Fully Granted @NDP - the special makes that point as well, in that anyone and everyone could and did have a variety show - it was cheap (well, if not Star Wars), accessible, and generally safe for all ages. The problem was the people who remained in control (and most of the actors) knew variety shows, but knew little to nothing about Star Wars.
I basically grew up -with- Star Wars, seeing it on my father’s lap is one of my earliest partial memories.
But that’s why I granted in my mention that it’s weird issues left it short of an “Absolute WTF” per the OP, EXCEPT the Wookie transpecies VR porn. That’s WTF by the standards of the day.
I was 11 when the holiday special came out. Of course I watched it when it came out. I haven’t been able to watch it for more than a few minutes since.
The special is more incongruous than anything else. So many people take it so seriously, for years there wasn’t that much actual content, it’s sort of a goofy offshoot. But the special is more boring than it is laugh out loud bad.
I tried watching it a few years ago. Despite hearing how horrible it was, I was not prepared and I couldn’t watch it all the way through. Other than the cartoon, there is nothing good about that special.
I was 17, ya whippersnapper. I eagerly awaited it! I had been reading about it in Starlog for some time. It’s got Harvey Korman! Bea Arthur! Jefferson Starship! All the original cast! A new Boba Fett cartoon! Who IS this new intriguing character they promise us in Empire? Now we can know!
It actually wasn’t as painful the first time, but it wasn’t good, and we knew it. It’s how I felt seeing The Phantom Menace. They really aren’t that different, ya know.
I agree. I got hold of a bootleg copy of the Holiday Special (is there any other kind of copy?) and could NOT watch it all in one sitting. It really was too awful and painful.
Until I brought it to a sort of festival of bad SF (not my own regular Bad Film Fest) and showed it to people who had never been exposed to its painful radiations. It turns out that MST3King the thing makes it bearable. Try it!
Just to be clear, I was 13 when I saw the movie. I probably was 14 when the Star Wars Holiday Special came out, but for whatever reason I missed it. I wouldn’t end up seeing the holiday special until many years later. I would have totally watched that, and wouldn’t have found it too weird, I think, as a 14 year old. Having loved the movie, and grown up on The Carol Burnett Show and sitcoms, I may even have enjoyed it as a 14 year old. And a Boba Fett cartoon? BONUS!!
When I finally did watch the SWHS, maybe just 5 or so years ago, I found it to be an absolute fascinatingly weird period document. It was a strange time; from what I understand, the movie turned out to be unexpectedly popular, yet absolutely no one was predicting what a cultural juggernaut the Star Wars universe would still become. So the thinking was, let’s cash in while the cashing in’s good. The result was a thrown-together mish-mosh of comedy variety styles with a mix of fading comedy icons mugging it up alongside a bored as hell Harrison Ford and a stoned Carrie Fisher. All stitched together with a through-line plot of Chewbacca and his family celebrating “Life Day”. Watch those Wookie railings, I don’t think they’re quite up to code!
I later watched the Riffed version of the SWHS, but to me, though I normally love MST3K and Rifftrax, it was almost too much parodic goodness for me. like putting frosting on a brownie.
I think the entertainment industry has gone overboard in censoring satire that mocks bigotry, for fear of offending the clueless bigots in the middle of nowhere who take the jokes literally.
This is not a new phenomenon. I remember watching the premiere episode of All in the Family as a kid in 1971 and instantly grasping that the show, created by and starring liberal non-bigot actors, was ridiculing racism, misogyny, and homophobia, not endorsing them. Yet, even back then, there was a wave of negative criticism from humorless, dim-witted journalists who claimed the show was promoting bigotry.
Why pander to the lowest common denominator (i.e. moronic bigots)? Satire is a powerful tool to expose bigotry and spark meaningful discussions about it.
I admire stand-up comedians like Ricky Gervais who keep using sharp, edgy satire in their acts, despite the cancel culture. Of course, it helps to be hilarious, which he is.
On the other hand, there have been plenty of non-satirical works in days gone by that are bigoted and cringe-worthy. I agree with you that they should not be banned today. Shining a light on them also exposes bigotry, not unlike turning on the kitchen light-switch and seeing the cockroaches scurry away.
I had the same experience. I realized that everything I had heard was insufficient to relay just how bad it was and made me question everything I thought I knew or understood up to that point. It was an Epiphany. And not a good one.
It was like the time a fire extinguisher fell on my Big Toe. The Big Toe that had the nail ripped off about 2 days earlier, exposing the nail bed. I thought I knew what pain was. I was wrong! I wasn’t even close!
From what I understand Dukes Of Hazzard played the same way. Northerners saw the show as a funny parody of Southern/redneck cliches while Southerners themselves took it completely seriously.
No, Southerners knew it was a parody, but they thought the cliches were funnier than the Northerners did. Northerners laughed at it, Southerners laughed with it.
Likewise, rural folk loved The Beverly Hillbillies more than city folk did.