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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

ST Supershadow: Why Old Timers Are Skeptical About Rumors

Discussion in 'Sequel Trilogy' started by ManaByte, Sep 23, 2013.

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  1. ManaByte

    ManaByte Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    Aug 20, 1998
    I'm posting this because there's been a lot of comments, some even harsh, against people skeptical about every big rumor posted or tweeted out by certain sources. Hopefully this will explain why many of us are skeptics with unproven sources...

    Long time Star Wars fans have been though a lot when it comes to rumors. Back prior to the Special Edition releases, one of the earliest Star Wars fan sites called Red 5 got a little egg on his face when he was leaked false information that said that the Episode IV SE trailer would be attached to a certain movie in 1996. Obviously it wasn’t, but people were angry that such a big rumor turned out to be false. Red 5 survived and continued to be a good online resource for Star Wars fans until he decided to sunset his site a few years later.

    Fast forward a couple of years, and the first Prequel was in production. A website popped up called Supershadow with all sorts of “exclusive” information in the form of what would soon be revealed to be completely made up rumors that had zero truth to them at all. The guy claimed to be a close personal friend of George Lucas, and he continued his rumor mongering throughout the next two Prequels. He even began spew some really crazy stuff about the Sequel Trilogy, even claiming that Lucasfilm wasn’t making them: he was.

    The problem with Supershadow is thanks to his website, his craziness was picked up by the mainstream media. His rumors were reported on network and cable news as fact about the Prequels, even though they were completely false. Things got so big that he decided to try to make money from gullible fans, at which point Pablo Hidalgo at Lucasfilm said the company even went after the site:


    In 2013 the Internet is a much bigger place than it was a decade ago. There are a lot more sites out there trying to lure people in with false Episode VII rumors. Just slapping “Star Wars Episode VII Scoop!” in a headline or Tweet is enough to bring traffic to their site, even if the rumor is completely made up out of thin air.

    Long time Star Wars fans who were active online during the SE’s and the Prequels (such as the posters here) have lived through the Supershadow craziness, so they look at many of these new rumor sites with the same bit of skepticism.

    The general rule is, until it’s announced by Lucasfilm take it with a grain of salt.
     
  2. Count Yubnub

    Count Yubnub Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Oct 1, 2012
    I remember Mickey. The highlight of his "career," IMO, was when he posted a picture of his "girlfriend," which prompted the model from whom he stole the picture to post a very sarcastic, funny blog post. Good times.
     
  3. KED12345

    KED12345 Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Sep 10, 2012
    What's more annoying is that they're still out there, feeding misinformation to the public. It's a good thing though that people by now have picked up on the BS. [face_sick]
     
  4. Gallandro

    Gallandro Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 8, 1998
    NO MANABYTE YOU'RE WRONG!!! SUPERSHADOW KNOWS ALL... HE HAS THE SCRIPTS. He told me!!!! No way, no way he would ever lie.
     
  5. AdmiralSteven

    AdmiralSteven Jedi Knight star 1

    Registered:
    Dec 23, 2010
    As to the highlighted, I couldn't agree more. Unless you hear it from either Lucasfilm or JJ Abrams' himself, it's just a rumor and not fact.
     
    Jedi Merkurian likes this.
  6. Count Yubnub

    Count Yubnub Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Oct 1, 2012
    Some stuff I remember from the "sequel drafts" that he posted was that it involved an army of Sith lords who were all such huge fans of Vader that they all dressed like him. Also, at some point lots of animals escaped from the Coruscant zoo.
     
  7. Darth Chiznuk

    Darth Chiznuk Superninja of Future Films star 8 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Oct 31, 2012
    I just remember how hilarious it was when he would try to cover his tracks about his "leaked plot synopsis'" after the actual films were released. IT WAS JUST AN EARLY DRAFT I SAW! [face_laugh]
     
  8. Jedi Merkurian

    Jedi Merkurian Future Films Rumor Naysayer star 7 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    May 25, 2000
    I cannot "like" that OP enough. This is why I often "fix" people's posts to point out that what they are putting forth as factual is actually some nonsense somebody put up on a website somewhere. I refer to it as the "Some Bloke Fallacy," as in

    -Where did you learn about that?
    -Some bloke.
     
    MrZAP, Redimet, Dak Oolron and 7 others like this.
  9. The Hellhammer

    The Hellhammer Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Nov 4, 2012
    It basically all boils down to the fact that today it's much, much easier to fabricate whatever you want.
    With a little effort, you can create false accounts, false blogs, false pics, false people, false everything. There are those who genuinely are doing their best to give fans some information. Even they can sometimes get carried away with enthusiasm and announce something before thoroughly checking it out. Mistakes happen, plans change. This early in the production a denied scoop or two is certainly not something that should forever tarnish a person's track record.
    On the other hand, there are those who are attention seekers and will totally make things up just to get some time in the spotlight. The internet being what it is today, it is increasingly harder to see the difference between the two.
    A dose of healthy scepticism is a perfectly normal thing to have when "scoops" of any kind are concerned.
     
  10. sons_of_anakin_tatooine

    sons_of_anakin_tatooine Jedi Knight star 3

    Registered:
    Sep 28, 2005
    is this idiot still around? guy should be legaly banned from the internet
     
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  11. Jedi Merkurian

    Jedi Merkurian Future Films Rumor Naysayer star 7 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    May 25, 2000
    A lie can run halfway around the world in the time it takes the truth to tie its shoes.
    -Mark Twain
     
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  12. Diggs

    Diggs Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Oct 31, 2012
    Sceptism is the only way to go, but I still think putting Latino Review in the same boat as Supershadow is ridiculous and I'm an old-timer who's followed spoilers since 1997 (FWIW).
     
  13. Count Yubnub

    Count Yubnub Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Oct 1, 2012
    I agree, actually. Saying George Lucas and Kathleen Kennedy had lunch with Daniel Day-Lewis is qualitatively different than saying that Episode 7 will feature animals escaping from the Coruscant zoo.
     
  14. ManaByte

    ManaByte Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    Aug 20, 1998
    [face_rofl]

    At the same time, trying to turn that friendly lunch into a casting rumor isn't too different.
     
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  15. Diggs

    Diggs Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Oct 31, 2012
    Come on, he admitted he was pushing the limits on that one.
     
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  16. Ganger

    Ganger Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Dec 9, 1999
    This is a huge social phenomenon where Star Wars just serves as an example. It can be a lot of fun, to speculate and to share the possibilities that a certain rumor may spark in your mind. What I don't remember seeing before is a sense of entitlement and frustration that really has no place in a site where people come to discuss a nerdy space movie. I don't want to attack anyone on this, on the contrary, I want people to appreciate these special times, to cherish the speculation and excitement, not to react to the secrecy as if the creative team behind this movie owed something to us.

    I'm sure in a couple of years we'll be laughing our big asses off at those Cumberbatch as Thrawn fan pics and at our ramblings about the netherworlds of the force, isn't that fun?

    I still can't believe that I'll get to see another Star Wars movie in the theater where there's a strong possibility of Han and Chewie flying the falcon. I don't even know if I'm ready for that, I'll probably cry like a little baby and my nephew will think I'm bats*** insane. Aahhh good times.
     
  17. sons_of_anakin_tatooine

    sons_of_anakin_tatooine Jedi Knight star 3

    Registered:
    Sep 28, 2005
    im going to ask here but is there a collecting forum here? apparently theres a cc nyc walking dead ewok figure people need to see

    found this on the yakface fb page

    [​IMG]
     
  18. Dra---

    Dra--- Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Dec 30, 2012
    Any chance this can be the official thread for people who want to spend their time reading and writing criticism about rumor sites? Rather than having to weed through all the silly jokes, rumors about rumor sites, and insults in the Casting Rumors thread, it could all go here so I don't have to waste my time ignoring it. :)
     
    FinleySlade likes this.
  19. JediGirl_Angelina

    JediGirl_Angelina Jedi Grand Master star 3

    Registered:
    Jan 12, 2003
    Thank you for this thread. ^:)^
     
  20. Darth_Hydra

    Darth_Hydra Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 14, 2001
    This is my precisely my problem with Latino Review: none of their "scoops" have been proven correct yet they still insist on having inside info that no one else does. They even claim to be right when proven wrong(see the whole BC fiasco). When they finally do get something right, on purpose or coincidence, then I'll start taking them a bit more seriously.
     
  21. gambit420

    gambit420 Jedi Master star 2

    Registered:
    Oct 14, 2003
    I don't understand how they were proven wrong about BC??!?
     
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  22. chris hayes

    chris hayes Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 13, 2012
    I believe all the rumours to be true & follow Supershadow on his site & believe it all :)..........
     
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  23. ManaByte

    ManaByte Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    Aug 20, 1998
    To be fair, LR did not start the BC rumor. They just feverishly backed it up.
     
  24. Dra---

    Dra--- Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Dec 30, 2012
    That's another rumor which the poster chooses to believe.
     
  25. Rox

    Rox Administrator Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Nov 24, 2000
    If you believed the garbage Supershadow spewed you are really gullible.
     
    jaqen and Dra--- like this.
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