What Peter Jackson Can Learn from Cathedrals and George Lucas

Among all the hype, excitement and analysis surrounding the latest teaser for Star Wars: Episode VII, I have yet to read what seems to be an obvious observation: that the film heralds a return to a more ancient style of storytelling.

At one time, controversy surrounded the Book of Job; so much so that G.K. Chesterton devoted a substantial section of his Introduction to settle the dispute. The issue was one of authorship, because it’s likely that the Book of Job was written by more than one man, at more than one time. Chesterton writes,

When you deal with any ancient artistic creation do not suppose that it is anything against it that it grew gradually. The Book of Job may have grown gradually just as Westminster Abbey grew gradually. But the people who made the old folk poetry, like the people who made Westminster Abbey, did not attach that importance to the actual date and the actual author, that importance which is entirely the creation of the almost insane individualism of modern times.

In the ancient times, stories, like cathedrals, were built by a collective.

Modern cinema seems to be returning to this ancient practice, with many hands holding up the Avenger’s Universe and George Lucas (thankfully) surrendering his seat to J.J. Abrams. This will likely be good for the story, and also good for a few souls. After the release of the somewhat disappointing Star Wars prequels, rumor grew that Lucas was getting a bit too big for his britches. He thought, as many talents do, that he was capable of producing only wonderful work. He forgot, as many talents do, that effort was what originally brought him praise.

In the novel Return of the King, Gimli spends some time scrutinizing the stone work of Minas Tirith. Begun well and showing signs of great skill, the stones reveal increasing imprecision and even neglect the more recently they were constructed. “It is ever so with the things that Men begin: there is a frost in Spring, or a blight in Summer, and they fail of their promise.”

This is why stories will be better for having more than one narrator: each can offer the attention and talent so easily produced at the start of a new task. Each can begin with enthusiasm and quit before the onset of exhaustion.