It goes without saying that no one likes to be the bearer of bad news.
What’s worse?
Well, the only thing I can think of immediately is being the recipient of some bad news; but when you get in the business of trying to both talk about entertainment and critique it against the backdrop of history, you have to be willing to ‘man up’ and deliver the good, the bad, and the ugly.
In part, that’s all I was trying to do yesterday when I talked about the death of good storytelling in the greater Star Wars Universe. Looking back, I didn’t think then – nor do I think now – that I said anything remotely controversial. In fact, I’ve always tried to approach presenting my perspective with a whole lot of common sense woven in there between the nouns, verbs, and adjectives. Like it or not, it might’ve stirred to the pot a bit too heartily for some, mostly because I received some feedback suggesting that I said “Star Wars is dead.”
Again, I never said that exactly, but let me take a moment to clear up any confusion I may’ve inadvertently created:
“Star Wars – as we once knew it – is dead.”
In fact, I think that’s an accepted consensus amongst the hardest of the hard-core Star Wars fans: it wasn’t but just last week that Film Threat’s Chris Gore and his merry band of collaborators hosted the online event titled “Funeral For A Franchise.” For those of you who missed it – shame on you – it was largely a long wake coordinated by Gore that highlighted a great many reasons why that galaxy far, far away has slipped further and further from our cultural collective consciousness. Unlike other online content creators, Film Threat delivered an event that was as thoughtful as it was satirically tinged. While one could’ve come away feeling differently about the State of The Empire, I thought that there was still no denying that what Star Wars has become under Lucasfilm’s Second Reich is a far cry from the whimsical, fantastical fairy tale that inspired a generation (or two) of consumers in ways the Walt Disney Company can (arguably) never recapture.
Now, I’m surprised that this is something I’d ever find myself clarifying, frankly.
While what I wrote yesterday was never intended to insult anyone who still invests time and money in the Outer Rim territories, I’m astonished how audiences can look at Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope and find legitimate thematic comparisons to Andor, Ahsoka, or The Acolyte.
Andor – a good Fantasy/Drama in its own right – hinges very heavily on understanding the political structure of the franchise George Lucas created. It coopted some of the original’s ideas and gave them new life by introducing political comparisons to our modern era. So, yes, it’s an adult excursion within this intergalactic fairy tale; and, yes, I get why some like it. But … for me? It feels more like that newfangled Battlestar Galactica than it does something Luke, Han, and Leia would fit easily into, and I’ve no plans to watch its second season at this point.
In minor ways, Ahsoka hinted strongly in small pieces like it wanted to be something very much ‘in the tradition of’ what Lucas did. Sadly, the show’s pacing was horrific, gravitating between painful instances of characters standing around waiting for something to spur them into action instead of the plot organically doing that all on its own. I guess those who dabble in the Expanded Universe may’ve found more to like in it than I did, but – again – the narrative inconsistency bored me to tears.
Basically, this brings us to The Acolyte, a program that – if ratings data is accurate – quite possibly lost more of its audience than the franchise ever really gained. For clarity’s sake, no, I didn’t watch it – had no interest, honestly – but I followed the plot points via online blogging and vlogging. I don’t feel I missed anything; and I’m quite certain that – given what I’ve heard about it – it wouldn’t have changed my mind about the current dire predicament some Star Wars fans find themselves in today.
What’s worse?
Well, the only thing I can think of immediately is being the recipient of some bad news; but when you get in the business of trying to both talk about entertainment and critique it against the backdrop of history, you have to be willing to ‘man up’ and deliver the good, the bad, and the ugly.
In part, that’s all I was trying to do yesterday when I talked about the death of good storytelling in the greater Star Wars Universe. Looking back, I didn’t think then – nor do I think now – that I said anything remotely controversial. In fact, I’ve always tried to approach presenting my perspective with a whole lot of common sense woven in there between the nouns, verbs, and adjectives. Like it or not, it might’ve stirred to the pot a bit too heartily for some, mostly because I received some feedback suggesting that I said “Star Wars is dead.”
Again, I never said that exactly, but let me take a moment to clear up any confusion I may’ve inadvertently created:
“Star Wars – as we once knew it – is dead.”
In fact, I think that’s an accepted consensus amongst the hardest of the hard-core Star Wars fans: it wasn’t but just last week that Film Threat’s Chris Gore and his merry band of collaborators hosted the online event titled “Funeral For A Franchise.” For those of you who missed it – shame on you – it was largely a long wake coordinated by Gore that highlighted a great many reasons why that galaxy far, far away has slipped further and further from our cultural collective consciousness. Unlike other online content creators, Film Threat delivered an event that was as thoughtful as it was satirically tinged. While one could’ve come away feeling differently about the State of The Empire, I thought that there was still no denying that what Star Wars has become under Lucasfilm’s Second Reich is a far cry from the whimsical, fantastical fairy tale that inspired a generation (or two) of consumers in ways the Walt Disney Company can (arguably) never recapture.
Now, I’m surprised that this is something I’d ever find myself clarifying, frankly.
While what I wrote yesterday was never intended to insult anyone who still invests time and money in the Outer Rim territories, I’m astonished how audiences can look at Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope and find legitimate thematic comparisons to Andor, Ahsoka, or The Acolyte.
Andor – a good Fantasy/Drama in its own right – hinges very heavily on understanding the political structure of the franchise George Lucas created. It coopted some of the original’s ideas and gave them new life by introducing political comparisons to our modern era. So, yes, it’s an adult excursion within this intergalactic fairy tale; and, yes, I get why some like it. But … for me? It feels more like that newfangled Battlestar Galactica than it does something Luke, Han, and Leia would fit easily into, and I’ve no plans to watch its second season at this point.
In minor ways, Ahsoka hinted strongly in small pieces like it wanted to be something very much ‘in the tradition of’ what Lucas did. Sadly, the show’s pacing was horrific, gravitating between painful instances of characters standing around waiting for something to spur them into action instead of the plot organically doing that all on its own. I guess those who dabble in the Expanded Universe may’ve found more to like in it than I did, but – again – the narrative inconsistency bored me to tears.
Basically, this brings us to The Acolyte, a program that – if ratings data is accurate – quite possibly lost more of its audience than the franchise ever really gained. For clarity’s sake, no, I didn’t watch it – had no interest, honestly – but I followed the plot points via online blogging and vlogging. I don’t feel I missed anything; and I’m quite certain that – given what I’ve heard about it – it wouldn’t have changed my mind about the current dire predicament some Star Wars fans find themselves in today.
If you’re wondering, then, why I felt it necessary to offer up today’s clarification, it’s only because I heard from a few in the readership suggesting that I was a bit harsh on the franchise. I don’t think I was – not even in the slightest – but responders did ask what I would do to fix the problem?
Well … how do you bring anything back from the dead, folks?
Okay, okay, okay … yeah, maybe that was harsh. Forgive me for that – no, I’m not deleting the line because it’s relevant – and let me offer up something perhaps a tad more constructive.
Part of the challenge, I think, that Lucasfilm – under the Walt Disney Company – has is that they’re in the business of turning out products and not stories. Yes, yes, and yes: the corporation has given us some wonderful films over the years – and they may yet again one day – but if the powers that be cannot see how ‘Star Wars’ and ‘Disney Stars Wars’ differ even only on the thematic level then what good is expending any effort trying to concoct a plan? I could be wrong here, but if The Acolyte had massive ratings even with its storytelling flaws do you honestly believe they’d think twice about doing anything differently? George Lucas – by contrast – always said he was telling the stories he wanted to tell; Kathleen Kennedy – Lucasfilm’s current head – appears to have no interest in telling stories so much as she does pushing propaganda. Those are two vastly dissimilar starting points, and I’m not certain they can exist in the same creation of mythologies.
So the only problem they see is that (A) the films are underperforming financially and (B) the television series are underperforming as selling points for Disney+. What this tells me is that the company is okay spending, say, $1 billion to make a new flick so long as it grosses, say, $3 or $5 or $7 billion at the box office. Things like story, characters, plot, etc. don’t factor into that equation, not in any negligible way. Similarly, I suspect they’d be happy to spend $1 billion on a new Star Wars streaming show so long as it netted them 3 or 5 or 7 billion new subscribers. Once more, the things I want to know more about – story, characters, plot, etc. – are inconsequential. Because apparently only profit matters in their corner of existence, how do I fix corrupted narratives? In short, there is no fix if you don’t acknowledge the core deficiency, something few executives are ever interested in exploring.
All I can offer again is my query: “How do you bring back the dead?”
Now, I hold out hope that the circumstances might change.
In our hearts, I do think we’ve an optimistic people; and it’s in our nature to wish for things to be as good as they are green. No one wants to feel down and out when talking about any of our entertainment experiences, but even we need to be better about not giving swindlers more of what’s in our wallet when they care so little about the quality of the slop they dump in the trough. The best that Iger and Kennedy could do for now would be to shelve every Star Wars project in the pipeline and let the waters clear. Put some space between what they’ve done and what they could do, even if that means ultimately finding other intellectual properties to do something with in the meantime. If nothing else, a bit of a recess might help develop a greater hunger for whatever comes out next, and that alone might help lift even a middling effort out of the red and into the black.
I know, I know, I know … but what would you do?
There is no simple answer. If there were, then I suspect Disney or Lucasfilm would’ve already exploited it.
But … what I would do would be something a bit different, that’s for sure.
I’m an O.G. guy, and for me Star Wars has always been Luke, Han, Leia, Chewie, R2, and C-3PO. I’d bring them back in animated form with either a television show or smaller movie set after the events of Return Of The Jedi. It doesn’t have to be anything big and grand – though I’d not turn that down – but it does have to be a story worth watching, a chord they haven’t quite since acquiring the franchise from Lucas. Give us the further adventures of Luke Skywalker – a tagline that even the Jedi Master has used here and there – and put the band back together again. It was an opportunity that Lucasfilm deliberately avoided, and that single mistake told me everything about ‘Disney Star Wars’ that I needed to know in one fell swoop.
If you wanna recover from that?
Put the band back together.
And let them play.
-- EZ
Well … how do you bring anything back from the dead, folks?
Okay, okay, okay … yeah, maybe that was harsh. Forgive me for that – no, I’m not deleting the line because it’s relevant – and let me offer up something perhaps a tad more constructive.
Part of the challenge, I think, that Lucasfilm – under the Walt Disney Company – has is that they’re in the business of turning out products and not stories. Yes, yes, and yes: the corporation has given us some wonderful films over the years – and they may yet again one day – but if the powers that be cannot see how ‘Star Wars’ and ‘Disney Stars Wars’ differ even only on the thematic level then what good is expending any effort trying to concoct a plan? I could be wrong here, but if The Acolyte had massive ratings even with its storytelling flaws do you honestly believe they’d think twice about doing anything differently? George Lucas – by contrast – always said he was telling the stories he wanted to tell; Kathleen Kennedy – Lucasfilm’s current head – appears to have no interest in telling stories so much as she does pushing propaganda. Those are two vastly dissimilar starting points, and I’m not certain they can exist in the same creation of mythologies.
So the only problem they see is that (A) the films are underperforming financially and (B) the television series are underperforming as selling points for Disney+. What this tells me is that the company is okay spending, say, $1 billion to make a new flick so long as it grosses, say, $3 or $5 or $7 billion at the box office. Things like story, characters, plot, etc. don’t factor into that equation, not in any negligible way. Similarly, I suspect they’d be happy to spend $1 billion on a new Star Wars streaming show so long as it netted them 3 or 5 or 7 billion new subscribers. Once more, the things I want to know more about – story, characters, plot, etc. – are inconsequential. Because apparently only profit matters in their corner of existence, how do I fix corrupted narratives? In short, there is no fix if you don’t acknowledge the core deficiency, something few executives are ever interested in exploring.
All I can offer again is my query: “How do you bring back the dead?”
Now, I hold out hope that the circumstances might change.
In our hearts, I do think we’ve an optimistic people; and it’s in our nature to wish for things to be as good as they are green. No one wants to feel down and out when talking about any of our entertainment experiences, but even we need to be better about not giving swindlers more of what’s in our wallet when they care so little about the quality of the slop they dump in the trough. The best that Iger and Kennedy could do for now would be to shelve every Star Wars project in the pipeline and let the waters clear. Put some space between what they’ve done and what they could do, even if that means ultimately finding other intellectual properties to do something with in the meantime. If nothing else, a bit of a recess might help develop a greater hunger for whatever comes out next, and that alone might help lift even a middling effort out of the red and into the black.
I know, I know, I know … but what would you do?
There is no simple answer. If there were, then I suspect Disney or Lucasfilm would’ve already exploited it.
But … what I would do would be something a bit different, that’s for sure.
I’m an O.G. guy, and for me Star Wars has always been Luke, Han, Leia, Chewie, R2, and C-3PO. I’d bring them back in animated form with either a television show or smaller movie set after the events of Return Of The Jedi. It doesn’t have to be anything big and grand – though I’d not turn that down – but it does have to be a story worth watching, a chord they haven’t quite since acquiring the franchise from Lucas. Give us the further adventures of Luke Skywalker – a tagline that even the Jedi Master has used here and there – and put the band back together again. It was an opportunity that Lucasfilm deliberately avoided, and that single mistake told me everything about ‘Disney Star Wars’ that I needed to know in one fell swoop.
If you wanna recover from that?
Put the band back together.
And let them play.
-- EZ
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