ST Why I think TFA is going to resonate with a lot of young people (and do very well)

Thanks, Lee. I needed that.

 

We all will have some cautious nostalgia when entering the theater this December to watch TFA.

I don't want my hopes too high but let's face we all have expectations for this new Star Wars. (JJ knows this. Hopefully he put those same expectations on himself during the filming process)


Leaving the theater after watching ROTS, Avatar, X-Men and Transformers I thought "Those are pretty Good movies.".


However:

In May 2002, I walked out of the theater saying "Yoda is THE MASTER" after watching AOTC.

In December 2002, I walked out of the theater blown away saying "That was AWESOME. Best Movie ever" after watching LOTR-ROTK.

In May 2012, I walked out of the theater starstruck saying "That was AWESOME" after watching The Avengers.



I will be taking my sons so I want us to feel this amplified X-times when we leave the theater after watching "Star Wars - Episode 7 - The Force Awakens".

 

IMO it will be hard to determine that for the young ones. I'm sure we will be blown away because we're seeing Han, Chewie, Princess Leia, and Luke (at least for a second or two) in a new adventure for the first time in 33 years or in many cases (including mine) the first time in our lives, so I think the movie is really going to have to go the way of Kingdom of the Crystal Skull to disappoint. Add in the new Big Three, who I was already sold on individually based on prior work (with the exception of DR -- never seen any of her work) and am 100% sold on collectively after seeing them together on stage at Celebration and the charisma they collectively oozed, and I think the adult fans are going to be blown away.

I am looking forward to taking my much younger sister to TFA, especially since we're getting a strong female lead and she is huge into the Divergent/Hunger Games series; hopefully it gets her hooked on Star Wars as well. She has never seen any of the movies and has no expectations, so I hope that it is powerful enough to draw her into the universe I so love.

 

I will take my daughter as well if she wants to go. She has not much prior SW indoctrination either. My sons have a tad more knowledge of it than she even though she is the elder sibling.

 

What I've learned in this thread:

-You can't make a black guy the hero because then it's "in your face", "pushing an agenda", or "PC"
-You can't make a black guy a lowly solder grunt because it's racism or propaganda

When CAN you put a black guy in the movie and it's okay?

 

Yep. Those points of view say more about the person’s own agenda who's spewing them out more than anything. Also, there are a lot of proper stirrers in this thread. Stirring the pot is not a hard thing to recognise in a message board, if you know what to look for. I really think the mods should clamp down on people who are blatantly pouring fire on an already blazing inferno. It’s basically a form of Trolling, albeit much more subtle. But it’s very easy to see.

 

"-You can't make a black guy a lowly solder grunt because it's racism or propaganda"

Nobody said that. If his story arc ends up with him following his own instincts, and learning not to find his identity as a servant to yet another institutional heirarchy, I would say it's a very good portrayal. We'll see if they make him an individual or a servant.

 

Judging by the trailer, that looks like what's happening. He's being asked to do something, as a soldier, but realizes it's an evil act and leaves. Joins up with the "good guys" and fights with them instead.

 

"-You can't make a black guy a lowly solder grunt because it's racism or propaganda"

Nobody said that. If his story arc ends up with him following his own instincts, and learning not to find his identity as a servant to yet another institutional heirarchy, I would say it's a very good portrayal, and very Star Wars. We'll see if they make him an individual or a servant.

I assure you, I'm not trolling. It's sad that a full discussion on this topic will get someone to suggest mod action. If you can't be mature enough to discuss racial portrayals in Hollywood realistically, then please just hit the ignore user button. The Department of Defense liason is on imdb listings on major movies. They tell you what they do, is alter the scripts of films they provide support for to be sympathetic to the "military ethos." If that does happen to Star Wars with Rogue One and Finn, that's not the Star Wars I knew. You can't make other people act as though things on imdb and admitted by the liason are not a blatant, stark, undeniable reality. Just use that little ignore button like I am going to right now.

 

If he ends up serving the Rebel Alliance, and if the Rebel Alliance is portrayed as an altruistic organization that is trying to restore justice to the galaxy, then I see no problem with his "service." And I see no conflict between being an individual, and serving an entity that transcends oneself. No disrespect to hardcore libertarians and/or anarchists, but the Star Wars franchise is probably not the best place to find your personal philosophy validated.

Yes, the DoD, just like many other institutions and persons, occasionally provides expertise and assets for big films. This is almost exclusively done when a big film needs those assets and expertise, and can pay for it (as long as they are not critical assets for the DoD). The DoD also provides expert input when filmmakers want to know the ins and outs of military commands, infrastructure, vehicles, ethics, etc. Just as hospitals and doctors provide expert input for medical dramas, or historians provide expert input for period pieces. It's a normal thing, and not some nefarious plot. Doctoring scripts to support the DoD mission is NOT what happens, and is not something that most filmmakers would allow to happen, anyway. You are making such an accusation on an incredibly flimsy basis, and based on your own personal attitude toward the institution in question. In other words, you are doing exactly what you accuse others of doing: spreading propaganda.

Now please, can we take off the tinfoil hats, and talk about The Force Awakens?

 

On a lighter note, I had a thought regarding artistic reasons for diversity- maybe another good reason for making homo sapiens diverse in SW is that there is such great diversity everywhere else- such a great diversity in droids, aliens, various creatures, spaceships, planets, etc. It would seem to be suitable for the movie to not make all people look the same.

Maybe kids WOULD like that, and maybe it could be something so innocuous that doesn't involve emotionally charged opinions or depraved conspiracies. Just a thought.

 

I have no problem if they make him like a Luke type character who does as he pleases while serving the Rebellion, ultimately answering to himself. Did you see that quote by the liason how they don't like portrayals like that, and change the scripts so Luke types are not present?

 

You mean that quote from that one, junior DoD liason, that one time? Yeah, I saw that. In that particular case, the DoD was asked to comment on a script, and provide expert input. They put their time and resources into it, and so they felt justified in making suggestions that they were comfortable with. Their input was either accepted fully, accepted only in part, or rejected entirely by the filmmakers. This is the exact same process that happens with every consultant to a film that is given a script and asked to comment. They give their suggestions, based on their own personal and institutional perspectives, submit those suggestions to the filmmakers, and that's it.

This well-orchestrated propaganda machine you're trying to convince people of simply doesn't exist. Frankly, you don't know what you're talking about.

 

"Accusation?" Lol. Now who's trolling? I said it was possible due to the fact that the military doctors scripts when they provide support and the production reportedly ordered a drone shield and military security for this film. You're all a fluster over nothing. Relax. It's all on topic. Mods, I'll just ignore this guy so the thread isn't all about me.

" This well-orchestrated propaganda machine you're trying to convince people of simply doesn't exist. Frankly, you don't know what you're talking about."

 

It would make sense for the DoD to consult on movies like Top Gun, Hurt Locker, or Zero Dark Thirty, where the movie strives for realistic portrayals of American military, and even provide edits to the script if it makes sense. Even actual DoD assets are in use in these movies, as well. It also wouldn't be all that surprising that a little propaganda is sprinkled in for good measure.

But unless someone can provide proof that such a thing is happening with Star Wars, I don't buy it.

 

To be fair, I don't think the Department of Defense cares enough about Star Wars (the movies, not the missile defense system) to "doctor" the scripts. Maybe they redline scripts for films on which they've been asked to consult, but I don't think they're going to out and out censor content. Especially in a space opera.

 

Of course not. But think of this: after the millennium, all of those Y2K people didn't empty their cellars of bottled water, dried jerky, and weapons, and move on with life. They construed ANOTHER paranoid theory, and continued to live in the shadows waiting for the end of the world.

Why? Well, as someone who has worked in psychiatry for 26 years, I will assure you of one thing: paranoid beliefs are very fixed, you cannot rationalize someone out of those beliefs, no matter how overwhelming the evidence, or how far-fetched the paranoia
.
Best to change the subjects.

 

Never forget when the world was supposed to end in July of 1999 and a man on British television (of course, it was Channel 4) was talking about how he was finalising the deal to sell his house, as well as all his worldly belongings, and was going to spend his last weekend in a bed and breakfast.

Wonder what he’s doing now.

 

Actually, I've never gone with any of those end of the world theories like everyone else has. I find myself surrounded by people who are telling me the world is going to end in one way or another, from all political stripes, left, right, independent, and other. Things are going to be just fine.

I really do hope that Finn is a positive portrayal. His going AWOL is a step in the right direction, from starting out as an imp which is the only questionable thing I can see so far unless he was a clone or enslaved. It's bold. I liked it when Fives did it in Clone Wars. If Finn is like Fives, I'm glad.

 

Likely preparing for his next perceived doomsday.

At least he sold it rather than giving it away as some have; then you are really in a jam when it doesn't happen. "Uh, I was a little premature on the apocalypse, might I have my house back for awhile?"

 

This.

 

Tin foil hattery doesn't apply here. I've just been discussing the original post. However, if you wish to limit opinions, fine by me. It's not my message board.

 

We're not limiting opinions... we're trying to keep things on topic (meaning not dragged off-topic with conspiracy theories and such).