Star Wars: The Revenge of Rumplestiltskin?

Jodo Kast wandering the purgatorial wastelands of non-canonicity.

Recently I had the pleasure of watching Shrek Forever After with my children on TV. This modern spin on traditional fairy tales deals with an ogre, Shrek, who becomes disenchanted with his settled, domesticated life and longs for the days before he met Princess Fiona and when the villagers were afraid of him. Into this pops that traditional fairy tale rogue, Rumpelstiltskin, who offers Shrek one day of his old ogre life in return for a day in his past, preferably one he doesn't remember. This he does and soon to Shrek's horror, he discovers that 'Stiltskin' has taken the day he was born. From then on it's a race for Shrek to work his way through an alternate time line and share loves true kiss before he vanishes from time altogether. This is a world where he never saved Fiona from her tower, fell in love and had a family. It's a world where his friends don't know him and people have followed a different life path from the one from which we are familiar. It's a clever way of mixing things up and allowing the writers to try new things with established characters. Sufi e to say, for Shrek, things do go back to normal.

When I was five years old my world was shaken by another modern fairy tale . My parents took me to see  the latest blockbuster movie, Star Wars, and i was never the same again. In the wash up of this amazing piece of The Empire Strikes Back was released, I had immersed myself in the world of Star Wars comics. And so I was inducted into the world of the Extended Star Wars Universe,the place were the story continued after the end credits had finished. Soon there were holiday specials, novels, storybook records and radio plays. Eventually there were even spin off TV movies and cartoon series, but by the mid 1980's all had seemingly gone quiet as we waited for the promised prequels and sequels that we soon thought would never arrive. In 1991 the novel Heir the the Empire by Timothy Zahn appeared along with the comic series the Dark Empire and the Star Wars Universe seemed to be grinding to life. As with many Star Wars fans I soon threw myself into this 'Extended Universe' and lapped up the continuing adventures of Han, Chewy, Luke, Leia, Uncle Tom Cobley and all. This was a universe that was expanding in all directions and I loved it. Even when new prequels finally emerged, this extended universe was gobbled up into a carefully mapped continuity. Last I heard, even the old comic series from my childhood was being carefully worked in and discrepancies retconned or worked around. One mighty Star Wars Universe was rising triumphant, a world of it's own with history, mythology and a mighty story to tell. Though one thing was still to come to pass, the three promised sequels, that was until late last year when the announcement that all true Star Wars fans had been waiting for was trumpeted forth from the highest minaret of the Jedi Temple. Finally the promise of 1977 was coming to pass but what story would it tell and where would it fit in the overarching history of the Star Wars Universe? The was that it wouldn't.

To cut along story short, the writers of the new trilogy wanted a fresh canvas  to work with, unimpeded by the shackles of an established continuity. To this my head says fair enough, but my heart says 'Nooooooo, it's not true!', as I see loved story lines and characters disappear into non-canon obscurity. Fictional characters now become officially non-canonical, which sounds like a kind of purgatory for imaginary people. Poor bounty hunter Jodo Kast; imagine being not only fictional and dead but dead in an obsolete story line. Sounds worse than being digested over a thousand years in the stomach of the mighty Sarlach. On the bright side it, looks as if Chewie is no longer dead though sadly, Boba Fett may still be. All bets are off.

I'm not saying that I'm not excited by the release of the new trilogy, I am. It's just that I need to try and ignore all that I thought I knew and accepted about the Star Wars Universe. As the action begins to unfold and the new continuity becomes apparent, I wonder how hard it will be to see this as the new normal.  How hard will it be not to wonder 'which character did a deal with Rumpelstiltskin and changed the present?" Already my bets are on Han. At least he gets Chewie back. That one element alone should be enough to win me over, even at the cost of Jodo Kast. At least the saga continues. May the force of new continuity be with you, always.

PS
Having now seen the film, I'm pretty sure it was Han that made the deal with 'ol' Stiltskin', probably played by Warwick Davis. And yes, he lost the day he was born, and no, his son isn't any less of a darkside brat in this alternate reality. Enjoy the saga.

Doc Holliday and the Three Wise Men

I always thought a great name for a festive season rock band would be Doc Holliday and the Three Wise Men. either that or it would make a great name for the ultimate Western/Sword and Sandal mash up movie that I suspect only the Italians could truly make. The final show down with the Clantons, King Herod's special hit squad, in the Nativity Coral would be an amazing spectacle of slings and arrows would conjure up all the grandeur of Quo Vadis with the surreal staring and eye  twitching of The Good the Bad and the Ugly. And as Lee Van Cleef's consumptive Doc Holliday coughs off into the sunset on his camel, the Magi are free to present their gifts in the the now peaceful town of Bethlehem to the new born king. The last thing we see, as the 'FINE' appears before the closing credits, is Livio Lorenzon's King Herod in the capital, cursing the heavens at the news of the Clanton Squads demise. As awesome as it would be, I feel that this movie may never see the light of day. Human myth making is an amazing phenomena but  this scenario may 'jump the shark' just a little too far to ever become a reality.

Never the less, both the Three Wise Men and Doc Holliday have seen their own share of legend and mythology laid over the known or assumed facts of their lives. Often this is the problem, human beings need to know things about their heroes and when the facts are sketchy or unremarkable we make things up. The beauty of this is that our heroes of the past become the icons we need  for the here and now and not merely long dead mere mortals of bygone eras.

My first introduction to Doc Holliday was in the movie 'My Darling Clementine (1946)' starring Victor Mature as Doc Holliday and Henry Fonda as Wyatt Earp. Here Doc Holliday was a surgeon come gunfighter who valiantly fights his consumptive way through the film along side his buddy, Marshall Wyatt Earp. We meet his attractive love from Boston, the genteel Clementine Carter, played by the lovely Cathy Downs. We watch the long and tense gunfight at the OK Corral get slugged out dramatically over a minute of the film. We see the sickly Doc Holliday fall, slain by a Clanton bullet, before the grip of tuberculosis could take him, The last we see of him alive is the good Doctor falling to the ground, his white handkerchief caught against the gate he was sheltering behind, blowing in the wind, a powerful symbol of his surrender to death.

I was later surprised to find out that Doc Holliday wasn't a surgeon but a dentist,  His beautiful girl friend was actually known as 'Big Nose Kate' and the gunfight was only 30 seconds long and took place in a vacant block near by the OK Corral and not with in it. So much for the dramatic ballet of gun play that Hollywood would lead us to believe. As for Doc's blazing demise during the gunfight, it actually took place 6 years later. The movie may not be historically accurate but it paints a more exciting picture of one of the most famous showdowns in the old west.

When it comes to the Three Wise Men, the stories told well and truly out shine the known facts.The only reference in the Bible to these figures is in vs 1-11 in the 2nd chapter of the Gospel of Matthew. from this we learn that they were 'Magi' from the east that had followed a star to visit a new born King. Magi were originally Persian Zoroastrian priests who had a particular interest in the stars with the name coming to refer to astrologers in general. With them they brought three gifts to present to the royal child once they had found him, gold, frankincense and myrrh, After arriving in the capital Jerusalem they seek audience with King Herod and his advisers,  Learning that the Hebrew scriptures mention the birth of the awaited messiah in Bethlehem, the Magi follow the star again until it stops over the place where Jesus and his family were residing. An angel then warns them in a dream not to report back to King Herod and they return home via a different route. The Bible gives us no names, no country of origin, what they were riding or even the number of wise men. In fact most of what we know about them seem to have been added to the stories later in the retelling.

As with most revered figures, the lack of information was soon compensated for, with traditions maybe historical but most likely legendary, coming into the stories of the faithful to spice up the story with details. One of the problems with the wise men was that they were presented at best as educated astrologers and at worst magicians or sorcerers. To the early Christians this may have been a difficult thing to stomach so the sanitising of the Magi had to begin. St Ignatius of Antioch in his letter to the Ephesians, written in the early 2nd century suggests that at the arrival of the Star of Bethlehem all magic in the world ceased.  It can be assumed that many saw this as the catalyst for the interest of the Magi and that they were now seeking the new source of power in the presence of the Christ child. So now longer were the Magi occult users following their forbidden astrological arts to seek out the new born King but dis empowered figures seeking the new truth. This was a more palatable image for the faithful but the transformation was far from complete.

In the early 3rd century, the christian writer Tertullian  stated that the Magi were actually kings, So astrology aside, these men were actually world leaders who were acknowledging Jesus of Nazareth as the true ruling power. Caesar and Herod may have missed the boat but others had not, at the very beginning Christ was acknowledged by the nations as their King of Kings. Christians could stand firm in their faith that he was the true power in the empire. By the number of gifts the number of the kings was deduced to be three although some traditions suggest as many as twelve. By the time the Armenian Infancy Gospel was written around 600 AD, the names of  Gasper, Melchior and Balthazar had been given to the Three Kings and the transformation was complete. The vague shadowy figures of the Magi had become the very regal Three Kings that we know from carols, annual nativity scenes, and cards riding into history on their camels. They would grace the palace of Herod and the lowly cattle shed in Bethlehem to take their place amongst the saints and martyrs of the church.
Christians could look to these Royal figures and see, that just like themselves, even the Kings of the Orient recognised the true King when their own kings possibly did not.  Christ was Lord of beggar and monarch alike, the true King of Kings. I suspect many Christians today see them as wise men of the ancient world who accepted Christ as Lord when many so called wise men of our age argue the against the very existence of God. For the modern church it is their wisdom and insight into divine truth that is their great, enduring virtue,

Whether it be Doc Holliday or the Three Wise Men, we all have a tendency to look back at our important figures of history with the glasses of the present. Mere mortals of the past can become powerful symbols of the present when we project our current concerns and values onto their cultural memory. Morally complex and violent adventurers can become symbols of law and order in a simpler but wilder time, an important thing for a society recovering from war and seeking stability in the face great loss. Controversial masters of the mystic arts can become the champions of traditional faith and wisdom in an increasingly secular society. This approach may display a cavalier attitude towards the factual details of history but it enables our history to resonate with the present in deep and meaningful ways. We look back to answer questions of the present, to be inspired and strengthened by the past, and to look to a brighter future.Who knows you or I might one day become legendary figures, the mundane and the ordinary facts of our lives transformed into a grand epic of operatic proportion to serve the needs of a future age. And if this happens hopefully they'll make me better looking with killer abs. only the future will tell.

As for my movie idea, I don't think it will ever go ahead despite the continuing popularity of the Three Kings and Doc Holliday. This won't stop me from dreaming and hoping though, as I see the four characters becoming drawn together. An example of this is the fact that the current Doctor Who, Peter Capaldi got to play Balthazar in the recent film The Nativity Story (2006) and Doctor Who was mistaken for Doc Holliday in the 1966 story The Gunfighters, not to mention that he even has his own annual Christmas 'holiday' special. This is far from being a coincidence, so for me the circle of geek is now complete.

God In A Box, God Out Of The Box

Millennia ago, or so the Holy Bible say, humanity made a few decisions that has possibly lead to our current global warming issues, or at least the beginning of the fashion industry. Having lived in blissful climate controlled nudity, we chose knowledge and death over life and blissful ignorance. Like so many kids, once overly keen to leave home and learn the ways of the world, we soon wished that we were back with mum and dad and free from the constant demands of adult life. Besides, back in the Garden of Eden every day was 'Nude Up Friday.' Ever since we were shown the door from innocence, the creator has tried to reach us and invite our species back into the family fold. When looking at the Bible it seems that, like Saint Nick, God has frequently reached out to us with gifts in boxes. 

Box Number 1
The word 'ark' means box and we first come across God's gift giving in the Ark of Noah. Seeing the damage caused by humanity's willing choice of evil over good, alongside damage caused by fallen heavenly powers, the creator chooses to flood the land, and with a remnant of life, start again. 

It's here that box number 1 appears in the story. The vessel to save creation will be a box built by the only good man God can find, Noah. Through the shelter of this giant box, select specimens of life survive a world cleansing flood, only to repopulate a new one that seems replete with the troubles of old. Like school and students, the world seems great until life, human in particularly, comes to mess it up all over again.

Box Number 2
The arrival of box number 2 occurs when God seeks to set his chosen people, the Israelites, free from slavery in Egypt. This tiny box is used to hide the infant Moses in the river Nile at a time when Israelite babies were being slaughtered by the ruling Pharaoh's soldiers. Instead of a remnant of creation, this floating box contained the child that would one day lead a group of liberated slaves and guide them in the ways of a nation that God would choose to help redeem creation . Ironically, or more to the point, providentially, the baby is saved by the daughter of the very Pharaoh who seeks him dead and is soon an adopted member of the royal family. Unlike the first box, this box offers hope to more than just a few survivors, this box offers hope to the whole world. It brings into a position of influence a leader who will guide a people in the ways of an unseen God. In the years to come, many from other nations will admire and join the faith of the redeemed Hebrew slaves. Through the cosmic confusion of the ancient world's many deities, they will see in Israel the worship of a true God who demands justice and mercy from his people. Through the babe found floating in a box he would give the divine laws that would become the foundations of the modern world.

Box Number 3

The third box in the Bible story brings a about a new chapter in God's relationship with his creation. Alongside the laws, God commands Moses to build yet another ark. This time, instead of housing animals or prophets, it will reveal to his people God's very presence. It will be his foot stool on the earth. This box, the Ark of the Covenant, would travel with the Israelites through the desert, eventually finding a place in the Holy of Holies of the Jerusalem Temple. This beautiful gold covered chest would  play a vital role in the yearly Day of Atonement ceremony, the event that ritually cleansed the creation with the symbolic/actual sacrifice of God himself and the casting out of the evil that has contaminated the cosmos. Although this ark disappeared many millennia ago, it still fascinates the modern world, inspiring adventurers and movie makers a like to speculate on it's current where abouts. In the end, only God may truly know the answer, it's sacred presence no longer required in a world with out an earthly temple of bricks and mortar.

Box Number 4
The fourth and greatest box of all in the Bible far outstrips any that have come before it. Like the first, animals approached and fed with in it. Like the second, it held the life of a baby who would bring God's way to a people seeking direction in the ways of justice and mercy. Like the third, it held the very presence of God in the midst of his people. Most likely carved from stone than constructed with wood, this box isn't referred to as an ark but a manger, a feed trough for animals. It was into this that the greatest gift God ever gave, the baby Jesus, his word in human form, was placed after his birth in a Bethlehem stable. He would grow up to show us the way that God calls us to live, loving God and loving one another, He would grow up to give himself, God's presence amongst us, as a sacrifice for the whole of creation. He would grow up to cleanse the creation, not with a world destroying flood of water, but with the shedding of his own divine blood. Rising from the dead with in another container of stone, the now empty tomb, He stands triumphant, present in heaven and in those who follow him.  He is the greatest gift God has ever given us, the gift of a renewed relationship with our creator and hope for a day when death and evil have finally passed away. That's one gift that we all should cherish. St Nick, eat your heart out!