RicOlie_2

^^Why did you quote that entire post?

I have to say, having low expectations has made me enjoy this show a lot more. I was pleasantly surprised by the execution of the story and the way Leia was included (it was probably the only good way to get Obi-Wan off Tatooine, though I would rather he didn’t leave Tatooine at all). I do think all the scenes with Leia running away are super cheesy and I’m not a fan of the inquisitors, but I was quite happy to see Leia and Alderaan and I thought they nailed her character. I sympathize, but disagree with a lot of Adywan’s complaints. The show certainly has room for improvement, but if the show maintains the current quality, I’ll be happy.

That’s tough. It’s not the worst disease someone could have, though. My grandfather and my dad both have it (the latter hasn’t been officially diagnosed, but he has the early symptoms of it). My grandpa’s been pretty positive about it and has been doing quite well. His strength has definitely gone downhill, but he’s been persistent about working on improving, and he has gotten better at controlling some of his shakiness.

JackNapier said:

I’m feeling emotionally empty, none of the people I’m talking to on my dating apps stir anything in me, my faith in my job is non-existent and I don’t feel at all enthusiastic about my search for grad school.

From what I know of you, you’re pretty young still. Don’t give up yet, but looking for another job might be a good way to go! It’s a common human experience to go through a slump like this. Just realize that it’s generally temporary. It might help to try diagnosing the root cause. Is the daily grind of a job you don’t like keeping you down? Is it a feeling of exhaustion–do you maybe need a holiday? Is it the effect of COVID or something else going on in the world? Are you looking for meaning or fulfillment in the wrong places?

Pretty sure that was just a test account Jay used. Maybe so that he could play with and fix possible bugs like the possibility of banning the administrator. Notice that the account was only used for less than a day.

I was having trouble articulating why I was never excited for this show, but after seeing the trailer, I think I know why. I think what made the most sense for Obi-Wan’s character was for him to remain hidden on Tatooine and not really do all that much exciting. Grappling with things internally, of course, but not going out and trying to save the galaxy. But in order to make a successful TV show that mass audiences will enjoy, there has to be exciting action scenes and big adventures. I think they should have avoided making a show about him altogether and focused on someone for whom action-packed adventures actually make sense. A Darth Vader show might have had more room for that and could have been interwoven with flashback sequences featuring Ewan MacGregor as Obi-Wan if they wanted to bring him back.

ZkinandBonez said:

The philosophy of deconstructionism underminds the very nature of SW, as it does all myths and fairytales. All fiction, even fantasy, should, and usually do have nuance to it, but deconstruction tends to unravel it through overanalysis. I understand the purpose of deconstructionism in the real world and even for fiction about the real world, but I think it’s a poor match for fantasy.

I’m a bit late to the party, but thank you for this. It’s a refreshing viewpoint to see. I think the original spirit of Star Wars is unfortunately less and less possible in our current culture, because of a cultural shift that tends to deconstruct the old archetypes as it creates new ones that are largely incomptable with traditional narratives.

Peter Pan said:

Didn’t like it. Don’t hate it either. In my opinion it’s way to long and doesn’t have anything to say really. It touches upon multiple difficult topics, sure, but it either doesn’t follow through with them or it just straight up fails them. For example, take the spice mining thing about exploitation of both the people and the land. The people are introduced as warriors fighting for their freedom from the oppressors, but we don’t know what they are fighting for. Nothing is said about their culture apart from fighting. Also we don’t see in which way they are oppressed, they are shown to be the aggressor attacking a farming ship right in the beginning. In fact the Harkonens don’t even know how many of them are on arrakis, which makes it look like they just ignored them? Hardly what I would call criticism of colonialism. If they would have been enslaved by them or imprisoned or rounded up and killed in large numbers by the Harkonnens, that would have been criticism, but we aren’t shown any of that.
Now on to the exploiting the land trope. This is much better supported by what is shown in the movie, but its just feels so artificial. This planet might be exploited for its natural resources, but we aren’t shown the scars that this endeavor caused. The Planet is a wasteland, but not BECAUSE of the spice mining, but because it was a desert to BEGIN WITH!? WHYYYYY, there is so much potential flushed down the toilet, its infuriating.

I don’t know that exploiting the planet or colonization were really what the book was about to begin with… It was an element, but I think it has a lot more to do with Paul’s development as a “hero”, political intrigue, etc. I could be mistaken, but I just didn’t get a sense that colonialism was supposed to be a big part of it all, so I’m a bit curious as to why you think the handling of it is a problem.

StarkillerAG said:

fmalover said:

So the movie premiered on HBO last night, and I tuned in and cranked up the colour saturation to its maximum, and even though it’s just a minor detail, the viewing experience was a much improved one for me.

Seriously, this movie looks waaaaayyy better with boosted colours.

Yeah, the extremely desaturated dead-looking color grading is probably one of my biggest problems with the movie (along with the pointless spaceship montages). I don’t get why “real is brown” has become such a big thing with sci-fi and fantasy: pretty much the only modern show of that genre that actually looks alive is The Expanse (and even then it only looks half-alive).

Especially since that’s not the sense you get from the book.

JackNapier said:

Surprisingly for a show called Book of Boba Fett, Boba doesn’t act like the badass bounty hunter that I know. I’ll keep watching but I don’t consider this canon.

It’s interesting to see more people in this thread finally making this complaint. I’m cautiously optimistic, but so far, I’ve only really liked Chapter 2. The trailer was highly misleading, which I think was a poor marketing choice (although I would rather the show actually give us the Boba Fett from the trailer).

Yeah, I didn’t really get their motivation for doing that.

I imagine there would be. I’m sure they want to keep the interest of the people who’ve been reading the books, not just the broader public.

You’re either brave or foolish, coming into the spoiler thread without having seen the show. 😉 They haven’t shown yet in the series, so someone else will have to provide information from the comics.

Not anymore, unfortunately. But yes, we’re getting off track.

I am very much looking forward to this show…probably more than I am to any of the other ones, except maybe the third season of ‘‘The Mandalorian’’. I haven’t gotten into the High Republic books and comics, but I am eager to explore a new era of the Star Wars universe on screen.

fmalover said:

Anakin Starkiller said:

I don’t have anything wrong with hiring diverse people, it’s woke people I don’t like, and there’s a very big difference. Even then, it’s only a dealbreaker if it actually seeps into the content itself, which like I said is unlikely.

Apologies in advance for veering off-topic, but what does woke mean?

Over the past three years I’ve heard the word bandied about, but I don’t know what it means.

It depends who’s using it. Those who self-describe as woke mean it in the sense of being aware and vigilant about social justice issues (by which is usually meant racism, feminism, LGBTQ issues, etc.). Those who use it as a derogatory term or who see it negatively usually have in mind a particular sort of left-wing intolerance for anything that deviates from being strongly affirmative of LGBTQ rights (including things like pronoun usage), affirmative action, white privilege, equality of outcome for women, (democratic) socialism, etc. Most of academia at present could be described as woke (at least in my experience of Canadian universities).

Well, you can’t make something that’s for everybody, so it’s bound to happen that someone will be the odd one out. And the series definitely isn’t perfect, especially the first episode, I thought.

Chase Adams said:

An actor’s personal life is neither issue nor politics, and their casting isn’t representative of a production’s value or sentiment.

That’s very true. I was a bit hasty thinking it might affect the plot of the show.

No, I just don’t want the show to become an exploration of LGBT problems that are front and centre in our own universe at the moment and, whether you like it or not, are quite divisive. I’d rather it be focused on the High Republic as such. There are other types of shows that can do more justice to LGBT issues. I also don’t want Star Wars to explore climate change, or pandemics, or abortion, or immigration, or populist politics, or the issues of capitalism and socialism. These things can be in the background, but I don’t want Star Wars to be about them, so long as they remain controversial/hot topics. I want to be immersed in another universe when I watch Star Wars, not constantly brought back to real-world issues, regardless of the actual stance the show takes.

Anakin Starkiller said:

Amandla Stenberg goes by both ‘she’ and ‘they’, is lesbian, and is an outspoken feminist

I’m very glad to learn a little bit more about the series as it’s one of the upcoming projects I’m most intrigued by

Me too, but did we really learn anything here besides the lead actress?

I just hope it isn’t too indicative of the series itself. I like my Star Wars to be an escape from reality, not a reminder of hot-button issues. Then again, Star Wars has always featured some call-back to real-world issues and politics. Just not usually contemporary ones.

I don’t know if the world wants anything from you. I believe that God does, though. The only way to find meaning is to find truth and conform your life to it. If (a) life is inherently meaningless or (b) you haven’t found the meaning, it’s hard to be happy.

I hope you’re doing OK. Feel free to PM me if you want someone to talk to. I promise my goal isn’t to just force my religion on you. I bring faith into it because I genuinely believe that that’s what will help you.

ZkinandBonez said:

Also, did anyone else get a bit of a Buffalo Bill and the railroads of the old west killing buffaloes vibe from this scene? In really liking how this series is carrying on the Western vibes that Lucas planted in ANH with this series.

Very much so. It fits really well with Star Wars and what we already know about the sandpeople. I get strong Native American vibes from them and I like that we get to see them humanized a bit more relative to their previous appearances.

I’m much happier with the latest episode. It seems they’re leaving any real resolution until later in the season and what we’re getting now is just build-up. The episodes feel less self-contained than in Mando, which I think is the reason the open-ended ending of the first episode felt jarring to me. I’m really enjoying the insight into the sandpeople’s way of life.

ZkinandBonez said:

Just finished the 2nd episode, and man, Favreau really gets the SW vibe. This was a really great episode.

…

The western movie vibe was strong in this one with the whole train sequence, and I especially liked the train conductor droid. I’m so glad to see that Favreau is embracing the absurd and metaphorical logic of SW. The interior of the “locomotive” section with all the tubes and the blue-burning engine is perfect SW weirdness that is just similar enough to our past to be recognizable, but just ‘futuristic’ enough to have that veneer of sci-fi to it. I also got some strong Lawrence of Arabia vibes from this sequence, and the end credits concept art pretty much confirmed that that was intentional.

I did not expect the Tusken peyote trip. Nice to see some Force-vision type thing away from the Jedi, the Sith, etc. We’ll have plenty to theorize about for a while with that scene.

I very much agree with all this. This feels exactly like Star Wars should, but it’s not just recycling stuff we’ve already seen. This kind of stuff gets me excited for more.

The Camie and Fixer cameo turned out exactly as I expected. It’s a fun little easter egg for SW fans, but to 99% of the audience they were just two civilians that needed to be saved from a swoop gang.

Agreed. I think they handled it really well. And we got to see Boba kick some ass instead of getting beat up, so that satisfied some of my disappointment with the first episode.

The fact that the assassins sent after Boba in chapter 1 are supposed to be the best of the best also makes me feel a bit better about Boba not being able to take them on. Still doesn’t explain why he didn’t use his jetpack though…

Rodney-2187 said:

Boba is different. I’m not sure if emerging from the sarlacc is intentionally symbolic of a rebirth of sorts, but I’d imagine being swallowed alive by a monster but somehow surviving is enough to give anyone a new outlook on life. Plus we’re seeing that wasn’t even the end of his ordeal.

It looks like he still has some lingering physical issues and likely some form of PTSD. I think reinventing himself is a necessity at this point. We still see flashes of his brutality, but he’s trying something different now.

People often think they understand how to be the boss and manage people, but when they get into that role, they find out just how much they weren’t even aware of. ​I can’t wait to see if it all works out.

If you’re responding to me, I’m not talking about the scenes in the “present day”, I’m talking about the ones that take place immediately after getting out of the sarlacc. I would expect that to be a transformative experience, but not one that would result in immediate changes.

SilverWook said:

He’s having flashbacks to seeing his father beheaded by a Jedi in the wake of having his own ass handed to him by a Jedi. I’d say he’s dealing with a lot internally.

That’s a good observation. I still think the characterization of him doesn’t fit all that will with the OT depiction.

I realized that my perception here may be influenced by the trailer. I rewatched it and noticed that it depicts Boba very differently than the actual episode. Of course, trailers take things out of context, but the editing in the trailer results in Boba seeming far more decisive, authoritative, and strong, without implying that he’s not honourable. It’s quite misleading in that respect, which I think set me up for disappointment when Boba doesn’t come across even remotely as badass as the trailer would suggest.

I’ll have to wait and see where the rest of the series takes him.

I finally got to watch the episode and I have to say I was a bit underwhelmed. It’s too early to judge, but I think my main two issues are:

1. Boba Fett seems suddenly really tame. I don’t have a problem with post-Mando Boba being that way, but the Boba Fett that came out of the sarlacc and is captured by the tusken raiders seems very mellow. It doesn’t seem like the OT Boba Fett who had to be told not to disintegrate people. The fact that he’s smiling as the tusken kid shows off the kraken head seemed so out of place to me. I expected a tougher, more determined and ruthless Boba Fett to start with. If he had been consciously trying to escape the sarlacc for years before he succeeded, that would help explain why he might be different, but the episode shows him waking up and then almost immediately blasting his way out. The fight with the town ninjas also made Boba seem kind of pathetic. Given the kind of action we’ve gotten from the Mandalorian, you’d think a renowned bounty hunter would put up a bit more of a fight, without needing Gamorrean guards. Then again, he did blow up a guard, so maybe he was just trying to avoid causing too much trouble at first.

2. The ending felt too open-ended, but it wasn’t a cliff-hanger, so it left me feeling dissatisfied without strongly wanting more. I feel like something more should have happened with that guard that was captured, setting up some kind of problem or more serious conflict for the next episode.

There were several things I did enjoy:

1. The sarlacc escape and Boba losing his armour to the Jawas, then his freedom to the sandpeople. It was exactly what I would have expected and handling it any other way would have felt wrong, I think.

2. The world-building, especially the shots of Mos Espa and getting a look at the tusken raiders.

3. Seeing a lot of familiar aliens and other “Tatooine stuff” in a setting where it didn’t feel shoehorned in or world-shrinking.

JackNapier said:

RicOlie_2 said:

Yeah, that’s annoying. People are freaking out a bit too much over Omicron, methinks.

The people dying in hospitals from Covid beg to differ

I meant that Omicron is less serious than other variants and people are reacting as if it were far more serious.

Yeah, that’s annoying. People are freaking out a bit too much over Omicron, methinks.