Saga Viewing Order Post-TFA

YES, they are fan fiction. Fiction created and controlled by fans = fan fiction.

That doesn't diminish their quality or make them less official.

 

Just like Star wars is no longer the vision of just one man but of collective minds, each with their own interpretation of the saga which doesn't make it inherently better or worst than before. Whether it's fan fiction or not doesn't affect my enjoyment of the story if it's a well-crafted one.

 

Umm, No. See the definition I posted earlier.

 

I saw it. It was reasonable, from a certain POV.

Now, though, you're saying that fiction created and controlled by fans is not fan fiction.
That doesn't look very reasonable at all from where I'm standing.

 

Yes, Abrams and Co. are Star Wars fans but they were also paid by the copyright owners of Star Wars to create The Force Awakens.

By your definition, half of all intellectual properties that have existed in the past 50 years would be considered Fanfiction, which is just asinine and ridiculous.

 

I really do not see what's so ridiculous about that. What's the problem with it being fan fiction? As I said, that says nothing about the quality or official status of it.

 

Again, see the definition I posted.

Works of fanfiction are not and cannot be legitimized... PERIOD.

Your definition defines 'legitimate works' as only those things produced by the original auteur/author/creator of a particular thing, and everything else, regardless of official sanction and status, as fanfiction, which is asinine and ridiculous because it is fundamentally dismissive of anything that wasn't created by a particular person or group of people.

 

When you say "fan fiction", there's an unspoken "unsanctioned" preceding the term.
When I say it, there's not - because there is such a thing as officially authorized, legitimate fan fiction. TFA is a perfect example of that.

That is in no way dismissive of anything.

 

No, there's not.

If a fan of a particular property creates a work that is sanctioned by the copyright holders of said property, what that fan created is not fanfiction. It's as simple as that.

 

This seems like a really important argument.


Sent from my brain using thumbs.

 

^ It's not even an argument, and has really derailed the thread enough, so back to talking about the viewing order.

It's pretty clear, IMO, that there really is only the one way to view the Saga - episodically - even though it's also clear that people are going to continue to have their own opinions/thoughts on the subject.

 

It's as simple as this: Fan-created fiction = fan fiction.

But yes, let's get back on topic.

There are countless ways to watch the Saga, just as there are countless ways to watch any other movie.
I prefer to experience the story in chronological order, though - even though it's also fun, not to mention enlightening, to mix and match and highlight all the parallels and inversions.

 

Then I am the most ardent Lucas is Star Wars disciple.

 

Something that needs to be considered. Ten years ago, HBO had received the broadcast rights to show all six films that existed at the time. All based off the DVD editions of the films. HBO and Cinemax began airing the Saga as I-VI over the course of one day. Cinemax would do the same thing. A few years later, MTV and later Spike TV would air the Saga in the same manner. Sometimes over the course of a week, sometimes divided over two days of three films each. But always in I-VI order. Lucas sold his company to Disney and after the existing contracts ended, the films went off the air until this past week when TNT began broadcasting the Saga. And now that Lucas is out, notice that the Saga premieres as I-VI. Today, they began the full day marathon at 5:15 A.M. EST with TPM and will go through with ROTJ, which makes its premiere tonight and will rebroadcast right after. I wager that TNT will also divide the films into trilogies and air them over two days, in the coming weeks and months. In about another year or so, I wager that TNT will have the rights to TFA. And then we'll have a I-VII.marathon.

So, my point is that even without the creator at the helm, LFL policy is to have the films as episodic order over order of release.

 

LFL/Disney don't really care what the best way to experience the saga is. They're corporations above all else and they're trying to market the movies the best they can. And from a marketing standpoint, does I-VI make more sense or does IV,V,VI,I,II,III? I'd say the former does since the numbers go in order. Thus, in order to minimize confusion & maximize accessibility for newcomers, the movies are shown in episodic order. It's simply a business decision that doesn't really have any bearing on what the ideal order actually is.

 

Kathleen Kennedy is more than just a "corporate suit"; she's the woman that George Lucas handpicked to succeed him as the CEO/COO of Lucasfilm knowing full well that he was selling the company, so the fact that the company continues to license the films for distribution in episodic order is far more than just a "business decision"; it's a tacit statement of how the company and its handpicked CEO/COO - who maintains direct day-to-day control over it and its operations - want their 'signature property' to be experienced.

 

And why do you think they want their "signature property" to be experienced I-VI? Again, I'd bet that it's because starting with the number 1 and going upwards creates less confusion & maximizes accessibility for newcomers. They probably didn't even consider the release order because the numbers don't work that way. So maybe "business decision" wasn't the best wording. Instead, I don't think it was much of a decision at all. The movies clearly have numbers on them, so why not just show them in that order? It's the simplest thing to do and avoids unnecessary confusion.

But I do get what you're saying about Kennedy. Perhaps there is a component of it that's about honoring George's wishes about how the films should be viewed. But I don't know about that. The fact that they didn't use his ST story treatments might be indicative of how they feel about following his wishes.

 

Im not really disputing your argument; I'm simply pointing out that the company is in fact making a tacit endorsement of Episodic order regardless of what may be motivating them to do so.

I would also point out that Kennedy remains close personal friends with Lucas, meaning that there was no ill will meant in the decision not to use the story treatments he provided.

 

If we count every Star Wars film,
TPM
ANH
Rogue One
Han Solo Film
TESB
AOTC
ROTS
Obi Wan Film
ROTJ
Boba Fett Film
TFA
Episode VIII
Episode IX

If just the episodes,

Episode I
Episode IV
Episode V
Episode II
Episode III
Episode VI
Episode VII
Episode VIII
Episode IX

 

Hm! Interesting. I get where you're going with viewing the Saga episodes in that order, but I'm not really sure why you place RO and the Han Solo movie after ANH.
Do you imagine it as a flashback for newcomers?

 

for people who've never seen the films they need to see 4, 5 and 6 first. then the pt and watch all the way through.

 

I do, and I think flash back viewers should get a feel of the OT environment before going back in time after only 2 OT films.

 

Personally I love to watch them 1-7 but that is just me.

 

I've always liked the Machete order for maintaining the surprise of Luke's parentage, at least if introducing it to new people or to your kids. TFA going at the end of that, of course. At the same time, I'd more likely prefer to show my kids this order: IV, V, VI, VII. I mean, you can't protect them from everything in this world, but you can try!