We all know those words that come at the beginning of each Star Wars movie. Well, I was watching Attack of the Clones on HBO for the fifth time today, not because I like the movie, but because I had nothing better to do, and it hits me - Hey waittaminute, a long time ago? I always thought Star Wars took place in the future, since we don’t got laser rifles and sassy smack talking droids yet in our time. It really surprises me that I’ve read that line a thousand times before and never really thought about it. So what does it mean? How does our present time fit in with the Star Wars universe? I figure that either:
a) There was some big cosmic disaster with lots of juicy social commentary attached to it (too much space pollution eroded the galactic ozone layer, for example). The human race was nearly wiped out, relocated to Earth in a galaxy far away, and lost all memory of the force, aliens, and technology.
It doesn’t mean anything. It’s just a cool way of saying “Once upon a time” and has no relevence to our reality, like a fairy tale.
Unleash the Star Wars nerds upon me, I await your wrath!
(Unfortunately, those people also seem to believe we are the decendants of the twelve tribes from Capricus, Virgus, Airus, Scorpius, etc, and that Pharaonic headdresses were modeled after the space helmets worn by sassy, overgroomed pilots who spent all their time reading How To Pick Up Chicks Without Really Trying and building robotic dogs for sad children.)
I had heard that Lucas’s original goal was to do episodes 4 through 6, then 1 through 3, and finally 7 through 9 with R2-D2 and C-3PO being the only constant characters. Perhaps he wanted to explain that in the final movie.
I once heard a rumor that it would be revealed in Episode 9 that everything that the audience saw in the movies came directly from the memory banks of R2-D2… thus from R2-D2’s perspective, all the events in the current crop of movies did occur ‘a long time ago’.
A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away… you’ve heard this how many times and this never occurred to you?
Civilization is not constant. The concept is silly. Imaginary folk in Alpha Centauri have not just created the palm pilot. Civilizations rise and fall, it does not matter when. Just because someone invented a laser blaster 8 million years ago does not mean that the fanciest incarnation of the laser blaster is available here on earth for the price of chewing gum.
“In a galaxy far far away” by itself is too damn short. It’s also relatively common that stories occur in the past and are told in the future. It is possible though not very probable that a civilization far more advanced than ours lived on our planet long before we did.
Yep; we heard that shortly after the original Star Wars. Of course he’s totally ruined everything at this point and I couldn’t give a flying f*** if he ever does any more. Still and all, a shame.
As far as a long time ago, it was in a galaxy far far away, and just like in Hitchhikers’ Guide; there’s no reason to believe that these are our ANCESTORS. They are humanoid and freakoid species developed on their own planets. Sound unlikely? Well, welcome to “Darwinism is ridiculous 101”. But that’s about all there is to this one.
Some of you are taking it far too literally. It isn’t set “a long time ago” any more than it’s set 10,000 years in the future, nor is it set here in our galaxy or on the other side of the universe.
“A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away” is a sign telling the audience that the film is a fairy tale – a myth – and as such what takes place is meant to be read symbolically. This is why complaints about starships making sound in space (for example) are totally off-base.
stick monkey said it best: it’s “Once upon a time” for the space age.
I always assumed that this was a story set many, many years in the future that was being recalled many, many, many, many years in the future–so that those who were telling the story would remember it as a part of their past, but it’s really our future. [This idea was originally told to me by my father, so I take no credit for it.] Sort of like the Atroo-Detoo idea (which I recall hearing as well), only on a grander scale.
To put numeric terms to it, the story occurred in, say, the year 10,000, but was being retold in the year 20,000.
And yet I can also see it as nothing more than “a myth,” as Lobot <hijack>neat username, by the way</hijack> and others have said, and that all events (or nearly all) have been exaggerated or elaborated upon, as many myths and legends are (as I am wont to believe).
I saw the first Star Wars (i.e., “A New Hope” but it wasn’t called that then) in the theater when I was a kid. I was about seven at the time. During the scene when the Millenium Falcon flies over the trees and structures of Yavin 4, I remember the kids in the seats behind me (I think they were about the same age as me) say “Yea, they finally reached Earth!!”
I wanted to turn around and remind them that, had they been paying attention, they should know that the movie is set nowhere near Earth, and is indeed “in a galaxy far, far away.” I felt rather smug in how superior my knowledge was than that of my peers.
Now, whenever I see that scene as an adult, I think to myself, “Good Lord, that’s obviously Tikal! The alien moon is actually a Mayan temple complex in the Guatemalan rainforest? Did Lucas think nobody would notice that??”
(So I’m still smug, just in a different kind of way)
