According to MY design

For my first post of the new year, it's Star Wars time!

First off, here is a really interesting (if you like Star Wars) post about how to view the original films in light of the prequel trilogy.

As we now know, the rebel Alliance was founded by Yoda, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Bail Organa. What can readily be deduced is that their first recruit, who soon became their top field agent, was R2-D2.
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As Star Wars opens, R2 is rushing the Death Star plans to the Rebellion. R2, not Leia. The plans are always in R2. What Leia puts into him in the early scene is only her own holographic message to Kenobi. Leia's own mission, as she says in the holographic message, is to pick up Obi-Wan and take him to Alderaan - or so she thinks. Actually, her father just wants her to meet Kenobi, which up to this point she never has. There's a reason for that.

I really enjoyed reading the article. Especially this bit:

Much of Obi-Wan's behaviour in this film (A New Hope), and Yoda's in the next, can best be understood if they are frankly scared to death of what Luke might become. (Ben is also scared that he himself will make all the same mistakes he made with Anakin.)

Awesome. Anyway, there's heaps more. Have a read.

And the debate - you're raising children and they get to watch Star Wars. Do you show them in order of release date or from I - VI?

Entertainment Weekly found a guy who had never seen any of the movies and sat him in front of a 14-hour marathon. He watched them all in order, and documented his thoughts.

It was also interesting to note the shrinking galaxy as the movies progressed throughout the night. The first trilogy boasts enormous cities with towering buildings and seemingly endless planets that surrounded them. The later trilogy is more focused on the core cast in desolate settings. Every planet seemed to be a forest, desert, or giant icicle. I missed the busy cities and vast galaxies.
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For me, the biggest problem with seeing these films in their intended order is that Episodes IV-VI offered little surprises. I know who Luke's father is; I know that the little creature is Yoda. I have to sit through that uncomfortable kiss between Luke and Leia knowing that they are indeed brother and sister. Most of the mysteries and questions that drive the plots of the later episodes are nullified by having seen the first three. I almost envied those who saw them in original order, so I too could have enjoyed the shock and surprise of some of the plot's twists and turns.
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However, I would be lying if I said that I wasn't sucked into this Galaxy Far, Far Away. The stories that Lucas has weaved are truly imaginative and exciting. The six movies flow together with ease, and I cannot imagine having to wait all that time between movies.

And the final article is a bit more challenging, but definitely worth pursuing. Slate argues that Star Wars is one big postmodern film experiment, with "the Force" the embodiment of "plot". The light side of the force represents instinct, chance and experimention, while the dark side is structure, order and control.

As viewers, we take pleasure in the implausible events that must happen for the narrative contraption to snap shut in a satisfying way. But the characters come to understand that there is another agent, external to themselves, that is dictating the action. Within the films' fiction, that force is called … er, "the Force."

It's an interesting reading of the films, and one I hadn't considered before.

Man, now I want to watch Star Wars again...