Critic Names Star Wars Prequel as World's Best Modern Art

[Polarity27]

Critic Names Star Wars Prequel as World's Best Modern Art

Spoiler: Hey Star Wars fans...

Thank you Camille Padliga. It only took 7 years for a respected critic to say the very thing I've been saying since 2005, but at finally we have someone with some actual sense here.

"Respected critic"? Paglia? Ahahahahahahaha! Oh god, sorry, I'm wiping tears off my face here.

I've been reading her antics since the early '90s, and she's always been a professional troll. A troll with a wide vocabulary ("chthonic"! Everything is chthonic!), but a troll nonetheless. My first reaction to this is "who thinks Paglia is still relevant?"

 

[crimson sickle2]

Taking the post seriously, I can't really decide what would be one of the greatest works of art in modern day. I'll have to think about that.

EDIT: might as well go with my current favorite game, Rayman Origins. Artistic statement: video games are fun so chill and have a waffle. There are other choices each deserving of the position, but this was the most light-hearted one I could think of.

 

[el_kabong]

So, from what I can gather, this person is paid to be a real-life troll. Where do I get that job?

 

[Woodsey]

Well, the fight between Obi-Wan and Anakin is pretty fucking cool. So yeah, why the fuck not?

I have to quote a friend of mine (who isn't an Escapist) here:

The reasoning is so ironic. "It's because the art world has flat-lined and become an echo chamber of received opinion and toxic over-praise." Replace "art world" with "George Lucas" and you have the beginnings of what went wrong with the trilogy. Also she says the art world is derivative. Which I believe is the definition of a trilogy based on a trilogy.

How very astute!

You can't be derivative of yourself, unless we're going to claim Empire and Jedi are derivative of A New Hope because it was the first film.

 

[sumanoskae]

I'm sort of opposed to the idea of things like the Oscars, trying to hold one work on a pedestal at the expense of short selling other works in order to do so, as if to prevent the work from being diminished "There can be Only One!"

There are many great works of art, why does one have to "win", especially when dealing with a field so malleable as the human heart. Your favorite film, or game, or book could change in a matter of months or even days. Even if you do consider a single work to be "the best", it's not as though you never partake in anything else

Even if Red Dead: Redemption is your favorite game of all time by miles and miles, sometimes you just feel like playing something else

In the interest of example...

Spoiler

The Best Things Ever:

The Dark Knight
Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street
The Shawshank Redemption
Mass Effect 3
Dragon Age: Origins
Persona 4
Black Swan
A Song of Ice and Fire
Fate/Zero
Berserk
Gankutsuou: Ther Count of Monte Cristo
Samurai X (The Rurouni Kenshin OVA's)
Code Geass
Death Note
Watchmen
GTA IV
Red Dead: Redemption
The Matrix
The Godfather
A Clockwork Orange
Prince of Persia: Sands of Time
Clerks
The Lord of the Rings
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II, The Sith Lords
Skyrim
Fallout 3

That's just a list off the top of my head and it's still growing

Why would we ever want to pretend there is one master work of art when there are so many?

 

[sumanoskae]

Well, the fight between Obi-Wan and Anakin is pretty fucking cool. So yeah, why the fuck not?

I have to quote a friend of mine (who isn't an Escapist) here:

The reasoning is so ironic. "It's because the art world has flat-lined and become an echo chamber of received opinion and toxic over-praise." Replace "art world" with "George Lucas" and you have the beginnings of what went wrong with the trilogy. Also she says the art world is derivative. Which I believe is the definition of a trilogy based on a trilogy.

How very astute!

You can't be derivative of yourself, unless we're going to claim Empire and Jedi are derivative of A New Hope because it was the first film.

But even then, Star Wars as a whole is highly derivative of things like westerns, space operas (Obviously), Buddhism, The Hero With a Thousand Faces, and so on.

IMHO most great works are derivative, it's part of what makes them meaningful. And all works are derivative of real life.

 

[Woodsey]

Well, the fight between Obi-Wan and Anakin is pretty fucking cool. So yeah, why the fuck not?

I have to quote a friend of mine (who isn't an Escapist) here:

The reasoning is so ironic. "It's because the art world has flat-lined and become an echo chamber of received opinion and toxic over-praise." Replace "art world" with "George Lucas" and you have the beginnings of what went wrong with the trilogy. Also she says the art world is derivative. Which I believe is the definition of a trilogy based on a trilogy.

How very astute!

You can't be derivative of yourself, unless we're going to claim Empire and Jedi are derivative of A New Hope because it was the first film.

But even then, Star Wars as a whole is highly derivative of things like westerns, space operas (Obviously), Buddhism, The Hero With a Thousand Faces, and so on.

IMHO most great works are derivative, it's part of what makes them meaningful. And all works are derivative of real life.

Right, not what he was saying though. And 'derivative' in a creative context has mostly negative connotations.

 

[sumanoskae]

Well, the fight between Obi-Wan and Anakin is pretty fucking cool. So yeah, why the fuck not?

I have to quote a friend of mine (who isn't an Escapist) here:

The reasoning is so ironic. "It's because the art world has flat-lined and become an echo chamber of received opinion and toxic over-praise." Replace "art world" with "George Lucas" and you have the beginnings of what went wrong with the trilogy. Also she says the art world is derivative. Which I believe is the definition of a trilogy based on a trilogy.

How very astute!

You can't be derivative of yourself, unless we're going to claim Empire and Jedi are derivative of A New Hope because it was the first film.

But even then, Star Wars as a whole is highly derivative of things like westerns, space operas (Obviously), Buddhism, The Hero With a Thousand Faces, and so on.

IMHO most great works are derivative, it's part of what makes them meaningful. And all works are derivative of real life.

Right, not what he was saying though. And 'derivative' in a creative context has mostly negative connotations.

I thought he was saying that claiming that the art world had become derivative and implying that Star Wars is not was ironic because Star Wars is derivative, and I was saying that even if you don't consider sequels by definition to be derivative, that Star Wars is still derivative.

"Derivative" is often used synonymously with "Cliche", this is not the case. To derive simply means to imitate or expand upon something, a cliche means that something is played out or overused, to the point of being obvious. Another common problem is that ideas can seem more trite than they really are if misused, i.e; imitating the basic structure of an idea without understanding it's purpose. Such things make the idea seem obvious, as it stands out because it's out of place, as well as bland and uninteresting since it doesn't serve any purpose.

Originality is not necessarily a good thing, it just means something that hasn't been done before, not that it's being done well or even creatively, it could just as easily be coincidence or ignorance of form that produces such a result.

And again, all stories are based on real life, which is precisely what makes them potent.

 

[Woodsey]

Well, the fight between Obi-Wan and Anakin is pretty fucking cool. So yeah, why the fuck not?

I have to quote a friend of mine (who isn't an Escapist) here:

The reasoning is so ironic. "It's because the art world has flat-lined and become an echo chamber of received opinion and toxic over-praise." Replace "art world" with "George Lucas" and you have the beginnings of what went wrong with the trilogy. Also she says the art world is derivative. Which I believe is the definition of a trilogy based on a trilogy.

How very astute!

You can't be derivative of yourself, unless we're going to claim Empire and Jedi are derivative of A New Hope because it was the first film.

But even then, Star Wars as a whole is highly derivative of things like westerns, space operas (Obviously), Buddhism, The Hero With a Thousand Faces, and so on.

IMHO most great works are derivative, it's part of what makes them meaningful. And all works are derivative of real life.

Right, not what he was saying though. And 'derivative' in a creative context has mostly negative connotations.

I thought he was saying that claiming that the art world had become derivative and implying that Star Wars is not was ironic because Star Wars is derivative, and I was saying that even if you don't consider sequels by definition to be derivative, that Star Wars is still derivative.

"Derivative" is often used synonymously with "Cliche", this is not the case. To derive simply means to imitate or expand upon something, a cliche means that something is played out or overused, to the point of being obvious. Another common problem is that ideas can seem more trite than they really are if misused, i.e; imitating the basic structure of an idea without understanding it's purpose. Such things make the idea seem obvious, as it stands out because it's out of place, as well as bland and uninteresting since it doesn't serve any purpose.

Originality is not necessarily a good thing, it just means something that hasn't been done before, not that it's being done well or even creatively, it could just as easily be coincidence or ignorance of form that produces such a result.

And again, all stories are based on real life, which is precisely what makes them potent.

Yes, and the specific instance of derivativeness that he was commenting on was the fact that it was a trilogy based on a trilogy.

And yeah, believe it or not, I know what those words mean. My point was that, like it or not, most people think of the word derivative in a negative light.

 

[Buizel91]

I wouldn't say its the best modern art in the past 30 years, but it's not exactly the worst either.

Personally i love the prequels, the Medi-chlorian thing is a little silly but i can look past it, and i must be a big child if i laugh at Jar Jar...(yes you read that right, i think he is quite funny....*Flame Shield Activate*)

Despite it's hate, Attack Of The Clones is my favourite followed closely by Empire Strikes back and Revenge of the Sith. Anakins rise to the dark side i thought was done quite well, could of been done better, but it wasn't bad as many people are making it out to be.

Star Wars as a whole, i could see being the best modern art (the battles, the CGI, etc), but not just one of the films.

 

[karamazovnew]

This has to be a joke. Not only were the prequels BAD as Star Wars movies, but they were bad movies to begin with. And to talk about "modern art" in this circumstances is beyond belief.
There have been many art movies in the last 30 years, although THE art movie that truly began it all was Koyaanisqatsi which is actually 30 years old. Don't fret tho, we did have some awesome ones in the 90's too, 5'th Element, Fight Club, Trainspotting. Wanna talk modern? See the japanese movie Blue Spring (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrqbFWHiElY). And don't get me started on animes (the good ones) such as Mindgame, Cowboy Beebop or Ghost in the Shell.
Geez... I need a cold shower.

 

[someonehairy-ish]

...Plinkett would like a word with you in his basement.

Awful acting (from some good actors)

I tend to give the actors a pass 'cos the material they had to work with sucked so hard. For a start, everything was green scene and reacting convincingly to nothingness is pretty damn difficult. Then you factor in the fact that the writing was crap so all their lines were the kinds of things emotionless robots or mildly mentally ill people might say. And then you realise that they're always directed to deliver every line either:
a) standing still
b) sat still
b) slooowly walking along

So they come across as being even more lifeless.