I didn't think it was a franchise that
needed saving — one so-so box office return hardly spells
inevitable doom, to my mind — but it's entirely possible I'm wrong.
Star Wars is a massive intellectual
property — not counting the movies, there are several TV series,
voluminous (and on-going) comic book runs, video games and, of
course, an expanding library of novels set in the expanded universe.
The catch to its saleability, however,
is that its appeal is almost strictly North American. Unlike its
rival/bedmate, the Marvel Comics Universe, the international audience
for the Star Was Universe is scant to the point of insignificance. So if a Star
Wars film tanks at home, it tanks — period.
That means Star Wars is losing its
audience.
Disney does not want that.
Macek's screed is predominantly a rant
— but an exceedingly well-informed rant. The points he scores are
criticisms that never would have occurred to me because I haven't
read more than a handful of the expanded universe novels. In a
throw-away comment in my review of The Last Jedi I said, “If you
have a jones for thematic exploration, you'll love it; if consistent
world-building is more your thing, this movie will make you crazy.”
 |
| To wit. |
Continuity and consistency are a very big deal to Macek,
and I think his is a voice that ought to be considered by the suits
at the whiteboard. I flip-flop rather egregiously on the issue of
continuity. If the visual panache is sweeping enough and delivers
emotional punch, I'll give continuity concerns a pass. If the
heartstrings aren't tugged, I suddenly get tetchy about continuity.
I'm a hypocrite, in other words (what else is new?). But follow the money. Listen to Macek.
Also, listen to SWU
continuity cop Leland Chee. Keep this guy in the boardroom and mebbe ask
him which of the expanded universe properties resonate (hey, you recently acknowledged the value of The Clone Wars — now that's what I'm talking about!). Those are the
elements, I would think, that you want to bring in and nurture.
3 comments:
Actually, the more I think about it the more convicted I become that the continuity that existed pre-Abrams HAS to be acknowledged. Man, all those crappy novels etc kept this beast alive for many, many fans. Listen up!
Whisky,
First of all, sorry I haven't been showing the comment love recently. A few of your recent posts have struck a chord with me, and I've been pondering them, but haven't quite formed my thoughts into a succinct response.
Liturgy: Taking the “Fun” out of “Funeral” and Facebook sucks — do you have a newsletter? ... for example.
Anyways, speaking of having trouble being succinct, I ended up making a whole post party in response to this. But the TLDR version is:
1) The Last Jedi was a brilliant film. The haters are crazy.
2) Even assuming The Last Jedi wasn't a brilliant film, every longstanding franchise is going to have some bad entries. If the franchise goes on long enough, it's just inevitable. People need to get some perspective.
(...that being said, not all of the suggestions in your linked to article are terrible ideas.)
Thank you for the feedback, Joel -- it's appreciated more than I can say. And I enjoyed your post, but will comment over there.
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