David Bowie; 1947 - 2016

Perhaps of interest: Bowie’s top 100 books

Velocity of a Cannon

So I happened to look over the last post about Star Wars and thought "Why does it concern me at all how they handle the Star Wars narrative?"

I'm still thinking about that, but, in the meantime, it seems clear that the *velocity* of changes to what serves as a unifying narrative is more compressed. I'd venture that back when it was fables and campfire tales the scope or rate at which any novelty could be replicated was, compared to current times, quite limited.

Given this, knowing or not knowing the forms or particulars of a narrative could be relied on to indicate many things - shared culture, where one has been geographically, demographically, etc. Apparently such understandings are less reliable indicators currently - spoofing deliberately or inadvertently, and rigorous analysis are much more practical now than in the past.

Star Wars is an interesting specimen because Star Wars represents a significant chunk of attention. Many, many "eyeballs" are focused on it, and brain lobes are dedicated (in a fractional and operative sense) to it's consideration. No small amount of money is associated with it's success or failure in commercial terms. If nothing else we'll all be personally firing synapses in an effort to parse the aphorisms cultivated by this narrative.

This hints at why "how a *franchise* is handled" is any concern of mine, or anyone else.

Comments encouraged.

Doesn't deal a death blow to the franchise.

How's that for faint praise?

Saw the latest Star Wars. To say the film avoided risks would be to put it mildly.

Reading this little bit from Scott McCloud illustrates the feeling I got while watching the movie:




That said, they avoided the worst moves (moves all too possible <koff>Hobbit<koff>) For that element of restraint I must express relief.

I really liked the Maz Kanata character whose story I could stand seeing more of. Sort of an orange Yoda-meets-tiger-mom - force-aware without all the Manichean over-determined destiny going on. Room left for a viewer to have some genuine curiosity.

John Boyega had a tough job, which he did well, with Finn. The script was, IMHO, stumbling in its haste to remedy the franchise's past history of racial and ethnic bias. Good intentions, but, if it weren't for Boyega's presence and some good laugh lines, a compounding disaster lying in wait.

I also like the scale and patina of ruin established by having Rey spelunk the derelict ship.

One suspects Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher didn't want to be there, but they didn't literally or figuratively take a crap in the middle the camera frame. Apparently Abrams was satisfied with that much. He should consider himself lucky.

A film that doesn't deal a death blow to the franchise.

What more could we expect?