Lit Chief of State Daala

Cloak of Deception managed it. I mean, really, "the Republic is trying to tax our trade routes and we're a giant trade federation so we're blockading a planet to make a point" is not going to kill anyone. It lacks the arresting energy of naked women on cocaine swordfighting bears aboard jet-skis, but it's not the eighteen hours of watching paint dry people act like. It's what, maybe four scenes total of generic political commentary and electoral action? It's not drama kryptonite. Nobody's going to keel over and go into a boredom coma because they had to hear the words "taxation of trade routes" once in a film, come on. The whining over OH NO POLITICAL SCENES in TPM was childish. There were a lot of problems with the film, but the fact that there was a political dispute and then there was a scene of Valorum getting booted out so Palpatine could get into office was not one of them. You'd think the people complaining had never seen, oh, Star Wars, a film featuring a bunch of officers and politicians sitting around a table discussing the dissolution of the senate and devolution of power to regional governors and the result on galactic stability. No one was ever like, "OH GOD NO NOT POLITICS PLEASE JUST CUT THIS STUPID BORING TARKIN PLOTLINE."

But, no, clearly a trilogy about the downfall of a Galactic Republic and its reformation into an Empire should have included no politics or political disputes! Why, one scene of political lingo between lightsaber fights and the whole audience will fall down dead!

 

You know Hav, ever heard the phrase: Less is more? Because you really don't need all that hyperbole, nor the extrapolation to get to what you clearly wanted me to write!

Now, if I look past all that there's a nice set of points buried in your post I'd be inclined to respond to:

Namely that I'd agree Luceno pulled off a blinder with COD but I don't think it'd work as a mainstream SW film due to audience expectations - EU fans may be far more flexible in their outlook, I doubt it's so elsewhere. I doubt people bought COD because they wanted to know more about the tax dispute. The players around it? Oh yes, but the actual thing? I remain sceptical.

I think Lucas severely under-estimated the difficulty of doing a politics story and he failed to use his actors' skills to raise it up - imagine TPM's with an unleashed Terence Stamp and Natalie Portman actually displaying her ability, plus McDiarmuid - would have been electrifying. I don't think you'd find anyone that would disagree the PT has to have a political aspect to it, but it doesn't follow from that that what was supplied should have been it.

Nor, due to the difference in execution in those scenes you cite, would I see much similarity between TPM and ANH. ANH's actors were on a par with TPM but allowed more latitude.

Finally, the idea dislike of TPM's politics = politics should never be used ever? No way! How could I be a fan of the Lucenoverse if that was so?

(Also, you've sparked off an idea for a 1138 article too.)

 

COS

 

Chief of State

 

Either Chief of State, or in this context, Causer of Strife.

 

Gracias

Why do we capitalise the of O?

 

I don't believe you're supposed to.

 

You capitalize the O in COS because it's an acronym. Palpatine ruined the office of Supreme Chancellor the same way that Hitler ruined the toothbrush mustache.

 

But should it not be CoS? Or just CS?

 

CoS would be correct, but for ease of use, COS is a tad faster to type.

 

Words like of, the, and, or, etc are either not included in the acronym, or they're lowercase.

 

Most of us to the same for the books so it's whatever. Example? SOTE, Shadows of the Empire,

 

AotC
RotS
RotJ

At least, that's how I do it.