Charles, I am your Father
By: Caroline S., 1999

   If you’re going to the movies tonight, don’t expect to be blown away by original plots.  Besides the re-makes that are “fresh” only to this generation (“Sabrina”, “Godzilla”, “Mighty Joe Young”, “Sleepy Hollow”), and sequels (“Star Trek: Insurrection”, “Halloween: H20”, “Odd Couple 2”, “Lethal Weapon 4”), the plots gracing modern-day screens are anything but.

    Even though these movies seem modern, many have taken plots from literary works with updated technology.  The “big brother” of Orwell’s 1984 can be found in Ed Harris’ character in “The Truman Show” where a man directs an unsuspecting human’s life for all to watch on TV.  Catch 22’s idea of undermining the system is most recently portrayed by Ashley Judd in “Double Jeopardy”.

    Not to take away from Star Wars’ fame – indeed, with Episode 1 out, and at least two more to come, the future looks good for the rebel fleet – but it’s simply not an original idea.  When compared, the similarities between Star Wars and Great Expectations are really dramatic.  The relationships between Luke, Leia, and Vader echo those of Pip, Estella, and Magwitch: two kids don’t know who their parents (or benefactors) are.  The boy grows up a commoner; the girl a princess.  The father tries to live vicariously through the boy, to make him powerful.  Boy meets sister, neither knows of parentage.  Boy likes girl, they kiss (okay, so they don’t know they’re related at all… what would Freud say?).  The father confronts the son, telling him that he’s his dad.  The son, seeing the father who’s obviously no saint, tries to deny it.  A trusted friend tells the son that it’s really true.  The son goes to the father and tells him (albeit unwillingly on Luke’s part, but that’s the downside of reading minds) about daughter within the hour of the father’s death.  In the end, an emotional son sits by his father, who, it turns out, isn’t so bad after all.