StarChewyWar said:

When will you people understand I do NOT LIKE the Phantom Menace. This movie sucks big time. I didn't even include it as part of the main series when I showed my friends Star Wars for the first time ( Machete Order ). While Attack of the Clones is a failure as a movie on every level, Phantom Menace is a failure as a continuation of the Star Wars saga. It undermines not just the original trilogy, but the other prequels too. There are two good things in this movie: Darth Maul and the score by John Williams.

StarChewyWar said:

imperialscum said:

I was "MIND BLOWN!" by this thread. Life-changing stuff.

Man, you people are not gonna leave me alone for that, are you?

I don't think all the youpeopling is really needed. We're not attacking you personally. Just presenting our views on the topics you're discussing (which you seem to be doing in a devils advocate type way, which is of course fine).

Regarding the Mind Blown thing, it's just a very strong way of presenting the view points you've stated. What's preventing my mind from being blown is that I've tried to look at it that way, or any other way that could give TPM the benefit of the doubt, and the film itself just doesn't support even marginally redemptive viewing strategies.

And regarding your reply to me about the protagonist: I guess it depends what is being discussed. The criticism by the plinkett person is that the film has no protagonist. So I'm not sure the best way to contest that is to scratch our heads, wondering, "so who must the protagonist be, if not x?". There isn't necessarily one by definition, and we don't need to upgrade the closest candidate.

I think plinky is right. However, I also think it's narrow-minded of him to assume every film needs to be structured in such a boring way with a Campbellian Hero. But that doesn't save TPM. It plays out more like an episode of a television show that allows us to follow various characters and plot lines, while lacking any kind of thoughtful overall structure.