I am a die hard Star Wars fan, and like the kind of love I have for my wife, we may have our differences and even drag out fights, but I still love her and have no intentions of leaving her. Aww mushy I know, but I just equated my marital relationship to Star Wars, so I likely get the couch tonight. Anyways… after John’s removal from the Jedi Order I almost wondered if I too had lost my devotion to Star Wars. Nope.
One of my daily reads is a webcomic called GU Comics which also offers some daily punditry into the world of console and computer gaming. Today’s strip struck me as funny so I thought I would start off by sharing it with you.
So in the bigger picture the story said that LucasArts did not want to release Force Unleashed to PC because of the variety of system configurations. Hardcore gaming rigs will be able to give you the same experience as the XBox 360 or PS3 versions, but low end machines would give a watered down experience that they are not willing to offer up.
This brought to light something I struggle with as a die hard Star Wars fan (we never ended up with a catchy name like Trekkies or Trekkers do…just Star Wars Fan – Warsie never caught on). The admittance that they are not willing to offer up a version that will potentially be sub par visually for some players (due to their machines) makes me wonder about some of the shortcomings of the Star Wars franchise.
Where was this Exec when they made the CG Clone Wars movie? (I have hope that the series as a whole will be half decent)
I have already forgiven Lucas for Jarjar. Even back in the day Lucas tried to make Star Wars more kid friendly. He almost had to after Empire. Like that soft baby talk you offer up to a child after scarring the pants of them with some loud profanity. (Daddy didn’t mean that… have an Ewok) That movie made me grow up a lot when I was a kid. Little too serious for my 8 year old head to wrap around let alone emotionally grasp. Jedi brought that back around with lighter humour and a bittersweet happy ending that wasn’t too candy coated. People die, the heroes win. But Jedi had its own campy cute Ewoks that made the 11year old in me fall in love and forget about my grade 2 teacher or Karen’s pigtails.
Careless and meaningless crushes were over. This had meaning.
The kid in me came forward with much zeal when the prequels were annouced. My true love had returned. Lucas tried to recycle the success of the kid friendly Ewoks in Episode One and performed an epic fail. He then spent two more movies trying to fix it. Jarjar served his purpose (easily manipulated political pawn) and then faded into obscurity. I like Jarjar after episode 1 was over.
So like the comic above, it might seem that Lucas goes out of his way to upset his fanbase, and I don’t honestly think anyone really believes that. But it’s hard not to think it sometimes.. or all the time. I do agree that Lucas needs to get off the throne every now and then and visit with his people. Sitting that long gives you bedsores. Its just not healthy.
Lucas is a great storyteller. The overall plot of Star Wars is an epic tale. Some people like the backstory being told in dropped statements (I fought alongside your father in the Clone Wars) while others enjoy seeing exactly what these Clone Wars were all about. I don’t need every detail spelled out for me in a movie, but I did enjoy the prequels.
But he needs to admit he is not a great Director.
The kid friendly approach is grating on my nerves, but I keep hoping to get past it. And I hope that Lucas does too. I know Lucas is a creator, and that means he wants to be a part of every aspect of his creation, but he is not God and has to know when to leave some work for his disciples.
He needs to let Timothy Zahn take over as his lead writer, let his very gifted staff at ILM do effects, and for the love of God, he cannot direct. He can have a big old fashioned southern barbeque and share his vision with his followers. Tell the tale. Let the message be told by your followers.
Then we will have to find something else about Star Wars to complain about.
And with all that griping I still love them. I can’t look at Star Wars in any incarnation (the Star Wars Transformer toys just don’t exist to me.. shuddap) and not feel that tainted blind devotion. I can defend most of Star Wars and admit it when there is no defense at all (medichlorians? You got me.)
But it will always have a special place in my heart.
May the Force be with you… always.
