I totally think Star Wars could’ve pulled off a more political plot – I actually even think it could’ve been just as good for a popcorn flick as the OT and far better for the people who want deep, complex, meaningful lore while enhancing the OT. Palpatine’s plan to instigate a war and play both sides, to me, is the actually perfect Palpatine backstory. Anakin’s backstory in the (very) broad strokes is extremely compelling too, and Obi-Wan was overall fantastic. Problem is that George completely fucked up the writing, Anakin’s character development and his relationship with Padmé, a lot of the acting, etc., and squandered so much of the potential the premise had.
This new wave of prequel apologia, that, imo, was catalyzed by the influx of memes, is pointing at criticisms of the prequels from like 15 years ago while totally ignoring the more nuanced, well-argued, and – I think – damning criticisms of the modern day. It’s basically strawmanning when the criticisms are so old and so dead.
Agree with your comment mostly, but I think the prequel apologia is catalyzed by all the kids who watched when they were less than 10 years old becoming adults a decade ago, and remembering them through the rose-tinted lens of nostalgia.
In the prequel heyday Lucasfilm absolutely deluged the world with toys and cross-marketed products, those kids were surrounded by it and of course watched the films, saw the cool parts, and didn’t understand enough to see that the films were very flawed from an adult perspective.
The ideas in the prequels gave us a lot of really good supplemental content. It’s a shame the movies themselves weren’t better made.
I blame Weird Al, personally. I can’t listen to The Saga Begins without legitimately wanting to watch that movie at least a little.
I agree, and i think it’s more than just nostaliga. All the additional media/shows added so much extra context, which makes the movies seem better then they actually are, because it tends to get blended together in people’s minds growing up.
Characters like Anakin or Darth Maul, who are wrtten absolutely terribly in the movies are much more liked because of shows like Clone Wars, which influenced the way people remember the movies additionally to the nostalgia.
Yeah that’s a great point. Genndy Tartakovsky’s Clone Wars did an amazing job expanding and legitimizing the plots and characters introduced in the prequels.
Fair enough. Don’t ask me to forgive him for his dialogue, though
As if lines like “Open the fucking straight you crazy bastards!” are so much better.
And is Melania’s patois really any less grating than Jar Jar’s?
Honestly I can listen to Jar Jar. I can’t listen to her.
Meesa nevah go on the LoLo Spressa, no sirree sa!
Footage of Vance during the negotiations:
the prequels politics were really interesting. it was most things else about them that sucked
Love that they went deeper into the politics in the prequels. Wish the trade route blockade bit had been more fleshed out.
I want to see more Star Wars plotlines that aren’t JUST about the heroes. Of course I haven’t seen the more recent shows or played too many of the games. I think S1 or S2 of The Mandalorian is the newest thing I’ve seen. Haven’t had the time to keep up and maybe there’s lovely new Star Wars content that’s perfect for me and I just haven’t seen it yet.
I’d really love to see something in the lower levels of Coruscant. Like the cancelled game Star Wars 1313. I’d love to know more about the politics of different eras.
There’s an interesting universe, interesting planets, interesting species and people. But most stories are about a select few heroes and villains (thankfully more than just the Skywalker and Palpatine lineages now). There’s so much more that could be done without being repetitive. It’s like a money printing machine that they’re just not using.
You would like Andor if you haven’t tried it already.
I have not, but I’ve heard good things. I’ll see about adding it to my server.
It’s about the inner works of the start of the rebellion, there are “heroes” yes, but it very down to earth and refreshing. One of top points of the series after Rogue One.
I feel like star wars could have gone more into politics and philosophy, maybe flesh out the main story a bit more (aka not spinoff shows). They could have done so much more but of course story and consistency are clearly secondary to magic space wizards swinging around spicy glow sticks.
Then it would be more like Dune 1984. Far more political. I know you said not including spinoffs, but Andor has everything you mentioned in spades minus space wizards and glowing swords.
I would watch andor but I hear the politics are shallow
They are what they are for the universe they’re in, and they are relevant to the OG trilogy as well as 1/2/3. Star Wars is about politics with a hefty dose of Sword and Planet.
Farm boy’s life is upended by brutally authoritarian political entity so he becomes a rebel. Andor, and Rogue One, are what happens behind the scenes that leads up to the big space battle everyone knows in ANH.
People might call Andor shallow because it directly deals with fascism openly and plainly. Maybe the “shallow” commenters prefer not to be reminded of that or that fascism= bad considering modern events. But characters, set design, acting, directing, and story are excellent. A top-tier series regardless of whether or not someone likes Star Wars.
