PT A Thread For Prequel Fans To Discuss New Star Wars Content (spoiler tags required)

It's interesting to hear all of the different opinions on the forum. The reason I joined was to have fun discussing SW with die hard fans, like I am, and to perhaps learn something new or consider something I'd never thought of before. I just don't like it when people get personal since that's kind of a bummer and takes a lot of the fun out of being here.

I like GL's work more than JJ's, but I think JJ has also done good work. His ST films were exciting, imo. It doesn't bother me that there were changes from ST TOS. I would have preferred if GL had remained in the SW director's chair or had Spielberg direct, but TFA is going to be good, if not great. There is a group of OT SW fans who are pleased that GL is done and I think the Disney company is smart, from a business standpoint, to have TFA evoke and mirror elements from the OT. They want to get those fans back and aren't worried about getting money from fans like me who love both trilogies.

 

Mixed feelings? Disagree there. I am of the opinion that the majority likes the PT. Seems to me the only ones who hate on them are adults over the age of 40 and younger people trying to be "cool."

 

Keep in mind that a 40-year-old today was only 24 when TPM was released. It's not like they were old grumpy codgers in their mid-20s. I was only 20 at the time.

I've met guys who were 12 and 13 when TPM was released, and they have no affection for it. I think you're sliding into confirmation bias if you automatically dismiss as invalid those cases that don't fit your hypothesis. But in any case, most people over the age of 30 and many people under that age don't have the affection for the PT that the OT taps into. That's why the marketing for TFA is the way it is.

 

Just thought I'd bump my original post to remind everyone why I created this thread. This is not a shot at anyone in particular, but if you are not a fan of the PT you may find that your time would be better spent elsewhere (no subtext intended).

 

I've made my position known about some aspects of the prequels disappointing me, while also being against the personal crap some have levied against Lucas over the years. I would reject any characterization that I am a basher, but have to agree with the above. I can't blame Disney for noting the backlash that exists against the PT out there and for taking an approach that tries to connect TFA with the OT. From a story perspective it makes sense as well, even leaving the marketing ideas behind. I think the marketing campaign is obvious, I've also gone on record as saying some of my fellow fans of SW are overreacting about it all. If Lucas still owned the gig, I'd question efforts to market the ST with PT imagery given the nature of the story's timeline anyway. As for the practical stuff, well, I'm hoping for a film that is more in line with the tone of the OT anyway. I know there were practical effects in the PT, but I still didn't like a lot of the overall aesthetic of a good bit of each of the PT films. I know some of you did and I respect that.

 

The majority of PT hate I see are in nerd circles instead of out in the real world. Personally I think nerd culture has always been toxic and immature. I didn't know about PT hate until I saw it online, and I still don't see it in the real world except for articles geared torwards nerds. Sadly the minority have created a toxic atmosphere around Star Wars, not Lucas, not any of the films, the bashers themselves.

I was 14 when TPM came out and I enjoyed the film and still do.

 

I'm not going to excuse Disney's marketing strategy as logical. To me, it's cowardly. If an indie filmmaker didn't market like that then a healthy corporation like Disney sure as heck should not.

 

Cowardly? I'd agree with Slicer87 that most PT hate comes from geek circles, but I also think the PT had a very minimal impact on pop culture and that most people are lukewarm on them at best.

It's really hard to convey to someone who wasn't there just how massive the OT was. Think of Elvis or the Beatles as a similar "thud" that was heard across the globe and redefined an industry. It's perfectly reasonable to indicate that they are trying to go back to that source.

 

That's missing a core point of the saga though. Star Wars is primarily for kids, not for people 40/50/60/70 years old who want to relive their childhoods.

 

I wasn't aware of the PT hate until I saw it online as well.

 

So you want a safe space where there is no intellectual discussion?

People are going to criticize the PT, because they don't like the movies. It isn't some vast conspiracy or people trying to be cool. They were disappointing to a large group of people for a variety of reasons. You cannot ask for tolerance of your views, then say that TFA is just for old people. How would you like it if someone said the Prequels were just for stupid children and millennials?

 

Unfortunately, I was made aware of the PT hate to my face and I was most displeased by their apparent lack of faith. It was disturbing.

 

Intellectual discussion? Awesome. Trolling and beating the same dead horses? Not awesome.

 

Darth DownunderWell that's fair comment, but slightly at odds with your occasional painting of people here as crybabies. Anyway your defence of JJ in all of this I suppose is simply the point of view that just because your views unfortunately match some of the more spiteful critics - that doesn't mean you are one ! After all you can be a nice person and only really like ANH and ESB - and on certain days I can be that person depending on my mood.
Plus pragmatically these inherited feelings have to be ignored somehow.

I suppose where I and many people differ in this is that enough times there seams to have been collaboration with only one side in this inherited situation. I don't buy this 'even more backlash' argument since that is basically cowardice, but then since this is following ROTJ the events of the PT don't need to be shoe-horned in, but that should not have been used as an excuse to wash their hands of the whole thing.

They have done nothing whatsoever to smooth over this inherited situation when there has been ample opportunity to do so - the only excuse so far being that that might make things worse when it's obvious that taking only one side would be the thing to make it worse - unless you really think that that actually is some sort of 'victory'.

I'm no longer going to 'bash' individuals in this for fear of the 'angry prequel fan' police, but unfortunately for me I can't buy Disney's best that they could do given the situation. Wish I could. I really feel they just don't care because well...they don't have to. They gambled on the nostalgia angle with nothing to loose on balance - because for every few thousand thumbs up for a nicely made tribute on youtube, there are a million for RLM's critiques.

That is something I will just have to accept. I guess I have had 15 years of practice.

 

Yes, 14-year-olds were the target demographic in 1977, but it would never have been the success it was had it not also had broad appeal for those who were older. And what was the source of that appeal? Nostalgia, even then.

SW is not just science fiction or space fantasy. It's a deliberate pastiche of the cinema experienced by the previous generation as children. It's always been about reliving your childhood.

 

I can't agree with that. I was 6 when TESB came out. I know from my own circles, family and friends, that these were films both kids and adults enjoyed. George should get credit for that too. He made films that had a great mix of things that would appeal to old and young alike. I believe he was trying to do the same thing with the PT as welll.

I'm sitting with in-laws who are in their 60s now who loved the OT as a cinematic experence. I remember my dad laughing at jokes I did not yet get. The notion that most films were made for kids isn't even really in line with the subject matter. We didn't even really hear TPM was made for kids from George until after it was out and getting the WTH treatment.

 

GL has literally stated that he made both trilogies primarily for kids. Sure he didn't mind it appealing to older people as well but that was secondary.

 

Right, but we're talking about marketing. Disney XD's spots are talking to kids and getting them excited about a cool, fun universe. The broader marketing is talking to the people with the wallets.

 

Can you elaborate a bit AD? Sorry I'm just a bit confused on this post

 

Specifically around 12, where actually even the 'adult' jokes are understood. People make the big mistake of thinking for kids = the silly stuff, when he says for kids he means giving intelligent themes in a package appealing to youth. Adults get them as well of course because he hasn't dumbed them down.

The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles were a failed attempt to put history and education into a t.v package. It's a core tenet of his beliefs that the kids he makes the movies for are actually no less smart as the adults who are being no more childish for their joining in.

 

My gut sense is that TFA will operate on two different levels, just as the OT did: it'll be a fun adventure for younger audience members, but it'll also be a nostalgia ride for Gen X'ers and Baby Boomers.

These things aren't mutually exclusive. The best family entertainment has something for the grownups in addition to what it offers the kids.

The different marketing strands for TFA speak to these two aspects of the film. The XD spots don't talk about practical effects or returning to the spirit of the OT. But for a huge blockbuster, you have to get the parents and wider audience onboard, too. That's why ANH was so huge. So the broader marketing is nostalgia based because the market that this message appeals to is what will ultimately determine the film's success.

 

Don't forget, most of the main characters in the PT were introduced in the OT even if they were played by different actors. At the same time, there're a few things that were made popular by the prequels and related media - the Sith, the more acrobatic duels, the Clone Wars, the Emperor's rise to power. I've even come across mentions of Maul, Qui-Gon Kinney, padawan in more geeky media that normally dismisses the prequels.

Even the name Anakin is given to more babies than ever - including by parents that don't watch SW.

Of course SW was huge - especially since it was the only game in town, unlike today. But it's also true it was fading from public memory after ROTJ and SEa and news of the prequels brought them back into the public eye.

 

But that's beside the point. The PT just has no real cultural cachet, so what good is it to associate TFA with it? ANH, while not even the fan favourite, is the film the public still associates with SW. To say "This film is a follow on from that film" is just smart.

 

Shouldn't we talk about new Star Wars content and movies instead of "PT hate"?

The title of this thread is: "A Thread For Prequel Fans To Discuss New Star Wars Content "

 

"A lot of kids who saw all the prequels when they were young really do identify with those movies as much as my generation identified with the originals."

According to Abrams.

No cultural cachet for you

Anyway as pointed out this thread as ever is turning into basically "what are you moaning abut the PT just was crap..."

As ever as more none fans are piling in.

As usual.