Full Series Official Star Wars Rebels Discussion Thread (Spoilers Allowed)

I'm completely fine with some young people being main characters as long as they aren't developed like Padme was developed. Chances are probably slim though that we have seen the last of fourteen year olds being given titles that most forty year olds are lucky to get.

 

Space Operas are all about sharp contrasts, as in a comic book, but thematically.

You are in favor of a softer contrast, but it just doesn't work as well in this format - even more so in the Disney Channel's REBELS cartoon show.

 

I find it somewhat amusing that we try to put the same constraints of age appropriateness from our own real world on the GFFA. It is a fictional world after all.

 

Yet they have human beings that speak english in them. If you don't think it needs to follow any type of realistic rules then why bother to have humans that speak english in a galaxy far far away.

I find it funny that Star Wars borrows so many things from our own world yet you don't think it needs to bother with making people interact with each other in a similar fashion to how people in our own world interact with one another.

 

Sorry I meant to edit it to say some people instead of you in particular but the thirty minute time frame already ran out.

 

It's not about it being a fictional world. Or it shouldn't be, anyway. The issue is different cultural norms. Everywhere in the Star Wars galaxy cannot conform to modern day middle America when it comes to culture norms. There have to be differences, variances in the way people think and act. Yes, today we wouldn't dream of putting a fourteen year old in a position of any real authority, least of all the role of a monarch governing the entire planet.

And yet, there was a time when children sat upon thrones lording over vast kingdoms and no one thought to question this practice because it was just the done thing in the culture of the time. Many non-Western societies praised the natural wisdom of youth in its leaders, noting the benefits of trusting those who hadn't become accustomed to lies and cynicism. Several Native American, First Nations, and Islander cultures have very different views on what constitutes maturity, and often saw the elevation of young people barely into their teens to places of authority due to their strong character. A number of the Egyptian Pharaohs we know about today were found to be boy kings, and the Etruscans followed actual warrior princesses.

When you look at how varied the real-world approach toward youth and maturity have been over time and across disparate Earth cultures, there's no reason to see Padme's rule as all that out of the ordinary. The people of Naboo should be allowed to be different, something else than just another Euro-American copy/paste. And considering the effectiveness of Padme's tenure as queen, there's no reason to think there's some core flaw to their culture, and instead several pre-existing Eastern and First Nations principles are shown validated by her actions and role in the film. If anything, it's modern Western society that's abnormal in how young people are treated, and needs to catch up so that we stop seeing strong, successful young people as abnormal.

 

There is one huge issue here Mia that you are either completely forgetting about or completely avoiding. Pretty much all those Pharaohs and other teen authority figures that we have had on our planet in the past inherited the throne from a parent that passed on. They weren't elected ruler. Try to find any teen that was elected by their people to be king or queen throughout the history of our planet.

Padme's story wouldn't be any issue at all if she simply had inherited the throne similarly to how people inherited thrones in our own world. The problem lies in the fact that Lucas chose to give Naboo the type of government that allows the people to choose their leader and they still chose a teenager. Also every indication says that people on Naboo live just as long as lives as we currently do.

 

I sort of liked how the Darth Plagueis novel addressed the issue, although maybe it's not exactly applicable here since it's EU (I'm always reluctant to bring up anything EU in this forum since I understand a lot of folks here don't acknowledge it). In that novel, Palpatine and Plagueis essentially rigged Padme's election. The previous king was incompetent, so they played him for what he was worth, essentially denouncing him frivolous fool and then putting Padme into the public eye as a young innocent politician with ties to the middle class -- basically everything the former King Veruna was not. So her youth was a symbol for a fresh start -- but in actuality, it was a power play on Palpatine's part.

 

Well I could point out that my great grandmother was 13 when she became a mother in 1912 and that was not uncommonly young for that period of time

 

As I have pointed out before, sci-fi has kinda a get-out-of-jail-free card for people doing stuff at ages where it would not be expected from them, due to the whole "their 14 may not be the same as our 14" thing that is inherrent in sci-fi where we deal with alien species with their own unique biologies, and alien planets with their own unique orbital period and axial rotation period where things like "day" and "year" don't necessarily mean the same thing as we're used to.

Mmmm... run-on sentences.

 

According to Star Wars Insider 146, as well as having two women on the Rebels side, their will also be two main female characters on the Imperial side.

 

Mara?

Daala?

Isard?

 

no names given yet.

 

Hmmm. I initially assumed Barriss might return as an Inquisitor, but she was probably used as proof in Tarkin's argument as to why the Jedi are corrupt. So probably not then.

Ruthless female villain...

 

Very interesting. Can you tell us more about what Weisman's interview covered, or does this Rooqoo Depot article just about covers the gist of it? The importance of strong female characters, plus two female leads...Kanan and Ezra, anybody? Also, nice to know that they've already begun animating their first script. Exciting times ahead!

Also, found this nifty cover for Weisman's interview in the Insider article:

 

Man, they're using that image to death, aren't they? Release something new, please!

 

Seriously, just a sneak-peek of one of the heroes. Something. Anything.

 

I recommend getting a copy of Star Wars insider 146, lots of good stuff coming.
This article covers it, but I do think it's a good idea to get a copy.
http://roqoodepot.com/2013/12/05/inside-star-wars-insider-146/

 

I can't wait for rebels! When does it premiere?

 

Hmm, if a character named Mara appears in Rebels will the EU fans like that or will they view it as another Barriss Offee situation. How old was Mara in the post ROTJ EU? I would think she would have to be pretty darn young in Rebels for her Rebels character to jive with EU material.

 

She'd either be 13, or 14