A bit of current events first: thanks in part to my being sick I didn’t watch the movie I was planning to review for today. I think I should be able to see it tomorrow so the intended Finally Watched marathon is going to have to move a day over and there will be no Art Of Storytelling this week. However, my being sick has nothing to do with being a week behind on stuff so let’s get to something I just heard about today.
In the time period where there were no new Star Wars stories the comics, novels, and video games picked up the slack, telling the further adventures of Luke Skywalker and his friends. Some were set during other battles not shown in the movies while others took place after the movies as the Rebel Alliance attempted to reforge the Republic. However, other stories opted to go way back in time, to tell the origins and early days of the Old Republic and the conflict between the Jedi Knights and Sith Lords, each with their own perspective on how to best serve or use the Force, the ancient power that binds the universe together in Star Wars lore.
Not that it matters anymore since Disney tossed out all of it, with only the occasional makeover like fan favorite Grand Moff Thrawn getting through. I understand the reasoning. Going into the history of Luke and Mara Jade alone would probably lose most casual fans who only know the movies and never bothered with the books, comics, games, or cartoons. Plus most of those weren’t canon to Lucasfilm’s run either. Well, they recently decided to do their own take on the history of the galaxy as seen in novels and Dark Horse comics. Star Wars: High Republic is the first of these projects and it has the usual hate by the so-called Fandom Menace, traditional Star Wars fans who don’t care for the direction DisneyFilm has taken the franchise, and the usual defenses by the so-called “shill media” who are totally on board because now it matches their tastes. As I’ve said on this very site in literally the first article, quality of enjoyment is not proof of quality of story. I can watch The Pumaman without a guy and two robots ragging on it and enjoy it just fine, but I’m not interested in watching Citizen Kane. The latter is the better made film but the former is more in-line with my tastes. Taste is subjective and even I know I’m a weirdo.
Since I’m a week behind still on YouTube I only caught the trailer this afternoon, so while it’s hardly timely it’s also not me joining the movement or whatever. The heat has died down a bit and I’m approaching this from I hope a more neutral perspective. That doesn’t mean I don’t have issues with it; I do. I do however see some potential in the mistakes.
