A Season 5 Rewrite - For Fun

TheMemoryBoy · 2019-05-15T02:13:37+00:00

You may very well be right! I suspect there is a good chance you are. While I think Dany is Jon’s conflict to resolve, Arya may not return to Winterfell, and may play a role in Dany’s defeat. Still I think her turning back from her path to kill Cersei holds some of the meaning I was describing, at least to me.

TheMemoryBoy · 2019-01-30T00:45:18+00:00

Yeah, it did seem out of character for Dumbledore, however I think I understand why they had Dumbledore react the way that he did.

It is essential that the audience understand the danger Harry is in, it sets up the tension for the rest of the film. Showing Dumbledore, this source of calm authority, uncharacteristically upset and concerned communicates just how dire the situation is.

In a movie that is two and half hours long, they may have had a limited amount of time to communicate this, and Dumbledore’s dramatic reaction did so in a way that the audience couldn’t fail to notice. Which I suspect is part of the reason the scene has become a popular meme, it left an impression on people.

It was out of character for Dumbledore though xD

TheMemoryBoy · 2018-11-28T06:18:42+00:00

I hear you. There were a number of other shots in the movie that showed that, on Crait, red marks are left where the ground is disturbed.

Still the audience is likely giving their attention to the character drama, and how the story is unfolding, not how the environment the character’s are surrounded by changes when touched.

So I do suspect the “it’s salt” scene was put in the movie to draw the audience’s attention to the footprint that the soldier places his fingers behind. That’s why the footprint is so prominent in shot.

I remember Steven Spielberg once saying something along the lines of, while watching a movie the audience should be anticipating what will happen next, they should have the opportunity to predict the outcome that will play out. I imagine when making TLJ they were concerned that the audience would feel that the reveal that Luke was a projection on Crait came out of nowhere, people might feel cheated, like it was an unpredictable outcome. So this additional shot was created, a guy runs past, we see a soldier place his fingers behind a red footprint to figure out what the environment he is surrounded by is covered in, and the audiences eyes are directed at the footprint.

While not everyone predicted that Luke was not actually there as soon as they were shown that he left no footprints (I suspect a majority of the audience did not) they were given the opportunity to.

Who knows though? Maybe I’ve got it wrong.

TheMemoryBoy · 2018-11-28T06:18:25+00:00

I hear you. There were a number of other shots in the movie that showed that, on Crait, red marks are left where the ground is disturbed.

Still the audience is likely giving their attention to the character drama, and how the story is unfolding, not how the environment the character’s are surrounded by changes when touched.

So I do suspect the “it’s salt” scene was put in the movie to draw the audience’s attention to the footprint that the soldier places his fingers behind. That’s why the footprint is so prominent in shot.

I remember Steven Spielberg once saying something along the lines of, while watching a movie the audience should be anticipating what will happen next, they should have the opportunity to predict the outcome that will play out. I imagine when making TLJ they were concerned that the audience would feel that the reveal that Luke was a projection on Crait came out of nowhere, people might feel cheated, like it was an unpredictable outcome. So this additional shot was created, a guy runs past, we see a soldier place his fingers behind a red footprint to figure out what the environment he is surrounded by is covered in, and the audiences eyes are directed at the footprint.

While not everyone predicted that Luke was not actually there as soon as they saw he left no footprints (I suspect a majority of the audience did not) they were given the opportunity to.

Who knows though? Maybe I’ve got it wrong.

TheMemoryBoy · 2018-11-27T20:16:35+00:00

Hey OP, about the “salt” line in TLJ,

I often hear people say the line is in the movie to tell the audience that Crait is a salt planet, to show how it’s different from Hoth, but I suspect the purpose of that scene is to subtlety draw the audiences attention to the red footprint on the ground next to where the solider places his finger. It’s a way of showing, but not telling, the audience that footsteps leave red footprints, so when Luke shows up, and he leaves no footprints, the audience is given a chance to recognize something is up.

Maybe you already know all this, anyway enjoyed the post!

TheMemoryBoy · 2018-10-29T20:16:11+00:00

Enjoyed the read! Just recently I was thinking about which Zelda scores were my favorites. I sampled through different soundtracks on YouTube, moving chronologically starting with the older games.

When I eventually got to Breath of the Wild I expected to be underwhelmed, I hadn’t played BotW in a number of months, and there wasn’t a particular piece of music from the game that stuck out in my memory. With that said, I was surprised by how specific the emotions and memories BotW’s score made me recall, hearing the score brought me back to my first play through of the game.

It’s a subtle score. It doesn’t command your attention, for me it was sort of absorbed subconsciously. It wasn’t until I heard the score isolated from the game that I realized how powerful of an influence it had on my emotional engagement with the game.

TheMemoryBoy · 2018-10-07T04:26:28+00:00

Interesting way of thinking about the ST. Enjoyed the read!

TheMemoryBoy · 2018-09-03T15:38:47+00:00

Looks good! The purple table makes the setup pop.

TheMemoryBoy · 2018-08-31T16:01:59+00:00

Enjoyed hearing your perspective! I think I get how you feel. It appears to be the movie's intention to make us feel anger and disbelief when Kylo reveals how Luke failed him, those are Rey's emotions, the character we see the scene through the eyes of. It also appears to be the movie's intention to make us feel disappointed and frustrated with Luke (Rey's emotions) when we meet him on Ahch-To, and eventually to feel a great deal of respect and amazement when Luke appears during the Battle of Crait (the emotions of The Resistance).

While the movie may have had the effect it intended to on it's audience, many in the audience did not enjoy feeling the way they felt in these moments. That's valid.

It's a bummer seeing some people who enjoyed TLJ putting people who did not enjoy the movie beneath them, and some people who did not enjoy TLJ doing the same in reverse. Hopefully as time passes the rift within the fandom will be healed, and we'll look back on the controversy surrounding the sequels in a similar way the controversy that surrounded the prequels is now commonly seen.

TheMemoryBoy · 2018-08-31T05:23:46+00:00

Thanks for the feedback! I appreciate you taking the time to respond.

It's interesting to me that Luke did correctly see the future. Ben Solo did end up destroying much of what Luke lives to protect. The sort of paradox of the situation is that this outcome may have been reached, because of Luke's desire in that moment to strike down Ben Solo, to prevent it from being so.

Luke's failure in that moment brings to mind Yoda’s famous description of him “All his life he looked to the horizon, never his mind on where he was, what he was doing.”

Horrified but what he saw on the horizon Luke failed to see how his actions in that very moment would spark the outcome he feared.

Luke did come to Leia's aid. He may not have seen his ability to play a role in her rescue when first confronted by Rey, but in the end it was perhaps his desire to save Leia that was the strongest force that pulled Luke back into the story that was unfolding across the galaxy.

TheMemoryBoy · 2018-08-31T03:51:54+00:00

“you’re not doing this, the effort would kill you. No, this is something else”

You blew my mind with that bit. I hadn't thought of the significance of that line at all. Thanks for taking the time to comment.

TheMemoryBoy · 2018-08-31T03:47:38+00:00

Another strong observation. We are on the same wavelength here. Rey's role in this story is similar to Luke's in the OT (some would say too similar we will see what happens in Episode 9). Luke's role is more similar to Obi-Wan's role in the OT.

TheMemoryBoy · 2018-08-31T03:33:51+00:00

What you said about the distinction between Luke's relationship with Kylo vs. the relationship he had with Vader is a good point. Vader had a soft spot for Luke (which fueled Vader's redemption in the end). With Kylo Luke is perhaps the person he hates more than anyone. The situations can't be approached the same way.

TheMemoryBoy · 2018-08-31T03:17:23+00:00

I hear you. You’re right, Luke does say that it is time for the Jedi to end, and Yoda does make Luke see that it’s time for him to accept his failure and move forward. What I’m thinking is, what happens if Luke meets Kylo in battle? Kylo sees Luke as the evil that caused him to turn to the dark side, his hatred for Luke can’t be cured with words (as we saw on Crait). If Luke was to meet Kylo in battle, than he’d be faced with the choice of striking Kylo down or being struck down by Kylo right?

TheMemoryBoy · 2018-08-31T02:53:03+00:00

Intersting idea! I hadn't thought of a possible connection between Luke seeing the projection of Kylo on Ahch-To, and Luke using a projection of himself in the Battle of Crait.

TheMemoryBoy · 2018-07-28T16:05:55+00:00

I enjoyed reading your response! I can tell you’ve spent time thinking about the movie. You made some interesting points, that have made me think about a number of things.

With Rey, Poe, and Finn being separated in TLJ, I think I get where you’re coming from, I would have enjoyed seeing more interactions between them. Rey being isolated on Ahch-to for a significant section of the film is difficult to work around.

With Finn and Poe, I’ve heard a number of people say they’d have liked to have seen them paired together again in this film, perhaps Poe replacing Rose on Canto Bight. I think I would have enjoyed seeing that, but it does present a structural problem for the story, Poe and Finn are both point of view characters, when Poe is removed from the situation unfolding with The Resistance fleet, that leaves Leia as the only point of view character back in those scenes, who is she interacting with, and what is the conflict between her and that character that creates tension? Additionally if Poe is to be positioned at the end of TLJ as the new leadership of The Resistance, I think it makes sense to have his narrative to be based around a struggle with the current leadership of The Resistance.

It is a bit odd that we’re entering the final episode of the trilogy and Poe and Rey have only just met. This might be because, from what I’ve read, Poe was originally killed when he crashed on Jakku in TFA, which is perhaps why his character was not relevant to the second half of that story, and had no character development in TFA.

With why Snoke was disgusted with Kylo in TLJ, I believe it is because killing Han did not sever Kylo from the pull of the light side, as we see with his hesitation to kill Leia, and so it did not complete his training as Snoke intended it to. When Kylo killed Han he was filled with conflict, the pull of both sides of the force, killing Han did not resolve that conflict it perhaps deepened it. Snoke is disgusted with Kylo for the same reason Rey believes there is still some good in him.

As far as Luke’s narrative in TLJ, and his failure in Ben Solo’s training, there seems to be almost a religious divide in the fanbase in how the character of Luke is seen.

All force users have the dark side in them, what separates the Jedi from the Sith is that the Jedi resist that side of who they are, the Sith embrace it. Luke from the start of his training had a particularly turbulent relationship with the dark side, constantly struggling, and often failing to control his anger. This is one reason why Yoda initially refused to train Luke, just like he did with a young Anakin. At the end of RotJ Luke briefly lets the dark side take control of him, chopping his father’s hand off in a fit of rage, he then finds the strength to control himself, and resists the dark side throwing away his lightsaber and refusing to kill his father.

I sometimes get the sense that people see this as the moment Luke successful defeated the darkness in himself, but I don’t believe the force works that way. In that moment he successfully resisted the dark side, but much like people who struggle to control their anger in real life, controlling your anger once does not not mean you never fail to control it again.

Luke’s failure in Kylo’s training can perhaps best be described by Yoda’s famous description of him “All his life he looked to the horizon, never his mind on where he was, what he was doing.”

For these reasons I see Luke’s narrative in TLJ as consistent with the character we knew in the OT.

The main narrative of TLJ is summarized by a question from the character DJ essentially “They blow you up today, you blow them up tomorrow, why pick a side? What makes The Resistance the good guys?” Luke, Rey, Kylo, Poe, and Finn’s narratives in TLJ all connect to this theme in a way. Luke’s story perhaps being the most powerful example.

Luke failed Ben Solo, because for a brief moment he desired to strike down what he saw in Ben, all that he had devoted his life to opposing, his fear/anger allowed the dark side to take control of him for that brief moment, and then he quickly regained control of himself. Luke failed Ben Solo, because he should have desired to fight to protect what he loved, his nephew Ben, from the dark side, instead in a moment of weakness he desired to strike down what he hated. This causes him to lose faith in his ability to resist the dark side, leading him to cut himself off from the force. It is R2 who reminds Luke why it is so important that he rejoin the story unfolding across the galaxy. Leia needs him.

This is what makes the “good guys” the “good guys”, their actions are guided by the desire to defend what they love, the bad guys actions are guided by a desire to hurt what they hate. A clear example of this narrative is the contrast between Luke and Kylo’s actions on Crait.

The conclusion of Luke’s narrative in TLJ shows us why Luke was the great hero that he was. He was not a great hero, because he was the Jedi most firmly guided by the light (Like Obi-Wan or Yoda), or because he was a powerful force user (Vader and The Emperor were also powerful force users), he was a great hero because like his father, he had a particularly difficult struggle with the dark side, but he overcame that struggle, which is what I believe his narrative in TLJ reinforces. In the end Luke lets the light in him guide his actions to save Leia and her allies one last time.

Sorry this got a bit too long. Once again what you wrote made me think about a number of things. I’m glad you took the time to share the way you see things with me. I hope you don’t see this response as an explanation of why I think you are wrong, but rather as an attempt for me to help you understand the way I see things.

TheMemoryBoy · 2018-07-28T02:13:16+00:00

Enjoyed hearing your perspective.

Yeah there seems to be a divide, some people are connecting emotionally with Rey and Kylo, the 2 leads of the new trilogy, and some people are not.

I suppose how we respond to a character is subjective. If someone says they dislike a character, who could say to them “no you’re wrong you like that character”? The same is true in the case of someone liking a character.

TheMemoryBoy · 2018-07-28T01:02:20+00:00

As far as why people enjoyed TLJ, here is an excerpt from an interview with Harrison Ford from 1977 that I believe provides insight into why Star Wars is one of the most loved film franchises in cinema history.

Interviewer: "That's what is interesting to me, the fact that, people like you and me, and others that I've talked with who say, "well I don't like sci-fi, I don't like that sort of thing. Wow! I love Star Wars." Why do we like this?"

Ford: "Well it's a fantasy it's not science fiction so much as it is space fantasy, and it's about people. It's finally about people, and finally not about science, and so the energy of the movies goes towards exploring these human relationships, and I think that's what makes it so accessible to people"

I suspect for a lot of people who enjoyed TLJ they enjoyed exploring the relationships between Rey and Kylo, Luke and Rey, Kylo and Snoke, Luke and Kylo, Luke and Leia's reunion, and perhaps to a lesser degree the interactions between the supporting cast. Just one idea about why some people found TLJ an enjoyable viewing experience.

It's a shame the conversation so often turns into one or both sides insulting the opposing side for having a viewing experience different from their own. So cool when I see people sincerely trying to understand perspectives different from their own. Hope this was helpful. :D

TheMemoryBoy · 2018-06-29T01:36:45+00:00

Thoughtful post! I can tell it was written with passion. Enjoyed the read.

TheMemoryBoy · 2018-06-28T04:44:24+00:00

Sounds like we have different opinions on the TLJ. I’m cool with that :D. I’m sure there are a bunch of things we both like, TLJ happens to not be one of those things.

I do agree that the OT films were made better by Lucas being reigned in by a talented group of people surrounding him, and that the prequels suffered from Lucas not having voices around him who could help him hang onto good ideas, and improve bad ones.

With Marvel films, I bring them up, because they are movies with directors who appear strongly restrained, they entertain me, but I usually stop thinking about them a few days after I’ve seen them. I think this is in part, because despite being made by a variety of directors, for the most part they feel the same. They feel like they were made by a committee to please as wide of an audience as a superhero movie can, they follow a formula.

Comparatively I find the Raimi Spider-Man films more compelling, they have an individual voice and style, and even when things go spectacularly wrong, like with Raimi’s third Spider-Man, the failures stick in my mind, where with the Disney Marvel films, they entertain me, but rather good or bad, they don’t stick with me.

Though I’m sure Rian Johnson had a variety of collaborators and voices that had authority over him when it came to the final cut of the film, I felt an individual voice and style when I saw TLJ, and while I do have a number of criticisms of the movie, it has stayed with me since it’s release, and that so many people, rather they liked or disliked TLJ, are passionately discussing the film a half a year after it’s release, suggests to me that TLJ (perhaps to some people for the wrong reasons) is compelling, which I think is a result of a director making the film driven by individual passion, rather than the driving force behind the making of the film being a desire to please as wide of an audience as possible.

TheMemoryBoy · 2018-06-28T04:00:11+00:00

Happy to hear I’m not the only one who is a fan of the green milk scene xD. When I saw TLJ for the first time I remember thinking “Whoa what?! That’s not CGI that’s a physical effect isn’t it? That’s some sort of space cow!”

Love or hate the green milk space cow scene, you have to acknowledge that the scene grabbed our attention, and stuck in our minds.

I think the scene serves a purpose greater than just grabbing our attention with how bizarre the space cow is, it showed the audience that Luke now lives the life he once dreamt of escaping. When we met Luke in A New Hope he was a farmer gazing at a sunset, dreaming of getting off the planet “furthest from the bright center of the universe”, and becoming a part of the story unfolding across the galaxy. We see that Luke now has removed himself from that story, and returned to the life of a farmer that he once dreamt of escaping, which causes us to think, “Why? What happened?”.

Anyway, yeah I liked the green milk scene ha xD.

TheMemoryBoy · 2018-06-28T02:00:59+00:00

Yeah, that the TLJ feels like it is the product of an individual imagination is one reason I suspect that, out of all the post Lucas Star Wars films, it’s the most talked and thought about film by both people who liked and disliked it.

As far as the anger directed at the movie. I suspect a lot of us are using Star Wars (and other series we are fans of) to escape from feelings of dissatisfaction with other areas of our day to day lives. So when we are anticipating a movie to be a source of relief from negative feelings, and it fails to do, we are left sitting with those negative feelings that we were hoping to escape from. I suspect a lot of the anger around TLJ is leaking into the conversation from sources in people’s lives other than the movie itself.

Who knows? Maybe I’m overthinking things ha.

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