It's actually astonishing that the Jabba/Leia scenes in ROTJ didn't cause a scandal, back in 1983
- Thread starter Unimatrix Q
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Wow, you really went down a deep rabbit hole with that one.
Jabba's reaction to Han was the same as stepping on any animal's tail. There is nothing "sexual" about it.
And as mentioned, that scene was retconned in years later because the original Jabba was human and Lucas needed a plausible way for Han to walk around a character who now has a tail.
Jedi and also the original definitely but I do feel Empire was at least willing to be more for teenagers and probably would have gotten PG-13 if the rating had been around then.
I would say that Star Wars wasn't meant to be solely for kids. It was more for "the kid in all of us." Parental guidance was suggested, after all. Parents would know best what their own kids could handle. SW '77 has that gruesome scene of smoldering skeletons at Luke's homestead, and Obi-Wan dismembering the dude in the bar with the clear shot of the bloody severed arm, implications of prisoner torture, etc. Not quite children's fare.
Kor
Kor
Of course not. The best children's stories are enjoyable by adults too. After all, what makes a good story isn't whether it has sex or violence or cussing, but more fundamental things like plot and character and dialogue and emotion, things that can be just as satisfying for audiences of all ages. After all, it should be a given that parents read to their children and watch along with their children, so it should go without saying that anything meant for children is automatically meant for their parents as well.
Sure, sure. But as someone who was there at the beginning, I have nothing but contempt for the smug revisionist history of self-important elitist fans who insist that Star Wars is some great sophisticated cinematic achievement that's only suitable for adults, and who treat the very idea of something meant for children with condescending contempt, which is profoundly missing the entire point of the franchise. Star Wars was a popcorn movie. It came along in an era when most cinematic science fiction was indeed adult and serious and solemn and self-important, and it completely tore that down by being an unapologetically shallow, simple, crowd-pleasing adventure story. It (and the rest of the Lucas and Spielberg ouevre) ushered in a whole new era of lightweight action/FX blockbusters that audiences loved and film critics denounced for dumbing down the industry. Audiences didn't embrace Star Wars because it was adult or intellectual or complicated, they embraced it because it was fun and entertaining and well-made, and because it pushed their nostagia buttons for the movies and serials it homaged. But today, too many Star Wars fans have become just as elitist and condescending as the critics of my youth who saw Star Wars and the blockbuster era it ushered in as the downfall of good movies.
More and more I see that fan elitism and it's quite annoying. Treating Star Wars like high art and scoffing at the idea that it is for children is frustrating because it doesn't allow for anything new to break in to the precious franchise.
Was Jabba naked because of a medical condition, or because he's a pervert?
Yes, all the later Hutt have also been naked, but no one knew that in 1983.
Yes, all the later Hutt have also been naked, but no one knew that in 1983.
I would also argue that the Empire Strikes Back is most certainly not a children's story. Everything goes wrong for the Rebels, Han and Leia are running from the Empire most of the time, almost the entire movie has a dark atmosphere and Luke's hand gets severed by Darth Vader. There is nothing cute or cuddly about it. ROTS isn't a children's story either unless an adult character slaughtering children is now considered "kiddie" fare.
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Considering this, it's interesting that ESB was the only Star Wars movie that was originally rated in Germany FSK 6 (6 year old children), while ANH and ROTJ were FSK 12.
I am perplexed when some viewers seem to completely ignore C-3PO's dialogue and whole role in the first film.
The thing is, I just as often I see the opposite attitude; people that are dismissive of the idea that Star Wars could or indeed should have deeper layered meanings and significance.
Personally I don't feel like these need to be mutually exclusive. A thing meant for children can have great artistic value and intent, which is exactly where Star Wars lives because it was created by a student of art, philosophy, weird avant garde cinema AND was a massive nerd, into rocketships, pulp adventure serials and really fast cars. This is not a zero sum game.
Shakespeare wrote his stuff so that even the poor, young groundlings could understand it. At the same time, that stuff has fueled four good centuries of academic debate.
Now, that's not to say Empire is fucking Lear, but the same rule of thumb applies.
Is Star Wars meant for kids?
Do we all become little children when we watch it?
Is it "smarter" than it's often given credit for, rife with rich metaphor and thematic subtext worthy of analysis and debate?
Yes.
Now, that's not to say Empire is fucking Lear, but the same rule of thumb applies.
Is Star Wars meant for kids?
Do we all become little children when we watch it?
Is it "smarter" than it's often given credit for, rife with rich metaphor and thematic subtext worthy of analysis and debate?
Yes.
It was the 80s: kids were allowed to watch a wider variety of things. It was a better way.
I can't imagine parenting without a VCR.
You put in a tape, and your kids stop moving and talking for 90 minutes.
That's enough time to do all the house work.
Oh.
I finally figured out the gold Bikini.
It's rancor proof.
Or at least proof to the Rancor's digestive process.
So imagine that there's always a girl there who is more hostage than diva?
And you have to dress her up as a dancing girl, which can be expensive, even though there's a 50/50 certainty that she is going to be fed to the monster living under the throneroom.
So why not gloss her up in a sexy outfit, that can be passed?
Just hose off the gold bikini and then give it to the next hostage.
Hose off the shit, and phlegm and the guts of the last dancing girl after you strain the rancor's waste, looking for valuables.
This is what Leia was wearing.
A bustier that had busted out through the Rancor's ring, dozens if not hundreds of times.
Imagine the smell.
You put in a tape, and your kids stop moving and talking for 90 minutes.
That's enough time to do all the house work.
Oh.
I finally figured out the gold Bikini.
It's rancor proof.
Or at least proof to the Rancor's digestive process.
So imagine that there's always a girl there who is more hostage than diva?
And you have to dress her up as a dancing girl, which can be expensive, even though there's a 50/50 certainty that she is going to be fed to the monster living under the throneroom.
So why not gloss her up in a sexy outfit, that can be passed?
Just hose off the gold bikini and then give it to the next hostage.
Hose off the shit, and phlegm and the guts of the last dancing girl after you strain the rancor's waste, looking for valuables.
This is what Leia was wearing.
A bustier that had busted out through the Rancor's ring, dozens if not hundreds of times.
Imagine the smell.
IIRC Gary Kurtz was Mormon. That’s all I got.Huh? This is the first I've heard of Mormon money, but hey, maybe I just didn't know. But this is definitely the first time I've EVER heard anyone call young Carrie Fisher "frumpy" or not sexy!
@DonIago go home, you're too young.
Kiddy fare.. Doesn't mean Barney or care bears.. It can have death, fights, etc.
There's protecting your child.. Then there's not letting that child grow.
There's protecting your child.. Then there's not letting that child grow.
What?
Heavy Metal was rated R. Bringing that film up in the context of ROTJ is textbook apples and oranges.
It was the 70s.
Blond hair with big boobs is hot.
Brown hair with medium boobs is your mother.
The instructions were no blond bombshell with a massive wrack.
My mistake.
https://latterdaysaintmag.com/11-hollywood-movies-with-unexpected-mormon-connections/
It was a mormon film producer, not the entire Church of Latter Day saints themselves, but the money Gary Kurtz put into Star Wars allowed him to make creative decisions on the project, which were made from a pious/virtuous Mormon perspective.
Or did you mean the Princess Rap Battle?
There are more.
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