Category Archives: Star Wars

Happy Mother’s Day (and some news)

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It being Mother’s Day in the U.S., our intrepid bloggers have been spending some quality time with some very patient women who raised some really geeky kids with great grace. (I count myself doubly lucky because I not only get my mom, but I get to enjoy Shane’s mom too!)

As for today’s news, here’s what we’ve come up with.

Lucas gets revenge on Marin County residents.  When those who live in Marin County finally stopped the project to build the movie studio on George Lucas’ land, George Lucas decided to get back at them by using the land for something else: low-income housing.  From the article at Movies.com:

He’s working with the Marin Community Foundation to instead construct affordable housing for either low-income families or seniors living on small, fixed incomes.  In order to smooth along the development, he’s already given them all of the pricey technical studies and land surveys Lucasfilm spent years conducting.  And we thing that’s just great.  Because if there’s one thing rich people will hate more than having movie magic made in their backyard, it’s poor people moving in.

I’m not sure that The Great One’s motives are the purest here, but if it’s going to do something good for the community, I can’t knock it.

In other geek news, my brother sent me this link today: Buildtheenterprise.org.

Yes, you read that correctly.  It’s a site outlining the plan to build a working spaceship, based on the greatest ship ever conceived, the U.S.S. Enterprise, and is trying to show the feasibility of doing so.  Do be patient–six days into the site, they’ve had to purchase a new server because they’ve gone from 100 visitors a day to lover 60,ooo, so the site is moving a bit slow right now, but it’s worth it.

Edited to add: Also, the box office receipts are in for the weekend, and The Avengers just pulled in over 100 million for its second weekend.  That’s what most movies hope to make in their entire run.  This now brings the total for The Avengers to over 360 million dollars in two weeks.

 

Her Universe Teases New Gear For Girls

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Along with the new gear released on May 4, Her Universe will be selling brand new merchandise at Star Wars Weekends – for girls! I’ve long since lamented the lack of Star Wars clothing available for little girls (the only option was to shop in the boys’ sections of stores like Target and Wal Mart), but Her Universe is stepping up to the challenge with three new adorable offerings. The first is an Ahsoka-themed costume tunic, which will be great for Halloween and special events like Star Wars Weekends and Celebration VI. The other two shirts were designed by Star Wars artist Katie Cook and feature “Jedi-in-Training” Ahsoka (also available as a onesie!) and “Self-Rescuing Princess” Leia (which I might have to purchase for myself – luckily I can fit into girls’ XXL!).

Currently Her Universe offers two shirts for girls: the Ahsoka Chibi and Daddy’s Little Girl.

Star Wars Weekends begins May 18 and concludes June 10. I will be there every weekend to report on the festivities for the blog!

Chewie and Ackbar Confirmed for Celebration VI

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The official site has details of more guests confirmed for Celebration VI. The headliner this time around is Chewbacca himself, Peter Mayhew. Other confirmations include:

Tim Rose: “It’s a Trap!” The performer behind Admiral Ackbar, Tim Rose, will be at Celebration VI. The puppeteer also performed the iconic Sy Snoodles and Salacious Crumb.

Trevor Butterfield: Butterfield performed a variety of roles, including an Imperial Officer and Lt. Blount in Return of the Jedi.

Nick Maley: A make-up artist in The Empire Strikes Back, Maley was involved with Stuart Freeborn in the creation of Yoda.

Paul Springer: Mime artist and puppeteer, Springer portrayed a Gamorrean guard and the character Ree Yees in Return of the Jedi.

Mayhew joins Carrie Fisher and Jeremy Bulloch as the early confirmations for the convention to celebrate all things Star Wars. I do hope they’ll let Peter and Carrie do a panel together. One of the highlights at last year’s Dragon*Con was watching the two of them riff off each other for an hour.

 

Star Wars Books Teases What ‘New Jedi Order’ Might Have Been

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Pablo Hidalgo is at work on an all new Essential Reader’s Companion, but he had the time to send an interesting behind the scenes note to Star Wars Books regarding an early premise for the New Jedi Order series.

The story arc was to very closely hew to the myth structure of the Hero’s Journey as outlined by Joseph Campbell, a huge influence on the creation of the Star Wars cinematic story. With that as its basic framework, the plot underwent much evolution and exploration. Its earliest descriptions had Luke Skywalker sending the three Solo children on an epic quest, upon which they encounter a new female character from the invading species sent to infiltrate the galaxy. This unnamed female corrupts Anakin, nearly turning him to the dark side, but she falls in love with him and Anakin instead redeems her. In a fit of intense sibling rivalry, Jacen and Jaina turn on Anakin, and in the resulting conflict, Jacen dies.

You know. I think I might have preferred this setup to what we got. The undercurrent of redemption plays much more true to the philosophy and tone of Star Wars, and this would have been a clear passing of the torch to the next generation.

Via Star Wars Books

Pete Morrison Breaks Down The EU Gender Numbers

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There’s been a whole lot said in the last week or so about the need for better developed female characters in Star Wars and the Expanded universe. Over at Lightsaber Rattling, Pete Morrison decided to look at EU novels since 2006 and crunch some numbers.

Some figures Pete unearthed:

  • Male Character Per Novel Average: 9.9
  • Female Character Per Novel Average: 5.13
  • Ratio of Male to Female Characters: 1.93 to 1.

It’s important to note that this isn’t a look at the quality of female characters written into these books (which is another topic entirely), just the quantity. However, it seems that even on the strict numbers front, fans asking for more to be done with female characters have a point. Female characters are nearly outnumbered 2-to-1 in the Expanded Universe since 2006.

In addition to breaking these numbers down further by year, Pete has also written a great editorial to go along with this piece. Go to the link above and read through his excellent post.

Why Do We Love Star Wars?

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There’s a discussion going on in the Club Jade comments (as well as on Twitter) regarding why people read Star Wars books. I took exception to a comment that people don’t read Star Wars books for characterization, but rather for action, because that’s exactly why I started reading the EU. I was 11 years old and had just watched the Original Trilogy. I loved Luke Skywalker (actually all the characters, but Luke especially) and wanted to know what happened to them after the movies. Thankfully, right around that time Timothy Zahn’s Thrawn Trilogy was released. I learned what happened to these characters I loved, as well as got to know new characters, who are still some of my favorites (Mara and Karrde).

As far as action is concerned, I can take it or leave it. My judgment usually falls upon whether or not the action scene did something rather than just drive the plot forward. I’m thinking of the first scene of Rogue Squadron, introducing Corran Horn; any of the action scenes involving Luke in Shadows of Mindor; or the fight with C’baoth in The Last Command,  to name a few. Mindless action in films and television don’t bother me as much, because it’s pretty (or it can be). But in a book, there is nothing that makes me fall asleep faster than action with no plot or character development included.

There’s nothing wrong with lightsaber fights, starfighter dogfights, or chase sequences. I love those, if done correctly. But even in the films, Star Wars has never been just about action. Let’s take a look at the film that started it all,  A New Hope.

  • Starts out with a bang, as Darth Vader captures Princess Leia. The plot is driven forward, but we meet Vader, Leia, the droids, and get a sense of exactly who they are.
  • We move to Tatooine. More character development with the droids. Eventually we come upon the Lars homestead. Basically, this sequence is entirely character development, ending with the death of the Larses and Luke’s decision to go with Obi-Wan to Alderaan.
  • The Cantina. Introduction of Han and Chewie, establishment of conflict with Han and Jabba. The plot moves forward again and we get off planet.
  • Escape from Tatooine. Finally, another action sequence, during which we learn more about Han’s personality and Luke’s “aww, shucks” farm boy nature.
  • Destruction of Alderaan. Is this considered an action sequence? To me, it’s all character development and plot advancement.
  • The Death Star. The action eventually begins, after learning more about Obi-Wan (“there are alternatives to fighting”), Luke (willing to rescue the Princess at any cost), and Han (he just wants a reward). Leia is rescued, and then grabs a gun and decides to take matters into her own hands. Obi-Wan and Vader face each other again. Even without having seen the prequels, we knew that there was something between those two. In the end, Obi-Wan sacrifices himself so Luke and the others can get away.
  • Tie Fighter Attack. This is another pure action sequence, but it’s fun! And it works on film, with clever lines (“Great, kid! Don’t get cocky!” “You hear me, baby? Hold together.”), great music, and eye-popping effects.
  • Arrival at Yavin. More character development and plot advancement. We see Luke jumping headfirst into the Rebellion and Han wanting to get out of there. Leia pushes aside her sorrow to focus on being a leader of the Rebellion.
  • The Battle of Yavin. The climax of the film is one long action sequence, but how boring would it be if there was no dialogue, no music, no concerned looks as the camera flashes to Leia, no cheering when Han Solo returns to blast the TIE fighters off Luke’s tail, no determined expressions as Luke turns off his targeting computer to “use the Force”? In this sequence, we learn that there’s more to Han than money, Luke has what it takes to be a Jedi, Leia is a leader, R2 is the true hero of the saga, and Vader is going to be angry come the next movie!
  • While A New Hope doesn’t have any explicit romance, the hints are there with Han and Leia, and possibly Luke and Leia (yes, ew, but they didn’t know, give them a break). But besides romance between characters, the film itself could be classified as romantic in the broadest sense of the word. I mean, you have Luke getting a kiss for luck, then swinging across the Death Star chasm with John Williams music blaring in the background. If that’s not “romantic”, I don’t know what is!

So there you have it. Does Star Wars, as a franchise, contain action elements? Yes. Is it an action franchise? I say no. There are elements of action, drama, romance, and humor, combined with a ton of character development. In my opinion, the best Expanded Universe novels are the ones that echo this tone. Too much action, and you bore me. Not enough , and it’s not exciting. And if your characters don’t drive the story (rather than characters acting stupid to fit the plot), then I’m not interested at all.

What do you say?

The Star Wars Avengers

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So, hypothetically speaking, Nick Fury shows up in the Galaxy Far, Far Away and makes some allusions to an all new Big Bad looming out of the distance. He says he’s putting together something called the Avengers Initiative and needs five heroes to form a team with a high badassery quotient. We asked you who you think should make the cut. You delivered.

See the suggestions below the cut!

Continue reading →

Trope Tuesday: Darker and Edgier

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It’s Tuesday, which means I’m about to bludgeon you over the head with another entry from that great timesink in the cloud, TV Tropes. This week, we’re examining one we like to call Darker and Edgier.

A Tone Shift that seeks to make a work of fiction “more adult”. Usually, this is practically interpreted as “add more sex, profanity, heavy violence, and controversial content”.

This trope usually means that a show will attempt to shift towards seriousness, cynicism and grit. In theory, archetypes which we are usually accustomed to acting in a more noble setting will have to act in one where they must think and act grimly in order to make progress, thus forcing re-examination of the tropes involved and making a different sort of character. In practice, though, writers often are too lazy to make use of what most of those words mean, and ending up randomly “spicing up” a work with gratuitous gore, cursing, and sex. See Not A Deconstruction

When a show uses this trope as a tagline, expect anything that can go wrong will go wrong, the setting to be a World Half Empty, everyone to be bastards, lots of unpleasant things happen to the characters or backstories giving the characters a particular issue they can spend time angsting about.

As we can expect, this is fairly easy to screw up and poor use of these tropes can just result in Darkness-Induced Audience Apathy and Narm instead.

Thankfully, the Expanded Universe hasn’t fallen victim to this trope. I mean, it’s not like fans are keeping a running tally of how many major characters get killed, abandoned the tone and philosophy of the source material, or shifted the villains from tactical geniuses to more trite Eldritch Abominations or any…

Erm…

Cat Taber Confirmed for Star Wars Weekends

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Rancho Obi Wan publicist and all around awesome person Consetta Parker announced another guest for Star Wars Weekends, Clone Wars voice actor Cat Taber.

If you’re in the Orlando area that weekend, you can catch Taber and other guests at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.