Dave Greene@GreeneMan6
So this is what happened.
In 1977 George Lucas made “Star Wars” as a high-budget variation on pulp sci-fi with some Samurai/Western tropes thrown in. The film was a smash success, far exceeding expectations.
Based on this success, a bunch of Boomer luminaries hoped on Lucas’ project and created the masterpiece that was “Empire Strikes Back”, not only fleshing out the Star Wars universe but incorporating classic wisdom and New Aged spirituality along the lines of Joseph Campbell into film’s plot.
Subsequently, the existence of these deep spiritual themes in “Empire Strikes Back” (along with their clumsy conclusion in “Return of the Jedi”) convinced an entire generation that this cheap action flick was in fact a cultural landmark, our generation’s version of “Lord of the Rings”.
But this was not the case. “Empire Strikes Back” notwithstanding, Star Wars is, at its heart, a dumb pulp adventure. So, understandably, no movies since have been able to recapture the magic.
Furthermore, Star Wars fans should be aware that you couldn’t even pursue the themes of “Empire Strikes Back” in a modern Star Wars film, even if you wanted to. The New-Age liberal do-gooderism would feel “Boomer” to Millennials and Zoomers. The classic spiritual themes, if developed, would be threatening to a Star Wars fan base who organizes their lives around consumerism.