ForceCast.net: Listener Mailbag: November 14, 2011

Listener Mailbag: November 14, 2011

Posted by Eric on November 14, 2011 at 10:50 AM CST

On the November 4th episode of The Weekly ForceCast, Jason and Jimmy discussed a blog post, written by novelist Alex Bledsoe, that criticized George Lucas for Revenge of the Sith and The Clone Wars. In today's ForceCast.Net Weekly Listener Mailbag, our audience responds to that blog post.

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Borders Blogger: That guy is an ass. Probably doesn't let his kids do a lot of things, like eat artificially colored foods, drink fructose or read Harry Potter books.

I just wanna say, nothing about the Clone Wars and Revenge of the Sith are worse than every Pre-2000 Disney movie. And kids can handle these things better than adults most of the time. His concerns are complete garbage.

As Jimmy said, "put that in your pipe and smoke it!"

Also, I loved when Jason said if George hadn't included Anakin's life as a boy, it would be a large missing part of the saga. That is a great point I haven't heard before. We want backstories for every minor character anyway; imagine if we didn't get Vader's?

Also I agree with Jim on when Anakin becomes Vader. Kind of. I believe Anakin Skywalker becomes Darth Vader at the feet of Palpatine when he was so dubbed. But Darth titles so far have been aliases to do Sith work on the side. Did Dooku ever cease to be Dooku? I am sure Anakin became Vader on Coruscant, but ceased to be Anakin when he learned of Padme's death. That is the point he realizes there is nothing in Anakin's life to go back to, so to hell with it.

...I sense Vader, steaming with hatred and the Dark Side for 20 years, was never more completely Vader than we see him in A New Hope. That would be the apex of his evilness before he starts to descend into a calm when he questions his allegiance to the Dark Side. Then the reappearance of Obi-Wan stirs memories of a previous life. But there is nothing left of that life to return to, so da hell with it. But then he learns of a son. Something of Anakin and Padme to return to.

And between us, I know what Yoda would drink 'cuz I bought him a Jack Daniels in Orlando (may have been Jack and coke). Ha!

Later, bros!

-Joel

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Dearest Jason and Jimmy,

I am currently listening to the episode from November 4th and I have to stop. I feel compelled to express my feelings before I continue the show.

I am a High School teacher at a public school in Texas. My reasons for writing in response to Alex Bledsoe's blog post are twofold. Firstly, I would like to address raising a child with the intent to shelter him from anything that can be considered intense, confusing, or - dare I say it - thought provoking. And secondly, I want to address a movie which I loved as a child, that I feel has some of these same talking points.

As a High School teacher I see these parenting tactics on a daily basis. Shielding your child from Anakin's PG-13 brutality - because you don't want him/her to experience the intended narrative of the story - is akin to cutting out the end of Romeo and Juliet; using a calculator because doing long division takes too long to think out; and (a hot topic in education right now) removing homework and testing from schools because children are refusing to do it. As a loving
parent, it is not your place to shelter your children from the sadness that they feel when they lose a loved one (or a hero falls from grace), it is your job to provide a nurturing environment where your child can explore and discuss the feelings that are caused by these losses. You are doing your child a disservice, if you never allow them
to think through these events on their own.

The question of what other movies had such a 180 degree morality shift arose during the show. One of my favorite set of movies growing up was Terminator 1 & 2. These movies, albeit in a reverse fashion, explored many of the same concepts as the Star Wars Series. The idea of pre-destiny, the idea that one can be programmed for a task only to make a better moral choice, and the idea that a singular character can be so important that the audience will root for him both as a hero and as a villain. For Terminator that character was, well, the Terminator and for Star Wars that character is Anakin/Vader.

I have very similar feelings about both James Cameron and George Lucas's visions. Both made me love and hate the protagonists. Both made me feel betrayal. Both series' made my heart ache when the heroes sacrificed themselves in the end. All that being said, I cringe to think of the cognitive and emotional development that I would have lost had I never been permitted to watch movies or read books which challenged my world view and my emotional comfort level. My eyes still well up every time I realize that Commander Cody was the first Clone to turn on Obi-Wan after Order 66 - after everything we know the two of them have been through. But it would take someone of supreme density to not understand the power of that moment, and what it forces us to consider as part of the story arch. I don't want to call out Alex Bledsoe specifically. Rather, I would like to call attention to this issue which, as I said, I experience every day as a teacher. Children NEED to be challenged both emotionally and cognitively. How can we expect them to lead the future, if they are constantly sheltered from the present?

Thanks for listening Jason and Jimmy. Now I can continue the podcast.

Matthew Rudd

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Hey Jason & Jimmy,

After listening to this past week's ForceCast I just wanted to say how much I loved the discussion on that guy from the Borders blog...

I agree with what Jason said in that George Lucas certainly did not arbitrarily decide to set up little kids for heart break with the clones for the almighty dollar!!

For example when writing the story for Empire Strikes Back he consulted a child psychologist to understand the impact that would occur on children once they learned Luke's true parentage. Those kids that could handle it would be fine, those kids that couldn't would believe it to be a lie.

So I cannot agree with the blogger at all.

Besides most childhood fairy tales and stories deal with tragedy. From that tragedy we see the triumph of the human spirit.

Case in point: Batman! His parents are murdered and he goes on to swear an oath to fight the very crime that took them from him.

The point of the Star Wars movies can really be gleamed from that clip on the Blu-rays where Lucas is explaining the force.

He talks about being greedy, wanting more things, holding on to things! Look where that leads Anakin.

Luke has a similar journey but chose a different path, cue the Force Theme from the Star Wars soundtracks! :)

But yes, like Jason said, it all comes down to fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering!

Anyhow, I just want to give you guys huge props for bringing that issue up in conversation on the ForceCast!

That whole issue could be an entire ForceCast itself! It was very interesting!

Also, Paul Bateman's idea on how the Prequels could have gone down was also very exciting content, Next time you have a Star Wars guest on, maybe that could be a recurring question you could ask them: how did they think the Prequels were going to play out?

Anyhow thanks for the shows! Thanks for "making them good!"

Cheers,

Faithful ForceCast listener,

William Melay

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Hey Jason & Jimmy,

I just listened to your latest podcast, and it was excellent as usual. However, I admit I got a bit riled up about what Alex Bledsoe was claiming concerning how Episode III and The Clone Wars somehow betrays young fans.

The problem I have with what Bledsoe claimed is that he did not one time in his rant ever mention "Return of the Jedi" and Anakin Skywalker's redemption from the dark side. Yes, undoubtedly, his fall in "Revenge of the Sith" is heartbreaking--made even more so by The Clone Wars showing us what kind of extraordinary Jedi he was before his fall. However, there IS, as we all know, a happy ending. Making Episode III less dramatic and more "kid friendly" would've only cheapened Anakin's redemption in ROTJ.

That is why I do not agree with parents withholding Episode III from their children and yet showing them all the other movies. Now, if their children are too young or sensitive to watch it, by all means, do NOT show it to them until they are emotionally capable enough. But I do not agree with showing them all five of the other movies and just leaving "Revenge" on the shelf. All five of those movies WITHOUT Episode III is NOT the story of Star Wars. To appreciate the overall story and to understand the staggering degree of redemption that occurs in ROTJ, you must understand how Anakin fell (and fell HARD) in the first place. So, in my opinion, if your kids are not ready for ROTS, then abstain from showing them ANY Star Wars movie until you can give them the complete story and can end the saga for them with the happy note of Anakin's redemption rather than the tragic note of his fall. In the meantime, they can get their fill of the Wars with Clone Wars.

The moral lesson (among many) that I have always taken away from the saga is that monsters (or machines) are not born that way. They are created through a combination of outside influences and personal decisions. No matter how good and innocent a friendly slave child starts out, there is always a possibility he can fall. But the message of hope is that no matter how utterly lost and twisted one becomes and no matter how much evil they have committed, there is ALWAYS the
possibility of redemption. This is a lesson we all would do well to remember.

I celebrate the Light Side of Star Wars, but the dark side is there to serve a purpose as well. It shows us how terrible a life outside the Light can be, and it showcases how the redemptive power of the Light Side is that much more impressive. :)

May the Force be with you both! God bless and take care. :)

--Dustin from Illinois

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Hey guys,

I just heard your long and interesting discussion about the Alex Bledsoe blog. I have a few quick thoughts on this that make many of Bledsoe's points somewhat irrelevant:

He makes a very big deal that "Lucas shows Anakin killing Jedi children." That's not how it happened. Lucas shows Anakin standing in front of children with a lightsaber and a mean look on his face. There's a BIG difference. There's a lot of talk about how big of a 180 and betrayal of the Clone/Jedi relationship was when Order 66 was given. I kind of
disagree here. The Clones are the Grand Army of the Republic. Not the Grand Army of the Jedi. Their #1 purpose is to serve the Republic, its Senators, and ultimately, its Chancellor. The Jedi, while very different from Clones or other public servants, also served the Republic and were simply Generals in that Army. The Clone hardwiring was set up so that if they were told that something or someone was a threat to the Republic, they were to destroy that thing or being. So, on the surface, all Order 66 did was have the Army take out what they believed to be traitors. Revenge of the Sith is PG-13. This means don't let your young kids see it. They aren't ready. Period. Just because it's Star Wars doesn't mean that you can ignore the rating. Would you take your under-13-year-old to see "Dodgeball" or "Happy Gilmore" or "The Day
After Tomorrow" or "Valkyrie" (just to call out a few examples)? I highly doubt it.

Anyway, great discussion about an interesting view of different generations and how they view The Wars.

Thanks.

-MattDoc

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Thanks to all of this week's mailbag contributors! Keep your emails coming to forcecast@forcecast.net.

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