Beastro wrote: ↑Mon Jun 06, 2022 5:51 am
Winter wrote: ↑Mon Jun 06, 2022 5:42 amThis is not the case as stated by Chuck in his look at Lucas and Star Wars. Lucas never intended to be so heavily involved with Star Wars after the first film and in the Prequels he DID try to get people who wouldn't just agree with everything he said because he knew his flaws as a writer.
He was heavily involved but needed others to make it work. He couldn't have his way. He had to back down for the second film and hated the result even if it made for a better movie (I feel shades of Wrath of Khan there). The result of the third was him trying to have it both ways and winding up with things muddled with the most Lucas things put into RotJ were the worst elements.
People created this image of Lucas as a sort of made genius who got out of hand but the truth of the matter is Lucas knows he's not the best writer or director and is best served as more as an ideas man.
He may not have created that image, but he certainly embraced it and went along as if it were true. How things went from his own perspective about his exact role over the course of the first three films we don't know, but I get the feeling him claiming that singular place had a lot to do with him feeling that was where he deserved to be, hence his antics with RotJ.
With how he acted back then, I'm not sure what to think of his later claims around the Prequels. I suspect he rather learned the wrong lessons rather than seeking help from others who were busy at the time even if there is an element of truth there.
Okay, we're getting nowhere. I feel you're taking Star Wars and stories WAAAY to seriously and it's just not fun to talk about. Again I started this whole thread as a joke to how people overreact and make a bigger deal about Star Wars and you're kinda proving me right.
Why can't stories just be a place where we can get away from the world for a little bit AND be something we connect to on a deeper level?
I've mentioned this before but I'm a trans woman and the character I have connected to most in my whole life is Danielle "Danny" Tozer from the Dreadnought novels which helped me in ways so big I can't get into all of them in a single post. But when you break it down, it's a very standard Superhero Origin Story/Coming Out of the Closet Story. There's nothing usual about it Except that it's a two things most people wouldn't think to tie together and yet they blend so seamlessly together. And that's a novel where a scene like this-
Danny: What's this?
Doc Impossible: A suppository.
Danny: No.
Doc Impossible: Shove that up your butt.
Danny: No.
Doc Impossible: It's for science.
Danny: No.
Doc Impossible: Please?
Danny: You are going to buy me pizza.
Doc Impossible: Deal.
Danny: A lot of pizza.
Happens.
Star Wars is the same, I connect to it and feel that while it's had it's ups and downs in both the Lucas and Disney Era it's still a series that will have a place in my heart and Lucas as a storyteller influanced me and my interest in stories that I still find interesting. So what if the work is flawed. Shakespeare had bad stories or ones with questionable values (Titus, Taming of the Shrew and The Merchant of Venice anyone?) and he's still viewed as one of the greatest writers of all time. Stan Lee wasn't the only one who made Marvel what is it today and wasn't even involved in some of the most iconic comic book stories in series he created but he's still seen as THE father of Marvel.
To back to Dreadnought, that story is something that connects to me on a level NO other film, novel, comic, game or play ever has and again, it's not terribly complex and not even really that deep or original. And it's story most cisgender readers found THEY connected to even if they didn't relate to Danny's journey as a trans girl because those familiar and safe tropes were something they could get invested in and still found Danny's arc engaging and powerful. And if later Dreadnought novels don't live up to the first one, who cares? I still have the first story and what comes next could be just as powerful and because of the rising trend of LGBT inclusion in Pop-Culture I may very well find another character I relate to just as much as Danny. Hell I may even get a chance to WRITE a character who is trans and get her into a major series. Like Avatar, Star Trek... Or Star Wars? And maybe it won't be great or maybe it will be the next big game changer in a series filled with game changers. The only way to know, is to wait for what comes next and enjoy what comes along the way.
