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Convincing Casual Fans to Begin with "Star Wars"

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The seven Star Wars films are airing in about 2 weeks here on their own dedicated FOXTEL channel. My friends who think they know better intend to watch them with their kids in episode order rather than release order. Here is the message I sent to try and convince them, without going into too much depth:

If you start with the prequels instead of the original “Star Wars” you are doing it wrong. Take it from a lifelong Star Wars nerd  : ) The biggest twist in the movies - that Darth Vader is Luke’s Father - is completely spoiled if you watch the prequels first, as are many other aspects of the original films. The prequels are just backstory. Star Wars is about Luke Skywalker, not about how his Dad became evil. Trust me  ; )

I will also make sure they have theatrical versions of the original trilogy, but I’m not sure how successful I will be. Share your experiences with trying to correct your ignorant friends and family.

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doubleKO said:

Star Wars is about Luke Skywalker, not about how his Dad became evil.

In fact Star Wars is about many things. It’s both Luke’s story and Anakin’s story. ROTJ has really been made that way in 1983 when Lucas was developping his PT ideas. So ANH and ESB are Luke’s story, but ROTJ is both Luke’s and Anakin’s story.

The issue with chronological order is that they could not want to complete the saga if they begin with the PT. If they really want to, add the “Clone Wars” cartoon network movie which fuels everything that’s missing in the movies. That way you get an overall PT better experience.

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The PT (specifically TPM) also has no proper exposition as they expected you to have already seen the OT back in 1999.

Seriously, the PT never explains the Force. That info doesn’t come until “episode 4”. Of course there’s always someone to explain it for you, but you shouldn’t have to rely on people to do the film’s job for you.

This, and spoiling ESB, are my reasons to not show anyone SW in episodic order regardless of your opinion of the quality of the PT.

Star Wars is Surrealism, not Science Fiction (essay)
Original Trilogy Documentaries/Making-Ofs (YouTube, Vimeo, etc. finds)
Beyond the OT Documentaries/Making-Ofs (YouTube, Vimeo, etc. finds)
Amazon link to my novel; Dawn of the Karabu.

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doubleKO said:

The seven Star Wars films are airing in about 2 weeks here on their own dedicated FOXTEL channel. My friends who think they know better intend to watch them with their kids in episode order rather than release order. Here is the message I sent to try and convince them, without going into too much depth:

If you start with the prequels instead of the original “Star Wars” you are doing it wrong. Take it from a lifelong Star Wars nerd  : ) The biggest twist in the movies - that Darth Vader is Luke’s Father - is completely spoiled if you watch the prequels first, as are many other aspects of the original films. The prequels are just backstory. Star Wars is about Luke Skywalker, not about how his Dad became evil. Trust me  ; )

I will also make sure they have theatrical versions of the original trilogy, but I’m not sure how successful I will be. Share your experiences with trying to correct your ignorant friends and family.

I feel like you’ve mostly got it.

Keep Circulating the Tapes.

END OF LINE

(It hasn’t happened yet)

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I’ve got a couple of friends who either haven’t seen them at all or else not since they were little kids. With the new ones coming out, they’re interested in catching up, but we just haven’t found the time for a marathon. They’re all totally amenable to my insistence on the DE, as well as holding off on the prequels for a while if not skipping them altogether.

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Update - Got an encouraging reply the next day from my friend: “OK, I trust the master. You know that we already know who Luke’s father is, that part is already spoilt! But we will watch them your way.” Then today I got a message from his wife: “Where’s our proper Star Wars movies??” (I posted them yesterday). Mission successful!

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My argument would be that A New Hope actually explains the universe and the Force and Jedi, while Phantom Menace just assumes you’ve seen the originals.

Star Wars Revisited Wordpress

Star Wars Visual Comparisons WordPress

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The Phantom Menace also assumes you like to watch bad movies.

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TV’s Frink said:

The Phantom Menace also assumes you like to watch bad movies.

The question is, do you want to explain to your kids what trade disputes and senate meetings are about, or do you want the movie to actually be a good movie?

Star Wars Revisited Wordpress

Star Wars Visual Comparisons WordPress

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WHEN I AM ELECTED ALL HUMAN YOUNGLINGS WILL HAVE TRADE DISPUTE AND SENATE MEETING CHIPS INSTALLED AT THE AGE OF 120 MONTHS

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Or you could just not show them awful movies like the prequels. There are plenty of great movies that have been made over the years, so why show them crap?

“In the future it will become even easier for old negatives to become lost and be “replaced” by new altered negatives. This would be a great loss to our society. Our cultural history must not be allowed to be rewritten.” - George Lucas

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TV’s Frink said:

WHEN I AM ELECTED ALL HUMAN YOUNGLINGS WILL HAVE TRADE DISPUTE AND SENATE MEETING CHIPS INSTALLED AT THE AGE OF 120 MONTHS

When I was that age, Trade Dispute And Senate Meeting came in an IV bag about this big.

If your crop is water, what, exactly, would you dust your crops with?

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TV’s Frink said:

The Phantom Menace also assumes you like to watch bad movies.

Boring, not bad. If it was just bad it could still be entertaining.

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I think that most people who remember the Phantom Menace being released still think about Star Wars as separate trilogies, with the original one being the classic films worth watching. It’s the people who grew up with all of the Star Wars movies that will just assume that Episode I is the place to begin.

The Person in Question

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moviefreakedmind said:

I think that most people who remember the Phantom Menace being released still think about Star Wars as separate trilogies, with the original one being the classic films worth watching. It’s the people who grew up with all of the Star Wars movies that will just assume that Episode I is the place to begin.

Yeah, this causes problems I think.

Keep Circulating the Tapes.

END OF LINE

(It hasn’t happened yet)

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moviefreakedmind said:

I think that most people who remember the Phantom Menace being released still think about Star Wars as separate trilogies, with the original one being the classic films worth watching. It’s the people who grew up with all of the Star Wars movies that will just assume that Episode I is the place to begin.

Their parents should be ashamed.

My girls want to watch TFA all the time. They enjoy the OT as well. We watched each PT movie once and they’ve never asked to watch one again.

And FWIW, we watched the OT first and then the PT. TFA came much later.

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moviefreakedmind said:

I think that most people who remember the Phantom Menace being released still think about Star Wars as separate trilogies, with the original one being the classic films worth watching. It’s the people who grew up with all of the Star Wars movies that will just assume that Episode I is the place to begin.

Not in this particular case. This guy is my age and should have known better, but he was never into Star Wars like folks around here. He even gave me the “they’re trying to reach a new audience” line when I was vilifying George’s digital scribbling and other dehancements. They honestly thought that not starting at Episode I would “make things confusing”.

I’ll make sure to remember ZkinandBonez and OO5’s point about the PT never explaining the Force etc. next time it comes up.

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My opinion for a while now has been that you either watch the prequels first or you don’t watch them at all.

If Lucas had done a better job of justifying the PT’s existence (other than titling the OT “IV, V and VI” far in advance), we wouldn’t even be debating this.

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Fang Zei said:

My opinion for a while now has been that you either watch the prequels first or you don’t watch them at all.

Only the second half of that sentence makes sense.

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TV’s Frink said:

Fang Zei said:

My opinion for a while now has been that you either watch the prequels first or you don’t watch them at all.

Only the second half of that sentence makes sense.

Given that the “second half” of the sentence reads “watch the prequels first or you don’t watch them at all,” it really doesn’t make any more sense…or even change the meaning at all (other than the tense-shift from declarative to imperative).

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I assumed you were smart enough to understand what I meant. Sorry for the poor assumption.