't have that much of a common culture anymore. But most people have still seen at least one of the Star Wars movies, or have heard of them.
Whether they are funny depends of course on the writing and the performance. And I give bonus points to (positive) prequel/Clone Wars references. That shows me you really know your stuff.
Hmm, why are Star Wars references so ubiquitous and is that a good, bad, or indifferent thing? Most of us, myself included, were tickled back in the '90s to see or hear a pop culture shout out to the saga. Why? Because for so many years, Star Wars had dropped off the radar, I despaired that my favorite movies no longer mattered to anyone else but me. It was cool that after so many years, someone out there in Tinseltown was giving it the proper respect. In my old fanzine Blue Harvest, we used to run a whole column on Star Wars references. I even wrote a whole piece on every reference on "The Simpsons" and that was up to about 1996! You can blame Kevin Smith for starting that whole trend with "Clerks" in 1994.
Now, it's pretty commonplace. One reason is that unlike a single film like "Casablanca," Star Wars spans six movies, a t.v. show, and a crapload of tie-ins. It's like a bush that's still growing. A new fan is born somewhere in the world approximately every 1.5 seconds. It has an almost freakish way of remaining relevant no matter what else comes down the pike and no matter how old the movies get. Perhaps key to that is Lucasfilm finding ways to freshen them up, like, I don't know, re-releasing them in 3D. Only a select few in pop culture ever reach that kind of permanence: The Beatles, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis, etc.. And to be honest, I think Star Wars even has a greater "now" appeal than even those others do.
Another thing is an awful lot of people working in entertainment today were inspired at least in part to get into the biz by Star Wars. I always say that Star Trek inspired people to become aerospace engineers and scientists while Star Wars inspired people to become artists, filmmakers, and musicians.
And I think another reason is that there is a dwindling number of cultural touchstones that are recognizable to people of different ages. When I was kid, a miniseries like "Roots" could draw half the t.v. viewers in the country. Now, unless it's the Super Bowl, there's nothing that can draw those numbers anymore because of cable, the internet, video games, etc.. We don't have that much of a common culture anymore. But most people have still seen at least one of the Star Wars movies, or have heard of them.
Whether they are funny depends of course on the writing and the performance. And I give bonus points to (positive) prequel/Clone Wars references. That shows me you really know your stuff.
