Author: Mark Eldridge

Parts of a Plan: Two Brits Debate the Sequel Trilogy

Posted on June 5, 2017by and Not A Committee

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Ben: It was the best of times, the worst of times, the time with a plan, the time with parts of a plan. Wait a minute, ‘parts of a plan’ ? What’s next, 11 percent of a plan? Yes, per this recent snippet:

“I had presumed (wrongly) that JJ Abrams and Larry Kasdan might have sketched out an arc for the entirety of the current trilogy. But as Rian Johnson told me, it really was a creative handoff—‘Over to you, Rian.’ And Rian is handing off to Colin Trevorrow in the same way. He said he’s made a mess that Colin will somehow have to clean up.”

—David Kamp (Vanity Fair) on what surprised him most about The Last Jedi

This certainly set a Wookiee loose among stormtroopers, with people inclined to being confident, or considerably less so, of a successful outcome for the sequel trilogy. So, I got together with a fellow Brit fan to do a quick exchange as to what effect this has, both for the film trilogy but also wider elements.

Mark, I’ve got a couple of reasons for why this admission of there being no plan pulls the rug out from under a good few aspects of Star Wars.

One is the sheer degree to which The Force Awakens took it – originally I planned to hold off until Episode IX came out and then watch the lot, with the advantage of the films being bolstered by the books or comics. Problem is I’m no longer as certain that’s going to happen now as there isn’t as much of a plan as I thought. That’s a problem when your opening shot culminates, in part, with Han Solo being killed by his dark-side son. Just throwing that out there and leaving it to someone else to pick up feels awfully slapdash. If it was more restrained, I’d likely be less wary. Read More

Of Gods and Men: Exceptional Individuals in Star Wars

Posted on August 24, 2016by The Works

reysaber

Among the myriad responses to The Force Awakens, two in particular have caught my eye recently. One is the criticism that Rey is “overpowered,” and that her Force abilities come too easily to her. The other is a theory: that Finn will ultimately be revealed to be Force-sensitive himself. Two very different responses, but I think both are missing a fundamental truth that lies at the heart of Star Wars: simply put, this is a galaxy where some are born with exceptional powers, and others are not, and the films are interested in telling the stories of both.

A brief note before we begin. As this article on StarWars.com suggests, potentially anyone may be able to learn to use the Force to some degree. Midi-chlorians reside, as Qui-Gon Jinn says, within all living things. Yet it is also true that Force powers come more easily to some than others. While there is an interesting story to be told about a character with a low midi-chlorian count who learns to use the Force through hard work and meditation, it is not a story that has yet been told, and I do not see that changing in the near future. As Han Solo bluntly puts it to Finn in TFA, “That’s not how the Force works.”

I should also note that the criticism of Rey being “overpowered” often comes hand-in-hand with the allegation that she is a “Mary Sue.” That reductive and erroneous assertion has been dealt with eloquently by excellent writers elsewhere, so I will not be addressing it here. Read More

Europe 2016: A Celebration of the Lucasfilm Story Group

Posted on August 3, 2016by The Works

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During the “Future Filmmakers” panel, the final event of Star Wars Celebration Europe 2016, Episode VIII director Rian Johnson revealed that he had spent six weeks in San Francisco with the Lucasfilm Story Group developing the story for the film before writing his screenplay. Sitting in the audience, I was at first surprised to learn this, but in retrospect I shouldn’t have been. It confirmed a feeling that had been growing with each panel I had attended throughout the weekend: that the role of the Story Group is wider, and more central to every aspect of Star Wars storytelling, than I had thought.

It is a common misconception that the Story Group exists to ensure continuity between the various media in which Star Wars stories are being told: films, novels, comics and video games. This is certainly part of their role, and we can see the fruits of that in the two most recent novels, Claudia Gray’s Bloodline (which had input from Johnson himself) and Chuck Wendig’s Aftermath: Life Debt. Both books draw together story elements spanning existing novels and films, and also give us tantalizing hints of what may be to come in the sequel trilogy. At the “Star Wars Publishing” panel on Saturday, Matt Martin from the Story Group mentioned that aspects of the Adventures in Wild Space series, ostensibly written for children, will soon make their way into stories aimed at adults. The revelation at that panel that the Rogue One tie-in novel Catalyst will be written by James Luceno also implies an intention to ensure continuity between the film and Luceno’s previous novel Tarkin, which covers the early days of the Death Star project. Read More

The Pull to the Light: Redemption and Salvation in Star Wars

Posted on June 10, 2016by The Works

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The first six Star Wars episodes tell, in part, the story of the fall and redemption of Darth Vader. This is a common interpretation, supported by George Lucas’s own statements. But is Darth Vader truly redeemed, and what do we mean by that? What actually happens to him at the end of Return of the Jedi? This question is crucial to understanding the thematic core of Star Wars, and we must attempt to answer it if we are to speculate on the future of our newest villain: Kylo Ren, formerly Ben Solo.

Darth Vader

Before we explore this, we have to ask what is meant by “redemption.” Like many questions dealing with the English language, the answer is more complicated than it first appears. The first definition given by dictionary.com is:

1.

an act of redeeming or atoning for a fault or mistake, or the state of being redeemed.

This definition relies on the idea that a person atones for, or “redeems”, a mistake they have made. Is this what Vader does? This is a value judgement, so we may all come to a different conclusion, but on the whole, I would have to argue that he does not. Read More

The Quick and Easy Path: Politics and the Force

Posted on May 23, 2016by Feature Articles, The Works

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Politics have been part of Star Wars since the opening pages of Alan Dean Foster’s novelization of A New Hope told the story of how the Old Republic became the Empire not through a military coup, but because it rotted from within due to corruption. With the publication of Claudia Gray’s political drama Bloodline, and the revelation that its central conflict arose from suggestions by Episode VIII director Rian Johnson, politics are once again at the forefront of the Star Wars universe. But does the saga have a core political philosophy, or make a political statement? If it does, how does it relate to the overall philosophy of Star Wars? And can we use it to predict where the franchise might take us next?

Harmony and corruption in the old Republic

The Phantom Menace is the clearest statement of George Lucas’s political outlook, and we can use it as a starting point to follow this thread through the rest of his six-episode saga. On a narrative level, TPM is the story of Padmé Amidala, told mainly through the eyes of Qui-Gon Jinn: the core conflict against the Trade Federation is Padmé’s, and it is her choices – first to leave Naboo and appeal to the Senate, then to return and unite her people with the Gungans – that drive the story and give it shape. It is unlike any other film in the saga – not the mythic hero’s journey of a Jedi-to-be, but the story of a young woman’s political coming-of-age.

Padmé leaves Naboo because she believes in the ability of the Senate to save her people from the Federation. Arriving on Tatooine, however, Padmé is shocked to discover that there is still slavery in the galaxy, and that there are places where the laws of the Republic simply do not exist. Even Republic money is worthless out here, and the entire planet is controlled by gangsters. The implication is clear: the Republic doesn’t care about what happens on the galactic frontier. When we reach Coruscant, we discover that the Trade Federation, a corporation driven by profit, has its own seat in the Senate, giving it a voice in galactic affairs that is equal to any Republic system, and stronger than worlds such as Tatooine. Taking advantage of legalism and bureaucracy, the Federation is able to stall the Senate’s actions. Read More