Good teachers are hard to find
I could not help but being struck by the similarities between Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi and my organ teacher from long ago, Peter Sykes. Perhaps a pipe organ is as difficult to operate as a light saber. It has a lot more switches and stuff, that's for sure. Peter has the patience of a Jedi Knight, and the physical coordination, too.
But no, that's not the only thing that was bothering me. Mr. McGregor's bio confirmed it: I am older than Obi-Wan Kenobi. By two years! Mr. Lucas must have been planning this one for 28 years. Since Ewan McGregor was only six years old when the original Star Wars came out, that means that nearly everybody who can remember the wise Obi-Wan Kenobi is now older than him. I feel so ancient.
Roger Ebert captured an odd placelessness to the language used in the film: "The characters talk in what sounds like Basic English, without color, wit or verbal delight, as if they were channeling Berlitz," he writes. I remember being disturbed by use of the word elevator, since this was a clear signal that the characters were supposed to be speaking American English. It was disturbing since it was the only clue as to the place of their accent. Couldn't it have been a turbolift or something like that?
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