EPISODE 518: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK STRIKES BACK AGAIN
What if Yoda was just a figment of Luke's imagination?
POP CULTURE SPIRIT WOW
It was announced last week that there is an evil Batman who is also a T-Rex and a robot. Warren Ellis is writing its origin story. The comic comes out in August on my birthday.
I feel validated in every way.
The Empire Strikes Back came out 40 years ago this coming Thursday, May 21st.
I was ten when I first saw it, and I hated it.
*gasp* But we all love Empire!
Yeah, we do now. But at the time it came out I’m pretty sure a lot of us kids hated it. Because it ended on this series of insane cliffhangers, including Vader’s revelation that he’s Luke’s dad, that came out of nowhere in a world where there was no Internet Hive Mind we could go to to help us through this very difficult time.
And we were left like that FOR THREE YEARS.
It was like George Lucas invited us on a great trip, and he had already taken us on one incredible journey so yeah, sign us up. But then he left us on a deserted island with nothing but tumeric and the company of our regret.
Even Mark Hamill himself was confused when he was first told about the twist.
In fact I disliked that movie so much I don’t think I ever watched Empire again until I was in my mid-20s and living with Jesuits who kept saying it was the greatest movie. Which yes, it is; just for adults, middle schoolers (and apparently Jesuit seminarians).
In addition to being the 40th anniversary of Empire Thursday is Red Nose Day, a yearly attempt to entertain people to raise money for people in need.
And I had the crazy idea that I’d try to pitch in by doing 20 minutes of Star Wars stories and stand up comedy on Thursday night on Facebook Live. I’m sort of thinking of it as a cabaret show, just with funny Star Wars stuff instead of singing. (Yeah, I know, What does that even mean? Suffice to say I’ve got some work to do.)
You’re all invited, and so is anyone else you know who might love Star Wars. Just come to my Facebook page (if you search “mcdsj” on Facebook I should pop up under “People”), or look for a link after the fact on my twitter (@Popculturpriest).
I’m going to do two shows, at 7:30 CST/8:30 PST and again at 8:00pm PST. At the very least I promise you the opportunity to ridicule a priest, and from the comfort of your own home no less.
And hopefully we’ll be able to raise some money for Feeding America.
And now, the weather.
Lynch is doing this every day, the videos are all almost identical and somehow that is incredibly reassuring.
Things that are Happening in My Life Right Now
I cannot stop watching Parks & Recreation. Live feed of me every time the credits roll:
(I am a lot younger than you might think I am.)
I also cannot stop reading Stephen King’s Holly Gibney detective novels. Just finished the Bill Hodges trilogy; now onto If It Bleeds. Holly Gibney is a great character.
Also a great name. Holly Gibney.
I’m pretty sure I broke the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Readings of the Day website on Friday. You know that thing where hackers send a million requests to a website and the website can’t handle it so it just lays down and covers its head? Well, I tried to look at about 100 pages on their site over the course of about 2 hours and the same thing happened. I’m afraid to go back for fear someone will Church Arrest me.
For the life of me I cannot finish what should be a very simple article about a book that I know well and think is kind of amazing and I am wondering if am broken.
Also I have the greenlight from my manager to write this screenplay he and I have been outlining for a year – this is PROJECT EVERYBODY SAYS DON’T for those playing along at home. I’m excited, intimidated and may need to take a nap first.
I finished watching Inspector Morse, my late night comfort show, then promptly began the whole series again alternating every other night with its sequel Lewis. My need for comfort is endless.
I am still at home in my room, and hopefully you are too. We’re getting there!
A quiet week, all in all. I leave you with Three Cool Things plus a Moment of Pop Culture Zen.
1) Dave Filoni, mastermind of the Star Wars animated universe and also now The Mandalorian, talks below about the Duel of the Fates battle at the end of The Phantom Menace and how it sets up not just everything in the prequels but the original trilogy.
You need to have Disney Plus to see all of what he says--it’s in episode two of their new Making of The Mandalorian show. But this is the start. And it’s really interesting.
2) How Calvin and Hobbes is the perfect comic strip for right now.
Calvin went to school, had a loving family, but even still, he felt alone. And his imagination gave him a way not to feel that anymore.
In lockdown, we’re all Calvin.
(Just between you and me: I am actually Spaceman Spiff.)
3) Pop culture writer Tiffany Babb does a monthly newsletter looking at a work of popular art. This month she wrote about watching Creed.
Creed is my go-to plane movie, I’ve had multiple confused flight attendants glance from my tear streaked face to a movie about boxing. But I stand by those tears. I think what I have learned over time is that it’s a gift to be moved. That it’s extraordinary for someone (or many someones) to put a piece of art together and for their work to change the way that I feel.
And lastly, your moment of pop culture Zen:
Be gentle with yourself, and patient, and try to stay away from the news. You are doing better at this than you think you are and little by little things are getting better.
A little thought based on Rainer Marie Rilke’s famous passage about living the questions:
Be patient toward all that is unsolved in our lives. Try to love the questions and instability itself, like sheltered homes and homemade masks and scientific explanations that seem to be written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now demand immediate resolution, which cannot be given to us because we are not yet able to live it safely. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday in the future, we will gradually, without even noticing it, live our way into the answers.
Be safe. See you next week.