NeverarGreat

So is there a way to fix the links?

CatBus said:

TV’s Frink said:

Bummer, if I had just waited a few minutes someone would have made a better joke and I could have just stayed silent.

CatBus, failing to silence Frink since 2011.

So this is all your fault, eh?

I just want you to understand all the trouble you’ve caused around here, letting Frink run loose. For shame.

The Original Trilogy was made for its own time, and people like me who were born years after they were made are perhaps robbed of a great part of their meaning. It’s up to us to try and understand what made it special, so here goes.

I’ve heard it said that the message of Star Wars was very much a thesis against the straight laced, moralistic attitudes of people’s parents in the 70’s. Han solo represents the hot-rod rebellious youth of decades past, very much valuing strength and displaying casual sexism, and while Luke recognizes this he finds his own way through a distinctly hippie mix of new-age spiritualism and youthful idealism.

In Empire the youthful rebel must grow up, and he is brought before Yoda who explains that a Jedi must have ‘the deepest commitment, the most serious mind’. This runs counter to the idea of Star Wars that one should just go with the flow, and is a recognition that all idealism must give way to hard realism. Luke is torn between following his rebel friends and completing a serious spiritual transformation, and fails in both tasks when it is made clear that his destiny is to follow in his father’s footsteps and become part of the ‘machine’. To become serious in the pursuit of any aim is to abandon the value of ‘just go with it’ that guided his previous existence.

By the Return of the Jedi, Luke has begun his journey to the Dark Side, capable of using the abilities of his father’s generation in order to rescue his friends from the folly of their simplistic ideology. He stands apart from them, and there is tragedy in this. To gain power in this world can mean forsaking your friends, and Luke struggles with his choice. In the end, he cannot fully accept the mantle of the machine which his father represents. He is forever touched by it, as represented by his metal hand, but now he understands why he can never be so rigid in his black and white morality, accepting that he will never be so blindly nationalistic or puritanical. His story ends as a master of two worlds, and yet never fully belonging in either.

So where does Rey fit into all of this?

She is like Luke in that she is stuck in an unfortunate situation, desperate to leave yet yearning for a belonging that was denied her as she grew up. Even Luke, who was raised by his Aunt and Uncle, still had a home and a family of sorts. Perhaps Rey’s childhood was intended to speak to children of divorced or separated parents as incidence of divorce rose during the 80’s. The generation raised by the original Star Wars generation of the Baby Boomers inherited the shifting moral landscape which was mirrored by the subtext of the Original Trilogy. Similarly, she doesn’t work on a farm, as fewer and fewer people can identify with such an occupation. Rather, she scavenges from the hulks of the previous generation’s machines, gleaning whatever of value she can find from a culture so deconstructed that it appears post-apocalyptic. Whereas Luke desired to get into the academy against the wishes of his hardworking uncle, Rey has been able to educate herself with the glut of Imperial data tapes left behind in the wreckage. The tragedy is that nobody recognizes this education, and although she is overqualified for many jobs, she nevertheless makes barely enough to survive.

Han has shown the weaknesses of his laid-back philosophy, as he recognizes that he lacked the parenting skills necessary to raise Kylo Ren. Rey is taken with Han, but as Kylo says, ‘he would have disappointed you’. After all, he just watched Rey get captured, and resigned her to her fate. Han is a man wasting time, never applying himself fully to the task at hand and eventually dying because of it. His love, in the end, was not enough to save his own son. Speaking of the son, Kylo is the result of a man who knows just how bad his actions are, but like a college student following Objectivist philosophy, he bends his better judgement to the task because there is still great personal power to be gained in making the world a darker place. Rey, in seeing both of these extremes in Han (and Maz) contrasted against Kylo, is desperate for a sense of belonging. She is being pulled in every direction at once, she is angry, she is conflicted, she is alone. In the end, she finally finds the man who had gone there before her, who mastered the two worlds yet who never felt at home in them.

So what is Rey’s story going forward? If history is our guide, she will find some of her answers with Luke but will need to travel much further to truly achieve a sense of belonging.

Oh I’m sure they did, hence the winky.

So in other fun news, Screenshotcomparison just deleted every comparison in their database. I don’t know how the embedded images remain on this thread, but regrettably all of the links no longer function.

DominicCobb said:

Dex’s CG holds up terribly. Also he has a moustache. And a butt crack. Plutt wins this round.

Fun fact: Plutt’s entire body is one big ass.

And you really think Dex’s CG is terrible?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iB3OiAMhz8w
😉

Maybe a 75% mix. I feel like the Earth scenes shouldn’t be as blue as in the 100% grade, but the space scenes look really good with that grade.

The official line is that it takes place 10 years before ANH.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-russia-idUSKBN1AJ1SW

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Special counsel Robert Mueller has impaneled a grand jury in Washington to investigate allegations of Russia’s interference in the 2016 elections, the Wall Street Journal said on Thursday, citing two unnamed people familiar with the matter.

The grand jury began its work in recent weeks and is a sign that Mueller’s inquiry into Russia’s efforts to influence the election and whether it colluded with President Donald Trump’s campaign is ramping up, the Journal said.

Very well, if you insist: I compare Plug Head to Dex on the basis of appearance, and to Watto on the basis of character.

How very anticlimactic this resolution turned out to be.

Unkar Plutt.

Although I have nothing against Simon Pegg, this uninspired ass-ugly alien blob makes Dexter Jettster look good in comparison.

And what is up with that metal air mattress plug on top of his head?

yhwx said:

Lord Haseo said:

What an ugly frog.

But is it better or worse than this one?

In Ep 9 related discussion, um…
I hope we don’t see the ghost of Yoda again.

So the Han Solo movie, which takes place between the first scene of Rogue One and the rest of the film, could genuinely be considered to be a midquel to the interquel which also acts as a prelude to the original film? And this will come out after a sequel to the sequel to the original trilogy?

My brain hurts.

suspiciouscoffee said:

I’m slowly working through Children of Dune still (and so far I’m pretty much in agreement with Duracell’s above review), but I’m going to write about a book I finished a few weeks ago and never posted about.

VALIS by Philip K. Dick

I don’t think I understand a single thing about it. It’s also my favorite PKD novel (so far, anyway, I’ve only read five). Completely wacko in all the best ways, and at the same time it feels very honest. It’s a deeply personal work.

Okay, I’m terrible at literary criticims, but man I love this book.

My recollection of the 3rd book of the Dune series is that it is not as good as 1, but better than 2.

4 is right out.

TV’s Frink said:

Just off the top of my head…

TPM: Anakin, Obi-Wan, Yoda, C3PO, R2D2, The Emperor, Greedo (deleted scene but point stands)
AOTC: Boba Fett, Anakin, Obi-Wan, Yoda, C3PO, R2D2, The Emperor
ROTS: Chewbacca, Luke, Leia, Anakin, Obi-Wan, Yoda, C3PO, R2D2, The Emperor

TFA: Rey, Finn, Poe, Kylo Ren, Phasma, Snoke, Hux, BB8, Maz

Yep, new characters in the PT, same old reboot characters in TFA…

Urge to trigger Frink…rising…

I believe you mean Rey(extreme Luke), Poe(extreme Wedge), Snoke(new Emperor), Hux(extreme Motti+Tarkin), BB8(really?), Maz(Yoda lite), Unkar Plutt(extra portions of Watto), Phasma(Boba Fett lite).

All these in addition to the outright reused characters:

Luke, Leia, Han, Chewie, R2, C3PO, Ackbar and Nien Nunb.

This list by itself rivals the prequels in length, let alone all of the clear character analogues and reused ships, locations, weapons, and plot points. But I’m mostly fine with all the reused characters in TFA and the prequels because at least it’s honest. The character analogues, not so much.

That probably makes more sense, since I doubt that he would so casually drop the fate of a major character.

TV’s Frink said:

NeverarGreat said:

yhwx said:

TV’s Frink said:

yhwx said:

Trump has reached his highest disapproval rating and lowest approval rating yet.

By which metric?

538’s average has him at 38.2% approval, lowest since early June when he was at his true low of 38.0%.

Similarly, RCP has him at 39.2% approval, lowest since mid-June when he was at his true low of 38.6%

You are correct about Trump’s approval rating. I retract that part. We regret the error.

However, you neglected to mention that Trump is in fact at his highest disapproval rating according to the two trackers you cited:

My post was not based on the Rasmussen poll; in fact, it was based on the two above trackers.

538 has just updated to show his disapproval at 56.7% and his approval at 37.8%, his highest and lowest points ever, respectively.

And now it’s down to 37.6%. Sad!

Down to 37.0% by this afternoon.

This is fun.

http://www.slashfilm.com/carrie-fisher-in-the-last-jedi-send-off/

Watching ESB again last night, I had the thought that perhaps the second Wampa was supposed to be a female, and that the male which attacked Luke was elsewhere in that scene. I wonder if that was supposed to be the implication all along, since they had filmed several Wampas attacking Echo base.

Of course not. I’m not absolutely insane.

TV’s Frink said:

The White House has confirmed Trump’s involvement in the Fox News Seth Rich story.

TV’s Frink is FAKE NEWS confirmed.

I will go further: the Calrissian murder should never be denied.