a Machine Of Words
  • The Mind Cannibalism
  • Thought For Food
  • Who is Judas X. Machina?
  • Mental Sewage
  • Experimental
  • The basics of Finding Fault
    • Failed Daily
  • Dear Jerkass

#FridayReads

3/23/2018

0 Comments

 
I'm not a Star Wars fan at all, but even I cringed at what I heard they did in Force Awakens.  The problem wasn't that they "took risks", the problem was they ignored the rules the original films established.  Just like how the fans got angry at the prequels and their mitichlorians garbage; it went against the established rules of the Star Wars universe.
I love the epic poem Beowulf because of its amazing plot twist; no weapon can harm Grendel.  None.  Not a single one.  If you had an AR-15 it wouldn't do anything to him, he'd shrug it off.
Beowulf rips off Grendels arm and beats him with it, and Grendel runs off into the woods to bleed to death.
Now THAT is good storytelling!
In the movie, no weapon can kill Grendel.  Except the convenient magical weapon  that can.
Now THAT is bad storytelling.  It's a plot device, like kryptonite but for bad writing.
I have seen fan made films that use the source material faithfully and have enjoyed them MORE than the original films.  How can swaths of writers create entire book series faithful to the rules of the Star Wars universe and keep fans entertained, but the new "risk taking" movies can't?
That was the issue.  Not the risk taking.
Kylo Ren as an actually compelling Bad Guy, and why the Mask Makes Sense.
Kylo wants to emulate his grandfather.  My own kids used to walk around with canes to act like their great grandfather.  Many people wear things they don't need in order to emulate power.  And that's the one interesting part of Kylo's character; he is an empty shell trying to BE someone.  Under the mask he is nothing...and he knows this.  He has no tragic backstory (even the tacked on Luke murder attempt), only envy.  He has Han Solo, a famous criminal as a father, and a Princess as a mother.  He has their identity to contend with and none of his own.  His character is Envy and Wrath, both hollow pursuits towards fulfillment but dogmatically obeyed.
That is why he is an actually compelling villain.  Villains don't need character arcs.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    My title page contents
    MY YOUTUBE!
    Tweets by @JudasXMachina

    Why "Failed Daily"?

    Because I fail to update daily.
    I come up with a lot of weird stuff.  Isn't "weird" spelled weird?

    Archives

    March 2022
    February 2022
    September 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    September 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    April 2019
    September 2018
    August 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    September 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    March 2015
    January 2015
    October 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    March 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    October 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011

    Categories

    All
    Action
    Adventure
    Art
    Avengers
    Christmas
    Contemporary
    Drug Trade
    Ebook
    Fingerprint Hack
    Hack Reward
    Human Torch
    Iphone 6
    Iphone Scanner
    Kardashian
    Legalize
    Love
    Marijuana
    Mass Death Sentence
    Megan Fox
    Men In Black
    Michael B. Jordon
    Modern Art
    Murder
    People
    Review
    True Monsters
    Twilight
    Utilitarian Bioethics

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • The Mind Cannibalism
  • Thought For Food
  • Who is Judas X. Machina?
  • Mental Sewage
  • Experimental
  • The basics of Finding Fault
    • Failed Daily
  • Dear Jerkass