Re: Kathleen Kennedy to step down from Lucasfilm?
Manoman, this thing got going like an avalanche. Ten pages in a day and a half. Eesh! And 23 pages of pretty much nothing, based on non-news. I understand more of this than I can talk about, because several would take my observations as personal attacks, which fits the model perfectly, and is all part of what I can't get into because it splashes merrily about in the deep end of socio-political discussion and I don't feel like being the whackee of the Banhammer. A couple things, though...
If somebody who has never written, directed, produced, or been on the brain trust of the SW franchise deems only 2 of 10 films as legit, they need to come to terms with the fact that perhaps the franchise isn't meant for them, and they are not the expert on exactly who the films are for.
Not that you have to like them all to be a fan, but you'd think with numbers like that The Wook might be sharp enough to say, "you know, maybe this isn't for me."
It's amused me from the get-go, because IQ is not a measurement of how much one knows. It's a measure of how well one learns and assimilates new information, coupled with problem-solving ability. The mere fact that "SWIQ" is based in how much derivative work hews to the first two films in the series is prety much
anti-IQ. And griping repeatedly about the directions taken away from those films is a good example of non-problem-solving.
It's why I turn my energy to my re-writes. Even if it's just a fun mental exercise that will never get turned into movies, I'm at least tackling the question of "okay, smart guy -- what would
you do different?" I'm addressing the things I noticed, the things others have called out that I agree with, etc. I run into new quandries, wrestle with them, eventually resolve them, peer-review generalities and specifics... *shrug* It's enough for now that this form of the Star Wars saga exists in the universe.
***** is the ultimate Hero's Journey...
Complete with the final step -- apotheosis -- that Obi-Wan, Yoda, Luke, and Anakin all share, as well as Heracles, Orion, Castor and Pollux, etc., etc. Transubstantiation to the heavens to dwell eternally with God/the gods/the Force.
Which is my biggest constructive criticism with the new trilogy. Well, first, that it should be three trilogies, not just one, for each central Hero -- Obi-Wan, Luke, and Rey. But each Hero's arc begins and ends in the wrong place, episodically speaking. The ninth film in the saga, the last of Obi-Wan's arc, should be ANH. It's his Final Trial and Apotheosis, and the introduction of the new Hero. Similarly, there needs to be a
lot more between ROTJ and TFA to smooth the transition. 45 minutes would probably be sufficient. But the three or four films that TFA and TLJ together should have been would be the last of Luke's arc, ending with
his Final Trial and Apotheosis, and Rey just coming into her own, as Luke did at the end of ANH. So we'd just now be getting on to the Rey-centric arc.
I'd be all for a couple Star Wars movies a year coming out, if they could have started from Episode I and gone ever forward, as Marvel has with
its cinematic universe. And had a skilled story-crafter finessing all the ideas from all the Powers That Be into a workable narrative that keeps everyone engaged. All of the broad elements of all the Star Wars movies to date
work... It's just that many could have been done
so much better
so easily. I'm never going to get into the blame game. Credit and criticism where it's due, yes. I'm not going to attack anyone or resort to
ad hominem buzz-word-filled diatribes, though. And of all the people I see involved in Star Wars currently, I have far more issue with Pablo Hidalgo than I do with Kathleen Kennedy.
