Huffington Magazine Issue 22 | Page 31

Voices HUFFINGTON 11.11.12 SUNJEEV BERY the next Star Wars team must keep in mind: WE AREN’T KIDS ANYMORE: Yes, you read that right. We’ve grown up. We’ve lived through recessions, wars and political turmoil. We’ve started families, raised children and dealt with heartbreak. Everyone who saw the original movies in the theaters is a lot older now. We don’t want another pathetic attempt to replace Chewbacca or the Ewoks with some kind of secondgeneration Jar Jar Binks. We want something that speaks to us as adults. And if you do it right, we’ll still take our kids to the theaters with us. We promise. GET BACK TO STORYTELLING: The Sarlacc Pit? X-wing fighters? A dome-shaped robot? These were all the curious inventions of the original Star Wars franchise. They propelled the original trilogy forward. Don’t even try to achieve this again. Trinkets, gadgets, unique aliens and spacecraft will be in the next trilogy. But they will not be substitutes for epic, beautiful storytelling. In the first trilogy, the visual landscape Lucas brought forward was so new that it could at times be a sub- stitute for the story. Not this time. It will feel flimsy and cheap. USE THE FORCE (A LOT LESS): The original trilogy included an exploration of George Lucas’ sci-fi spirituality. That has now been thoroughly explored. Don’t try to rely on the Force as a plot device or scene accelerator. It won’t We want work. It’s been done. something This time around, the that speaks Force can only be the lightest of background to us as adults. And props—a subtle nod to Lucas’ creation, but if you do it right, we’ll nothing more. AVOID THE CHEAP TRICKS: Ever since still take our kids to the theaters with us.” 9/11, there have been about 72,000 movies in which some metaphor