Welcome back to Go See Yerself A Star War, a limited series podcast from the fine folks here at What Am I Making featuring me, Matty C and my daughter, Hannah. In this episode we go back to 1977 where it all began, with the promises of A New Hope.
Hannah and I kick off our discussion of the film as we ponder whether there are any female Stormtroopers. That leads to me wondering if the Imperial Forces have some sort of “Don’t Ask - Don’t Tell” policies. The Empire hardly seems like a bastion of progressive hiring practices and DEI initiatives.
The questions continue as Hannah wonders how R2 can so easily roll across the desert sands of Tatooine. We also dive into my partially formed theory on the parallels between A New Hope and another film classic centered around the hero’s journey.
We screened the film via Disney Plus for this pod, and in several moments we were left to wonder why in the Hell George Lucas felt the need to mar his cinematic classic with a bunch of half-baked CGI footage. The streaming version is rife with several minutes of footage not included in the original film. These sequences offer no plot value, very little character information, and distract the viewer from the experience of the original film.
There is some discussion of the libertarian paradise that is the Mos Eiseley space port. We talk about hookas, racist service policies, and more. Hannah wonders what in the world Luke and Uncle Owen are harvesting, and we both ponder whether one has to be a whiny little bitch to be a young Jedi.
Beyond that we hit the value of having a bona fide movie star in your film, the reasons why we keep ourselves from getting involved, and the narrative enlightenment that Hannah has found from watching these films in episode order.
Here now is our discussion of A New Hope. Enjoy.
Cheers,
Matty C
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