General grievances (random fan rants)

Jpiper, could you please leave this kind of stuff where you found it? There's no need to copy/pasted it here. Thank you.

If you must dump anti-pt links, fine, but this place isn't a free billboard for this kind of poodoo.

Hmm... So that's where you've been spending your time. But, you know, Joe (and this applies to all of us): How we spend our days is how we spend our lives (Annie Dillard). Your choices are your own, but I'd be careful about getting trapped in tar pits like saltierthancrait. They are, by their very nature, echo chambers of negativity. To me, that isn't healthy.

Of course, I don't begrudge such places existing. Less healthy than negativity is to deny negativity outright. We all need outlets and places to rant and moan. And I'm not saying, subjectively speaking, that such places are bereft of interest or insight. But you're never going to find enlightenment or any sense of contentment at gathering places like those.

People go there to bask in negativity and to impotently complain about things they can't change. I've already seen enough of that over the prequels. I guess it shouldn't be surprising that the prequels also get bashed along with the sequels on there. Why bash one Star Wars trilogy when you can bitch about two? Honestly, at this stage, it's pretty obvious that a lot of Star Wars fans are pathetic.

How about we all try to be our best selves and, at the very least, resist the low-hanging fruit (which the Internet supplies in droves)? "Dive into anything" is an apt expression. The whole beauty (and problem) with the Internet is that allows us all to do exactly that. We ought to remember that our focus determines our reality, be mindful of our thoughts, and stop wasting time wading through burbling, repetitive nonsense. The world needs creativity, imagination, and generous thinking. Not a million clone units deciding, "This thing sucks and I'm going to chant about it until I'm fifty." Please. We're all made for better things than that.   

Well, I wasn't the one who scolded you outright. No need to apologise. I'm just agreeing with the webmaster that excremental ranting is boring and degrading. In other words: You don't really have to pay attention to bashing of such a repetitive and basic character. As for presenting it here, in this thread? I think that's your prerogative and I'm a bit confused that you were called on it. This thread was set aside for such rants (and it even uses the word "rants" in the title), yet the webmaster suddenly doesn't want to see them? There's such a thing as ignoring a thread (you know: like he says he ignores the sequels) if you don't like the content or subject matter of that thread. Why can't people leave anything alone anymore without pissin' and dissin' and trying to stifle what someone else says?

I dunno -- your post has disappeared? 

Yes, that one disappeared, but that one survives as a quote inside an earlier post of mine above.

I meant the one where you copied and pasted comments from Reddit, which Subtext complained at you for.

Before he posted, I was thinking of briefly rebutting that one of yours, with bullet points and capsule refrains. Unfortunately, I had work the next day, so decided to wait till last night. But then, last night, you were confronted by the webmaster and the post disappeared.

Sure. Unfortunately, this is the message that pops up:


If I delete the "/saved" part of the address, I can see all your comments, but not the selected ones (or the comments made by other people) you presumably want me to give an opinion on.

That's why it was useful when you copied and pasted them into this thread before. I only wished you'd also included a direct link and a time and date (preferably with usernames, as well). 

Now, there's only that link.

I think the webmaster killed the momentum of this thread by objecting, even though you were only doing what this thread was intended for. Never mind. 

Unless there's something in particular you want me to respond to, I'm going to bow out at this point, Joe. 

Okay, Joe. Let's get this show back on the road...

But a word of warning: This will probably be a bit anticlimactic. I meant what I said earlier. I only intend to give capsule responses here. Nothing long or heavy.

EDIT: Well, as usual, I didn't quite stick to my promise. Anyway, here it is: 


Hardships (or a lack thereof)

Well, Lucas does commit to it. As I wrote on TFN in 2013:


What the hell you talkin' 'bout, Cryo? Of course, what I meant there was:

Lucas employs symbolic shorthands in the PT, especially Episodes I and II, that serve to tell a wider story. In the above quote, I'm referring to the short scene of Theed Palace, lit ominously, as Nute Gunray threatens Sio Bibble with the total annihilation of his people, only for Bibble to boldly respond, "We're a democracy: the people have decided."

And all the while, Gunray idly boasts, "Your queen is lost" -- and she is: in more ways than one. When the film cuts to the next scene, it's specifically of Amidala, in her handmaiden guise (the film later reveals that this is the "real" queen), who goes over to play a hologram of Sio Bibble; looking totally despondent and adrift before she senses Anakin off to the side, shivering in the corner. Because here is a person she can help; here is someone she can give aid to; here is some suffering she can ameliorate.

So, through Padme's sadness, the veracity of the threat to Naboo is validated. Veridical plot truths told in an oblique way. And Episode I is meant to be a superficially lighter installment ("Before the dark times, before the Empire"). In its own way, its lighter canvas is meant to contrast with the dark conclusion of the PT (i.e., Episode III). Ergo, Lucas deliberately doesn't make the invasion of Naboo too dark or threatening -- or, put another way, he avoids pornographic scenes of squalor and suffering. 

At the same time, there's also some tension that exists in the narrative. Like: Is this invasion real? What's the extent of this? What is really happening on Naboo and what is the ultimate aim? There is, for example, uncertainty around the hologram of Bibble -- as established earlier in the movie, where Obi-Wan tells the decoy queen that it's a "trick", instructing her and her entourage to "Send no reply. Send no transmission of any kind."   

And all of that facilitates the dream-like atmosphere of Episode I and underlines the ghostly qualities of the Sith. Here, in the timeframe of this first saga movie, the overture of The Skywalker Saga, the threat to the Republic is abstract and remote. But by the time of the OT, there practically is no Republic anymore. Jar Jar is another expression of this transition. In Episode I, he is a bright, bubbly character with a good deal of screentime. By Episode III, he's a sombre face in the crowd; by the time of the OT, he has vanished altogether.

Also, as an adult who perhaps has gained a perspective, just through living and recognising a few ordeals in their time, Lucas is trusting a viewer to have an intellectual response to the evil and calumny the Trade Federation is perpetrating. It's not a good look, for instance, to be knocking down ancient trees and disrupting delicate ecosystems; or marching into cities and rounding up that city's population. As I type these words, none of us needs to pause to consider a real-life example of a country's borders being transgressed and its citizens being killed and grotesquely violated this very moment. Spiritually speaking, we're still an immature species, engaged in a constant war with ourselves. Enlightenment exists, but it is precious. Episode I essentially depicts a broken state. It sets up the rest of the saga perfectly, including the moral disgrace of cloned soldiers and the way the galaxy goes to hell in a handbasket in the connecting installments.

Okay, so I guess this wasn't as capsule-like as I was anticipating. Let's see if I can be more concise on these next points:  


Are these separate points? The first and second lines fit awkwardly together. 

Trade route negotiations and microscopic lifeforms

Dear sweet Force. Lucas is telling an epic story here. He's showing a viewer that this is how it always begins. It's tangential, procedural stuff -- and then it erupts into something more serious. I think kids ought to be taught to see the world that way. So: good on George.

The midi-chlorians tick a number of boxes, more on the thematic than the plot side. Perhaps that is what people really don't get here. Themes and thematic devices aren't a bad thing. There is very obviously an analogy the film draws between the midi-chlorians in a host body, for example, and the way the Senate works (or doesn't work). I mean, visually, look at all the senators in the little pods. Microscopic lifeforms. 

Also, Episode I is more on the experimental and arcane side of things -- it's more minutiae-oriented and academic. Of course, that's not a bad thing. Only to Darth Fanboy. Lucas gets more into the inner workings of his saga here and it lends a beguiling grandeur to the entire thing. Having these elements just makes the world of Star Wars more believable. Not all complexity is good, but y'know: history is complicated. "The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there." (L.P. Hartley). I, for one, am glad these pieces are there.

To further undergird the solidity of Lucas' choices here:

We're presently searching for life on Mars, and the expectation is that, if it exists now or once existed in the past, it's microbial. Maybe most life in the universe is that way. Most life on Earth is plant-based and then microbial, by both biomass and looking back deep in geologic time. 

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1711842115#:~:text=We%20find%20that%20the%20biomass,composed%20of%20arthropods%20and%20fish.


Fascinating, right? Of course, we humans think we're hot shit. But, unfortunately for our egotistic delusions, we don't amount to much -- even though we're extremely destructive (perhaps that's why):

www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/humans-make-110000th-earths-biomass-180969141/


Ouch. 

So, with the midi-chlorians, Lucas is reminding us of our primordial origins, and encouraging us to think a little less of ourselves and more of the grand picture. Of course, the absurdly out-of-scale backlash to the midi-chlorians, and our present contempt for nature and ongoing despoliation of the planet (the only place in the universe we can call home), prove that we have a long way to go. Again, genius George is ahead of his time -- as all geniuses are.

I'm going to digress slightly here, because I want to make a more general comment on the brilliance of Lucas -- why, in a word, George Lucas matters. I need to quote the wonderful site Brain Pickings (well, now it's called The Marginalian, for some reason) to do it:

www.themarginalian.org/2016/11/08/ben-shahn-the-shape-of-content-norton-nonconformity/


Where were we?


Show, don't tell

Oh, yes: elevators. Okay, so: "elevator" = "darth vader". I mean, the words kinda look and sound alike, don't they?

Notice that Anakin is depicted entering the movie descending in Episode I (running down the steps of Watto's junkshop), while he and Obi-Wan are ascending (while talking about falling) in Episode II. In Episode III, they descend to enter the battle in the upper atmosphere of Coruscant (almost perfectly in-sync), and there's another scene shortly thereafter involving an elevator. Lucas doesn't do anything without deep purpose and intent. 

Also, he is showing them as friends in the elevator scene. There's a certain ease between the pair as they tease each other. Obi-Wan is conveniently forgetful about past tense situations (like Jar Jar is about being banished), while Anakin is nervous about seeing Padme for the first time in years (which mirrors Jar Jar's anxiety about returning to his people). Their whole relationship and trajectory are basically summed up in this little scene. 

Still not being very capsule-like? Okay, let me try again:


Toy solider war

It's called a proxy war. And it's a war that does moral damage to the Republic, as well as physical and psychological damage to the worlds and the citizens of the worlds that host the many battles. The basic idea is that war is distasteful to most citizens of the Republic, so disposable troops are used to do most of the fighting. 

It's subjective what is called "severe". I would call what happens to Utapau severe. We see considerable damage to ancient structures in the background, especially when Commander Cody receives the call to "Execute Order 66". The point is made visually in a single shot that whole societies are disrupted and much infrastructure is left in tatters.

Not all desecration in war involves the direct loss of life. This person also ignores the very significant cost to the Jedi Order in fighting the war, as well as what happens to Anakin and his PTSD-like symptoms in Episode III. 


Star Wars doesn't normally show direct harm being inflicted on citizens. It really doesn't need to. The moments cited are ample to convey the point. It's more about characters and themes than "war", per se. But what it does show in that regard is plenty impactful. On the other hand, it's not "Saving Private Ryan" or "Born On The Fourth Of July", either.


Padme: Hi. Am I chopped liver to you?

Yes, but like... Many people on Coruscant don't perceive the true cost or harm, just like many people in our world care little about injustice and suffering -- even when it affects them. Everyone is trapped in their own shitty existence. Humanity is basically like a colony of ants. Lucas understands more about life, the universe, and everything than this person will probably ever know.