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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (May 7, 1981)
Star Wars on National Public Radio: A myth to withstand the Reagan era From "A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away Star Wars became the big gest box office hit in movie history, making the evil ambitions of Darth Vader, the courage of Princess Leia, and the dreams of Luke Skywalker the common ex perience of millions of us on Spaceship Earth Now the saga of how the Rebel Alliance fought back against the awesome technology of the Empire is reaching a new audience as National Public Radio broadcasts the 13-part serial Star Wars over its network stations. In Eugene NPR-affiiiates KWAX and KLCC are pre senting the serial at prime listening times, and response has been enthusiastic, say staff members at both stations. Don Hein, news dir ector at KLCC and host of the “Sunday Morning” show during the which the Star Wars episodes play, says that “for the first couple of weeks the phones were ringing off the hook with many listeners wanting to know how they could get copies of the broadcast." Denny Guehier, promotions director at KWAX, adds, Star Wars has brought a lot of younger people into radio — and radio drama specifically. The show makes magic with sound that we re used to experiencing visually." The reliance of the drama on sound rather than sight is, of course, one key way the radio Star Wars is different from the movie What’s inter esting, though, is that as the radio drama unfolds, the peculiar strengths and limitations of the radio medium are making for an experience more compelling than the movie's. Granted for anyone who was jazzed by the Academy Award-winning special ef fects of Luke's light saber or of the Millenium Falcon starcruiser accelerating into hyperdrive, their mere audio counterparts will probably be disappointing, (the light saber's sound is made, NPR's promotional material confesses, from a mix of an old movie projector's whir and a picture tube's hum). But the movie's dazzling special effects and rapid pace kept attention on things happening, on the plot The radio version, coming as it does in 13 installments a week apart, puts the empha sis on the relationships between the characters, and gives us a whole richer story in the process. While the movie focuses on the swashbuckling adventures of its young hero, Luke, the radio series, at least through episode 9 to date, has been much more interested in the role of Prin cess Leia Organa From the film's damsel in distress saved in the nick of time, Leia emerges on radio as the moral heart of the story. It is Leia, as ambassador from her home planet of Alderaan, who attempts to keep alive the Rebel climaxes in the most stirring moment in the series so far Captured and condemned to death by the Empire’s Governor Tarkin, Leia is first made to witness the Death Star's destruction of Alderaan. "Oh, Tarkin,’’ she cries, "If ever there were a shred of humanity in you or these twisted creatures of yours, it's dead now. You’re at war with life itself. You are enemies of the Universe Your Empire is doomed." Nothing distracts us, on radio, from the full conviction of these words. “You're at war with Life itself,’’ Leia reproaches Tarkin, and powerful rever berations are set up in us. One of the reasons the Star Wars story is so popular is that it concerns itself with primal forces embodied in mythic figures There's Luke, the unsung youth who dreams of a woman and a challenge worth of his hopes; Leia, the virtuous young woman, activist for Justice and liberty; Darth Vader, the fallen hero, corrupted by de sire for unbridled power. What makes this primal Star Wars a myth for us is the peculiarly modern terms of the opposition between good and evil forces. The Empire's power is in the external control sym bolized by the Death Star, “the mightiest war machine that human kind has ever produced," Tarkin tells Leia “It’s obscene," she replies The strength of the Rebel Alliance is in The Force, a power inherent in the Universe which the individual can learn to channel only after much discipline Star Wars is about the revolution that arises when a govern ment places such an empha sis on maintaining control that it becomes capable of developing a technology that can, as Tarkin exults, "des troy entire planets." Now does this remind you of anything7 What tech nology do we have today that could destroy an entire planet7 The radio Star Wars would appear to be extremely timely in the face of the Reagan administration which, in the guise of "getting government off our backs," would in crease spending for warfare and nuclear power If you suspect Star Wars might be more than science fiction, consider what the former director of the United States Defense Intelligence Agency said about the aftermath of the Columbia space shuttle "Eventually we will have a very significant part of our military capability in space. Lt. General Daniel O Graham told Newsweek recently. "The shuttle helps bring that day closer " Next year alone, the Pentagon will expand its space warfare budget by $5 8 billion. National Public Radio, along with its innovative prgramming like the Star Wars series, may lose all its funding under the Admin istration’s current plan. "A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, there came a time of Revolu tion " Star Wars airs at 7:30 p.m. Saturdays on KWAX (99 1FM) and 11:30 a m Sundays on KLCC (89.7 FM). — Joe Cone dis’ser ta’tions Quick and inexpensive: We are graduate school approved and guarantee our copies to pass graduate school requirements and most orders can be completed within 24 hours. We can make copies on any subject! Call for details. <©> EUGENE PRINT Two locations: 2387 West 11th, 686-9799 20 East 13th, 484-2601 PIANO RECITAL ^Ukatv Buckh <l\ ' d Works by Scarlatti, Haydn, Chopin, Brahms, Liszt, Prokofiev ... GERLINGER LOUNGE MAY 12 • 8:00 PM. 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