Tue. 11/21 Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens (2015)

Imaginary Worlds Podcast, “The Expanded Universe”
Marshall McLuhan, “Weapons: War of the Icons”

“In a culture like ours,” writes Marshall McLuhan, “long accustomed to splitting and dividing all things as a means of control, it is sometimes a bit of a shock to be reminded that, in operational and practical fact, the medium is the message. This is merely to say that the personal and social consequences of any medium––that is, of any extension of ourselves––result from the new scale that is introduced into our affairs by each extension of ourselves, or by any new technology.”[1] Luke’s lost lightsaber plays a crucial role in Rey’s introduction to the force. In the words of Obi-Wan Kenobi, “This is the weapon of a Jedi Knight. Not as clumsy or as random as a blaster. An elegant weapon for a more civilized age” (Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope). This ancient media (advanced in our own time) simultaneously defines and is defined by its age. In what ways does the weapon represent or in what ways is it represented by the struggle between The Resistance and the First Order? What is the significance of Rey’s innate ability to wield the weapon without any training? Of course, Starkiller Base (as the Death Stars before it) is also a weapon. McLuhan writes that, “The city, itself, is traditionally a military weapon, and is a collective shield or plate armor, an extension of the castle of our very skins” (454). Here we have an entire planet that has been weaponized. What might this say about contemporary globalism and neo-colonialism?

Thanksgiving Break: 11/23 – 11/26

[1] Marshall McLuhan, “The Medium is the Message,” Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man. Ed. W. Terrence Gordon (Berkeley, CA: Gingko Press, 2015): p. 19.