{"id":15618,"date":"2017-12-12T16:34:03","date_gmt":"2017-12-12T22:34:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/arseniclullabies.com\/wordpress\/?p=15618"},"modified":"2017-12-13T23:20:53","modified_gmt":"2017-12-14T05:20:53","slug":"in-defense-of-rogue-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/arseniclullabies.com\/wordpress\/?p=15618","title":{"rendered":"In defense of Rogue One"},"content":{"rendered":"

In defense of Rogue One<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u00a0 Once in awhile a movie comes out that makes me realize how much I loathe my fellow man. \u00a0Usually it\u2019s bad movie that everyone raves about, and I go see it and think \u201c was this all a conspiracy to get me to waste 2 hours of my life watching that piece of crap?\u201d but this time it\u2019s a really good movie that my fellow man has reacted to with a \u201cmeh\u201d.<\/p>\n

Again, this week I find myself defending something I would normally be on board with giving the finger. I\u2019m not a Star Wars fan. \u00a0At all. I liked the first three when I was a stupid kid and didn\u2019t know any better. \u00a0After I grew up and watched then again I said \u201cthese are awful\u201d. \u00a0I will admit a bias, because I don\u2019t like science fiction newer than..oh…1978, because after 1978 they just became soap operas on a space ship, or sitcoms on a space ship, or dramas on a space ship. \u00a0The imagination and wonder had been replaced. And by and large any sci fi script out there could have easily started out as a generic script for any other genre that they just changed the setting on. \u00a0Other people disagree, other people like this stuff…fine. \u00a0The point it I saw this movie because there was NOTHING else playing at the time I wanted to see a movie.<\/p>\n

Rogue One falls squarely into the pitfall of \u201csci-fi\u201d I was just bitching about. \u00a0This could easily have been a WW2 movie about the french resistance. \u00a0Change the empire to the nazis, her dad is working on the nuclear bomb, and Darth Vader is…I dunno… Rommel.\u00a0 BUT, as far as Star wars movies go…THIS was the Star Wars movie all the other movies were trying to be. \u00a0It even made all the other movies better, because it solved, what in my mind, was there biggest flaw- the rebel Alliance being a bunch of wet ends who couldn\u2019t \u201crebel\u201d against a city ordinance violation\u201d. \u00a0Those people weren\u2019t worth a crap. \u00a0They couldn\u2019t defend their home bass against a bunch of slow moving giant mechanical camels…and they had plenty of time to get ready. \u00a0Rogue One solves that paradox. Every Rebel worth a crap was blow up.<\/p>\n

The movie kept me very entertained for 2 hours. \u00a0Yet somehow…the rest of you think it was \u201cokay\u201d or \u201cmeh\u201d for reasons that irritate the sh*t out of me.<\/p>\n

I hadn\u2019t noticed until now, that you people all persist in acting like failed film students or some sh*t when you talk about movies. \u00a0When did the \u201cending\u201d become \u201cthe third act\u201d among regular people with normal jobs? \u00a0When did you start acting like you know jack sh*t about camera shots, character archs and \u201cthe journey of the character\u201d\u00a0 When did regular, non creative professionals start refering to the story as “the narrative”.\u00a0 I don’t even like it when pros say stuff like that too me….”the narrative”…You mean the f*cking story?! do you realize how you sound?\u00a0 Unless you are actively, at the time you are speaking, pitching a film idea to a studio there is no reason to use that jargon other than as a verbal affectation, Do you not realize how pretentiousness you sound? \u00a0 Why do you feel the urge to use film making jargon, and view it through the eyes of a screenwriter? Why would you want to?!\u00a0 Can\u2019t you just watch something and like it or not like it without sounding like some hipster douchbag at starbucks with a shitty slice of life script in the holster?<\/p>\n

And when did you all decide that a formula was good?! And that a movie that doesn\u2019t follow a \u201cformula\u201d is bad?! \u00a0It\u2019s the other way around. \u00a0Don\u2019t you get that you have been watching the same movie over and over and over and over and over? \u00a0They change the names, actors, background, but the story is basically the same. \u00a0\u00a0Want an example? I can give you a hundred, but here\u2019s one- Wonder Woman and Captain America are the same movie…right down to a deadly device having to be flown away by some hero.<\/p>\n

In your hipster bitching you bemoan the lack of \u201ccharacter growth\u201d or \u201ccharacter arc\u201d in Jin Erso. \u00a0\u201cno emotional journey\u201d \u201cno background between childhood and adulthood\u201d \u201cwhat\u2019s her motivation?\u201d \u201cwhere\u2019s the character development?\u201d. \u00a0What the f*ck are you talking about? \u00a0\u201cCharacter development\u201d? “character arc”?…that\u2019s all a bunch of bullsh*t. \u00a0People don\u2019t change.\u00a0 Who in your life has changed? Really? \u00a0No one. Maybe they get a little better or a little worse over the course of DECADES, but usually they just get dumber and slower and fatter. By return of the Jedi Darth vader should have been all like \u201cagain with the Rebels? Who gives a crap, my back hurts, what\u2019s for dinner?\u201d. Any change outside of that is formula grade a bullsh*t. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I thought \u201cart imitates life\u201d.\u00a0 I thought that was a goal. For art, to in some capacity or facet, imitate life. That\u2019s what this movie did in spades. \u00a0Jin was the most believable 3 dimensional character in the Star wars universe and makes everyone in the other movies look like cartoon character.<\/p>\n

Many of you don’t see this because many of you pay more attention to\u00a0 script formulas than the actual human condition.\u00a0 The events that happen to you between birth and age 7-10 form who you are in granite.\u00a0 If you could view those years of everyone you know, you would instantly understand them better than you do with all your combined knowledge of their adult life. How did she get captured? What crimes was she committing? That tells us nothing of who she is…We saw the most formative event in her childhood and that tells us the foundation for everything she is, and why she does everything.<\/p>\n

Who she is, is clear from the start and she is consistent in her character and motivations. She\u2019s a hot mess who never got over her dad being taken from her, everything she did in that movie was because she was a hot mess who never got over her dad being taken from her, and she died a hot mess who never got over her dad being taken from her. \u00a0And that mirrors the actual human condition better than not only any star wars movie, it does so better than just about every drama made in the last 30 years. \u00a0You throw out Citizen King and It\u2019s a Wonderful Life, and I can\u2019t think of one with a character more true to life.<\/p>\n

She didn\u2019t have any bullshit epiphany or cartoonish change of heart upon seeing someone else\u2019s struggle, no absurd 180 turn when a pivotal event happens . \u00a0Everything she did makes perfect sense from someone who went through what she went through as a child. \u00a0Ask any psychiatrist or date a hot mess yourself…it all comes back to \u201cDad wasn\u2019t around\u201d.<\/p>\n

How did she end up in jail? Dad wasn\u2019t around. \u00a0\u00a0Why did she agree to help the rebel\u2019s? They mentioned Dad. Why did she attack the Imperial base, to try to find Dad. \u00a0Why did she try to convince the rebels to fight? Dad. Why did she go to attack the empire without the Rebel’s full help? Dad. When she met back up with Saw…what was she yelling at him about? She was yelling about him “abandoning her” …kinda like Dad, yes?\u00a0 The moment people point to as “inconstant”, when she risks her life to rescue the child in the middle of a gun fight…that child had been what?…the child had been “abandoned” \u00a0 You to bitch that the movie didn\u2019t follow a structure? It followed a structure to a tee. The structure of someones actual personality as formed by childhood trama.<\/p>\n

I thought this movie was great, and I though Jin was great. \u00a0She was as believable a character as I can imagine. \u00a0I\u2019ve dated plenty \u00a0of hot messes with daddy issues and I can tell you\u2026<\/p>\n

Hmmm\u2026wait a minute…<\/p>\n

What about this movie did I like exactly?\u00a0 I hate modern sci-fi…even good modern sci-fi…The action was so-so. \u00a0The acting was…fine. \u00a0The characters were…fine. \u00a0Do I only like it because my own flawed nature leads me to this type of woman over and over and over and over. \u00a0Am I railing out against people expecting a change in character\/growth because I am refusing to change or grow? Did I just have an epiphany? \u00a0I…need to sit down a second. \u00a0Lemme think this through here. \u00a0I don\u2019t like star Wars. \u00a0This movie wasn\u2019t so good I should bother defending it. \u00a0The only \u2026 \u00a0wait…uhm\u2026<\/p>\n

…I need a drink.<\/p>\n

What in my own childhood could have led me to be attracted to the same flawed type of personality over and over?\u00a0 …a little introspection might be in order here…because there is no real reason for me to like this movie so much, beyond that it may be clawing at something in my own…<\/p>\n

No! \u00a0Wait !\u00a0 The robot was funny.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

haha! “a fresh one”…that’s good stuff.\u00a0 I sure did like that robot.<\/p>\n

There.<\/p>\n

Whew.<\/p>\n

When Douglas is not here, he and his work can be found at www.arseniclullaby.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

sign up HERE<\/strong><\/a> for the email updates and get blogs, rants, sneak previews, and discount codes sent directly to your inbox<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In defense of Rogue One \u00a0 Once in awhile a movie comes out that makes me realize how much I loathe my fellow man. \u00a0Usually it\u2019s bad movie that everyone raves about, and I go see it and think \u201c was this all a conspiracy to get me to waste\u2026 Continue reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15618","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-life-and-times-of-your-hero"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2ee9g-43U","jetpack_featured_media_url":"","post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/arseniclullabies.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15618","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/arseniclullabies.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/arseniclullabies.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/arseniclullabies.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/arseniclullabies.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15618"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/arseniclullabies.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15618\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/arseniclullabies.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15618"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/arseniclullabies.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15618"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/arseniclullabies.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15618"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}