Meaning and Art
In a 1999 interview with journalist Bill Moyers, George Lucas said that Star Wars is “a thin base for theology.” Lucas never intended for Star Wars to have a coherent theology; he didn’t want to evangelize anyone to some Force-based religion. Instead, he says, his intention was for Star Wars to have a theology in which anyone could see their beliefs represented. In another interview , George Lucas called himself a Buddhist Methodist. I know people who won’t watch Star Wars because its theology is fuzzy. For them, the author’s intentions (to portray an ideal religion as a sentimental mix of ideas about compassion and working together against oppression) spoil the whole thing. I want to provide another way of approaching art and authorial intent. I think Christians can get a lot of good from art even if the artist's intended message contradicts Christianity. Here’s the assertion I want to defend: In general, artists have control over what their...