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star wars - follow-up
7 years ago
I'll be super quick on this one. But it's a follow-up with 3 points.
...
and I say this knowing full well that people WANT TO SEE STAR WARS FAIL.
I am legitimately saying that. They want to see the franchise fail because they feel betrayed (see point 2) and will stop at nothing to exact their revenge.
the first is to get it out of the way of different treatment by the fanbase
- Infinity War had NANOTECHNOLOGY
frankly, nano-anything is the biggest asspull in writing existence and makes zero sense.
like, thinking about what's needed to actually do it just
UGH
and once introduced you can do anything because NANO.
...
but I haven't seen a single nerd-rage article over it, despite there being legitimate merit to rip on it.
And there's plenty of other points in there, pissing away potential characters, tone breaks, etc.
No, everyone's memeing about not feeling good.
Either that or they write it off about NANOTECHNOLOGY being comic book stuff (ignoring the fact it's an asspull), but they won't give star wars any breaks that fall in the line of its actual genre: pulp novel space fantasy.
OH NOES, I DON'T LIKE INFINITY WAR
- I'm stating this to point out that there's a disparity in measure of criticism between franchises. They aren't being held to the same level of detail.
- This is a big reason why I'm not taking a lot of criticisms seriously
ok, that out of the way?
right, on to point 2
JJ Abram's Mystery Machine.
props to my brother for seeing this connection, but a huge problem is actually sewn into The Force Awakens
- JJ Abrams is a fantastic story teller
- I love how he handles scenes, his dramatic moments carry weight, he can do a lot of good
- A lot of his films are some of my favorites. Mission Impossible 3 is him at possibly his best.
- However, he does have flaws (and no, I'm not talking lense flare you meming netizen)
The biggest problem JJ Abrams has is introducing mysteries ... mysteries that can derail a franchise.
- Alias was something he created, and he introduced a lot of conspiracies and potential mysteries before moving on. Then he left the remaining staff with all the loose ends and the series fell apart.
- Lost: he directed the pilot, produced the first season, introduced so many mysteries, then left. then the series crushed under its own weight.
- The Force Awakens ... there's far more mysteries here than you think ...
I'll list them out, but you'll get the idea: who is supreme leader snoke, who were the order of kylo ren, who is the first order, why does maz have the saber, who is rey, is there chemistry between rey and ben, why did ben do that, why did han do that, etc, etc, etc, etc
"BUT I LIKE MYSTERIES"
The problem with mysteries is headcanon. If the mystery isn't resolved in a year, headcanon will germinate into an unstoppable force. And when someone's headcanon turns out to be false (especially when they've had time to ruminate on it) they feel betrayed, fearful for the future of the franchise, angered, hatred, darkside.
I say this because there is a HUGE portion of criticisms waged against The Last Jedi that laced with headcanon issues (if not entirely based on headcanon).
And it's frustrating to me because I can't have a normal conversation with anyone about the film (take it back, there's 3 people I can) who don't let headcanon get in the way. The problem is that those conversations go like this ...
"This wouldn't happen!"
"Yes it would, and here's evidence."
"[insert inexplicable non-sequitur or defiance of logic, or simply jumping shark to hate Disney for being so big]"
tying it back to TFA -- TLJ
I explained this to one of the few sane friends on the subject matter and he summed it up like this.
JJ "YAY, I started the franchise again. Here's all these loose ends to play with, 2nd movie director!"
Rian "I fixed your loose ends, asshole."
That being said
It pisses me off that I can't have a normal conversation with anyone about TLJ. Because it kinda requires a 2nd viewing to see what they did (which is, in itself a flaw, but they really explained a ton and did a lot right).
But no.
I'm not allowed to like anything new from Star Wars.
At least, that's the impression I get from everyone on youtube (who really just parrot each other in a weird sort of echo chamber).
Point 3
Pull that stick out your own ass and go see Solo.
I actually really enjoyed it.
- It has technical flaws, yes. but all in all it's a fun enjoyable romp.
- It has the best elements that the Clone Wars animated series had to offer, tbh.
... unless you're so betrayed by your own headcanon that you're going to boycott Disney to show them who's boss like the responsible adult you are.
...
and I say this knowing full well that people WANT TO SEE STAR WARS FAIL.
I am legitimately saying that. They want to see the franchise fail because they feel betrayed (see point 2) and will stop at nothing to exact their revenge.
the first is to get it out of the way of different treatment by the fanbase
- Infinity War had NANOTECHNOLOGY
frankly, nano-anything is the biggest asspull in writing existence and makes zero sense.
like, thinking about what's needed to actually do it just
UGH
and once introduced you can do anything because NANO.
...
but I haven't seen a single nerd-rage article over it, despite there being legitimate merit to rip on it.
And there's plenty of other points in there, pissing away potential characters, tone breaks, etc.
No, everyone's memeing about not feeling good.
Either that or they write it off about NANOTECHNOLOGY being comic book stuff (ignoring the fact it's an asspull), but they won't give star wars any breaks that fall in the line of its actual genre: pulp novel space fantasy.
OH NOES, I DON'T LIKE INFINITY WAR
- I'm stating this to point out that there's a disparity in measure of criticism between franchises. They aren't being held to the same level of detail.
- This is a big reason why I'm not taking a lot of criticisms seriously
ok, that out of the way?
right, on to point 2
JJ Abram's Mystery Machine.
props to my brother for seeing this connection, but a huge problem is actually sewn into The Force Awakens
- JJ Abrams is a fantastic story teller
- I love how he handles scenes, his dramatic moments carry weight, he can do a lot of good
- A lot of his films are some of my favorites. Mission Impossible 3 is him at possibly his best.
- However, he does have flaws (and no, I'm not talking lense flare you meming netizen)
The biggest problem JJ Abrams has is introducing mysteries ... mysteries that can derail a franchise.
- Alias was something he created, and he introduced a lot of conspiracies and potential mysteries before moving on. Then he left the remaining staff with all the loose ends and the series fell apart.
- Lost: he directed the pilot, produced the first season, introduced so many mysteries, then left. then the series crushed under its own weight.
- The Force Awakens ... there's far more mysteries here than you think ...
I'll list them out, but you'll get the idea: who is supreme leader snoke, who were the order of kylo ren, who is the first order, why does maz have the saber, who is rey, is there chemistry between rey and ben, why did ben do that, why did han do that, etc, etc, etc, etc
"BUT I LIKE MYSTERIES"
The problem with mysteries is headcanon. If the mystery isn't resolved in a year, headcanon will germinate into an unstoppable force. And when someone's headcanon turns out to be false (especially when they've had time to ruminate on it) they feel betrayed, fearful for the future of the franchise, angered, hatred, darkside.
I say this because there is a HUGE portion of criticisms waged against The Last Jedi that laced with headcanon issues (if not entirely based on headcanon).
And it's frustrating to me because I can't have a normal conversation with anyone about the film (take it back, there's 3 people I can) who don't let headcanon get in the way. The problem is that those conversations go like this ...
"This wouldn't happen!"
"Yes it would, and here's evidence."
"[insert inexplicable non-sequitur or defiance of logic, or simply jumping shark to hate Disney for being so big]"
tying it back to TFA -- TLJ
I explained this to one of the few sane friends on the subject matter and he summed it up like this.
JJ "YAY, I started the franchise again. Here's all these loose ends to play with, 2nd movie director!"
Rian "I fixed your loose ends, asshole."
That being said
It pisses me off that I can't have a normal conversation with anyone about TLJ. Because it kinda requires a 2nd viewing to see what they did (which is, in itself a flaw, but they really explained a ton and did a lot right).
But no.
I'm not allowed to like anything new from Star Wars.
At least, that's the impression I get from everyone on youtube (who really just parrot each other in a weird sort of echo chamber).
Point 3
Pull that stick out your own ass and go see Solo.
I actually really enjoyed it.
- It has technical flaws, yes. but all in all it's a fun enjoyable romp.
- It has the best elements that the Clone Wars animated series had to offer, tbh.
... unless you're so betrayed by your own headcanon that you're going to boycott Disney to show them who's boss like the responsible adult you are.
TLJ, I haven't seen, not interested in seeing for the following reasons.
1. The Force is Female. The caveat being if it is female in the classical mythological sense, as Chaos, as Creation and Destruction, as the source of birth and destruction. That would actually be pretty interesting, with the Masculine, the Order, Discipline, simultaneously structure and oppression, represented by the Jedi in a positive sense, and the First Order and the Sith as the negative incarnation. It would also explain why the force Witches (from the canned canon) were almost unilaterally Dark Side. It would highlight the seductive aspect of the Force, and suggest that 'Bringing Balance to the Force' is an impossibility. I severely doubt this metaphysical premise is in there, even though it is a strong component of the Hero's journey tropes, of which Star Wars was emblematic. Based on fan reaction, and studio reaction to fan reaction (calling them bigots), I suspect it's more a debased version of You Go Girl power and the gender politics floating around,
2. Chewy doesn't get the Millenium Falcon. Again, not having seen, don't know for sure. Not having heard anyone saying how well his character was explored, I'm guessing it wasn't. Chewy should be in the main seat, Han's seat, the ship should be his, they were together for decades. Did they show anything of him grieving, and I mean over a realistic long period not just his humourous agony in TFA. Is he wearing Han's Blaster on his hip, or Han's jacket, as a way to remember him. Was there any treatment of him as a person, thinking how he would respond. I don't think you consider yourself a Furry, you draw them a lot, but you draw yourself as human. As a long term Furry I relate to the sidekick characters more than the main ones. The Millenium Falcon should be his, not something the next new thing gets to run off with.
3. Rei is a Mary Sue, she hits all the beats. That her actor bleats "misogyny" instead of pondering whether she's OP, just smacks of more of the "you'll eat this and you'll like it." She's had enough time to figure out the origins of Mary Sue, from Star Trek fanfic, and that a male counterpart Gary Stu exists, but she'd rather respond to criticism with insults.
4. Mark Hamill is very clearly unhappy with how Luke was treated in interviews. He did his job and acted like he was directed, but I sense he felt the character was betrayed. All the extended universe stuff, with Luke as a hero, that got shit-canned by Disney and then the one final adventure we get to see of Luke, the character is shat all over too. Rian proudly stating he's happy that the fans are upset, and they're basement dwellers, etc. etc. etc. More telegraphing from the studio this isn't intended to be something I'm supposed to like, their target demographic is someone else.
5. Porgs.
6. The Force Awakens was cool, very visual and I enjoyed it, and it had some neat stuff. It was however very nearly a repeat of A New Hope, with a smattering of Empire, and had some WTF? moments which broke my immersion, like being able to see light-years worth of destruction in real time from a planet surface. It didn't really feel like a continuation, more like a repeat and a semi-reboot. Also, Leia should have had force powers. It was enjoyable to experience but after a while is distilled down to an 'ehh' feeling.
Maybe I'll watch TLJ at some point, but I feel no pressing need. I've better things to do with my time, like burn the chili, which happened because I was writing to you.
Also, Marvel and Nano-Tech.
Yes, Nano-whatever is poor writing. My reaction to it being in the MCU is *shrug*, because the way Nano-tech is used, it's "Science-Magic", and they already have Magic. They've got Doctor Strange, and Thor flying himself around by throwing his hammer, really, really hard. The Goofy bus departed long ago, and it's a problem with their source material, which has all those silly things in there. Whatever hole they're going to write themselves out of using 'Because Nano-tech', they can and have already written themselves out of with 'A Wizard Did it". Plus, even in-film, like with Ant-Man, they ignore some of the actual science they pretend to be following. Does his mass change with his size? sometimes yes, sometimes no. It seems to follow Rule-of-Cool, so we've been trained to shrug and ignore it. I know some hardcore Marvel fans who are a little bent about those inconsistencies, but even then, it's hard to get consistent source material when they series change writers, universes, etc.
...
which is why actively saying "oh, it's ok. Marvel can do that, but other franchises can't." is exactly what I'm talking about that doesn't make sense.
...
ANYWAY
a) the force is female = never appears in film at all.
ever
it's a cheeky soundbyte that was taken from an interview and memed into headcanon by enraged fanboys.
b) chewie solo flies the falcon most of the film. as seen in Solo, L3 actually also steered the ship from her seat as well. So whomever told you that one was also incorrect
I'll refrain from going on.
...I can't help but feel a little sad that a new Star Wars movie doesn't rank up in the "biggest things" category any more. I loved Rogue One, but the new trilogy has left me feeling... conflicted.