Summary/Background
The article I chose to transform for WP3 is "Whose Film Is It Anyway? Canonicity and Authority in Star Wars Fandom" written by John C. Lyden in the Journal of the American Academy of Religion. The article discusses how many dedicated fans of the Star Wars films have claimed to believe in the religion of "Jediism" and that their reactions to the films have led to this new "religious experience" for them. The article begins by describing what "Jediism" is and how fans have created a community with a strong online presence to back their opinions and claims about the films. The article also explains how intense these fans can be in their desire for the "canon" of the series to stay intact within the original trilogy. Lyden cites specific examples for instances in which the fans have been at odds with the creator of the series, George Lucas, for this very reason and how conspiracy theories have even arisen claiming that he is trying to prevent fans from seeing the "true" films.
Younger Audience Genre
Since the article lists specific elements of the films that fans have strong opinions on, I was thinking to use each of these issues as topics for a series of nursery rhymes for children. Most of the debated ideas within the article are in response to decisions made having to do with a specific character or scene in the films, so each rhyme would tell a short version of what happened in a certain scene or a description of how the fans see a certain character. The article also discusses George Lucas and fan reactions towards him and his recent changes/additions to the film series, so this could be another topic for one of the rhymes. The rhymes would need to be relatively short and have a catchy rhythm to them, as they are geared towards young children (pre-school through early elementary school ages). They would also need to include simple and up-beat language, since children would not be interested in learning about the serious ongoing debate, but rather be much more interested in the fantastical characters and occurrences in the films.
Older Audience Genre
For the genre geared toward an older audience, I thought to do a sort of religious brochure/pamphlet explaining why people should convert to "Jediism." The article begins with facts about what "Jediism" is and how many people in the world believe in it according to a recent census survey. These facts are similar to the kinds of things listed in the beginnings of such a pamphlet when describing what the religion is and how widespread it is throughout the world. The next section in the brochure would include accounts of people who have "converted" and had life-changing "religious experiences" after viewing the films, as well as what they have done for the religious community since their "conversion." This would be based on the information the article provides about they different ways in which people have responded to George Lucas and the idea of the "true" original trilogy. The pamphlet would end with a section encouraging its readers to visit other websites (those listed within the article as fan websites) for more information on the benefits and process of converting to "Jediism" and joining the ever-growing community.
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ReplyDeleteFirst off: there are conspiracy theorists who think that there are underground Star Wars films?! Wowwwwwwwwwww! God bless America! Wooooo!
After reading your younger transformation idea, my first thought is: why do super-young kids (ones who would listen to and participate in nursery rhymes) need to know about Jediism? Are you making a broader connection to all religions and acceptance or tolerance or something? I can’t help but feel like this “heavy” idea—not to mention, super-nerdy in a “film buff”/”sci-fi nerd” kinda way—might be more appropriate for an older audience. Ask yourself: (1) what am I really trying to capture here, and (2) what specific audience would that be most appropriate for, and why? THEN, I think, you should start thinking about genres.
For the older genre, I have a couple of questions: is this a satiric/comical pamphlet about converting? Is it mocking religion or possibly functioning as an ADVERISEMENT for an upcoming movie?
Also, I shared these thoughts with Chad, who is also considering a pamphlet idea. I wrote: “I’ve got to be honest, I don’t love the pamphlet idea—in fact, I might be anti-pamphlet… it seems like a dying genre to me. If you ultimately want to reach people, it seems like digital texts or even iPhone apps are a better way of doing that. However, if you feel like pamphlets are what your specific “older” audience would likely use, then go for it. Again: it all comes down to have reasons for what you’re doing. Overall, though, pamphlets seem ridiculously boring, and I’d really like to see you come up with something more creative.” For better or worse, I’ve gotta be honest in saying that I have those same thoughts for you here too. Pamphlets? Ughhhh….
Think about the big, great, wide world of genres that are out there, floating around—what 2 embody what you want to bring out of this scholarly piece? It might even help to think about what genres are most closely/NATURALLY associated with movies (or even religion, broadly), since that’s what your piece is ultimately about.
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ILOVE your idea for the adult geared piece, I think that ties perfectly with the scholarly article itself. I don’t know how you could include the setting as to where one would get the brochure. Where would one get the brochure? Would it be people going house to house “spreading the word” or would it be a convention like setting? I think deciding on where the brochure is could give you more things to include in the brochure. For example, if at a convention you could include more steps as to how to “convert” because people are choosing to go so they want to change. Is there another way of convinving people to convert? Like an ad or “spam mail” maybe? I think that the children’s rhyme makes sense as well because there is already a plot that is created in Star Wars. Are you going to make Star Wars into a rhyme? I think it would be difficult to include the fans reaction to George Lucas as a rhyme because that might not be a topic children would be interested in.
ReplyDeleteYou seem to have the conventions down for the nursery rhyme idea, however I’m not totally sure if that age group is the best one to target. I like the ideas of making the stories simplified and kid-friendly, however I don’t see how that is different than translating the starwars movie or scenes from the movie into nursery rhymes. It seems like both of those would accomplish the same thing. Also, kids who are older probably tend to be way more interested in starwars (I know my brothers were) than babies. I would just consider why you would use that translation and make sure it makes sense.
ReplyDeleteI think the idea for the older audience is on point. It is so relevant and really got me thinking. Super cool idea! What info from your scholarly article would you specifically leave in and what would you exclude for this piece? How would the language or jargon change? Would it be just informational or would it be persuasive at all?
I think your topic is so awesome especially since I'm a die-hard star wars fan. (The article itself sounds super interesting not going to lie I googled it before I even begin writing this comment). I think it would be really cool to come up with a nursery rhyme for your younger audience especially since when you think about it all of the rhymes and phrases you learn as a young child usually seem to stick with you for the remainder of your life (or up until now at least) because they become so ingrained in your mind which I think would tie in really well with the fact that the article is talking about this new religious cult like group that's emerged from the Star Wars movies. For the adult pamphlet maybe it would be a good idea to incorporate something where people talk about what makes Jediism so much better than any other type of religion (I feel like for a lot of religious propaganda they offer examples or blurbs about what makes their religion best and what joining that given religious group could do to benefit them).
ReplyDeleteHi! I was very interested in your topic as soon as I started reading your blog. I even googled it and have been reading for a while about Jediism haha. Anyway, I think that the transformation you are going to make make perfect sense as long as your explain the reasons and context in which your target audience would read those rhymes or pamphlets. For example, for the kids rhymes, I don't think all kids would be interested in reading those rhymes, or more important, not all parents would like their kids to read rhymes about a strange religion. So, what about making your target audience the children of people who believe in Jediism. Jediism has a hole website were they have initiate program articles https://www.templeofthejediorder.org/initiateprogramme. Maybe one of those articles could be directed to parents who want to inititate their kids into Jediism.
ReplyDeleteFor the pamphlet idea, I think it is fine since a lot of religions still use pamphlets to promote their ideas. I was recently in Hollywood and someone approached me with a pamphlet of Scientology so yeah..it's still a thing. Just make sure to specify what the main purpose of the pamphlet is and you should be good.