TheBoost said:
Vaderisnothayden said:
Gaffer Tape said:
That's not saying I haven't enjoyed EU, but if you honestly think it's anything more than a marketing push, you're seriously deluding yourselves."but if you honestly think it's anything more than a marketing push, you're seriously deluding yourselves."
Yep. That's all the EU is.
I don't follow. If you enjoy it, how is it any different than any other entertainment venture out there competing for your dollar? If George Lucas slavishly followed every idea laid out in every novel, comic, and RPG supplement, would that somehow make it NOT a 'marketing push?'
Would ROTS have been one ounce better if it was more closely tied to the adventures of Jangotat, or the BattleStar Space Medics? Would the new Clone Wars be any more enjoyable is the prodcucers made sure it tied in better with the 1970's newspaper strip?
What would be the product Lucasfilm could produce that is somehow NOT a marketing push?
That's not what I said, though. What I said had nothing to do with one's enjoyment of or the importance of or the necessity of EU. I enjoy the EU that I've read. I read the Thrawn trilogy when I was in 5th grade, I've read Shadows, and last year I read Splinter of the Mind's Eye and the first four books of the X-Wing series, and I've genuinely enjoyed all of them and more. My statement had nothing to do with that, though. My statement was a reminder that, whether or not you like expanded universe material, Lucasfilm's attempt to make different levels of canon serves only to give themselves the best of both worlds loophole: the EU material receives validation and is made to seem important in the history of the universe, but it can be easily discarded or ignored whenever the need arises. It's as simple as that. It's marketing. That's all I was saying.
To answer your question, no, I wouldn't have enjoyed ROTS more if EU stuff had been thrown into it. I can't say anything about Clone Wars since I've barely seen it. I tend to agree with VINH that EU stuff should be kept out of the films, especially since George himself doesn't follow it. I think The Outrider in Star Wars is harmless enough in theory (except that it's a SE change and therefore shouldn't have been made in the first place--I'm referring to the practice of tiny, innocuous cameos in general), but it does present a mixed message that causes scratching of heads. It's like Lucas is saying, "Well, I don't know what this ship even is because I haven't read this book, but I'm sure if I have it wink at the camera and can get my people to add a new entry into the databank, it'll sell a few more toys."
If you think that's a cynical view to take, it probably is, but I'm hardly cynical about it. Like I said, C3PX was making me laugh. It really is to laugh.