Star Wars

Historians often like to look at the mentalities of the day in their research. This means looking at the structures inherent within the mindset of a particular peoples. We have them, and they had them, but we don't necessarily know what they were. It is a way of seeing the world that is different to the war that we see the world, and by understanding their mentalities, we can better understand the world they lived in. The best example of this is Lucien Febvre's examination of the role of Christianity in the Sixteenth Century. One of his rivals had claimed that the Rabelais was an unbeliever - Febvre studied the mentalities of the time and discovered that the society of the day was so riddled with Christian imagery and symbolism that it would have been impossible for someone in 16th century France to disbelieve in Christianity.

I draw this to your attention because it is becoming apparent that there are some among us who do not necessarily view the world through the same cynicism-tinted-glasses as the rest of us. I mean, naturally enough, the Ben/Michelle entity(ies) who are obsessed with Star Wars. Recent comments have suggested that they cannot comprehend that a well educated and moderately intelligent person believes that Star Wars is at best a B grade movie series. It is. It is a good B grade series, and for whatever reason legions of geeks regularly dress up as jedi's and Darth Mauls and take their long suffering women friends to see the latest installment of the Lucas pension fund. I like the original series. It was good. No problem with that (although it was still B grade). The latest (and, funnily enough, the earliest) series really does make me wish that I'd used the force on George Lucas' ass when I had the chance. Ben, however, for whatever reason, disagrees. That is also fine. I'm not going to impose my thoughts and emotions on him. It would be Vadar-ish of me to do so. Vadar-ish, Ben, Vadar-ish.

After posting that comment, Ben went away and thought long and hard about what he had said. Three hours later he comes back with this stunning comment which equates a love of Natalie Portman with cannibalism. While I'm glad (and slightly confused and aroused) that I can occupy another man's mind for three hours, I'm also slightly worried. Ben should be thinking of this thesis on blogs, rather than my blog and dreaming of special sauce on mine liver. Then along comes Michelle and agrees with Ben that human liver is tasty with BBQ sauce.

Cannibalism is still illegal, guys.

Is there a link between the rise in popularity of star wars and the subsequent rise in number of cannibal reported deaths in the last several years? I'm not going to offer an opinion on that. Just read the comments of Ben and Michelle, examine their mentalities and decide for yourself whether you will sleep with one eye open tonight.