Thank you for this fine take! I loved the original trilogy and games as a kid, but the prequels were so mind-numbingly stupid that I lost all interest in the franchise. Tried to watch some of the new stuff lately and didn't even recognize it as Star Wars. Except the sliding scene transitions, those must be unbreakable canon. The music, the sets, the characters, nothing is right for Star Wars. It's Generic Space Shows and they're not even any good.
It’s a shame, too, because they had better special effects and a virtually unlimited budget for the last 6 or however many movies, so they didn’t have the same limitations as the 1st 3…but they fumbled anyway.
(Sighs) and I was so enjoying the first season of Andor. Rogue One and Andor gave me hope that Star Wars could still be good. This article, though, reveals that Star Wars or anything is only as good as the captains and crew guiding the franchise. To think that Lucas was a hackneyed ideologue whose property was saved by actual talented producers is eye opening (makes me think about my own writing, honestly).
It reminds me of what happens when a high-trust society is invaded by people from low-trust cultures. We tend to think of each new show or new episode as a chance for the Entertainment Borg to redeem themselves, while they see it as one more opportunity to insult us, disgust us, or brainwash us.
I guess it's also like Charlie Brown and Lucy with the football.
There's enough background political stuff in the prequels to keep me entertained... but not enough to go watch them back.
>But when was the last time this franchise was innocent? Was it when Luke and Leia kiss, or when it is revealed they are brother and sister? Maybe it was when Lucas introduced the perverse New Age reimagining of God as “the Force,” via the seemingly innocent medium of a crowd-pleasing space fantasy flick.
Perhaps I be simple, but none of this really bothered me at time of, or even now. Lot of authors sidestep the religious question/connotation. And at Luke/Leia... eh, bit weird, sure. But it wasn't worked up deeply. The dashing space pirate still got the girl in the end.
The Luke/Leia deal doesn’t bother me all that much. As I understand it, Lucas hadn’t intended them to be siblings at first. That got changed somewhere along the revision process. The point wasn’t that I am outraged, or that others should be. But it also wasn’t as innocent as we often assume it was, even in the original trilogy. Same with Raiders, which I still consider one of the GOAT adventure films. They got away with what they could get away with for the time.
I will defend the prequels as being better than the originals, not because I'm a Lucas-stan but because I recognize that the originals were also pozzed (incest, ewoks, need I say more?). At least the prequels told a good late empire story (even though it's called the Galactic Republic, lol). The original Star Wars is yet another use of the tired "good rebellion, bad empire" trope. To be fair, I'm sure Star Wars was responsible for the popularization of that trope, though from what I can tell Buck Rogers did it first. As for Disney Star Wars, I don't even try to give them the time of day. They're glorified fanfiction, that's what they are. Say what you want about the prequels or even the originals, but at least it was based on an actual vision (that being George's). Disney Star Wars is an incoherent mix of cash grab and middle finger towards its core audience, basically what Red Letter Media accused the prequels of being, but actually true.
"That led to the prequel trilogy—a lackluster vehicle for Lucas’ diatribe against Dubya and the occupation of Iraq."
Um, the Iraq War started on March 20, 2003. By then, Episodes One and Two were already out, and Episode Three was about to be shot. Maybe the war did influence Three—but how could it have influenced One and Two?
Thank you for this fine take! I loved the original trilogy and games as a kid, but the prequels were so mind-numbingly stupid that I lost all interest in the franchise. Tried to watch some of the new stuff lately and didn't even recognize it as Star Wars. Except the sliding scene transitions, those must be unbreakable canon. The music, the sets, the characters, nothing is right for Star Wars. It's Generic Space Shows and they're not even any good.
It’s a shame, too, because they had better special effects and a virtually unlimited budget for the last 6 or however many movies, so they didn’t have the same limitations as the 1st 3…but they fumbled anyway.
The only Star Wars properties I care about any more is the Knights of the Old Republic games. The rest of it can go die in a fire for all I care.
That said, if they screw up the remake, I am inventing a lightsaber just to kill some people.
I will still defend the prequels as being in the same category as final fantasy x:
There's a really good story there, but it's trapped underneath stilted dialogue and awkward pacing.
Everything created in the Star Wars franchise after the sale of Disney is of a quality that makes the prequels look better than Shakespeare.
Chuck Dixon is even more critical of George Lucas than I was--starting at about 22:30.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pCmI9lLZYo
(Sighs) and I was so enjoying the first season of Andor. Rogue One and Andor gave me hope that Star Wars could still be good. This article, though, reveals that Star Wars or anything is only as good as the captains and crew guiding the franchise. To think that Lucas was a hackneyed ideologue whose property was saved by actual talented producers is eye opening (makes me think about my own writing, honestly).
I hear you, man.
It reminds me of what happens when a high-trust society is invaded by people from low-trust cultures. We tend to think of each new show or new episode as a chance for the Entertainment Borg to redeem themselves, while they see it as one more opportunity to insult us, disgust us, or brainwash us.
I guess it's also like Charlie Brown and Lucy with the football.
From what I have heard the second and third arcs of Andor are much better, with the finale being pretty darn good.
That being said, it's a flawed series that is paced too slowly and is very awkward in a lot of scenes.
There's enough background political stuff in the prequels to keep me entertained... but not enough to go watch them back.
>But when was the last time this franchise was innocent? Was it when Luke and Leia kiss, or when it is revealed they are brother and sister? Maybe it was when Lucas introduced the perverse New Age reimagining of God as “the Force,” via the seemingly innocent medium of a crowd-pleasing space fantasy flick.
Perhaps I be simple, but none of this really bothered me at time of, or even now. Lot of authors sidestep the religious question/connotation. And at Luke/Leia... eh, bit weird, sure. But it wasn't worked up deeply. The dashing space pirate still got the girl in the end.
The Luke/Leia deal doesn’t bother me all that much. As I understand it, Lucas hadn’t intended them to be siblings at first. That got changed somewhere along the revision process. The point wasn’t that I am outraged, or that others should be. But it also wasn’t as innocent as we often assume it was, even in the original trilogy. Same with Raiders, which I still consider one of the GOAT adventure films. They got away with what they could get away with for the time.
Thank you for clarifying.
I will defend the prequels as being better than the originals, not because I'm a Lucas-stan but because I recognize that the originals were also pozzed (incest, ewoks, need I say more?). At least the prequels told a good late empire story (even though it's called the Galactic Republic, lol). The original Star Wars is yet another use of the tired "good rebellion, bad empire" trope. To be fair, I'm sure Star Wars was responsible for the popularization of that trope, though from what I can tell Buck Rogers did it first. As for Disney Star Wars, I don't even try to give them the time of day. They're glorified fanfiction, that's what they are. Say what you want about the prequels or even the originals, but at least it was based on an actual vision (that being George's). Disney Star Wars is an incoherent mix of cash grab and middle finger towards its core audience, basically what Red Letter Media accused the prequels of being, but actually true.
A-mazing! 👏💯
"That led to the prequel trilogy—a lackluster vehicle for Lucas’ diatribe against Dubya and the occupation of Iraq."
Um, the Iraq War started on March 20, 2003. By then, Episodes One and Two were already out, and Episode Three was about to be shot. Maybe the war did influence Three—but how could it have influenced One and Two?
Must be 3 I was thinking of. They’ve all blurred together in my memory.
Ah. Makes sense.