tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5940197.post6876478851002330650..comments2024-03-25T21:14:49.666-04:00Comments on Joel Swagman (Reviews / TESOL): Star Wars on the BrainJoel Swagmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14948746083822200906noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5940197.post-83190134203850129282015-12-21T20:16:54.320-05:002015-12-21T20:16:54.320-05:00Something I was going to write in this post, but e...Something I was going to write in this post, but ended up cutting for reasons of brevity, was that I quibble slightly with Mike Ryan on his wording. He says that Jedis are boring, but I rather like the Samurai swordfighting in space aspect of the Jedis. If we could keep that, but get rid of the magic part of the Jedis, I would be all in favor of it. But I just hate the magical part.<br /><br />The problem with giving characters near-omnipotent powers is that it makes them boring. It also makes things really inconsistent--so watching the prequels, the viewer is constantly like: "But if he could use the force powers in that previous scene, why doesn't he just use them in this scene?"<br /><br />But if I'm reading you correctly, it sounds like we're both in agreement about the flaws of how the Force has been used in the past. The question is what to do about it going forward.<br /><br />Obviously at this point, we're stuck with "The Force". The new movies couldn't ignore it now even if they wanted too--it's just too big a part of the Star Wars universe.<br /><br />I think The Force worked in the original trilogy because it was something that was out there somewhere, but something that Luke didn't have full control of until the very last movie. So it didn't really spoil the story too much. <br />I guess that would be my hopes for the new movies.<br />(As of this writing, I still haven't seen the new movie. But if all goes according to plan, I should remedy that within the next 24 hours.)Joel Swagmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14948746083822200906noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5940197.post-31266778902627403832015-12-21T07:11:07.286-05:002015-12-21T07:11:07.286-05:00I'm not sure I'm ready to bin The Force. N...I'm not sure I'm ready to bin The Force. No Force, no light-sabers, for one thing. The Force is simply one plot device among many. The problem is it was developed too recklessly, and you can't un-write that. Now that we've seen Jedis leaping tall buildings with a single bound, that's how we think of it. It's like watching Superman fighting General Zod: throw a mailbox at him! Throw a car at him! Throw a train at him! etc. No Kryptonite, no suspense or drama. So I propose <i>Star Wars</i> writers cook up some Krytonite, tout de suite.dpreimerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09905531259256800022noreply@blogger.com