Robert J. Sawyer: "A Galaxy Far Far Away" My Ass! (3/3)

Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author Robert J. Sawyer explains how Star Wars has dulled the edge that made science fiction such a pertinent film genre.

Episode 1: Planet of the Apes, Star Trek & Frankenstein
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3s2p0...

Episode 2: H.G. Wells & Jules Verne
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIBaUp...

Episode 3: Star Wars
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7zN2N...

The audio of the full lecture can be found here:
http://www.sfwriter.com/2008/02/rob-s...

This is a fan-made slideshow. All images belong to the original copyright holders.

• Category

  Education

[Andrew Goodwin]

I never would have compared star wars and slavery,.

[Jake Spicer]

You're missing the point. Science Fiction has a history of using removed worlds to make social commentary. George Lucas created Star Wars as a throw back to the sci-fi he watched as a kid, and yet he completely disregards the most important aspect that great sci-fi can provide to the viewer.

Are you claiming Sawyers fallacy is that people only read and watch movies to be entertained? If so, you have a pretty severe misunderstanding of the reasons why a lot of people consume media.

[48GMo24]

If you're 10,000$ Vacuum could run away you'd put a Restraining Bolt on it too.

[abacuschannel1]

This is in response to all the comments within: I would like to know why YouTube comments have to be so hateful, and appear to have been written by overgrown children who obviously cannot read or write.

[de klassen]

you are a fucking retarded who fucking cares how you perceive the movie that's you opinion but that dont mean what you say is true

[TigressaMegatron101]

Robert J Sawyer, you are an ASSHOLE!!!! The point of Star Wars was for not only entertainment but for imagination and you basically ruined it! Besides the droids stuck with Luke until the end and even got chances to escape but did they? NO!! I HAVE SPOKEN!!!

[sqccccccccc]

It's ironic really the first page of wookiepedia on droids is this quote from the expanded universe:

"…right for sentient organics is right for us, too. [...] imagine what it would be like as a child if you were punished by being dragged to a dark closet, having a probe inserted in your brain, and having all your memories back to infancy wiped away. [...] That is what it is to be a droid."

[micahc6v8]

I've seen so many college professors just like this who get indignant if you're not constantly chanting a mea culpa about the oppression of women and minorities. This is just him trying to take a simple innocent fantasy story and blame it for all of society's evils. I thought this was going to be a critique of the literary or stylistic quality of SW compared to classic sci-fi, and there's plenty of material for that. This is so contrived it's practically a spoof.

[secretkeyactivator]

very very good analysis.. this is all subliminal messages.... excellent work...

[davedaddy101]

Somebody has way too much time on their hands.

[jackdeath]

Gee... and to think I was reading science fiction long before Star Wars appeared upon the scene.

You want to know what made Star Wars popular. it's called Special Effects. Any story you might have gleamed from Star Wars paled in comparison to the images that flashed upon the screen.

Oh! And ask any real writer of Science Fiction how the popularity of Star Wars helped in the book sales, and be prepared for their laughter. Only authors who write Star Wars books may agree.