Lit A/V The Force Awakens and the EU [TAGGED spoilers.]

To be serious for a moment, I think that The Secret History of Star Wars is the definitive take over the creation of the original trilogy, what actually was conceived of for the sequel trilogy (not to mention episodes 10-12), when and how Lucas changed his tune on them, and the development of the prequels. I trust that book a lot more than I trust any of the "Making Of" books by Rinzler, which basically just parrot whatever the official Lucas explanation at the moment was and takes it at face value. I think it was his Making of Star Wars book that tried to claim that midi-chlorians had always been intended since 1977...sure, Rinzler, sure.

This already happened with the prequel trilogy, though, especially ROTS. It happens with basically any movie that makes some sort of statement that can be construed as critical to the Fox News agenda. It always blows over once some other thing for them to melt down over pops up (it was only a month ago that Festivus Poles were leading the Secular War on Christianity, after all).

 

You really think The Making of Star Wars fabricated the document from 1977 that mentions midi-chlorians...?

We're getting into tinfoil hat territory here with the Lucas hate.

 

I'm absolutely willing to believe that Lucas gave Rinzler the document that he had himself had edited or updated at various points after 1977, sure.

 

But he didn't bother to update the document to reflect other changes to the saga, like C-3PO being 112 years old.

 

Haven't read the book, does it mention them by name? I know Foster's novelization talks about how the Jedi tried to scientifically quantify the Force.

 

There's a section in the back that has a document Lucas wrote for the licensees (Marvel comics, Del Rey books) which talks about the primary characters and the setting, and it has:

"It is said that certain creatures are born with a higher awareness of the Force than humans. Their brains are different; they have more midi-chlorians in their cells."

Maybe Lucas scribbled that semi-colon and last line in there in the 90s, but it also says C-3PO is 112 years old and you would think if he's pulling a 1984 he'd fix that too.

 

I'd like to think I'm being more over-cautious than Disney is actually prepared to be Steve, thanks.

 

So I want to add some positivity here and say that I'm actually excited for the sequel trilogy. Maybe that seems odd with my previous posts and well, I still don't want to see a complete reboot, but I think there is a lot to be excited about.

The prequel trilogy was my childhood and so I have fond memories waiting for the next movie. It will be cool to see a next generation of little kids getting excited to see them and I'll enjoy going back through the hype and teasers. Although, I doubt anything could beat the wait between 2 and 3. We knew that the Clone Wars would lead to Anakin's fall and the death of the Jedi and we got to see it unfold. I didn't read the adult novels, but I played the game watched the micro series. That left me feeling like I new the Clone Wars and kept increasing my excitement. This was especially the case when combined with the Boba get novels. I remember watching ROTS thinking I had so much more information than anyone else. It was great; I can't wait to see what kind of lead in they come up with this time. I really don't think it can top that, but it will be fun. And again, it will be nice seeing a new generation living a similar experience to what I had.

Also, I had wanted to see the sequel trilogoy since before I knew about the prequels. It was always something I was curious about. It will be great to see them; even if they throw out the NJO and make me angry . Actually, I'm sure I will be able to come up with some convoluted head canon to keep everything safe. And anyway, I'll get to watch movies that I have wanted to see for 15 years. That's kind of exciting!

 

I enjoy the Making of books well enough, though I do think they kind of side on the Lucas bias on that series. I will say though that The Secret History of Star Wars does an awesome job of summing up all the 'influences' Lucas had when he was writing, how exactly he made all the decisions he came to, and basically touching a lot of the material the for hire authors won't touch. Along with the appendices, which I haven't read, I should read it again.

 

I'm really excited but I'm worried they'll decrease or stop the production of Star Wars literature, and instead tell EU stories with things like kids cartoon shows, comic books and that sort of stuff which would suck a lot.

 

Yeah, but how many fans got hugely upset at the fact that Threepio wasn't built in 112 BBY? The midi-chlorians were one of the biggest things people got angry at in TPM, so it makes sense to me that Lucas would want to 'correct the record' about how they had always been part of his permanent plan that was set in stone from the very start.

 

This conspiracy goes too deep for me.

Seriously, I think if Lucas cared what the fans thought, he wouldn't have put an additional "NOOO" in ROTJ.

 

Well, against my better judgement, I ventured into the Episode VII forum and read the "I hate EU and everyone that likes it" thread (that might not be its real title, but it better describes it then its current title). That was a mistake. It's kind of sad that so many people want the EU to be completely thrown out just for the sake of it being gone.

 

It's ok man... we're here for you.

 

rofl

 

Yea, that's it. At least with that thread, it sort of (not really, though) keeps the EU hate from contaminating the rest of the forum.

 

I'm guessing they don't spot the irony that that Average Movie-Goer thinks the same way about them, if indeed they're even aware of them at all.

 

No, he must add MORE of them!

When Vader reveals his identity, shouting "That's impossible!" is not good enough! Luke must follow up and shout NOOOOO. And in ROTJ, when Obi-Wan reveals Leia is his sister, Luke must shout NOOOOOO.

 

Of course Lucas had everything mapped out, of course

 

So much, in fact, that we will even chop off your arm and kill you to prove our love and commitment, brother.

We're your most awesome friends like that!

 

Hey uh, I've never seen that before. That was a wonderful read! Couldn't contain smiles...

 

Zac Efron confirms that he with JJ Abrams regarding Star Wars.

While I agree that holding "High School Musical" against Zac Efron is kind of silly at this point I do have to say that the worst dreams that my fourteen year-old self had are coming true.