Dek Rollins said:
and the ‘14 parsecs’ line bothered me a lot.I think we can all agree on that one. It was definitely the most shoehorned in reference to STAR WARS.
Completely disagree. One of my favorites lines. You get the impression in SW that almost every time Han talks about the Falcon he mentions 12 parsecs (though we only see it once). It’s the ship’s claim to fame. Makes total sense that Rey would mention the Kessel Run upon learning it’s the Falcon.
Of course, what really makes it is the 14 joke. Not just because it makes the exchange funny beyond “hey I remember that line,” but because it makes the galaxy feel real. Of course someone a thousand planets away would hear an inaccurate description of the Falcon. It makes sense. If she had said 12 I almost would have agreed that the line was unnecessary.
As for the whole “he was making shit up”/“parsec is a unit of distance” I say bullshit. I don’t care what parsec means in the real world. This is a fantasy film. Han said it as a legit stat (if parsec is a unit of distance in this galaxy, Han would know that. Yeah technobabble whatever but he would also know units of time, which presumably is something non-pilots know too, so his claim would be more impressive if he said something they could understand. Consider this, if I said my car can drive 200mph vs. my car can drive 200 flip florps, which is more impressive?). The other thing I loved about the 14 parsecs line the first time I saw it was it’s doubling down on the inaccuracy in a fun way. Basically “yeah, who cares. It’s still a part of Star Wars.”
The other reference line that people get unnecessarily worked up about is the trash compactor? Honestly WHY? Last time Han was on planet-destroying super-station he spent a good amount of time in a trash compactor (and not a comfortable way to pass the time either). Plus, Han’s a jokester. That’s what he does. If he suggests Phasma should go in the garbage chute, OBVIOUSLY he would then think of a trash compactor. It would have been out of character and a huge missed opportunity if he didn’t.