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Star Wars: The Last Jedi discussion thread(Warning: Spoilers!) (2 Viewers)

Johnny Angell

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Can someone tell me what in the living hell is wrong with Star Wars fans?

'Star Wars' Actress Kelly Marie Tran Leaves Social Media Following Months of Harassment


https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/h...leaves-social-media-months-harassment-1117260

I happen to think Rose was one of the best things about The Last Jedi, but even if you didn't, this kind of harassment is never called for. The same fans also drove Daisy Ridley from social media, George Lucas into retirement, and Hayden Christenson out of the business.

These people make me embarrassed to be a Star Wars fan.
The internet brings out the wors in people. A lot of these people wouldn’t have the courage to say to someone’s face what they type in the comfort of the rock from which they sometimes crawl out from under.
 

Jake Lipson

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It’s ok if people didn’t like him in the movie but it’s not ok that his classmates beat him up for it.

100%.

I also think Jake Lloyd honestly did the best job he could. While he is certainly a visionary director and talented at worldbuilding, it doesn't seem like George Lucas is particularly good at working with actors and giving them proper guidance. Jake was obviously not tremendously experienced when he was cast, and would likely have benefited from better direction than he was likely given.
 

Tino

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This fanatical abuse really started with The Phantom Menace in earnest.

I remember a notorious website called Star Wars vs Titanic created when TPM opened tracking its grosses hoping it would beat Titanic

Members would often wish Aids and cancer on anyone with an opposing view. Even some members of this site at the time were participants.

Truly pathetic.
 

Josh Steinberg

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And I think that's when the "fan editing" started too. There was that huge deal about "the Phantom Edit" where someone re-edited the film in a way to make it "better", which then spawned a whole subculture of fans slicing and dicing the movies to "fix mistakes". Rather than just accepting that George Lucas made a movie they didn't like, they felt that not only did they know better than Lucas, but that they had the absolute right to create and distribute their own versions of the movies. That strikes me as being a little strange, and I think it shows a certain amount of disrespect for the creators of the original work (not to mention a lack of respect for someone else's copyrighted material) to do so. I think it speaks to a certain entitlement issue that seems to overlap with some of the complaints coming from less reputable corners of the world about the newer films, this idea that people are entitled to have the movies constructed according to their preconceived notions of what it should be, and if they don't get what they want, they're then free to pirate the content or troll the people who made it.
 

RobertR

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And I think that's when the "fan editing" started too. There was that huge deal about "the Phantom Edit" where someone re-edited the film in a way to make it "better", which then spawned a whole subculture of fans slicing and dicing the movies to "fix mistakes". Rather than just accepting that George Lucas made a movie they didn't like, they felt that not only did they know better than Lucas, but that they had the absolute right to create and distribute their own versions of the movies.
Apart from the distribution aspect, the editing of the movie to suit an individual's taste doesn't bother me nearly as much as it seems to bother you. If someone's watching a fan edit in his house, I find that no more objectionable than someone making a party mix from different record albums, or photoshopping himself or others into a picture. You're still free to watch the officially sanctioned version. You seem to be saying "oooh! someone's watching something behind closed doors in a way I don't like!". I find that rather strange. Personally, I love watching the OT without the post 1997 edits.
 

Josh Steinberg

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I think you might be misunderstanding my point. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with tinkering for one’s own pleasure at home. I think there’s something very weird about taking someone else’s copyrighted work, re-editing it into something entirely new and different, and then putting it online while saying, “The professionals who made this movie had no idea what they were doing, so I made it better. Lucas sucks but I rule!”

I’m not talking about fan attempts to make an HD non-special edition of the original trilogy. I’m talking about people re-editing Phantom Menace to remove Jar Jar or people re-editing TLJ to remove Rose and then claiming that they’ve made something better than the original filmmakers.
 

RobertR

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It would be silly of such people to claim that such edits are better for everyone (as silly as saying that no one can question Lucas' creative decisions on Star Wars), but if they want to say it's better for them, then it's whatever floats their boat.
 
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And I think that's when the "fan editing" started too. There was that huge deal about "the Phantom Edit" where someone re-edited the film in a way to make it "better", which then spawned a whole subculture of fans slicing and dicing the movies to "fix mistakes". Rather than just accepting that George Lucas made a movie they didn't like, they felt that not only did they know better than Lucas, but that they had the absolute right to create and distribute their own versions of the movies. That strikes me as being a little strange, and I think it shows a certain amount of disrespect for the creators of the original work (not to mention a lack of respect for someone else's copyrighted material) to do so. I think it speaks to a certain entitlement issue that seems to overlap with some of the complaints coming from less reputable corners of the world about the newer films, this idea that people are entitled to have the movies constructed according to their preconceived notions of what it should be, and if they don't get what they want, they're then free to pirate the content or troll the people who made it.

If it wasn't for fan-editing we probably wouldn't have the Despecialized Editions of the original Star Wars trilogy. ;)
 

Jake Lipson

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If it wasn't for fan-editing we probably wouldn't have the Despecialized Editions

In case you didn't notice (or didn't read) it, Josh addressed this point in his post above.

I’m not talking about fan attempts to make an HD non-special edition of the original trilogy. I’m talking about people re-editing Phantom Menace to remove Jar Jar or people re-editing TLJ to remove Rose and then claiming that they’ve made something better than the original filmmakers.
 
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TravisR

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Can someone tell me what in the living hell is wrong with Star Wars fans?

'Star Wars' Actress Kelly Marie Tran Leaves Social Media Following Months of Harassment


https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/h...leaves-social-media-months-harassment-1117260

I happen to think Rose was one of the best things about The Last Jedi, but even if you didn't, this kind of harassment is never called for. The same fans also drove Daisy Ridley from social media, George Lucas into retirement, and Hayden Christenson out of the business.

These people make me embarrassed to be a Star Wars fan.
Stephen Colbert and The Late Show agree with you as they've made a 'trailer' for Episode IX (starts at 2:25):


"Woke Porgs"
 

Sam Favate

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We truly do live in the Dark Times.

Hate group and Star Wars fandom terrorist organization “Give Us Legends” has taken credit for the harassment and trolling of Kelly Marie Tran, forcing her to give up on her Instagram account earlier in the week. The group uses the language of terror to conduct “spoiler Jihads” and attempts to unite disenfranchised dregs to their cause of attacking progressive stories from Lucasfilm and to ensure a happy Star Wars fanbase cannot exist online. The group is radically against diversity, feminism (aka the belief in the equality of the sexes), and most of all, in a prolonged tantrum, they want Star Wars books published a long time ago to be canonized.

I encourage everyone to read this. It's an eye-opening account of the state of fandom and how it represents what is going on in the United States.

https://makingstarwars.net/2018/06/...it-for-kelly-marie-tran-leaving-social-media/
 

Sam Favate

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This is another great article on the subject, which traces the original film's message to the politics of its time:

When George Lucas released A New Hope in 1977, his shaggy, death-to-fascism blockbuster blew a Death Star-sized hole in a deeply divided culture that was still grappling with aftershock of Richard Nixon, the Civil Rights movement, women’s liberation, and Vietnam. Similar to the then-unresolved existential slog of the Vietnam War, Lucas’s original vision for the series depicted a world that had been at war for what felt like forever. The corrupt establishment ruled the galaxy with a metallic first, and it was up to a group of young, desperately hopeful rebels to overcome the Empire and smash the establishment to space-dust.
Part of why Star Wars is so prescient again today is that most of these 1970s-era issues have resurfaced at the top of our nation’s political Sarlacc Pit. Today’s political climate is just as agitated, with the Trump administration ushering in an era of new Nixonism riddled with masculine-oriented, fascist notions that are deeply troubling for those of us who care about basic human values.

https://www.esquire.com/entertainme...wars-kelly-marie-tran-harassment-controversy/
 

TravisR

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I think their news should not be spread. It's like feeding trolls. They should be ignored completely. The more you talk about them, the more they become legitimate. It's exactly what they want.
It's a tough thing though because while I agree that people are giving them what they want, I also think people should speak out against those assholes too.
 

Nelson Au

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Wow, this is a surprising turn of events in fandom. I just happen to read an article on the Hollywood Reporter that Apple News had popped an alert for. It spoke about the backlash from fans and asked what is it they want. It was especially aimed at Rose and Finn. Back before the prequels, the fans just wanted more Star Wars. But they didn’t like Jar Jar or the way Lucas made those films so much about the politics of the republic. Which I thought was great, it showed more depth. And the forces that drove the Skywalker family where it went. Then when The Force Awakens came out,I had not heard of the backlash against Rey and Finn the article brings up. Even though the film had Solo, Leia and the droids, the fans were not happy. The author note that the fans are not coming out to see Solo either.

The conclusion the author brings up, and he does say he’s one of the fans from the original trilogy, is that the outspoken fans are forgetting what they loved about the films in the first place. And that those films represent their youth. They don’t want to think of Luke as an old man hiding on an island ignoring all that is new. They want him young and looking off into the horizon of two suns.

I hadn’t realized this was happening and I was in the theater in 1977 and watched Star Wars twice that day. We didn’t leave our seats. It is surprising that the angry fans are lashing out at the new characters, especially female characters and John Boyega’s character.

It also made me wonder about my favorite, Star Trek. Star Trek seems to have manage to avoid this perhaps because after a 10 year absence from TV to the big screen with several films and then a long run on TV, Star Trek never left such long gaps between films. But I do see some backlash for Discovery. Though I can understand as it is so different. Plus there has been some backlash against the J.J. Abramsverse Star Trek. But not to the same level as the backlash against the new Star Wars films.

By no means have I given this much thought, this is just an off the cuff post from my gut reactions to the recent news and reading that Hollywood Reporter article. I do have to say the new Star Wars films lack a certain depth or heart compared to Lucas’s original vision. To me, it’s partly J.J. Abrams. He did the same to Star Trek. And that’s the only area that I find lacking in these new Star Wars films. They look great, but somehow feel empty. There’s also that Disney effect, they might be trying to make the films more family friendly too, but also saturating the market. In much the same way Marvel has saturated the theaters with super heroes, I’ve start to tune those out.

I’m okay with the new Star Wars characters and I do like Rey a lot in the first film. The second film she seemed less defined. It’s tough to recapture that magic from the first films. The new generation likes what they like and it’s not what we liked! :)
 

TravisR

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It also made me wonder about my favorite, Star Trek. Star Trek seems to have manage to avoid this perhaps because after a 10 year absence from TV to the big screen with several films and then a long run on TV, Star Trek never left such long gaps between films. But I do see some backlash for Discovery. Though I can understand as it is so different. Plus there has been some backlash against the J.J. Abramsverse Star Trek. But not to the same level as the backlash against the new Star Wars films.
By no means am I an expert but I'd say that since diversity has been part of Star Trek since the beginning, there's less backlash because the really racist people never got into Trek in the first place. Since Star Wars is now making an effort to feature some other types of people, the racists in that fanbase are mad that 'their' movies are being 'taken over by political correctness'.
 

Johnny Angell

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Since Star Wars is now making an effort to feature some other types of people, the racists in that fanbase are mad that 'their' movies are being 'taken over by political correctness'.
I know that since you put it in quotes, you agree, I just feel the need to reinforce that it is not "political correctness" to satisfy the need that members of the audience have to see themselves on screen. Wow, that's a tortured sentence, but you get the idea.
 

Adam Lenhardt

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I finally blocked out sometime and watched the Blu-Ray again with Rian Johnson's audio commentary. It's one of the best audio commentaries by a director I've listened to.

Recorded after the movie was locked, but shortly before the movie was released, it wasn't at all colored by the polarized audience reaction to the film. He's not defensive or apologetic, because his reaction (and the reaction of a small circle at Lucasfilm) was all he had to go on. It's just a densely packed two-and-a-half hour nuts-and-bolts explanation of making a Star Wars movie. He doesn't hesitate to highlight and credit the contributions of others, and he's pretty matter of fact about what went according to plan and what changed during production and post-production, and why.
 

Tim Glover

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A few pages ago you guys were discussing John Williams score. While I agree that The Last Jedi is a wonderful soundtrack. I also feel its a bit of re-tread of themes from The Force Awakens. Granted there are some new and AWESOME cues. I own it. CD/ HD download AND vinyl :) But IMO, Williams score for The Force Awakens broke new ground and is one for the ages. Kylo Rens theme? Fantastic. Rey's Theme? Perhaps among the best in any Star Wars film. The March of the Resistance? Whoa.

Don't get me wrong, Love TLJ music but go back and listen to the tracks from TFA.

Amazing.
 
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