random Star Wars thoughts
Nov 8, 2018 12:03:23 GMT -5
Post by edmonddantes on Nov 8, 2018 12:03:23 GMT -5
So last night I rewatched the original Star Wars trilogy (I'm lucky enough to own the 2006 DVDs so I can see the movies as they originally were before the Special Editions), which I was inspired to do by, of all things, an AGDQ run of the Super Nintendo Empire Strikes Back game (which was hilarious).
Unlike most people, I was never a huge Star Wars freak... though I do love the original trilogy and understand fully why so many hold it dear to their hearts.
There's some stuff I do wonder about or take issue with though, not necessarily with those three movies but with Star Wars as a thing.
* Well, I say "thing" but... this isn't really Star Wars specific but does anyone but me hate how increasingly accountant-like language has become in reference to stories and such? It's no longer just "a long-running series," its a "brand" or a "franchise" or (the absolute most detestable term) "intellectual property." It's worst in video games where you see articles stating "Nintendo (or whoever) plans to develop new IPs." It reminds me of a grandfather I had who used to always use the term "family unit," which made it sound like he saw his family as tools/resources to be used (which he actually kind of did).
* One thing that makes the originals work for me is a refreshing lack of all the babble the Expanded Universe and later movies added. There was no special term for Jedi who succumbed to the Dark Side of the Force (which wasn't represented by any human organization, it was just a wrong way to use the Force)... sure as hell not a term that's an anagram for Shit. People spoke actual freaking English--no nonsense like children being called "younglings"--and anything that needed explaining was usually done quick and succinctly. Luke needs to extend the bridge controls and Leia asks where they are... to which Luke says "I think I just blasted them." Says it all right there.
(Of note, the novelization had a completely different line there--Luke instead comes to a boneheaded belief that the bridge controls are on only one side of the bridge, which makes me think that--and this has been rumored--a lot of the dialogue was ad-libbed by the actors and they kept it because it was generally better).
* Relatedly, one thing I used to consider a weakness of Star Wars was that... well, I mean, the Rebels are literally just called The Rebels and the Empire is literally just The Empire. Not "the Yavin Rebels" or "the Knights of Aretia" or "the Empire of the Magic Emperor" or "The Gestahl Empire"... but like I said above, this actually winds up working in its favor by not weighing you down with stuff you don't necessarily care about. Sort of like the Metroid games (before Prime and Fusion at least) Star Wars keeps everything very "Broad Strokes," suggesting there is more there but never going into it, which both intrigues people who want to know more without bothering people who just got done playing some in-depth JRPGs and really don't want more exposition right now, they just want a fun action movie.
* This is where I start to dislike the Expanded Universe and the Prequel movies... which okay, lots of people hate the prequels, no surprises there, but one thing I don't care for is that they feel like they largely exist to explain things and also to try and make Star Wars more of a "fleshed out" fantasy setting... but they do it the same way a lot of bad writers do. One part that particularly makes me gag is Padme using the word "younglings" to refer to children (this is in the serious context of child murder, so clearly they actually call them that in this universe). We don't need a new word for a real-world, understood concept.
It reminds me of in Louis Sachar's book "Wayside High Gets a Little Stranger," at one point the principal, irate for some reason, randombly blurts out "Door is such a stupid word. From now on, we call them Boozaks!" Except there, it was meant to show that the principal was kind of a nut and nobody else took this rule seriously. (Also the Wayside High books are, you know, meant to be funny).
* I don't share most people's dislike of Return of the Jedi, but having just rewatched it, there is one thing I consider a serious mis-step... the handling of Obi-Wan and Yoda. For some reason, both insist that Luke must KILL Vader. Which sounds just wrong from these two people (especially as both sounded more like pacifists previously). This is also the movie where we get the infamous "certain point of view" phrase, which I kinda feel....
... Well, again I'll use a comparison: If you're familiar with Metroid: Other M and its controversial elements, then replaying Metroid Fusion becomes a bit... harsh, because it starts to feel like Fusion set the mentality that led to Other M in motion, and if you reject one, you have to reject the other as well (despite Fusion being, you know, good). Return of the Jedi doesn't quite have it that bad--you could still argue both Yoda and Ben aren't in their right minds--but it becomes a bit depressing with regards to some lameness that came later in the franchise.
* One thing that always annoyed me about Star Wars was its fandom.
They kind of remind me of Bronies sometimes, in that there's an endless capacity for apologism no matter what the franchise or rights-holders do. The most egregious being the recurring issue of putting the original theatrical cuts on home video. True, a healthy number of fans demand said cuts (and we did actually get them on DVD--not in a perfect form but I'm quite happy) but whenever the subject comes up (whether on DVD, blu-ray, streaming services or whatever), there's a surprisingly large contigent of people who trot out "they are Lucas' movies and he can do what he wants with them." Even after the Disney buyout, a person at Lucasfilm trotted out a variation of this.
It's funny that absolutely no other director or creator in history gets this kind of free reign, worship, or credit. You think if Ridley Scott or James Cameron said "we don't want the original theatrical cuts of Aliens or Terminator put on home video" that anyone (not just fans but the company CEOs they have to answer to) would give a damn? Absolutely not. Worse is that--very much like the issue of On-Disc DLC and microtransactions in video games--its a thing that is only an issue because the people in charge made it an issue, in a day and age where including all versions is standard operating procedure.
That people come out of the woodwork to justify Lucas/Disney's decision in this regard makes me want to beat them all with a Clue Stick.
* As of this writing, I have not seen any of the Disney-era Star Wars movies.
In part its because as far as I'm concerned, Star Wars has become like Terminator and other eighties franchises--something that gets trotted out like a sick show-horse to cash in on nostalgia and name-brand recognition while having lost all of its original meaning and relevance. So like, why do I care? I didn't even like the last three Star Wars movies (the prequels) and those, at least, were still at a time when it was still genuinely an auteur trying to fulfill his own vision. That's something that has become retroactively kinda laudible. Sure, it was a vision nobody liked but it was still a vision.
But its also a combination of other things. Most people I've talked to have mentioned things I consider red flags. One thing I dislike is when a franchise work starts to feel like a fanfic, like someone went down a checklist of "things I would improve with the source material" and acted on it without a thought given to cohesion, or where scenes exist just to explain things from the original movies that very few people were questioning (and yes, this is something I hold against the prequels too). A friend of mine just told me that the characters in the newer SW movies have this tendency (common in modern film and television) to talk, as he puts it, "less like people actually living in-the-moment and more make the kind of statements you would hear from someone on the internet who is trying to be snarky." Then of course there's the grumblings that the movies have certain political leanings, but I don't think I should go into details.
But the big thing is just... Star Wars didn't need to come back. It was clear from the word go that it would either be another disastrous auteur vision like the prequels or else a soulless hackjob like 99% of Hollywood blockbusters. Most of what I've read indicates the latter.
Star Wars, like a lot of once-great things, should be allowed to die with dignity.
Unlike most people, I was never a huge Star Wars freak... though I do love the original trilogy and understand fully why so many hold it dear to their hearts.
There's some stuff I do wonder about or take issue with though, not necessarily with those three movies but with Star Wars as a thing.
* Well, I say "thing" but... this isn't really Star Wars specific but does anyone but me hate how increasingly accountant-like language has become in reference to stories and such? It's no longer just "a long-running series," its a "brand" or a "franchise" or (the absolute most detestable term) "intellectual property." It's worst in video games where you see articles stating "Nintendo (or whoever) plans to develop new IPs." It reminds me of a grandfather I had who used to always use the term "family unit," which made it sound like he saw his family as tools/resources to be used (which he actually kind of did).
* One thing that makes the originals work for me is a refreshing lack of all the babble the Expanded Universe and later movies added. There was no special term for Jedi who succumbed to the Dark Side of the Force (which wasn't represented by any human organization, it was just a wrong way to use the Force)... sure as hell not a term that's an anagram for Shit. People spoke actual freaking English--no nonsense like children being called "younglings"--and anything that needed explaining was usually done quick and succinctly. Luke needs to extend the bridge controls and Leia asks where they are... to which Luke says "I think I just blasted them." Says it all right there.
(Of note, the novelization had a completely different line there--Luke instead comes to a boneheaded belief that the bridge controls are on only one side of the bridge, which makes me think that--and this has been rumored--a lot of the dialogue was ad-libbed by the actors and they kept it because it was generally better).
* Relatedly, one thing I used to consider a weakness of Star Wars was that... well, I mean, the Rebels are literally just called The Rebels and the Empire is literally just The Empire. Not "the Yavin Rebels" or "the Knights of Aretia" or "the Empire of the Magic Emperor" or "The Gestahl Empire"... but like I said above, this actually winds up working in its favor by not weighing you down with stuff you don't necessarily care about. Sort of like the Metroid games (before Prime and Fusion at least) Star Wars keeps everything very "Broad Strokes," suggesting there is more there but never going into it, which both intrigues people who want to know more without bothering people who just got done playing some in-depth JRPGs and really don't want more exposition right now, they just want a fun action movie.
* This is where I start to dislike the Expanded Universe and the Prequel movies... which okay, lots of people hate the prequels, no surprises there, but one thing I don't care for is that they feel like they largely exist to explain things and also to try and make Star Wars more of a "fleshed out" fantasy setting... but they do it the same way a lot of bad writers do. One part that particularly makes me gag is Padme using the word "younglings" to refer to children (this is in the serious context of child murder, so clearly they actually call them that in this universe). We don't need a new word for a real-world, understood concept.
It reminds me of in Louis Sachar's book "Wayside High Gets a Little Stranger," at one point the principal, irate for some reason, randombly blurts out "Door is such a stupid word. From now on, we call them Boozaks!" Except there, it was meant to show that the principal was kind of a nut and nobody else took this rule seriously. (Also the Wayside High books are, you know, meant to be funny).
* I don't share most people's dislike of Return of the Jedi, but having just rewatched it, there is one thing I consider a serious mis-step... the handling of Obi-Wan and Yoda. For some reason, both insist that Luke must KILL Vader. Which sounds just wrong from these two people (especially as both sounded more like pacifists previously). This is also the movie where we get the infamous "certain point of view" phrase, which I kinda feel....
... Well, again I'll use a comparison: If you're familiar with Metroid: Other M and its controversial elements, then replaying Metroid Fusion becomes a bit... harsh, because it starts to feel like Fusion set the mentality that led to Other M in motion, and if you reject one, you have to reject the other as well (despite Fusion being, you know, good). Return of the Jedi doesn't quite have it that bad--you could still argue both Yoda and Ben aren't in their right minds--but it becomes a bit depressing with regards to some lameness that came later in the franchise.
* One thing that always annoyed me about Star Wars was its fandom.
They kind of remind me of Bronies sometimes, in that there's an endless capacity for apologism no matter what the franchise or rights-holders do. The most egregious being the recurring issue of putting the original theatrical cuts on home video. True, a healthy number of fans demand said cuts (and we did actually get them on DVD--not in a perfect form but I'm quite happy) but whenever the subject comes up (whether on DVD, blu-ray, streaming services or whatever), there's a surprisingly large contigent of people who trot out "they are Lucas' movies and he can do what he wants with them." Even after the Disney buyout, a person at Lucasfilm trotted out a variation of this.
It's funny that absolutely no other director or creator in history gets this kind of free reign, worship, or credit. You think if Ridley Scott or James Cameron said "we don't want the original theatrical cuts of Aliens or Terminator put on home video" that anyone (not just fans but the company CEOs they have to answer to) would give a damn? Absolutely not. Worse is that--very much like the issue of On-Disc DLC and microtransactions in video games--its a thing that is only an issue because the people in charge made it an issue, in a day and age where including all versions is standard operating procedure.
That people come out of the woodwork to justify Lucas/Disney's decision in this regard makes me want to beat them all with a Clue Stick.
* As of this writing, I have not seen any of the Disney-era Star Wars movies.
In part its because as far as I'm concerned, Star Wars has become like Terminator and other eighties franchises--something that gets trotted out like a sick show-horse to cash in on nostalgia and name-brand recognition while having lost all of its original meaning and relevance. So like, why do I care? I didn't even like the last three Star Wars movies (the prequels) and those, at least, were still at a time when it was still genuinely an auteur trying to fulfill his own vision. That's something that has become retroactively kinda laudible. Sure, it was a vision nobody liked but it was still a vision.
But its also a combination of other things. Most people I've talked to have mentioned things I consider red flags. One thing I dislike is when a franchise work starts to feel like a fanfic, like someone went down a checklist of "things I would improve with the source material" and acted on it without a thought given to cohesion, or where scenes exist just to explain things from the original movies that very few people were questioning (and yes, this is something I hold against the prequels too). A friend of mine just told me that the characters in the newer SW movies have this tendency (common in modern film and television) to talk, as he puts it, "less like people actually living in-the-moment and more make the kind of statements you would hear from someone on the internet who is trying to be snarky." Then of course there's the grumblings that the movies have certain political leanings, but I don't think I should go into details.
But the big thing is just... Star Wars didn't need to come back. It was clear from the word go that it would either be another disastrous auteur vision like the prequels or else a soulless hackjob like 99% of Hollywood blockbusters. Most of what I've read indicates the latter.
Star Wars, like a lot of once-great things, should be allowed to die with dignity.