A Critique of Star Wars: The Force Awakens - Introduction

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πŸ‘οΈŽ︎ 1 πŸ‘€οΈŽ︎ u/AutoModerator πŸ“…οΈŽ︎ Dec 25 2018 πŸ—«︎ replies

I've been looking forward to this

πŸ‘οΈŽ︎ 70 πŸ‘€οΈŽ︎ u/TheGidofter πŸ“…οΈŽ︎ Dec 25 2018 πŸ—«︎ replies

To all those people claiming 3 hours is way too long for a part one, I get where you're coming from, but remember, this is MauLer. This is what he does, take it or leave it. He makes long form content.

I don't think it's because he loves to listen to his own voice, he's said the length wasn't a goal, it just organically happened.

πŸ‘οΈŽ︎ 69 πŸ‘€οΈŽ︎ u/ThePlatinumEagle πŸ“…οΈŽ︎ Dec 25 2018 πŸ—«︎ replies

There's a lot to unpack in this nearly 3 hour video, but I'll try to express my thoughts in a concise manner.

*Despite not personally being bothered by the amount of time MauLer spends on the various subjects he tackles, I can understand why others would not personally be appealed by it. I don't think it's a bad quality of his, however. I enjoy MauLer's content and the way he analyzes media, and I could listen to him talking about movies for hours, granted that they're movies I'm already somewhat interested in. Sometimes we spend more time talking about and analyzing art than we do actually viewing it, and that to me is still a part of the consumption of art.

*The flickering lights in the transports at the beginning of TFA are a flashy, stylistic choice that was made at the expense of in-universe logic. It's a really small nitpick that doesn't amount to much if at all when measuring the quality of TFA, but it was something that made me wince even on my first viewing, so I'm glad he at least brought it up. I think he's got a good eye for noticing details that make some people go "hey, wait a minute..." that most gloss over because of how nitpicky it is.

*I think it's perfectly fair for him to call out the various YouTubers and communities such as MCJ during his review. MauLer has been misrepresented, strawmanned, and mocked over the length of his content by lots of people in the past year in the wake of his TLJ critique and his discussions on objectivity and subjectivity in media analysis.

*He's right on the money in regards to the missed potential of giving the stormtroopers agency beyond being faceless mooks to be slaughtered by the dozens and the terrible decision to throw out any set-up for a proper follow-up to Return of the Jedi.

πŸ‘οΈŽ︎ 16 πŸ‘€οΈŽ︎ u/SouthpawLP πŸ“…οΈŽ︎ Dec 26 2018 πŸ—«︎ replies

I love his long section on objectivity. He articulates what I've been trying to tell people really well.

πŸ‘οΈŽ︎ 28 πŸ‘€οΈŽ︎ u/[deleted] πŸ“…οΈŽ︎ Dec 25 2018 πŸ—«︎ replies

Honestly, after watching the full thing, I completely understand his complaints about the YouTube community and star wars at large, I'm not saying he's nailed them perfectly but he makes some pretty strong points. However, he should have made it a separate video although again, considering the context of what the arguments are about I know why he's included it so I'm torn on ln his decision to include it. Still I felt at times I just wanted him to get back to star wars and that he was beating the shit out of a dead horse.

I don't know why anyone is complaining about run time, this series will be 15 hours long or so he predicts, can't wait for it, I think it's brilliant.

πŸ‘οΈŽ︎ 11 πŸ‘€οΈŽ︎ u/[deleted] πŸ“…οΈŽ︎ Dec 26 2018 πŸ—«︎ replies

I agree with the vast majority of what he says, but Christ, this video is fucking long and difficult to sit through at times. There are times when the length feels fully justified (I like how he goes into detail about why the opening seconds of TFA are already problematic, and how the very core of this whole trilogy was fucked from the start).

But then there are numerous times where he'll go off on like a 5-10 minute detour cutting down another Youtuber and it just feels like it goes on and on even after he's perfectly made his point, that stuff could be in a separate section/video about the Youtubers.

I think MauLer is one of the better critics of Disney Star Wars but I find it so fucking hard to watch anything outside of the "unbridled rage" series. I prefer long form critique but I think he can organize and condense this stuff down better.

πŸ‘οΈŽ︎ 31 πŸ‘€οΈŽ︎ u/slvrcobra πŸ“…οΈŽ︎ Dec 25 2018 πŸ—«︎ replies

Out of curiosity what happens when you put this on r/StarWars?

πŸ‘οΈŽ︎ 4 πŸ‘€οΈŽ︎ u/[deleted] πŸ“…οΈŽ︎ Dec 28 2018 πŸ—«︎ replies

Finally it's here!

πŸ‘οΈŽ︎ 5 πŸ‘€οΈŽ︎ u/crobemeister πŸ“…οΈŽ︎ Dec 26 2018 πŸ—«︎ replies
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English subtitles by MatrixLegion ABC News: Star Wars: The Force Awakens is being called the film of a generation. Chris Stuckmann: Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens... (laughing like a madman) Angry Joe: (making TIE Fighter sounds) Jeremy Jahns: (more onomatopoeia) Scott "Movie" Mantz: I gotta buckle up, so I don't get to crazy. Carrie Fisher: That's very good... Angry Joe: Aaaa! Delrith: Ow! Joe, stop hitting me in the face! Confused Matthew: That's right ladies and gentlemen, we have good Star Wars films again. Jeremy Jahns: Nothing but Staaar Waaars! Chris Stuckmann: (heavy breathing) Yes! Armoured Skeptic: That was an amazing movie! What can I say? It was everything I wanted it to be, and more. Mike Stoklasa: It was everything I hoped it would be. Repzion: It was everything I ever wanted Star Wars movie to be... Angry Joe: Star Wars is back. It's back to its true form. ???: Seen the movie, and it kicks ass! Chris Stuckmann: It's not just a great Star Wars movie, is actually a great film. ???: I mean it's the best movie of the 7 (movies) by far. - O rly? - Wow. Mark Kermode BBC: Very entertaining, very engaging, very um, dramatically solid... Repzion: Um, this movie is incredible, phenomenal, fantastic, excellent... moviebob: Star Wars: The Force Awakens is a pretty damn good movie. James Rofle (AVGN): I thought it was very exciting. YourMovieSucksDOTorg: ...and I thought this movie was an enjoyable and refreshing addition to the franchise. I Hate Everything: The high points are so high, that the low points are kinda meaningless to me. Chris Stuckmann: Guys, in all honesty, I love The Force Awakens. Repzion: (crying tears of joy) I cannot express to you my absolute love for Star Wars. Mike Stoklasa: I loved it. Angry Joe: Thank you J. J. Abrams for saving Star Wars! ABC news interviewer: Do you wanna say anything to the die-hard Star Wars fans? Carrie Fisher: Please go to this film, if you've heard that it's good. Stephen Colbert: The gravy must be that like, Disney and George Lucas and the fans are so easy to please. Like, all of them... J.J. Abrams: XD Stephen: ...no one has any critiques of your work. Andre "Black Nerd": Star Wars: The Force Awakens. It was an entertaining movie, critics liked it, Star Wars fans approved of it... Chris: But is it good? ralphthemoviemaker: Is the movie bad? No. Is the movie great? No. ???: It's not a great movie and it's certainly not a bad movie. It's a good movie that happens to be titled Star Wars. Repzion: However, it's not without it's flaws... Ozzy Man Reviews: Overall, I'd say Disney wanted to have it's cake and eat it too. Jared Genesis: To the haters, of Force Awakens, guys listen, you're letting your nostalgia make you that way. This movie, Force Awakens, it wasn't a bad movie. WorldClassBullshitters: Hey Dan, what did you think? Dan: I think it was a movie. J. J. Abrams: It's been the funniest thing to see... the arguments that have developed over this thing. I Hate Everything: But I guess it reached that point that it's cool to hate The Force Awakens now. The Cosmonaut Variety Hour: If you go on YouTube, you will see countless videos complaining about The Force Awakens, 'cuz everybody likes to complain about this movie. feministfrequency: We can love the media and be critical of it at the same time, and I think this film is a grand test of this very mantra. CinemaSins: It's at this point you had a nagging feeling in the back of your mind that this whole movie was simply repurposing everything from A New Hope, and you haven't even gotten to the new Death Star yet. Nostalgia Critic: Did it really had to be so similar to the other movies? J.J. Abrams: ...it was this big corporate thing, and it had been in the news everywhere as a four billion dollar purchase, that it would be this kind of corporate approach to making a film. Lyle McDouchebag: Star Wars: The Force of Money! hackfraudmedia: What's the overall grade of The Force Awakens? Disappointing. WorldClassBullshitters: Expectations were at zero today honestly, usually I don't even care about this, and then I watched it and... I just didn't care. Nicholas Spargo: So far to say that it is in fact, worse that the prequels. E;R: This farce will never be Star Wars. Search your feelings, you know it to be true. Cosmonaut: I just want people to re-evaluate the reasons behind their criticism of this movie, because it truly isn't as bad as they say it is. Angry Joe: But maybe, just keep this in mind as people start to pick this thing apart, cuz I've got notes upon notes of where I can pick it apart, um, just realize they do it with love. George Lucas: I've discovered that most critics themselves are cinematically illiterate. They don't really know much about movies. They don't know the history, they don't know the technology, they don't know anything. So for them to try to analyze it they're lost. Mauler: Hello there, ladies and gentlemen, I'm Mauler and welcome to a critique of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. I will be covering far more than just the film itself, but as the title implies, the majority focus will be an assesment of the film. If you would like to skip over the introduction, please use the time code and it will take you to the beginning of the analysis (1:05:35). The introduction is essentially more so about me, my process, what you can expect in the series and an update for my subscribers. Though I will say that it is worth having seen the Star Wars saga up to the latest films in the series before watching my videos, as it will benefit you in following along. But seriously, we have a long introduction this time, and there'll be a bunch of topics covered that you might have absolutely no interest in. So if you're new and you're here for Star Wars alone, please skip on ahead. Though I will be able to tell you what you can expect. Ever since I completed my four videos on The Last Jedi at the start of this year, my channel has grown from 2,000 to 100,000 subscribers. I really can't say how much I appreciate you folks, and your support. This whole thing has been quite life-changing, and I've been provided some potent encouragement to push right on, including the support to build a new PC that was used to create this very series. So thank you for helping me pursue my dreams, and I hope that you enjoy what I put together. So to begin, I think it makes sense to talk a bit about objectivity, considering that will be the baseline for this assessment. So permit me, if you will, to go on a rant about the state of video essays and reviews on YouTube these days. Star Wars: The Last Jedi was panned quite thoroughly across much of YouTube, but since it is a part of such a popular franchise, it had plenty of fans remaining, as does anything with that kind of reach. At this juncture however, thanks to months of discussion, most points have been brought to the logical baseline, with some who apparently haven't heard a single counter-argument still trailing to join the discussion. At the end of my assessment I said that the film was overall objectively bad in terms of filmmaking. It is of poor quality. The utterly broken script was bleeding errors with every second of screen time that passed, and stating the conclusion at the end of the analysis is only natural. It can also assist in creating a scale for objective quality. Now, in relation to those who find my channel frustrating, there is an ongoing conversation about objectivity versus subjectivity. I have been made an example of by a handful of people as the channel who thinks his opinions are facts. Quinton Reviews: ...or, to put it like he likes to: his opinions are objective. And the opinions of people who disagree with him? Well those, those are just subjective. Mauler: Isn't it so strange that people can't seem to get a quote from my videos that would even remotely resemble that statement? The idea that I tell people they are watching movies wrong, for example, when my discussions are always concerned with the facts you use, and how well researched those are, versus the feelings you experience. Anyone is welcome to generate an objective opinion, based solely on the measurable elements of the content, or they can generate a personal subjective opinion based on how they felt. But they are completely different conversations. You can't be wrong for how you experience something. Patrick (H) Willems: ...and I'm not coming here to tell you that you're wrong, unless you are actually wrong about indisputable facts. Mauler: You see, you can do whatever you want, however you want, feel what you want, just don't tell me that an apple is a banana and expect me to say "you are right" by an objective standard. As you just heard, Patrick made a great point, but these same people purport that I make statements about denying someone's feelings or watching movies wrong, when they can't show it. Though if we reverse that accusation, I actually can use quotes, instead of inventing them. So considering the amount of criticism objective analysis receives from these folks, and how abysmal the current state of hollow analysis is on YouTube, why don't we explore their style and see if it holds up against any kind of scrutiny? Patrick: I know it seems impossible to watch movies wrong... (dramatic pause) ...but you're watching movies wrong. Mauler: Oh dear, that seems contradictive, doesn't it? Patrick: And I'm not coming here to tell you that you're wrong... 6 months later... ...you're watching movies wrong. You're kinda watching movies wrong. Mauler: This is what I end up hearing from the same people who believe they have more authority to speak on the subject of film analysis than others. Patrick: And all those plot holes people complain about? They don't actually matter. The actual problems are that many of the central characters are totally static and poorly motivated, and the one major moment of growth is caused by a ridiculous plot contrivance. Mauler: So, plot holes in favor of payoffs don't matter, but plot contrivances in favor of payoffs do? Patrick, you realize that a plot hole is a plot contrivance, but worse, right? At least with a contrivance, it could happen. A plot hole by definiton is a strict contradiction. It should not happen. You seem to be contradicting yourself quite a lot. Patrick: While I make some videos that are technically film criticism, I don't count as a film critic. Mauler: These people write scripts with more inconsistencies than the films I am trying to criticize. And these videos that they make are only ten minutes long. Patrick: Critics are not bought or bribed (sure...). Disney does not pay off critics to trash DC movies. It's not like bad reviews hurt Suicide Squads box office, so why would studios waste money on that? A few moments later... Before seeing a movie, I'll skim reactions from critics I trust on Twitter, or glance briefly at their reviews, and if enough of them seem to dig it, I'll see the movie. Why would studios waste money on that? Mauler: How to you write that in the same video? Many people accuse me of inaccurate film criticism too, that I am not aware of extra knowledge that would have changed my assessment, had I known it. This is actually a truth, there are a couple of things that I am completely unaware of, and that is a human error, as you would call it. But I am happy to admit that I can make that mistake. Patrick talks about how many critics are getting facts straight wrong by not paying attention to the movie - as if he is separate from that collective, only to then in the same video say this: Patrick: In the Alien, if the acid can melt through the floor, why doesn't it melt through the entire ship? Mauler: Patrick, acid doesn't just burn forever, it will neutralize after it eats through enough material. In fact, that is the immediate concern for the crew of the Nostromo in the film Alien. Brett: That thing's gonna eat through the goddamn hull. Come on! Mauler: After realizing that it could potentially eat through the hull, they then find the spot where it's reaching its end and comment on it. Brett: It stopped. Never seen anything like that, except molecular acid. Mauler: Do you understand how many contradictions we've reached in just a few minutes? His video on plot holes was so poorly constructed that despite the positive ratings on the video itself, an overwhelming proportion of top comments are in disagreement with him. This reaction is actually very similar to the one H.Bomberguy received on his video in relation to Bloodborne. The fanbase will always appreciate a good new video, but once you have time to discuss it, videos with awful argumentations start to fall apart. I would say that one of the most accurate examples of this clear disconnect would be Joseph Anderson's attempt at explaining why horror games don't scare him, and his follow-up video. His first video was very confusing in structure, conflating his feelings with facts, while presenting that an entire genre is fundamentally broken. This served to reveal a sense of ignorance in the exploration of said genre, and I have honestly never seen such a major portion of the comment section in complete disagreement. Similarly to Patrick and hbomberguy, these were despite the positive ratings. This is the kind of thing that will of course happen to me down the line if I fall out of touch. But how you respond to criticism can often say more than the initial statement ever could. Speaking of which, Joseph responded to the criticism with an extremely condescending video, explaining that it is in fact on the viewer to figure out which statements he makes are subjective, and which are objective. This absolves him of any responsibility in his own writing, placing the blame directly on the viewers. As a result, the comment section ravaged him once again. (Filthy Frank: [muted] It's time to stop!) These are the kind of videos you end up with when you have a severe lack of self-awareness. Patrick: At least 50% of the plot holes that I see people complain about are things that are actually explained in the movie, if you just pay attention. In Alien, if acid can melt through the floor, why doesn't it melt through the entire ship? Brett: It stopped. Never seen anything like that, except molecular acid. Patrick: But I guess if you're too busy live tweeting about plot holes, you can miss some stuff. Mauler: Patrick and many others like him are so woefully beyond inconsistent that their only recourse is to invent quotes from their opposition, in order to make them look more ridiculous by comparison. It's a hypocritical straw man, and it's not very effective. While this backward logic is splattered across different conversational threads, my channel has been generating more and more interest from people who enjoy the central premise; people who rather clearly understand what I'm actually doing here. So no worries folks, I am fully aware of them trying to play the semantics game to discredit my work and the work of many other creators (like Rags). Honestly, you should expect more of that as my channel grows, since making enemies is just par for the course on the Internet, especially when you tell someone that something they enjoy is poorly crafted. Or vice versa. Separating how they feel from the art itself is something they disagree with at the core, so of course they get upset when you point out a flaw they can't reconcile emotionally. But, this is not a foreign concept for them. They are fully aware of the difference between objectivity and subjectivity, and they know when content is poorly made. It simply doesn't apply when it's their sacred cow, thus they end up taking criticism as a personal insult, but good Lord, that is not the case. Besides, it's much easier to simply smear people who disagree with you, rather than open a discussion. Isn't that right, Quinton? Quinton: To state that your opinions, which mostly come down to things like thoughts about the lore and nitpicks about dialogue, are objective facts that can never be disputed by anyone, is ridiculous. Mauler: Uh huh, well, you can sit down for now, I have some important stuff to get out of the way. I'll see you at the end. Many people across all debate, discussion and discourse from the dawn of time have put in a strong effort to blur the line between subjectivity and objectivity; if not by malice, or ignorance, it is a backward way to win an argument, to redefine a landscape until your feelings are considered fact, with no regard for what the very definitions of those words even are. And with more and more controversial discussions taking place, you will eventually find that the word "opinion" is thrown around far more than references to the topic being discussed. The purpose behind it in this case, is to champion the idea that there is no such thing as good or bad content, that everyone is simply sharing their perspective. You know, the mentality that everyone gets a medal, no matter what. Participation is now enough to celebrate quality. Everybody who was in the race now gets a first-place medal. It's as if they no longer want to recognize how well the goal was completed, or how shockingly it was failed. Of course, this doesn't apply when talking about The Room, or Birdemic, or how about CinemaSins? It is very difficult to find anyone who declares CinemaSins is a channel of quality. However, CinemaSins is a form of art, he has transformed the original content for a different purpose. Surely, whether his work is bad is purely subjective. Of course, I don't see it that way, but what I'm trying to show is that they do use objectivity as a scale when it suits them. But that fights their principle of everything coming down to an opinion, so you will only find it happening with the things they so desperately want beaten into the ground. Ultimately, if you subscribe to these channels, their standards get very confusing, so I say let's throw them out the window in favour of something far more consistent. I think I should be clear in saying that anyone, including myself, likely in this very series of videos, will eventually in their lives create bad pieces of content, and it can be assessed for a conclusion. There are plenty of ways to determine it. Let's start with getting facts wrong, that would be a big one. "Black Panther: An Unbridled Rage" We open up in the 1970s with two characters that have a plan to share weaponry to community surrounding the area with Wakandan technology, because of the struggle that persists. - No, it was set in 1992. What's wrong with you? "In Defence of Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin" As far as I'm concerned, plenty of these show an opportunity for a backstab to activate and it comes across as the game falling asleep. - Don't you know that the Jester robes are immune to backstabs, you hack! "Avengers Infinity War: An Unbridled Praise" We then see the Hulk has been transported directly to Kamataj. -No, it was Sanctum Sanctorum! How can you call yourself a critic? Yes, these are a few moments of several in which I get things wrong. Do you know why? Because there is objective information that I failed to research correctly. I made mistakes in the art I created. My work is therefore flawed, affecting the overall objective quality. This is possible when you understand that objectivity exists in art. But when it comes to these people, facts are frustrating because it can force a strongly held position to face scrutiny, when they would prefer to simply enjoy their perspective, while letting others know they are incorrect for having theirs. This approach to analysis is novel and often times very entertaining, but it will leave you completely inconsistent and outright embarrassing to listen to. Especially when you begin to completely contradict your own thesis without even realizing it. "Bloodborne is Genius, And Here's Why" hbomberguy: There will always be people for whom an experience just isn't for them, or are too dumb to understand how to play something, or don't realize that something they think is good is objectively bad. Some people really like Fallout 3, and they seem to be the specific type of people who think clicking a dislike button is a decent way of expressing their feelings. In other words: objectively stupid people like Fallout 3. And there is a right way to play the Souls games. You can hide behind a shield a lot, die over and over trying to memorize every encounter, or use magic from a distance to avoid having to engage with the game, or wear the heaviest armor and hope that'll save you, but the reality is it's just more fun playing it as someone who dodges and weaves, who parries, and who uses situational awareness to assess a situation. Mauler: You guys remember hbomberguy. He acknowledged my existence again on Twitter. It was wonderful. Last time he spoke to me it was about my Dark Souls 2 series, and in relation to someone saying they couldn't be bothered to watch any more than 10 minutes, he had this to say at the end of the conversation: "Have you ever eaten something bad and stopped, or realized there were eight more courses and stopped? Because I think people who do that might still have some relevant criticism." And in response I said: "That is an interesting analogy and had someone watched Part 1 and offered criticism for it, I am sure it would be helpful, but to eat a potato and complain that the entire meal tastes bad is simply not useful at all." He chose not to respond to me again after that exchange. [Completely Unrelated Audio Clip]: "Clearly behaving like someone who definitely isn't mad that they got owned online, and just wants to have a reasonable conversation about the facts." Mauler: But recently, the topic of objectivity versus subjectivity came up, and I received this from Harris: "You're 100% entitled to your opinion and you noticed a bunch of genuine mistakes I made in the video, but pretending that your opinion is the only one based in facts, and people who find that approach tiresome are just scared of the truth, is a bit of an overstep." [Completely Unrelated Audio Clip]: "I love being acknowledged by my peers online. It makes me feel... powerful, virile even." Mauler: So I responded by asking why he's trying to make me look crazy by implying that I think my opinions are facts due to achieving objectivity. Though I shouldn't be suprised, he's not the first intellectual to misrepresent my work. hbomberguy: "I don't think you're a bad person. I simply don't agree with your approach to video game criticism. It's a little immature to write as if you have achieved objectivity and I'm out to make you look crazy for it, and I'd recommend like, chilling out? lol" hbomberguy: I guess it's easy to win a fight with a opponent made of straw. Mauler: You are damn right, Harris. So he will continue to ignore me, or take potshots when available, instead of having a discussion. Which is fine, I suppose, but I must say there is something very interesting about the first interaction I had with him. He pointed out a criticism of mine that was not valid, as it was clearly taking a joke seriously. I responded that even if it were a joke, I provided context, so that the viewers would understand that and choose to ignore me, or see the argumentation for how weak it was regardless. I kept getting notifications of that conversation as time went on, likely because it was featured at the end of my Last Jedi series. As a result, many had a problem with how sheepishly he responded to my criticism, to try and come across as if he gave it a chance, only to pick up on one quote, and then refuse to reply when criticized for it. As a result, he has apparently decided to delete the tweet entirely, to remove that mistake from memory. hbomberguy: It's the closest I think I've seen someone come to admitting that they've lost. It appears that I owned him so hard, with such bulletproof reasoning, that he didn't even mention me or my video directly, despite the fact that we have mutual friends, so I know he's seen the video and I know it really pissed him off. Mauler: He later admitted that yes, there are mistakes in Dark Souls 2 and his video on it, but they are not flaws in overall game design, objectively. They are mistakes, but they are not flaws... right... (Yoda says it all) I'm still happy to chat with you Harris, whether or not your perspective makes a lick of sense. We could get along famously, I'm sure. Just stop with the snipes, unless you're gonna give me a chance to actually have a conversation with you. It's a little bit unsporting, that's all. hbomberguy: I promise to not do that, eventually, when I grow up, one day. Mauler: So yes, objectivity and subjectivity. At this point, the concept has practically drawn a line between two types of critical analysis. The issue is that many content creators will blend the two ideas and then hide under the banner of subjectivity to avoid criticism. Rather than being happy to compare how they felt to the reality of the content, there is this stubborn assumption that the first thing you felt is now the only piece of information that's relevant to the deconstruction of the media. How you feel may remain with you, but that doesn't mean you should stop listening to other people, exploring the content with any depth, or allowing yourself to experience even more. Instead, there's this idea that you should hold onto that one narrow perspective, which is detrimental to communication, especially if it's based on false information. The Sun being a star is just an opinion. Water being a liquid is just an opinion. And of course, the Last Jedi having a script chock-full of defined inconsistencies is just an opinion. It's a fantastic tool for the modern analyst, it's like a free pass. You don't have to do any work on your script at that point, because it can't be wrong, it's all just an opinion. You know what guys? Maybe I didn't get the date wrong in Black Panther, maybe that was my opinion of the date; it was my experience of the date. You can't say it's wrong! Do you see how useful it is to construct essays that way? hbomberguy: I shouldn't be allowed to talk about Dark Souls anymore... Someone should just f***ing come and stop me before I make a mother f***ing idiot of myself. Mauler: You can't say I didn't try, Harris. So I had an extensive stream with my community while playing Sly Cooper some time ago. This particular issue was discussed heavily, and there were several comments about what seems to be this open frustration about using the word "objective" whatsoever on YouTube. There is no fear of facts, because analysts who claim subjectivity will still employ that objective standard at their own leisure, especially when it's not their sacred cow being humiliated. But to label something you found to be factual as objective is not something these guys want to do. People don't want to use it because it places a target on their back. It means that there is no safety net to fall back on, no chance to say "it's just an opinion. Let me have my opinion". You're essentially saying that your content is correct. So if it turns out to be incorrect when information is fact-checked or new information arises, you have to admit that you've made objective mistakes. Many YouTube reviews still accept it, and it's a great tool in an analytical arsenal, because you can grow from understanding the difference between facts and feelings. Jay Bauman: Btw, when they let her out of the cage, and they're heading into the city for their mission, she's like texting the Joker? Why does she have a cellphone? Mike Stoklasa: Um... maybe she hid it in... in some crack. I really couldn't tell. Jay: She had it in there for years. Mike: Maybe she found one while they were walking around on the street, I really don't know. But yeah, she's... Griggs: Listen, you're being transfered. I don't know where you're going. It's from "Mr. J". You gonna tell him I took care of you? Harley: You're so screwed. Mauler: RedLetterMedia created an assessment of Suicide Squad. This was a writing flaw they cited to assist in proving a conclusion about the film's poor quality, without realizing they had missed a detail in one of the scenes. So, they acknowledged the error, and despite that flaw in their assessment, their conclusion was still strong, because of many other references that were accurate to the events in the film. And the conversation was once again completed after being amended. Which is great. In fact, it's quite a positive experience for everybody involved. But not for these guys. To be wrong is to have your position weakened, so that is unacceptable and therefore everyone is right. No one can be wrong. Except people who use the term objective, they need to be burned at the stake. As I said, this is interesting to me, because these are the same people who make statements of fact regularly. It is very easy to find - hell, they admit to it directly sometimes, talking about the method being more convincing and therefore useful to spread their message. "In Defence of Dark Souls 2" hbomberguy: I know I talk authoritatively sometimes, but I hope it's clear I'm just offering my opinion in a way I think is interesting, or convincing. Mauler: But you can't criticize them for that, because they begin and end their pieces with that good-old disclaimer, or as it should be known: "the safety net". Downward Thrust: Hey guys, before I start this video off, I just want to say that this video on Dark Souls is my opinion only. The core of the game was a disappointment for me. The ashes for me had burnt out. This is only my opinion, I know there is a lot of Dark Souls fans out there. It still felt a bit hollow. Personally, I think Dark Souls is a true masterpiece... In my opinion, it was not enough. For me personally though, I feel like the fire has gone out in the latter titles. This is not your opinion, this is just how I feel about the Dark Souls universe. This is just my opinion, yours may vary. Go ahead and drop yours in the comments section, I'd love to read it. Mauler: Yes, those were all from one 15-minute video. These disclaimers are everywhere, and they are incorporated by many prominent creators, and I am NOT saying that you should never use it. I simply have some points to make. The vague label of "opinion" is being slapped on every element of a video essay, as if the word means that everything you said, whether feeling or fact, was subjective, and thus cannot be disputed. Conversely, if a video presents strong arguments on a subject, many will wave it off as "it's just an opinion". As if the word means there was nothing objective about the content whatsoever. That is not how it works. An opinion can apply to the sharing of a view, constructed of feelings, of thoughts, or of objective information. It depends on what is said. It is the difference between objective and subjective. This applies to every facet of communication, including discussion on art. Though that doesn't mean you should then spam it in every sentence of your essay, like many have started doing as an excuse for poor research. Otherwise, it will end up in sentences that absolutely didn't require it in the first place. "In my opinion, the Sun is a star." Tywin Lannister: No, that's not an opinion, it's a fact! Quinton: (flabbergasted) Mauler: The Sun being a star is, of course, a judgment or view we can hold, making it an opinion by definition, but discussion does not require the disclaimer of "in my opinion" before stating the Sun is a star, because we all have the refined information available that proves that conclusion. Several standards are used to measure whether the Sun reaches the requirements of being a star. From there, we have words that are defined to communicate those pieces of evidence, and "in my opinion" becomes redundant. It is only when we share subjective opinions, or unsupported opinions that we need that disclaimer, but even then, unsupported opinions such as: "this game inconsistent hitboxes - in my opinion", does not absolve you from scrutiny in the way that sharing a feeling does. Saying "the Sun is beautiful - in my opinion" cannot be proven wrong, due to its subjectivity. Beautiful is inherently a qualifier that is subjective. So let's try another example: "Star Wars: The Last Jedi has no inconsistencies in either its characters or its plot - in my opinion." This opinion is inherently objective, and saying "in my opinion" at the end would be redundant because of course it's your opinion. But that doesn't make it subjective. The opinion lacks any emotive language, it is a statement of fact. To be inconsistent is qualifiable outside of emotion. That means the statement the person made lacked experience or information. It is impossible to come to the conclusion that there are no inconsistencies, unless you are ignoring the meaning of words in the English language. It is simple: you present the objective criteria, then you satisfy the objective criteria and reach a conclusion. Your emotional experience didn't enter into the equation whatsoever. This should highlight the issue of "in my opinion" being used arbitrarily to stave off criticism when criteria isn't clear, or when it's downright contradictive. It's as if they believe an opinion can never be refuted. Aside from that issue, when you make these statements and you don't bother to back them up with any evidence or argumentation, instead opting for the safety net... Quinton Jettster: In my subjective opinion... Mauler:... you are not only creating content with the amount of substance that is on par with a "thumbs up or down" for each subject, you have also admitted that you have so little faith in your own perspective that you had to put a pre-emptive scrutiny shield in front of it. But don't assume that I'm immune from this. I am absolutely guilty of it too. It's just something I try to avoid when writing, and it makes the process much longer, hence why I still haven't said it in other than quotations yet. I understand though, holding (Holdo) a position like "the Last Jedi as a masterpiece of a script" is rough without saying something like "in my opinion", but to then use the definition of an opinion as a preventative measure from evidence that counters that position is ignorance in its most classic form. You can still like the content, you can still feel whatever you will, but stop asserting that it is logically written, when it is proven not to be by any logical standard. It makes the conversation fall apart. And from there, the party with the false or lacking information, in this case being the video essay, will be criticized, only to have something rather strange happen. There is no recognition of a mistake, or a moment for growth to occur, they simply say: "Well, it's my subjective opinion", and thus the word is being completely misused, which is obviously very much to their own benefit, and whether or not that is the motivation, there is this rising obsession with the idea that logic is a faulty metric for both character assessments in storytelling, and when assessing a critic and their inconsistencies. This all makes sense because humans are inherently emotional, and they're not logical whatsoever. Patrick: And you know what human beings are not? Logical. People are impulsive, they make choices based on emotion. Not everyone thinks exactly the same. So if everyone acted totally logically all the time, only making the most logical decision in any situation, no one would be acting human. Mauler: The issue here is that the word "logical" is being used in two different ways at the same time. If a character behaves illogically because of a previously established character trait, then progression is logical in terms of writing. What happened made sense with who they are. In this case, Patrick is referring to the film A Quiet Place, the story of a world in which you make a single sound and it can get you killed in a moment's notice. Patrick makes the argument that we should not expect the characters to behave logically, because they are human. However, the reason that the entire video is often referenced as a straw man is because the complaint is not that they behave illogically, it's that their character writing is illogical. The characters are shown to take care with sound dampening throughout the film, making very creative decisions to account for this dire situation that shows intelligence and care, yet they blatantly ignore several options provided to them by the environment that are proven by the film to be far more beneficial to their goals. These logical contradictions in their characters are made to generate drama in the storyline, which is inherently incompetent writing and very lazy. Hopefully I can explain this with a reverse example: do you believe that Thanos' plan in Infinity War makes sense? Well, that's irrelevant compared to what comes first in consistent character writing, which is: do you believe that Thanos believes his plan makes sense? The film makes efforts to show his history and explore his values to explain his actions as a logical progression, despite the plan being inherently illogical when considering the realistic effect of his snap, versus what his intentions are. That is logically consistent writing for an emotionally irrational or illogical character, and that is the nuance that you will rarely find in assessments nowadays, because everything has to be ten minutes long, or it's wrong. I mean, good Lord, I haven't begun my assessment, and we're already like 30 minutes in. So in turn, when you criticize these creators for lacking nuance, skipping information or contradicting themselves, we end up hearing more and more about how it's all just an opinion, which ends up completely sapping any meaning that word had. We go from the fight for the best idea supported by references, to waving the counter-arguments off, and validity is defined by how loud or far-reaching the message is, and that's sad. Why bother with any effort anymore? Why would you ever pay more for a writer than any other? Why would they teach it? You may as well upload a video with the topic, and a thumbs up or down, it'll have the very same amount of substance as the common reviews that open with: (I Hate Everything's disclaimer) This active blurring of facts and feelings gets very confusing for many viewers who actually listen to these people's scripts, their videos, making us question whether they actually understand what the word "objective" means. The Dishonoured Wolf: ...even though that movie is objectively horrible. Just Write: Right, right, exactly. But I wouldn't describe it like.. I don't like using, like the word "objectively" is just, it's very... it's tough to use that word in regards to art, right? Because yes, there's always that one person who's like: "Actually, I like it, because of such-and-such reason, this happened in my life", right? And then it's not objective, right? It's not objective if one person disagrees with it. Mauler: Objective has nothing to do with whether people agree world wide, that is nonsense. This is an active attempt at making the word taboo to use in modern analytical discussion. But, we have to admit that something is undeniably true. Bookending your video with "in my opinion" will actually stymie the flow of critical responses from the audience, because they will parrot this disclaimer as if it means anything, until this process starts getting pointed out. Many channels will lower their own standards to a point where 10 minutes can go by, and nothing is said. As long as they get their scripts out and they tie it all together with subjectivity, they can make content quicker and quicker, they can cover more eye-catching subjects, and they can have the benefit of being bulletproof. It allows them to get basic facts wrong, and they don't face scrutiny, despite the fact that they run channels that are entirely dependent on the concept of scrutinizing art. HelloGreedo: I cannot think of a bigger waste of time than debating art. Mauler: My goodness, how sad is that? Not to mention it's completely hypocritical. All these people do is account further arguments created by people on their channels. Just how good or bad something truly is, while taking into account other arguments that people have brought to the conversation. And that's on top of the fact that they are creating art as well. Make no mistake, video essays are absolutely an art form. I mean, pretty much anything can be art anyway, but these videos are designed to evoke feelings in the viewer. It's not like they are simply instructional videos telling you how to prevent Sony Vegas from freezing - which I actually ended up searching for, and it worked. They want you to feel something specific when they make these videos and much of the time code can be spent manipulating information to do so. That means they are open to scrutiny and it doesn't just stop the second you say "in my opinion". Let me give you an example: Jonathan McIntosh created the video in defense of the Last Jedi. He made several claims, including that "male hatred" for the film was based on the female characters offering advice and helping the male characters fulfill their arcs, despite their failings throughout the narrative. And from there, the angry male fans have trouble with that because it is ingrained into them that women don't usually fit that role. In order to achieve proving this theory, he will actively ignore many facts of the narrative, while inventing his own. It serves to give the assessment a little push in the direction that best suits his narrative, but it's subtle, and so people get sidetracked as to what point McIntoshes feelings and the facts of the script get mixed up. Pop Culture Detective (McIntosh): The Last Jedi is a movie that's designed to subvert audience expectations. Finn's intentions are selfish and driven by a lack of faith. He's convinced that the fight against the First Order is a lost cause. Mauler: He even uses the essay voice throughout his videos. Remember folks, soft-spoken, and fragile, to sell that emotional resonance. Regardless, he is wrong. Finn makes it clear that he is motivated to leave in order to save Ray's life, because it's only a matter of time before the ship is destroyed. Which is true, because Holdo has let her crew believe there is no hope. Poe: Tell us that we have a plan! That there's hope! Finn: Sorry, but this fleet is doomed. If my friend comes back to it, she's doomed too. Gotta get this beacon far away from here, then she'll find me and be safe. Mauler: So, Finn choosing to save someone by leaving is inherently selfless, especially when considering that he did not sign up to the Resistance, and yet when he chooses to leave, he is abused, captured and told to fight for this cause, or he is a coward. These details are part of why the film's script is so heavily flawed. There was an attempt to send several messages, but they are actively at odds with the narrative and the character progression. I understand that these ideas and these themes exist, but they are not effectively executed. They contradict themselves. Both McIntosh and Johnson have a narrative to sell and we hold both of their scripts accountable for their consistency, but saying "in my opinion" doesn't suddenly mean your video isn't actively ignoring facts. You are not now immune to criticism. This is how false narratives are written in video essays. They ignore counter-arguments and information that could cause cognitive dissonance, in order to appeal to the audience that they've already cultivated. They add "in my opinion" to imply that you can't address their fabricated references at all. But a film is finite in terms of a source of information, which means fact-checking video essays based on movies is incredibly simple. That's not to say it's impossible to defend the Last Jedi, but to argue that the film is completely consistent in both its own rules and the rules supplied by its universe after an in-depth assessment would be to lie about the content. The people who agreed with McIntosh agreed before the video was released. They were simply waiting for a mouthpiece to address the film from a gendered perspective, because it is an agenda driven channel. It didn't matter what he actually said, as long as it made a comment on women's position in society. In fact, his audience wanted more of it, more ways of pointing out what they already wanted to see before even clicking the video. The people who watch and agree, and the people who don't watch and don't agree were both doing it for the same reason: because of the political bias in the assessment. This is essentially confirmation bias. And so, this is how divides are created, and how discourse is destroyed. McIntosh is not alone in the grand scale though, his narrative is simply that of showing gender-driven politics in media, whether or not it's applicable. Downward Thrust's narrative is reporting on the doom and destruction that is the gaming industry, whether or not it's applicable. Patrick William's narrative is to undermine the self-taught critics of YouTube, as he wants his film studies to mean that his work is worth more than a random dude who just watches movies and points out plot holes. Essayists will forget about the facts that ruin their narrative. We all have a narrative, mine is trying to get to to the logical baseline for every element in a script under an objective writing standard, and so I provide you references that are researched, and my opinion is rarely relevant, because I have to follow what is seen and heard, and then relay that to you guys, which is essentially Quinton's biggest mistake. He thinks I'm sharing my opinion of the Last Jedi when I say there are contradictions in the script, despite referencing many of them, and I can't blame him because he is yet another person who uses opinion as a shield from criticism. But I don't. That judgment was objective, supported by references. If it is inaccurate and based on faulty information, then please scrutinize me. It will improve my work. What it won't do is prompt me to say: "it's just my opinion, leave me alone." Interestingly, McIntosh doesn't really use the term "opinion" either. He is that sure of his perspective, which in a way is respectable, if only he would explore the people who completely disagree to get to the bottom of the subject. Media is extremely important to culture and discussion across the globe. Don't avoid it just because ignorance is bliss, and you have trouble with the idea of exploring your own reaction to new information. Fortunately for us, either way, we can just debate and discuss it regardless of these people. We can break down any piece of art - including their own - objectively. And funnily enough, in a community that subscribes to the idea of objective analysis, you'd think there'd be quite the echo chamber, but it's actually less of an echo chamber than most communities, because we all hammer out the resources and references. All of us have a certain amount of information, which will be more or less than the next person. So we share it and we grow. We hold each other accountable for the proof of the statements we make, and of course it is completely valid to say that you do, or do not like something. My Discord has discussions every day that share references to get to the bottom of a subject. People learn there, because objectivity isn't always easy, and anyone is capable of working with it. It's pretty neat. These people tend to have a company line to follow, where you can't say anything too controversial if it doesn't fit the narrative. Patrick: This is a film about space wizards intended for children. Meanwhile Patrick: I think this movie is goddamn incredible. It is easily the best Star Wars movie since the Empire Strikes Back, and today we're gonna talk about why. Uhhh... Patrick: We're talking about a movie about space wizards intended for children. A few inches later Patrick: I haven't stopped thinking about the Last Jedi. And to all the people who hate it, I wish that you could see what I see, because it's pretty great. Mauler: And if you don't consider an objective standpoint to be a narrative, you might be able to understand that it essentially means you lack a narrative. It's not supposed to make you feel angry or happy, it's supposed to offer you the chance to compare how you felt about the craft with what happened in the craft. And yes folks, even some of my favorite films of all time across the universe have objective issues. So please, take it from me, objectivity does not have the intention of invalidating feelings, but it can, depending on person to person. That part is subjective, and hey, you can use the word "opinion" all over your analysis when describing thoughts and feelings, but I would try and avoid it when you're simply using it to ignore contradictive information, just to believe your own lie, or in some cases, in the hopes of mixing the objective and the subjective. If a creator keeps telling you that it's just their opinion, then try and imagine why they felt the need to keep on saying it. Maybe they had no factual reference for why they felt the way they did. Maybe they wanted to manipulate someone else's factual references without providing their own. Maybe they misunderstood their own subjective experience for a factual reference. Maybe they wanted to copy and paste the popular perspective, but they didn't provide the factual references that would lead to the conclusion. Maybe they can't reach factual references because they lack a sense of consistent argumentation. Or perhaps they generate their own factual references in order to wedge their own politics into media. Or maybe they want to lie just enough to sell their position. But what would tell you the difference between these? Well, it would be their references compared to reality, it would be the patterns they find, it would be how much information they omit. If you don't care about proof and you were simply looking for validation, then yes, those videos will work for you. But that is a serious problem on YouTube. It's an admission that the video has the exact same level of substance as someone who said the exact opposite with conflicting references to the script, meaning there is no discussion, just people shouting into a void, and the second it shouts back, in comes the safety net. Quinton Jettster: In my subjective opinion... Mauler: In the context of discussion about art, objectivity is the idea of explaining what happened and how effectively it was achieved in its craft without influence from emotion. Subjectivity is the idea of explaining what it made you think, and what it made you feel, and if you can, explain why it does that for you specifically. Both of these offer great insight, but they need to be separated for the sake of communication, otherwise we'll never understand each other. But interestingly, mixing them together allows people to get away with making objectively terrible videos that do well in terms of a view count. Video essays were essentially a format in which people could share research on a topic, to help an audience understand something large in a bite-sized format. On the video game side, Super Bunnyhop and Matthewmatosis were some of the pillars that ended up fostering the creation of people like Downward Thrust and Cleanprintsgaming. On the movie side, you have Every Frame a Painting and Lessons from the Screenplay, acting as inspiration, while also giving rise to channels like Pop Culture Detective and Just Write. The initial channels keep on trucking or fall by the wayside, but these new ones have copied the style, the voice, the editing, the titles... Some have even found a way to clone content that takes weeks to make, and create daily outputs instead. The way they do it is that they say nothing in these videos, or they say absolutely inaccurate statements instead. But on both sides of film and games, the element they failed to copy is the writing quality, and it's showing. I don't know if you guys have noticed, but the video essay crowd is getting more and more bloated with awful content creators, and it's giving rise to passionate creators with standards supported by research, because people are tired of being baited into a video with no substance. It's the reason I started making videos. I just hated what was on the market. Passion is dead for so many video essayists, and it needs to change. What was once a chance to hear from someone who has insight into a topic has now turned into: "let's listen to that random guy who might have something to say, but basically just wants to ramble for 10 minutes." And it sucks. The video essay community has essentially become the commentary community. That's not to say that commentary is worthless by any means. It is to say that video essays used to be about research with a sense of accuracy, all in favor of making a solid point, but now, like the commentary community, it is more about quickly sharing some thoughts. Only, by comparison with video essayists they make some things seem a lot more important and that you need to hear it, and that's all thanks to YouTube algorithms. This kind of content is encouraged. But there are still great content creators out there, you've just got to go look for them, and thankfully as time goes on, these people are being called out more and more, so we are getting there folks. Though video essays are one issue, subjective versus objective is another one. And when you put them together, you really do get some of the crappiest content out there. Now, does anything I just said sound irrefutable and simply true? Well, it shouldn't, because I haven't figured this all out yet, and many words come with more than one definition. BUT, something that is key here is that objective does not mean irrefutable. You can have an emotionless argument that was built on bad information. That is why two people who assess objectively can still argue, because we all have different amounts of information, and so we will share it with each other, and then we grow. However, this is the bedrock of critical analysis, and so it's a very complicated subject that cannot be completely explained in one hour, which is beside that fact that I am still learning. Though this line of thinking not only behaves as the most consistent, it accounts for the methods of that the other essayists employee, and it betrays what narrative they push. Jonathan McIntosh: The Last Jedi is a story about men learning to trust women's ideas and decisions, and then becoming better people and better heroes because of it. It's a vital lesson that men need to learn if we are to achieve gender equality. Mauler: The biggest problem I face is having false information or poor research. The biggest problem they face is having the viewers actually listen to their videos. Patrick: ...you're kinda watching movies wrong. Mauler: Oh, there it is again. Rags: Yeah, there it is again... Fortism: Thank you for telling me how to do stuff. I like that. Rags: Good to get the confirmation that there is a correct - or yeah, there is a correct - objectively! There is correct and an incorrect way to watch movies. Not a thing that we have ever said. This is a thing that people us that we say and we're wrong for saying that, but when somebody else says it, they're correct. Mauler: Once you spot all of the blatant contradictions in a video essay, you'll be able to find what the motive is behind it. And believe me, with the worst researched videos, there's always a motive. Patrick: With the movie like the Black Panther, a review by a 25-year-old white guy on YouTube is probably not going to have much to offer. Quinton: Saying that every angry gamer is trying to be James Rolfe is like saying that every racist gamer is trying to be JonTron. moviebob: Mobile games are for moms and casuals and those people suck and I hate them for some reasonin the case of this Diablo business. It's less about resentment at you not getting a hypothetical something, than it is anger that a hypothetical someone that you dislike might be getting something and feeling good about it. (did you catch all of that folks?) Jonathan McIntosh: Many of these guys can't help but view a woman who's serving as teacher to a male hero as anything other than preachy, annoying or emasculating. The fact that Rose also happens to be played by an actress of color only magnifies their anger. Quinton: So, umm, here's the thing... I f***ing hate Trump. I would be a much happier person if we found a way deport him from every position of power that he has ever had. (This is during a film review) Mauler: Therefore, in conclusion, work a lot harder on your scripts. Explore the layers that come with the definition of the word "opinion" and how it is used. Push the boundaries of well-crafted content and then you won't need those pesky disclaimers in the first place. Besides that, no matter how much mud gets slung at me, I won't just stop the objective and subjective train. I'm afraid I'm a big fan of research, references, knowledge, passion and effort. So either get on the train and argue your ideas, or get off the damn tracks. Now, perhaps you're wondering why I started with this topic. Well, in relation to Star Wars, objective quality in the script of the Last Jedi has opened up all the conversations once again among many Star Wars fans. These conversations include: Just how well-written is the entire saga exactly? Are the prequels actually awful, or excellent? Are the originals actually classics, or just average? Is the Force Awakens a fantastic film or not? We already know that these questions are a tad hyperbolic, and there are plenty of YouTube channels and critics that have covered the saga completely. Mr. Plinkett: Star Wars: The Phantom Menace was the most disappointing thing since my son. Mauler: Plinkett sort of covered the Force Awakens, though I guess I would say hackfraudmedia did a more thorough job on that one. And hell, Plinkett can do as he wishes when it comes to Star Wars, but it was a voice many people wanted to hear from. Mr. Plinkett: So after a certain online critic deconstructed the prequels, and explained in reasonable terms why most people hate them. Someone who basically changed the way the Internet complains about movies, and paved the way for other youtubers to complain endlessly about movies. Mauler: Perhaps that is true, but it sounds a little bitter, especially when there are many content creator that predate you. Every critic has influences, every critic has a style. And thankfully, RedLetterMedia actually released a video on the Last Jedi, and despite throwing their hat in later than many, they added plenty of substance to the conversation, discovering even more flaws in the Last Jedi, that many, including myself, didn't actually consider. Either way, throughout these videos you're going to see several clips pop up from various creators with their own ideas and patterns. The point will be the same for this as when I do my video game critiques; I keep a pulse on the community that first approached the content to see what changed. I mean, everyone has covered every film in the saga pretty much, in depth, spoilers, secrets and all things in between. But someone hasn't quite done that yet. Me. I only have the one Star Wars critique under my belt, and I'd like that to change. And the order in which I'll be covering the entire saga is up for the debate, but I think it makes sense to take a look back at the Force Awakens as my second critique, since the film itself pleased a hell of a lot of people when it released, and now, especially after several other reviews, the quality has been brought into question, similarly to other content in the Star Wars saga once time passes. Especially in this case, when we have it's sequel to answer for so many of its setups. It will also allow me to spread the bedrock in preparation for an analysis of episode IX when it releases, being that I should probably approach the first two films in the trilogy before summing it up as a whole. I am going to try my best to remain consistent and approach every film in the franchise with the same lens as we progress over the coming years, until completing an in-depth look into the scripts for them all. Also, since I received a lot of appreciation for it last time, I won't be using harsh swear words in this series until the Force Awakens has been fully covered. I will signpost that change when we come to it. I have a few guest spots from other youtubers that have agreed to share their perspective on Star Wars as we progress. They will pop up periodically and provide how they feel about the current state to shake it up. That means they will say things that you or I could very well disagree with heavily. But it will be neat to have someone, you know, other than me to listen to, as we go forward. I'm sure you guys would appreciate a break from my voice every 100 hours...or so... On top of that, I will be exploring many sources of media to inform the analysis, like interviews, production elements, first-hand accounts, alternative reviews and other stories told with relevant writing techniques. There's going to be a lot of that, I took a long time with this one. And man, you notice a lot of patterns when you see all this stuff in one big bunch. Like how there's this strange obsession with interviewers asking the cast to make noises and impressions. (mating call) - That was kind of a sexy, sexy Chewbacca. (more animal noises) (The sound of Hell) Gwendoline Christie: Is it that? You should know, is it that? Interviewer: It, it... (please stop) Harrison Ford: With the, with the theme of the Force, and, and all that good stuff. (Should've gone as a Han-burger) *Burps* Daisy Ridley: Ho, ho, ho... Oh my God, I sound like Santa! (You said it Chewie) (lightsaber noises) (spaceship?) (have mercy) Gwendoline: Is it that? Interviewer: It's good enough. Mauler: Anything could pop up in this series, it's gonna be pretty mysterious. Oscar Isaac: I have no idea what's gonna happen. I have no way of knowing, it's such a mysterious thing. It is a huge, huge movie. It's more than a movie, it's a phenomenon. But I... I don't know what to really expect. Mauler: But once again, third party lore and information from other shows, or comics or books is not going to be permitted as an explanation for weak writing in the script itself. It is important to add that as we advance, you will not agree with everything I'm going to conclude on. There is always room for more discussion. My video should be evidence of that, but I will make objective mistakes, depending on whether I have researched elements thoroughly, and I leave it to the comment section to let me know where I have stumbled. Hopefully, I can add an addendum to the final part of the series for corrections, if enough should rise. I would like to say that I fully appreciate anyone willing to share my videos, but I would ask that you don't add the tagline: "Mauler will prove your feelings wrong." This isn't what I'm here to do folks, I'm here to create an objective assessment for those who are interested in the topic up for discussion. Even if other content creators twist what my intentions actually are for an easy sucker punch, don't believe them and don't propagate that sort of behavior. That goes the same for targeted harassment of cast and crew members in these productions. Unless of course you are provoked, which can absolutely happen. All I have to say is, try to leave them alone and let them live their lives. And hey, I know a vast majority of you don't enter into either of these behaviors, but I figure I should say it. Be civil, and if not that, be humble about mistakes that we do end up making. There are many videos that already explore the pros and cons of Star Wars as a whole, meaning you may hear what you've already heard before and many of the content creators on YouTube and other analytical sites can be credited as inspirational. Links for each video I watched in prep will be in the description, and each clip will of course be taken from a larger context that you are free to explore. In any case, I have tried to provide as much of my own content for this topic as possible, despite being a well-traveled subject. As some of you guys know, I have one of those typical histories with Star Wars for my generation, being that I saw the first six episodes as a kid, and the Force Awakens was the only one I viewed for the first time as an adult. Quite the interesting experience, and on release TFA was the peak of discussion for our culture, as most Star Wars movies end up being. But we are far past release and we have a wealth of perspectives about the film from numerous sources. So, the purpose of this series of videos is to assess the quality of the Force Awakens, to analyze the film with strong reference to it's sequel, to compare writing techniques and quality across many mediums where relevant, to comment on the meta surrounding the film, and finally, to not only incorporate, but criticize my peers in relation to the assessment of this film. For those who think I'm here to hate the film alone, I will extend to you the olive branch of knowing that I really liked this film on my first watch through, and like many humans on this planet, I was a little blindsided and enjoyed the spectacle for what it was. Though that and where the money was made should not be the judge of what makes a quality script. Mark Hamill: My larger point was: it doesn't matter if it's good, as long as it makes money. So, because the Force Awakens made a lot of money, I can't be, it's not "ergo, it's good". Mauler: Either way, once the veil was lifted and the shell-shocking nature of Disney Star Wars films no longer worked, some people started to really pierce through the glamour and notice the writing flaws on the spot. This likely contributed to the mass negative reaction to the Last Jedi. Being Star Wars alone really isn't enough to get critical praise from the masses anymore. Many of those same people saw right through the Force Awakens from day one. So my goal is not nefarious, I don't wish to stomp on Star Wars while it's down. In fact, I do wish to celebrate the parts of Star Wars that I really do think are quality in the future, but for now I want to conduct an assessment and find what the positives and the negatives of this script are, and then come to a conclusion. For those of you who are shocked that I've spent an excessive 5 hours on one film in my last critique, it may behoove you to know that I created a 10 hour series in response to a 1 hour video about a video-game. Five hours is actually quick work for me, compared to how long I would prefer a series to be. And shockingly for Houston, Turbo, hbomb, Folding Ideas, and many, many commenters, and the population of the moviecirclejerk subreddit, saying that a video is long doesn't actually function as a argument of quality. You need to be more specific. Many are propagating a myth, and it goes like this: "If you create a review of a film and it's longer than a film, then it's a bad review." This logic is literally based on nothing but the idea that it sounds about right. But let me ask you this: have you ever spoken with a friend about a scene in a film? Just a scene, where the event takes place, or a character takes an action. Have you ever discussed these moments and their structure with a friend for longer than the scene itself? Let me make this simpler: have you ever discussed a line of dialogue? Walter White: I am the one who knocks. Ellen Ripley: Get away from her, you bitch! Tony Stark: I am Iron Man. Colonel Jessup: You can't handle the truth! Chigurh: What's the most you ever lost on a coin toss? Proprietor: Sir? Chigurh: The most. You ever lost. On a coin toss. Clarice Starling: Most serial killers keep some sort of trophy from their victims. Hannibal Lecter: I didn't. Clarice: No, no you ate yours. Snape: Always. Gimli: Aye. I could do that. (unknown): Let's go to work. Darth Vader: I am your father. Mauler: These moments occupy extremely small amounts of screen time, yet you can spent hours with friends going over everything that makes them so powerful, because in an assessment you are trying to break down all of the pieces of design that work to create that very moment, to explain the craft behind it and why it's worth celebrating. And on the flip side of things, it doesn't take very long to consume something awful, compared to how long it takes to break down why that thing is awful. Besides, anyone who says my videos are only filled with the subject itself are just outwardly lying to themselves. I go on writing tangents all the time. A more accurate criticism would be that I go off topic too much, but the tangent will serve to explore a writing technique that is currently being discussed. At least, that is the intention. All you need to do is have an actual citation when you criticize someone. Is that so hard? I have a rather large pile of references and ultimately the title is simply what you'll be hearing and seeing the most. The reality is that if I were to show you the third-party research clips alone, all in a row, I would likely have a run-time longer than the film already. So again, come up with a better criticism, this one is boring me. Though I have no recommendations for a circle jerk community, the whole premise is that their hive mind dare not be challenged, so... keep going, I guess? All I should say is I appreciate the free promotion. Thank you. Despite all of that though, my general audience may still not be prepared to find out that this series is going to be about 15 hours long, cut across six videos releasing weekly. For those who think they understand such intellectuals like "Will. I. Am Shakesman" and his famous quotes, I have something to tell you about "Brevity is the soul of wit". Did you think that when he said that, everything should be a particular length? If you have one story, then it should average a certain length, when in a movie for example. Yeah, that makes enough sense. But wait! What if you watch two movies in a row? Should they now be shortened to the length of one? Oh dear, it looks like what he was saying was contextual. The context for my work is that I have a huge amount of research from a ridiculous number of sources to share with you folks, and laying it all out will take exactly as long as it takes. Being concise isn't exactly about being strictly short, but in a way it's about being as short as you can for what you are trying to achieve. I redraft my work as I said, and I will try and cut out as much of the repetition or filler in the script that I can find, leaving it to be essentially several months worth of work on as many sources as I could find, crammed into 15 hours that is bite-sized for you folks at home, so that you don't have to watch every single video that these things originally came from. What I'm saying here is that, if you have a criticism of the length of the videos, try and be more specific, because that alone isn't really an argument. And besides, you have to consider girth ( Ν‘Β° ΝœΚ– Ν‘Β°) You can pause my assessment at any moment, and continue when you prefer. I know I wouldn't watch it all in one go myself, so with that knowledge, take any full library of a youtuber and watch it all in a row. Combined with the concise logic that is being used right now, their videos would no longer be concise, would they? And hey, you can criticize anybody with Mr. Shakesman now, isn't that brilliant? Either way, I am sadly not quite there, but perhaps one day I will have a series that is actually impossible to watch in one day. I have given this script 7 full redrafts, and it is in a position I am proud of. Redrafting is seriously important folks, I am not kidding. Rian Johnson: You know, invariably it's awful, it's terrible, the first cut is like, you know... illness-inducingly bad. Like, always. Mauler: Yes it is, Rian. Well, without further ado, welcome to an extended look into Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens. I think it's best to start right where we did for the last critique, right at the beginning: the title crawl. But the mere idea that this film exists is an admittance of something important. The saga was complete, which means the mere concept of the Force Awakens is to remove the last page of the proverbial book of the original trilogy, and continue the story on the page in which it used to say: The End. And thus, we are going to have plenty to discuss from the get-go. I hope you're ready. Caddicarus: So, Star Wars, the name that either causes the brain to erupt in euphoric glee and childish excitement, or causes it to cringe internally in disappointment. Personally, I'm somewhere in the middle, mostly because Star Wars was not a film series I religiously watched or grew up with. And yes, I do believe that has a large part to play in some of the vile hatred and violent love some will show towards it. The first Star Wars film I watched was the Phantom Menace when it first came out in 1999, when I was five years old. I was sucked into the world straight away; however, not for the reason of Jar Jar jiggling his metaphorical keys at my face. It was the enthusiasm of the public that ran off onto me, to the point of me asking for all the related video games and LEGO sets of the Phantom Menace, despite me knowing nothing about the earlier movies. Attack of the Clones was one of the most boring films I've ever seen, and even today I can't enjoy it with my newfound appreciation and understanding for film-making. Revenge of the Sith I find alright. The original trilogy though, opened up my eyes a little bit when I finally got around to watching them many years later. The practical effects, the vivid realism of the sets, the character arcs, the presence of the actors, the themes - it's all classic cinema that I recommend anybody should check out. And you know what? I really like the Force Awakens. Rogue One wasn't bad, and the Last Jedi from a technical, entertainment, acting and character dynamic standpoint I found that one especially great. Plus, the amount of ways it surprised me with ideas and scenes, completely different from anything I could have predicted. It has a good few problems and cringy moments in places, but it mostly felt fresh for a 40-year-old series. My face was beaming throughout most of the Last Jedi, and that's more than I can say for even some entries, like Return of the Jedi. Not for fan service, not for classic actors returning, but just as a film within the series itself. Here's the thing: despite me having differing opinions towards all individual films, I have always looked to them in the same kind of way: operatic, family-friendly space adventures that were heavily merchandise-oriented, even from the original trilogy. They are all dumb, and to some degree, all have some kind of corporate greed behind them. I have things I like and dislike in every single movie because of this view towards them, aside from episode II, which I just can't stand. I can't look at episode VII and VIII as a betrayal to its classic routes, nor can I call them masterpieces, because they all hit the same notes for me that I look for in a good Star Wars film. To some degree, in my eyes, each film in the entire saga has emotional moments, funny moments, badass action, great character motivation, clever scenes and game-changing twists, but some of them have a lot of more of that than others, and some don't have them at all. And one thing I can't deny is how cheesy and ridiculous every single one of them can get at points. Once again, some more than other, and it's this balance that intrigues me with Star Wars. Episode I, II and Solo take themselves far too seriously for me, and two I just find a complete mess as a Star Wars and standalone film. But the rest I can sit back and enjoy for that special giddiness only that that series is able to muster. And as for abusing the actors of films that we don't like is concerned, because nothing will ever top the Empire Strikes Back, the original films had Ewoks, Boba Fett's pathetic death, Leia not deciding what accent to do, useless stormtroopers, the Holiday Special... My point is, it's not a flawless series and it never will be. It's just good old-fashioned fun, and some have better moments to carry it along. Criticism is indeed important, but being abusive towards it won't change either the minds of the people making the films, or the films themselves. They are what they are: it's Star Wars. Mauler: Now let's rewind a few decades to get a strong baseline. Along with many of the elements of the film's themselves, the Star Wars title crawl was inspired by adventure serials that George Lucas had previously enjoyed when growing up, as many may or may not know, but it is not one-of-a-kind in its purpose. Many films require an opening with text of sorts to essentially establish history or rules, whether fact or fiction. This will ease the audience into acclimating with a world that has minor or major differences from our own, like being based in a particular time period, or having a few key elements changed, like the addition of superpowers in people. A quick intro with text or speech can cover that. Charles Francis Xavier: Mutation. It is the key to our evolution. It has enabled us to evolve from a single-celled organism into the dominant species on the planet. But every few hundred millennia, evolution leaps forward. Mauler: Of course, there is no real limit on what you can talk about in the opening to your story. You can go on forever because the world is never strictly finished in terms of building in any piece of media. There is always more to explore, it is a whole universe, after all, that's why books tend to win in the thoroughness of that aspect. Thing is, where the story that's being crafted from science fiction or fantasy, there is so much more to have to deal with in terms of a set up. We need all of the new rules of the world that differ from our own in order to create the stakes. We know how death works in a reality that is similar to ours, we know what abilities humans have at their disposal, but with these incredible new worlds, there's a sudden deficit of information. New life, new technology and the history of the world need to be provided to the audience, assuming they wil have relevance to the drama of the story being told. If you don't bother establishing the relevant information, or you contradict it as you progress, then the stakes will take a hit as a result. The audience needs to know what is possible and what is not possible. Otherwise, climactic events might just seem tacked on to save the day, or end the day. In film, you establish rules of what you see and hear throughout the scenes. Obviously. Technology, life and lore get their tidbits while the story unfolds, with the importance of each element coming down to context. Though it is wise to get a lot of that explanation done quickly with the opening; with the title crawl, or some kind of variation. The rules of this new world could be dictated, the life could be described, the political or social aspects can be established. Ultimately the drama of what is going to be shown is supposed to be given context; a set of rules so that we are ready to be invested, as opposed to being confused. With something like Star Wars in 1977, the title crawl acts as a shortcut in terms of world building. It is established that there is a civil war on galactic level, and one side is described as evil, so we are already clear on who we will be rooting for, and who is going to be the enemy. The world, plain and simple is in space. There are bad guys and good guys. They are going to fight, and we're going to watch it happen. Then we get the information on a fight that sets up the film and why it is important. The bad guys have a massive weapon, and the good guys have the means to destroy it, thanks to a recent battle that we don't need to see. Well, we didn't need to see it anyway... Saw Gerrera: Save the dream. Mauler: Finally, we get an introduction to a character and specific information. Princess Leia, custodian of the plans to the weapon is moving the plans to her people to potentially save the galaxy, while the Empire hunts her down. So that is pretty fantastic for three paragraphs, and the resulting scenes take care of the rest for the viewers to understand the events. It's about as dense as one could be for such a limited amount of time, while remaining simple to understand. The Star Wars title crawls have always been an important writing tool from as early as the first film. It is a moment for the writers to sit down with a viewer directly and explain the set up without the risk of breaking the fourth wall, despite how meta the text is. So after each of the six films and their long-running story, beginning with the accumulation of power for a growing Empire, and ending with its destruction, it is clear that the title crawl will be massively important to continue this universe. So where does our new story take us? Well, whatever this movie is about to offer, I'm sure I'll be able to get through it really fast. I won't get hung up on every last event, every last scene, every last word... this will be some smooth sailing right to the finale. "Luke Skywalker has vanished." Alright, stop. Markiplier: I have so many questions! Mauler: We already know that this film will not be standing on its own, it'll be using the source material and subsequently developing on it. Which is a good thing. This is a sequel, after all. It is by design meant to further an existing tale, whether that decision is ill-advised or not. But it means this is not some kind of new imagining, where we ignore, or *ahem* KILL the past. The past is alive and well, and is being developed. Therefore, in the interest of being a sequel, how does this film respect the previous ones and remain consistent? How do these opening four words affect our landscape? "Luke Skywalker has vanished." For the sake of clarity, this analysis will selectively jump ahead of time, while tackling the scenes in order to offer some more insight chronologically. In this instance, we know that Luke is not going to be in this film, aside from the final scene, and that is a bold choice. Many people might have assumed that he would simply be in his own "B" plot alongside the main story, but the reality is that Luke is only in it for a handful of seconds, and he has no dialogue. The only thing longtime fans will usually want answered at this point, before declaring that this is a bad choice is rather simple: why has he been missing for so long in universe? And once they reach the end of this film, the question remains with a simple addition: is the sequel that he's a part of going to make up for this choice to leave him out, until the last minute? Well, now we have an answer for that second question, of course. But that would be a matter of reading just a little too far ahead. Mark Hamill: Because when I sat down to read it, you should've seen me. What's the very first words in the crawl? "Luke Skywalker has vanished." I said: "Ooh, this is gonna be goood." Mauler: The concept of Luke being missing sets off a lot of ideas in people's heads. It's quite a mystery and we can't wait to find out what the reason behind it is, and how he's gonna come back. J. J: What are stories but mystery boxes? Mauler: Right, yeah, we're gonna tackle that, but not for about twelve hours, I'll see you then J. J. Put simply, it was a bold move to have one of the successful movie franchises return without its iconic hero. A character recognized across the world is now relegated to a cameo. The reasoning behind it is that it gives our new characters time to shine, and they can become established, before having the screen time of the classic characters begin to overshadow them. And that works just fine for many franchises... or it doesn't. (Ghostbusters 2016) I suppose it's down to execution. In fact, I'm on board with the idea myself, it makes sense because we will not care about anyone that is new, as much as we would care with Luke. Though, the drawback is of course, the confusion of our hero being missing in his own storyline. This will go over fine if it's for a good character-accurate reason, which is why for this film choosing to lack a detailed explanation can be accepted, as long as the eventual answer to the question makes up for the loss. That is not what happened. Hermit Luke: Go away! Mauler: Either way, the next line is very important. "In his absence, the sinister First Order has risen from the ashes of the Empire and will not rest until Skywalker, the last Jedi, has been destroyed." So after the initial surprise for Luke, we have this crucial line to redefine the landscape. The First Order is a new faction and they have risen from the Empire. Their apparent goal is to destroy Luke, and it is implied that they were able to rise due to Luke's absence. This will raise a question or two. Was Luke's presence the only thing holding back the Empire's return to power? No. That is definitively not true. Many were involved in the Empire's suppression, with plenty more ready to sign up, considering the toppling of said Empire was down to more than Luke alone. So we need better reasoning for the Empire to be concerned with Luke's demise before re-establishing dominance. Is this new Empire only concerned with the death of Luke to prevent any conflict to their rise once again? Because there should be plenty of other threats. Why treat it as though Luke is the only adversary of the Empire? We need more information than this to account for the world and its players. Are there no new Jedi? Did Luke train no one? We will get more, rather ridiculous answers on that in the future, which will act as a major cutoff to the idea of new force users approaching the series. Considering how the original trilogy closed out with a strong potential to reinvigorate that aspect. This may not seem like a big deal, but when the film released, this removed the potential for many character ideas. Having the abilities of a force user offers a large amount of agency for a character, and so if they don't like the way the world is, they can change it with far more effectiveness than a man with a pistol, or a low-level politician, and watching that unfold can be very interesting. I mean, why do you think people are so obsessed with the Knights of Ren? We know nothing about them, but they might use the Force, they might have advanced weaponry, they might be able to tell us more about Luke, and all of this means they might have a lot of power and agency, and they might offer more details in relation to the gap between episode VI and VII. Throwing several force users with different goals or conflicting ideas together is a big part of what this universe can offer its audience. Not to say that you can't have an effective story or conflict without Jedi, or Force users, but for those coming back to this franchise with the hope of seeing the iconic elements were now concerned, knowing that the world is extremely limited when it comes to a new Force-using order. That's a choice the writers made, and of course we have new Force users, but we are simply shunted in that respect, and it is for no other reason than the writers wanting it to be that specific way, to tell that specific story, a story that has been told. Limited Force users was almost a core part of the original trilogy, and it is now being repeated, despite limitless potential. Restrictions like that don't prevent a great story from being told, even if they ignore what came before, but it is something to think about. They could have had a whole new generation of Force users in training, each with their own stories, but they chose to erase that possibility. In fact, this choice to apply dramatic limits when the opportunities were endless, was probably an aid of crafting a narrative that was as close to episode IV as possible, regardless of the inconsistencies. But then the goal changed from cloning the old, to generating as many Force users as they could for the future, and so episode VIII obliged. This scene alone ensures the potential of hundreds of Star Wars films to come, after the "clone" film was completed. But the limitations that they had to write themselves out of, were set by themselves in the first place. Both of the writing decisions at the beginning of The Force Awakens and the end of The Last Jedi, in relation to changing the number of active Force users are fundamentally backwards. They serve what are more than likely cynical ideas from producers, rather than serving consistency in the world, and it's yet another detail that turned a large world small, when the time we spent away gave the world a chance to bloom in all aspects, only to seemingly do the complete opposite. The world is now being described as though Luke is the only one who had the power to hold back the tide of the Empire, despite there being an entire faction performing it as well. A faction that, as far as we knew, had been in power for the past 30 years. Have they not grown more powerful now? Despite that, the First Order has risen. They are apparently able to hunt Luke with impunity, and by killing Luke they will erase the Jedi as a collective, resulting in a reign that cannot be challenged. Not only implying that Luke has trained no one over this expanse of time that hasn't apparently died, but that the Jedi are down to a single member, despite being aligned with the reining government. What in the world has happened? Mark Hamill: ...and now we have this thirty year gap between the films, so a lot of it is conjecture. I mean we can't really, it's not specifically my story. Rey now is the protagonist. So I think you'll find some thing that might suprise you, and they certainly suprised me. Mauler: Luke was indeed the last Jedi in episode VI, but the whole point once they were victorious was that Luke had an opportunity to grow the Jedi Order over the 30 years we hadn't seen him. If you aren't going to show us this 30 year gap, then why allow incredibly important character-180-events to take place during them? Not to mention landscape changing events. Luke earned his chance to create something new for the Jedi, something better and stronger as a reward for his battle throughout the original trilogy, and overcoming those who would prevent that level of growth. And before we can even engage with that idea, that he created something out of the destruction, we are told it's all dead anyway, only to be left in the dark until halfway through the second film in which we receive a sorry explanation as to why all of this has happened. Like I said, lots of reasonable assumptions about the world being made from the previous films are being immediately thrown out here, and they require a full trilogy of their own to explain. Ultimately, the good guys are massively crippled, in both the Jedi side of it and the Galactic government. We are not going to get substantive information on why these collectives failed so systemically, yet these new positions for each of the significant factions decide the stakes for the main characters throughout the sequel trilogy. It is important that we know where they stand now, but not how they got there. The motive behind writing this way will be made clear very soon. "With the support of the Republic, General Leia Organa leads a brave Resistance. She is desperate to find her brother Luke and gain his help in restoring peace and justice to the galaxy." So Leia is back, and instead of holding some high position of the Senate, or a position that would allow her to affect policy significantly, she is a combat general, conducting the resistance. Which... okay, there is so much to unpack. These two paragraphs are the world building in total. This is what we have to work with, so let's go from the beginning. We left the universe with the leading figures of the Empire all being destroyed. The fleet was crippled, and their fledgling superweapon was torn apart moments after first being operated. These are major defeats. As a result, the audience could expect many things from a sequel movie. Perhaps the regime that was the Empire had been turn to dust, never to return. Not quite. Maybe the factions around the universe are now rallied in favor of never allowing an Empire-like entity to rise again. Mmmm-no. Maybe a galaxy-wide rush for power begins, all factions playing it "Old West" as they wonder what happens next and who is truly in power. Nope. Regardless of all that, surely a new modern and powerful war-born Republic would be established, headed by our galactic heroes to bring the world into a new golden age? Right? No, not even that. These examples are far from what has happened. So it's safe to assume our heroes did establish a Republic, or at least helped to form one. And beyond it being formed, it would seem that it did nothing and it was worth very little. On top of that, Luke fled the galaxy and Leia is now looking for him with her resistance force, with no mention of Han or Lando. So if we move a little further, why is there a Resistance? Why it would have been created in the first place? Shouldn't it be a part of the Republic? You can look into third party information to find answers that attempt to repair the source material, but that's not what we do on this channel. A story should stand on its own, not require additional stories from a completely different medium in order to be coherent. It's a sad reality that writing will only get worse if we continue to use this as a retroactive excuse for past incompetence. It is very clear that a Resistance exists alongside a Republic, despite them being aligned against the same enemies, so that once the Republic is obliterated in the storyline, our heroes can easily slip into the role of underdogs. This creates the very same struggle that we saw in a certain other movie, whether or not it makes a lick of sense. So the factions being completely misplaced is a fundamental world-building flaw. Perhaps not irreparably breaking the narrative at hand, but in this case, it ain't good news. The movie does not explain why the Resistance exists outside of the established Republic. The movie does not connect what we knew of our classic characters with these new characters the same actors are playing with anything close to substance or respect. The movie does not explain the drastic increase in strength for the remnant of the Empire. The movie does not explain why the Republic is so inept, understaffed and lacking ambition. Each of these questions have an incredibly important effect on creating the stakes for the story, and we are left to simply infer the past from tidbits. Interviewer: Many of us has been thinking about what happened after The Return of the Jedi for the past 32 years. Did all of you had those questions, and when you got to finally answer them, did it live up to, or surprise your expectations? Carrie Fisher: I did not understand the question. Mauler: Ultimately, the movie relies on the action of inference. Writers actively causing fanbases to generate stories to tell each other through mystery. Why is it that a war-recovering modern Republic wouldn't, over the 30 years we haven't seen them, build a powerful galactically supported army ready for any threats, space or planet bound, crushing any sense of a potential Empire, considering the horrors previously wrought upon the galaxy? If anything, you would expect them to overcompensate, rather than fizzle out. Kinda like in our own tragic history, certain countries censor media to prevent any proliferation of ideas that could pose a serious threat as it once did. Instead, the Republic is apparently resolved to shrink their own powers and allegiances. No more additional and loyal planets throughout the solar system, no more massive fleets, and no more planet-assaulting armies. And this is happening despite the fact that the exact same superweapon, only planet-sized, has actually been completed. They are reaching levels of strength previously unheard of! Can you imagine what our planet would do if another national-socialist party with an open policy of murdering opponents began to rise in any country of power? Especially Germany. The biggest joke of it all is that the Republic supports Leia and her Resistance. They are aligned, yet they exist separately. And we see the Republic provided Resistance fleet, it is sent to destroy the most horrifying weapon in history later in the film, and it amounts to 12 X-Wings. The Republic, being the biggest collective power in the galaxy, could only spare Leia 12 fighters for a military organization meant to protect the galaxy? No bombers even? Ah, well, we can get to that latter... More importantly though, does Leia have allies? The Last Jedi confirms that she does, but there is no contact with them until the end of that film. Why hasn't she contacted them during this film? Actually, who is with her in this film? Anyone we can confirm? Well, we have Admiral Ackbar, so where are the Mon Calamari ships? Why is it that the new Rebellion is in a weaker position now, than when they were fighting a losing civil war at their wit's end, 30 years ago? The Last Jedi will confirm that they have no capital ships in the fleet, except for the Raddus. Why would they have no capital ships forged, or remaining? What about support ships? Well, they have them, but only as of The Last Jedi, despite taking place immediately after this film. Aside from that, why isn't the Raddus - the most advanced and incredible ship in the Resistance fleet - not her in the planets orbit right now, at the Headquarters with the general? Is it supporting another battle? Should the viewers be aware of this? Is there an active war with the First Order? This section brings up so many questions about just what in the world has the Republic been doing? No matter how you look at it, this is a strong message from the writers; they are basically telling you that they will not be putting in the legwork. This is where the good guys are. Deal with it. So what about the bad guys? First of all, there's no war being run against them. The facts are that the First Order is massively feared already, yet the Republic is in power, and the First Order conducts attacks that are public knowledge, but no one is currently in an open war. More importantly though, where are the First Orders resources coming from? Where are these soldiers being pulled from? This could be compared to the Clone Wars, where the Republic used their seemingly infinite army against the seemingly infinite army of separatists. This is explained by the faction being droids and clones. Both are mass-produced, both are considered completely expendable. They are practically doing their job when they are defeated respectively. Sergeant: We're just clones sir, we're meant to be expendable. Plo Koon: Not to me. For the First Order however, as we will find out, the troopers are now taken from birth and trained to become merciless killers with conditioning. This may have started as much as 20 years ago, at least. They have been getting away with taking huge portions of children just under the nose of the Republic for decades, or they had massive reserves of Empire Loyalists just itching to join up to the First Order, and the Finn was the only one they actually took from a family 20 years ago. You may be struggling to see the issue here, but when we left the original films, the figureheads of the Empire had been destroyed. Who led the army to a rebirth? What would make troopers remain a part of the regime, if not fear in the first place? To this date in every main-line episode, they have never really fully explored sentient stormtroopers that actually believed in the dark side. So who is rallying them? Is it this guy? Well, where did he come from? Why is he in a position of power? Asking questions about him is going to end well, isn't it folks? The original showed us that the Empire had the galaxy under their thumb, free to conscript from any planet down to a low or strict force. The weaponry they had compelled the other systems to remain in fear, and the Rebels were a plucky guerrilla faction, constructed of those who stood up and against this idea, and constructed plans to pierce many holes right through the heart of the Empire, though that choice to stand against them did not go unpunished. Ultimately, it resulted in the freedom of the galaxy, so that means the forces of the Empire would not only be significantly splintered, but the troopers and commanders would return to their home planets or rule alongside the modern Republic, as they were simply taking orders, or so we may have thought. Either way, we need more information to account for what we knew about these factions having moved on. On the bad team, we have strength and organization to be dealt with, despite expecting this to be a fledgling force. On the good team, we have a handful of people with some ships completely unprepared, weak and on the run, despite expecting them to be stalwart, far-reaching, respected and powerful. This world is completely upside-down, and it is clearly an aid of recreating what we had in that classic films so long ago. But you can't simply force a restart, you have to put in the work to bring the system back down. Even Game of Thrones opens up with piece of the kingdoms in full force. The factions that won a victory during the equivalent of a Galactic Civil War - Robert's rebellion - are now aged, and yet still powerful. They fear the uprising of their old enemies, and stagnation of their old systems is apparent, only to then degrade and destroy those very positions over the first two seasons, leading to an open war throughout the countryside with many factions involved. Had the audience experienced Roberts initial rebellion, watching his victory only to then skip to season 3 of Game of Thrones, it would be ridiculously jarring, and that is what has happened here. We have skipped too much of what was important to understand how this has fallen apart, leaving us to blame the incompetence of what we thought were intelligent and proactive characters. Thus, to summarize these two opening paragraphs that connect episode VI and VII, we have: Luke, our hero is gone, the Jedi - the class of our hero and primary iconography of Star Wars, is near extinction. The modern flourishing 30-year Republic is crippled and headless. The government-funded and supported resistance fighters prepared to knock out opposition at any moment have less in their fleet than any rebel organization we saw in the previous trilogy, even though they were a self-supported guerrilla force by comparison to a government-funded military. Finally, they have a completely hollow set of allies. Many are missing, and of the ones that are here, they are limp by comparison to their once heavy might. On the flipside, we have a completely trumped-up enemy team being provided massive amounts of money and order, with an army and fleet to boot. This, supported by a brand new set of darkside users that have come out of nowhere, and they don't seem to have trouble going about whatever business they deem necessary in a world with an active government of good guys who apparently turn a blind eye. By comparison, in the prequels, we had a bloated government that was inefficient and drowning in red tape, and despite that, they actually cared when attacks were carried out across the universe in systems that they were meant to represent. Ki-Adi-Mundi: What about the Droid attack on the Wookies? Mauler: You deserved better, Mundi. Interviewer: ...if there was preparation, rehearsal between the two of you for those scenes, when you're, the pair of you isolated on that island? Daisy Ridley: Mark? Mark Hamill: I'm sorry, I wasn't listening. (audience laughing) Mauler: Now, the obvious point is that the world has flipped back to the opening of a New Hope, or at least as close as the writers could get without general audiences noticing immediately. It is a strong example of applying artificial limitations to create drama. In this case, they are aping previously constructed work, while ignoring the narratives history, making it a hollow copy, and this issue persists in The Last Jedi. Lupita Nyong'o: You know, this film, we learn a lot more about the history of the universe, which is really exciting, and I think everyone's gonna be really pleased to see how those secrets unfold. Mauler: No, not quite. The writers had one goal when they came up withe the premise of this film: create a war between the rebels and the Empire again. The problem is that if you do that, the good guys will be winning immediately. But the good guys can't be winning immediately. It has to be a war where the good guys are completely outmatched, they need to be the underdogs. If that is the case, then we can actually get scenes where our heroes are being courageous and sacrificial. The writers knew that our heroes were in a very strong position, so to get them in a weak position again, you would need a compelling set of events that are changed by character decisions built on what we've come to learn. The trilogy could have been about the fall of the modern Republic, with stories to tell about our heroes making governmental decisions in positions of experience and power. These decisions could reflect their roles in the original films, they could deal with hubris, arrogance and vanity. Instead, they chose to flip a switch. A switch that was initially flipped very slowly over the course of three films, and it's now been flipped right back in two paragraphs. They aren't going to create a trilogy covering it like the prequels did, because who wants to see bad guys win in a Disney movie? Right? We will make the bad guys the powerful ones in the beginning, and we wil smash them by the end. Twice. With a third time waiting in episode IX, I'm sure. And so, in order to achieve this, we have the artificial limitations on every aspect of our hero's resources, making their eventual victory that much more impressive. So, what could have been done? There are plenty pieces of media that have to deal with strong characters being crippled in ways that their strength cannot easily save them. This is a common problem when writing for superheroes. Superman has his kryptonite, Iron Man suddenly has terrible security, Spider-man often has to protect his loved ones. This isn't binary of course, there are plenty of minor and major uses of nerfing or challenging your heroes across a whole scale. The three I just mentioned are very different in terms of writing quality. The focus is on the generation of drama, which is difficult when the good guys should theoretically win any battle. So, what is a writer to do? Should they magically poof an extremely powerful entity into existence, while breaking all of the heroes apart and sapping any strenght they previously had? No, that's extremely lazy and contradictive, but this is a tough situation to write for. How do you challenge your heroes when they have such an extremely potent position of power? Ah yes, One Punch Man. This show is about a guy called Saitama, who is an invincible hero who can kill anything in just one punch, if he so pleases, causing any fight to end rather anticlimacticly, frustrating him to no end. Saitama: Not again... all it took was one punch. Damn it! Mauler: The drama ends up revolving around Saitama having to defend the cities he's a part of, while trying to avoid becoming too bored. The show has him deal with training a potential protΓ©gΓ©, who doesn't quite understand what you would call his lessons. He tries to find ways to make sure he has food to cook each night, as well as shelter, while doing so at a cost-effective pace. His hero work often gets in the way of this. Outside of that, he has to try and rise in the official hero ranks for the recognition of his abilities, though these tests are not simply related to physical power. This is all on top of character conflicts originating from Saitama's lack of social skills, or misunderstandings in general, with several supporting characters that are indeed much weaker than Saitama, thrown in for good measure. All of these elements ultimately result in several heartfelt moments that can really catch you off guard, in what amounts to an action comedy show. - No one has to tell me I have no chance of beating you. I already know that! It's not about winning or losing, it's about me taking you on right here, right now. Enough of your rambling. Time to finish you off. You can do it! You're the cyclist for justice! You can do it! Beat that weird monster, beat him! You can do it! Mauler: Despite primarily acting as a comedy, it provides strong lessons for our protagonist, and for us. Having alternative restrictions to a powerful character can create endearing drama. Conflict doesn't always need to rely on an equally powerful entity that ends with a punch. You can have a great story without that, but don't assume that I'm saying that it's always good to end a conflict without punching. Superman: Save... Martha. Batman: Why did you say that name!? Mauler: And so, through the strength of its writing, One Punch Man is able to achieve the solution to the problem of having too much power in your protagonist, while maintaining dramatic tension. You can do it. It takes time, effort and talent, but you can make a grounded heartfelt story push powerful heroes into a vulnerable state that isn't related to power levels waning. Now compare those writing ideas from One Punch Man to this "wonderful" set of opening two paragraphs. This minute of screen time avoids the responsibility of creating a narrative that is consistent with the source material they are supposed to be developing, and instead opts to quickly drop the heroes in as much danger as possible for no other reason than: Jason Nesmith: The show must go on. Mauler: ...which would normally be completely valid, except this time, the writers have interpreted the continuation of the show to mean performing the same show with younger actors and expensive sets. It's as if it's an ongoing production in a theater of the same story throughout the generations, though unlike a repeat production in Broadway, the original was always available, playing just besides this new one. But more importantly, also unlike Broadway, they want to convince us that this new one is a continuation of the story. As a result, they are forced to write these two simple paragraphs and hope no one thinks about it, which can lead you to an obvious comparison. The first six episodes of Star Wars adhere to jumping through time in a very specific way. There are events that take place in these gaps in time, but when we return, our characters are mostly unscathed and the factions of the world are relatively unaltered. The writer brings the audience back when the drama is reaching its high point, involving massive character and world-changing events to maintain continuity. This time jump though, it started with Luke looking over a life well earned, family and friends are safe and loved, with a thankful galaxy ready to flourish in freedom under a new Republic, only to cut to: Mark: "Luke Skywalker has vanished." Mauler: And then if we consider the sequel, it turned into: Luke doesn't want believe in the Jedi, the Jedi are almost extinct, Luke no longer cares for the relationships he's previously fought for, the Empire is in power and not-Palpatine is the head of it. Han Leia have broken up, Han is a smuggler once again, Leia has given up on her son and her lover, Lando is nowhere to be seen, and the Republic is pathetic. This is a definitive smash cut, with nothing to fill the gap. Hell, once we get the pieces of history in this gap, it sounds as though we've skipped a genuinely fascinating trilogy. Ultimately, they are forging drama by ignoring the established storyline and taking as much benefit of the 30-year doubt as possible. In a situation like that, you need as much expository dialogue and flashbacks that are needed to catch the audience up with your major changes, but the Force Awakens doesn't even try beyond a handful of lines and this embarrassing text scroll. It is irrevocably lazy writing on behalf of the Force Awakens and the Last Jedi in order to tell their own stories. Ultimately, this alone will sever the interest of many fans, because the world is massively important to the stakes of the story being told, and its just been flipped upside down for no other reason than creating drama. As if there were no other choice. Yes, you did just watch me talk about the opening seconds of a movie for 30 minutes. Welcome to my YouTube channel! So, from this mess we now have our connection to the previous film, no matter how flimsy, which means it's on to the setup for the film in particular, with the last paragraph of the title crawl. "Leia has sent her most daring pilot on a secret mission to Jakku, where an old ally has discovered a clue to Luke's whereabouts..." Much like everything else in the Force Awakens, this is fine at first glance, because it's going to set up our opening scene, but once you give it some thought, it also begins to fall apart. Why couldn't this old ally come to Leia? She's a part of the current galactic government, it is safe to travel, and reaching the Republic would mean a huge source of protection, especially for an old ally. So why make it difficult and situate yourself on a very distant planet, demanding that people come to you? From a meta-writing standpoint, the First Order can't just show up to interrogate this old friend at a republic planet. That would result in an actual war, and the good guys would get their information immediately, so we can't have that. But, if you do it on this planet, they can be an imposing force, even if it makes no sense. Let's refocus on this point: the title crawl would have us believe that Leia wants Luke in order to save the galaxy, and this is her one chance for that goal to be reached. Why then does she not collect this man and deliver him to her base? Why not - if he refuses - send a fleet to meet him and protect him? Perhaps 12 X-Wings, or the Raddus? Why does Leia send one man for something this important? Not just any man, mind you, she sends her greatest pilot. Why would any General risk their greatest combat pilot on what is a spy mission? Seems a little silly to me. No intelligence officers to spare? No investigators or informers? No Bothans available? At this point, we then realized that Poe is using an X-Wing, so if anyone wants to argue that Leia was attempting to remain inconspicuous, then why send the only ship that ties the pilot to the Rebels and the Resistance directly? The reason I'm assuming this is espionage is that they had the audacity to send a single unit, as opposed to an army to secure this information from Tekka, galaxy saving information, and Poe is caught as a result. Now, these are not plot holes, they are reasonable questions that may have reasonable answers, but those answers didn't make it into the script. Thus, our heroes are already in a large amount of trouble, when as far as we know, they could easily not have been. The stakes will be affected for many viewers, since they may not believe that someone like Leia would make these choices, and so their immersion takes yet another hit. And we haven't even seen a character yet. Though, to finish up this section, let me acknowledge a portion of the audience that may be yelling at me right now. "Well, you could ask any question about world-building you've put forth so far about every Star Wars movie! In fact, you could do it with every movie in existence!" Very well. As with most title crawls or movie introductions, or setups in general, we have to accept the facts as given by the writers, even if they conflict with our universe. We would typically refer to this as 'internal consistency'. The fiction is only beholden to itself, not our world rules, but theirs. Otherwise, wizards, uruk-hai, aliens and mutants would be off-limits in terms of storytelling. Internal consistency is a fundamental of fictional writing, and many will ignore the concept to try and drive the point home that, even if one thing in the story exists in a way that does not compare to our world, then nothing needs to make sense at all. What I mean by that, is that many people will end up screeching about space wizards, meaning there is no logic to be expected in a story, despite stakes and progression being entirely reliant on logic in the first place. And so, if a world tells us that up is down, then up is down. We have a responsibility to understand that the world is as dictated by the writers, without questioning how everything came to be, because this is the beginning of the story, and the story is not about our planet. In reality, it is about a fictional world that may come close, but with key details changed. And that's fine, as long as they tell us what they are. The Earth is scorched now? Okay, but you better stick to that in your world when show it. If they give us statistics and we accept that these are accurate, even if they are loosely based on real life, then it would be permitted to embellish the real numbers, as long as they don't contradict themselves in the story it was established. No matter how awful the story is, this is the benefit of an opening crawl. Take all of the opportunity you get to tell the audience what your rules are, and what your setup is. It can be incredibly useful to set a completely alien world with a very simplistic set of statements. Sure, there could be more to explore, but this is what you need to know for the story to be understood and for the drama to maintain the stakes. But, it will indeed fall apart when you create a set of establishing rules that conflict with other established rules. The original Star Wars films had nothing but a blank canvas. Specific details weren't required and they still provided a strong context, but a sequel has the daunting job of creating something new within the rules of the previous story established. To be clear, let's talk about world building a little bit. You guys ever watched Terminator? It's a world where machines have taken over due to the advancement of technology, but the humans fought back and beat them into submission. As a last-ditch effort to maintain their reign, the machines sent one of their own back in time to kill the leader that led the humans in the future. It's a neat idea, because it creates a neat story to tell. An efficient killer-robot-slasher film in a time where it would be impossible to have an efficient killer-robot-slasher film. The established rule is simple: the machines were limited to sending one absolute unit back in time, and they chose to do it when the target was yet to be born. The resulting plot is dealing with that very machine. But then we got a second movie doing the same thing, which raises a question: "Oh, they can send two machines back? So, were they limited to two, and not one, or many? Hey wait, were the humans limited to just the one guy? And then the one robot? Why didn't they send a robot both times? Why don't they send more than- I don't understand." Then Terminator 3 happened, and so three have been sent back, but this one could also infect old machines and turn them hostile, which starts to throw everything out of whack. Then Terminator 4 and 5 happened, and the writing is a horror show. Nothing makes any sense; the timeline has been torn to shreds and a reboot is all that's left to have any sense of a coherent story to tell. Yes, I will make a rage video for Terminator Genisys. My God, that is a guarantee. Star Wars isn't quite at that point, but the same thing is happening by attempting to tell the same story over and over again, but labeling these stories as sequels. When writing fiction, you can make whatever rules you want as a base, and then you can build whatever kind of world you want around those rules. In this world, magic exists and you can learn about it to become more proficient. In this world, there is a myriad of brand-new species that all have pros and cons, and a Dark Lord who wants to rule them all in a medieval land, complete with magic and dragons. This world has so many hundreds of assassins, being that it is a common profession, that there is an open organization to house and service them. These are all kinds of different, ridiculous worlds compared to the reality we actually have, and that is the beauty of fiction and internal consistency. It maintains stability, as long as the rules don't contradict themselves, and as a result, the audience maintains their immersion. It only begins to fall apart in Terminator, and of course Star Wars, when your established rules and world are being overwritten for the sole reason of generating more drama, otherwise known as... well, contradictive writing. This is in the category of bad, for those who aren't following. The audience does not require detailed information about the worlds premise in a story beyond that which allows them to understand what's at stake. The audience does however, require detailed information about the world's premise in a story, beyond that which allows them to understand what's at stake if it appears to contradict the stakes of the story that now acts as its history. The former is what we were dealing with in 1977, and the latter is what we're dealing with in 2015. The criticisms aimed at The Force Awakens world building exist because of Episode IV. If Episode VII were the first episode, the world building would be far more forgivable, as it has nothing to contradict. But even then, it's flawed by representing a universe while maintaining that no factions are concerned with the Galactic War, a war that will determine which faction becomes the reigning government. In addition, the story for this film, separated from the others, is already sprouting issues, and we have barely begun. But, there is something else to address. There are many out there who don't see any issue with contradictive rules, as long as they serve emotional payoffs. This argument is especially propagated when it comes to children's content. So how about I make a fundamental comparison to try and bridge this gap between the two sides of this argument? In Story 1, we have a superhero called Billy. He wants to fight criminals, and his power is to be able to throw rocks at people, because he is a "solid scientist". In this universe, it is established that you may only master a single form of matter, and summon it on command to use as a weapon. Billy defeats Scissorman at the end of the story by throwing rocks at him. This is very fundamental. Despite that, rules have been set, just like every other story when it comes to progression. And thus, the audience knows the difference between safety and danger, and what can be lost or gained. Obviously, your standard story will come with a lot more dressing and complexity. Though, we didn't need any more information than what I just gave you for the story to have its stakes. In Story 2, Billy fights Rockman, and thus throwing rocks does nothing. But before being smashed to pieces, Billy summons rock acid to throw, and thus melts Rockman. The first story is just the result of an ability we were made aware of from the get-go, but the second is a denial of information provided by the first story, because that very information has become obstructive to the emotional payoff that the creator wanted in the second film, or in this case - cartoon! It's a very simple concept. The writers have put themselves into an unsolvable situation, until they summon a tool that allows them to escape it, otherwise known as Deus ex machina. So, instead of working within the limits they agreed to tell a story within, they copped out. They use not only an established rule, but a contradictive rule, and it saves the day. The reverse of this would be placing the heroes in danger when all known information points to them being absolutely safe. You would more than likely find this quality of writing in children's stories, because the victory of the good guys is far more important for children to feel happy about, then being consistent in the narrative. Children are naive by nature, and so reality isn't always a factor in how they consume media. I am NOT saying that you need to be a child to enjoy The Last Jedi, but it does ignore the reality of its own universe in very similar ways to typical children's writing. But the problem here is that that would be an example of BAD children's writing, because to say that children's writing doesn't require criticism is antithetical to the many creators who write exceptional children's stories. A children's story simply means it will lack overt violence, drug use, sexual activity, and it will often lack a deep and emotional theme, but that's not a guarantee. Many children's stories have a deep theme for adults to pick up, and for children to accept subconsciously. In many ways, children's writing requires more criticism than adult writing, because it's meant for an audience that is much more susceptible to influence. These are children we're talking about. They are like sponges to the stories they consume. I think it makes much more sense that we take a lot more care with children's content. Typically though, adult writing is held to a much higher caliber. Even though there are films designed for a much more mature audience, with the kind of writing quality that would be far more suitable for a child's perception of reality. But rather than the contradictive writing being a result of creating a positive environment for children we are dealing with adult creators that may lack a talent for the craft, may lack respect for the craft, may not care for the previous stories compared to their own vision, or they may have ran with a first draft. Again, that's an awful idea, because everyone makes mistakes, whether or not they're aware of it. So putting in more time for a feature-lenght multi-milion dollar project will likely benefit the experience. And the excuse for having inconsistencies if favor of it being for children is ultimately disrespectful to the capacity of a child's mind. I would have found it insulting if someone told me I should have liked when I was younger, because I don't understand how logic works anyway. And to quote a friend: "Why not remain consistent?" So, what are we to do when writing additional stories for new worlds? Well, when it comes to perceived contradictions, due to returning over a large period of time, the solution is to write the connecting journey and have it laid in exposition. Subtle, yet extensive, so your audience can follow along, otherwise the contradiction is no longer simply perceived. As for the elements with no development, that saved the day in the moment for the benefit of an emotional payoff. You would have needed to set it up earlier on, or you betray the intelligence of your audience. I suppose you could say that both of these elements of writing are about respecting the information that comes before. The first being that you use what you have in your history to line up a reasonable future, supported by exposition. The second being that you set up the elements that facilitate the biggest payoffs in the story well ahead of time. For the latter point, if you are writing your story in one draft, it is difficult to use every element in the beginning for substance by the end, without returning for a second draft. And vice versa, you may forget to leave breadcrumbs in the beginning of your script if you come up with a different payoffs at the end. A good rule of thumb would be that what's established is what you can use. Obviously, people will attempt to stretch this when writing, as if to say "I've established it, therefore can use it a few seconds later". But I'm sure many of you know what I'm talking about. When you structure the writing, you end up with something called "setup" and "payoff". For example, Ed didn't pull the rifle from nowhere (Shaun Of The Dead). They told us it existed from the beginning. Ed: Why d'you think there's a rifle over the bar? Shaun: 'cos the pub's called the Winchester. Ed: Exactly. Liz: What makes it so secure? Shaun: Because it's got big heavy doors, and dead bolts. You've been to a lock in. Liz: Several. Ed: And there's a rifle above the bar. David: I would think that's deactivated. Dianne: Surely. Ed: It's not. I'm telling you... Shauny! Why didn't you just shoot him man? Shaun: For the last time, it- Mauler: Bond doesn't summon gadgets from the ether to save him. Q will introduce them well ahead of time. Q: Now, watch closely please 007. Q: Insert it in... Oldm'n: Oh, pull the tag. Q: You said- Mauler: Frodo was provided his mithril vest much earlier than when it became useful. Bilbo: Here's a pretty thing. Mithril. As light as a feather, and as hard as dragon's scale. Aragorn: That spear would've skewered a wild boar! Gandalf: I think there's more to this Hobbit than meets the eye. Mauler: You can indeed create whatever crazy rules and resources you want, whatever world you want, but as soon as you have it written down, you have shackled yourself to those very rules and resources. And so you work withing what you have from the start. And you shouldn't look at this as a negative thing. Rules promote creativity in writing. For example, if your character cannot operate in sunlight by rule, then he's going to have to use the sewers to travel by day. Instead of just giving up on the rules that you have, and saying: "Well... now it works differently, idk." But, is it possible to make a new story that doesn't step on any source material writing? Yes. It's very possible. Seriously, you can make great additional stories that don't ruin the original stories, despite adding to them. No, Shrek and Shrek two are genuinely great animated films, I'm not even memeing. The Star Wars sequel trilogy however, is not only guilty of stretching things that have been put in place, not only guilty of breaking things that have been put in place, they have now outright clunkily morphed the state of the world to whatever allows them to tell their new story, and this very criticism cannot be applied to any of the previous six episodes to this degree. In the case of the Force Awakens, the writers wanted to have a civil war once again, despite it being over and done. They want the bad guys to be powerfull, despite them being crippled and hunted. They want the heroes ready to make some incredibly lucky and skillful moves to save the day, despite them having massive and controlling governmental powers. And finally, they will likely want us celebrating the victory of the good guys by the third film in the modern trilogy, as we have done twice already, despite us already having earned that very position over 30 years ago. Hopefully, this extensive section offers some explanation as to why so many viewers were completely uninterested by the Force Awakens after discovering the content of the opening three paragraphs alone. The opening crawl is quite a nightmare for many people, and it serves to completely unweave what is a relatively simple, yet satisfying tale. All the while insulting the intelligence of the viewer, pushing a huge amount of the audience away immediately, in an attempt to retell what was a very profitable story long ago. Which has now ironically damaged that very story itself. CinemaWins: Short, sweet, and to the point, First Order bad, Leia good. It's perfect. - Like, from the opening crawltext, which by the way, this crawl text, - It's great. - It's phenomenal. ˙ʇɐǝɹƃ s,Κ‡I- - It's, it's, it's, it, there's no, - IT'S GREAT. Mauler: No. But it was breaking and changing the world in favor of its own story, and perhaps that will be worth the damage. A story we have yet to see in full. So how about we dive right in? Fringy: The original Star Wars trrilogy tells an entertaining, cohesive and well-rounded story. The narrative presented in these three films isn't particularly complex, but it didn't really need to be. OT (Original Trilogy) Star Wars's greatest strength is its characters. While the world building and artistic direction was excellent, the central characters, especially Luke, are a heart and soul of Star Wars. A New Hope, Empire and Return of the Jedi are some of the most culturally significant films ever made, and them being placed on a pedestal isn't unwarranted. I mean, even without the groundbreaking visual effects, or amazing score, the original Star Wars films are good films, with likable characters and satisfying narrative arcs. The Force Awakens when I first saw it in theaters, but it only took a few monts and subsequent viewings to dampen my overall opinions on the film. Though The Force Awakens does have its fair share of plot contrivances, and weak character development, I don't think it's an outright bad film. It is pretty average though, and almost painfully unambitious. I don't think anybody could have foreseen how far Star Wars would fall in just three years. In that time, the impossible has been achieved: a new film in the Star Wars franchise is no longer guaranteed to break even. Never has Star Wars as a series been in such a tumultuous position, despite the insistence of many that there is nothing wrong. The only thing that The Last Jedi has successfully done is alienate possibly half of all Star Wars fans, and Rian Johnson's attitude toward said fans in the interim has been absolutely embarrassing. The defense of this film by the people involved in this production has been beyond dishonest, and their refusal to acknowledge any of the valid criticism being directed towards this terrible film is serving to further drive a wedge between the studio and the fans. A lot of people are angry, and when they're being insulted and slandered for simply disliking a deeply flawed film, it's no suprise that they've stopped showing up to the cinema. I mean, Solo was destined to fail. I'm not sure the ship can be righted, but you know, anything's possible. That said, the reputation of Star Wars as a franchise isn't going to improve if they intend to stay the course. Interviewer: Mark, you maybe up for that. Maybe? Maybe up for that? No? Mark: Again, I wasn't listening, what were- (audience laughter) Mauler: We open on the daunting image of a Star Destroyer peering over the planet Jakku, and its silhouette begins to block out a possible moon, giving a strong visual reference to the original Star Wars, while implying that this is a heavily encroaching force. It's eclipsing our current perception of the galaxy. It also confirms that Star Destroyers are still utilized as a ship for the enemy faction, if not given a few updates. We are then given a smash cut right into the squad of stormtroopers who are preparing to assault a village on Jakku. This is filmed with several quick cuts, diminished lighting and a non stable frame to create tension. Who are these guys? Where are they going? Well, we're about to find out. It's a strong opening set of visuals, because in 2015 we were starved starved of Hollywood-level mainline Star Wars content, and immediately seeing something as recognizable as a Star Destroyer or stormtroopers with small changes to their designs can reassure fans of the content they're about to consume is something familiar, while encouraging that there will be something new. However, this is more of a writing analysis, and thus I have to ask: what's with the crappy transport lighting? We know it was done to encourage that sense of tension, as the troopers are partially revealed, but there's no need to sacrifice reality for something like that. You could have had a low red light instead. It certainly would have added to the intimidation factor, just like the blinking lights would have. Instead, we are to assume that a faction as powerful, organized and meticulous as the First Order don't have effective lighting on their ships. It's clearly a style choice, but this is a good place for me to take another tangent. Let me address the screaming audience members, just like Quinton, who are saying something very specific. "Mauler complains that the lights flicker, and that is why The Force Awakens is an objectively bad film. He is nitpicking, meaning all of his arguments are now worthless." Okay, first of all, people seem to be obsessed with the idea that you can grab any one point I make, and sell it as the entire point of my videos despite also complaining that I talk too long about a huge amount of different topics. So that's confusing. The other part that's confusing is that you are telling me how much I value these things. The fact that I mention them does not mean that I think that they are detrimental to the film. Stop ascribing my value to a point that I don't describe my value to in a video. It's disingenuous and it doesn't make sense, so just... stop doing that. The truth is, I tackle all mechanical writing issues as I find them, big and small. How detrimental the issue is usually correlates with the time I spend on it, unless I make it abundantly clear to help explain why it is impactful or not. We're already done with the flickering lights. It was mentioned, I had mentioned an alternative, it's already over. It is a minor issue that only brings an element of operation into question, that if left unanswered doesn't affect the plot or the characters whatsoever. But it's still an issue, because we can identify why the choice was made, and what was sacrificed to create it, meaning that in the future we could correct it, as content creators. But if you don't care about these things at all, it can begin the process that starts to rot the quality of writing in most projects. I don't structure my videos by covering only the small issues, and then only the large, fundamental issues. I go with chronological breakdowns, and then I summarize. It shouldn't be too hard to tell that flickering lights are a nano issue, and character assassination is not. And besides all that, the phrase "nitpicker" is one of the most overused criticisms of critics in internet culture. The criticism changes between each person who says it, but they refrain from qualifying it to make it sound just a little bit stronger. It can mean anything, but typically means: "I think the thing you are talking about isn't as important as you make it sound", and there are way more effective or downright accurate ways of assessing a critics flaws than dropping them into this vat that applies to basically anything, depending on the person. And then on top of all of that, do you really want to ignore nits? You accept that there are issues by making this criticism, but you've decided that they are too small to say anything about? Do you understand that I can say you are nitpicking my analysis? Do you understand that in the land of subjectivity, one man's nitpick nitpick is another man's hyperdrive kamikaze. And so, simply stating it doesn't mean anything. When you spot a car in the background of Lord of the Rings, it's almost nothing and it doesn't affect any element of the script as a production error. But it is valid, and it is something to learn from in future as a movie mistake. Many people will find it interesting to note or to think about if they weren't aware to begin with. A clear benefit is to identify something small in terms of a writing flaw, that can lead to something large down the line. So, the highlight of a nitpick is harmless to me. It's when you use a nitpick to justify the entire project lacking quality that I take issue, and that's not what I do in my videos. But bringing up blatant rules being broken in aid of moving your drama forward is not a nitpick whatsoever. C-O-N-T-E-X-T M-A-T-T-E-R-S. You would have to qualify it if you wish to have a meaningful discussion, and good luck finding them in a YouTube comment section. I mean, they do exist, it's just like... it's like 10% at most? Though it needs to be reaffirmed that the clear benefit of identifying a small issue and moving on, is that you can learn from it and avoid them in the future, or at least spot them in the future. Nobody wants to put even the smallest of scratches on their phone or their car. We will work to be rid of them, even though they really don't matter in terms of how well your car will drive. Similarly to how a story will function just fine with a few nitpicks. And let's be honest, you won't catch them all. The fascinating part to me is that the nitpick crowd will stay rather silent when you point out very small positive things about production. I said the Doctor Strange maintaining his surgery scars is a strong piece of continuity, but let's be honest, it's a minor point that most won't see, and carries very little benefit to the script at all. The scar makeup could have been forgotten, and nothing changes. But nobody in the comment section talked about me delving too hard into the tiniest of details to try and make the film look good. May as well call that something now for the future. I guess it's a... "positive nitpick", or a "neat-pick"? idk. Either way, the point of showing both sides of the coin is to add things to think about as a whole. When you watch my videos, I am asking that you leave your brains switched ON for the duration, and you will have things to think about. If you aren't interested in that, then leave those nits in your hair. At the end of the day, it's only going to be detrimental to you. The media, and my assessment of it are not created for the sole purpose of being ignored. And for those who like to watch my videos to go to sleep, don't worry, you can certainly switch your brain of then. Sleep tight. (Yoda's dying though) But to add a final olive branch to this discussion that arguably started because of a flickering light, maybe this will help you understand the point. There are flickering lights in the escape vessel in the finale of Alien. It is what could be argued as a kind of safety light, or a precautionary light, but we all know why it's actually flickering. It creates this extremely unnerving visual of the creature. We aren't clear on what we're seeing, thanks to the flicker, and that makes us unable to clearly understand it, making it more unpredictable and mysterious, which adds to the fear factor. In the case of The Force Awakens, it's flashing recognizable imagery and it's creating a build-up to the coming scene. I have the same assessment of both examples. It is something you'd have to consider on set, and they chose it even when it made no sense. I love Alien. I think it's incredible, and this little moment is something that you can discuss. Perhaps by highlighting it, someone will have a fair reason in the comment section section for why it was standard in both The Force Awakens dropship and the escape vessel. In that case, I have a chance to learn, and that is an example of what I talked about an hour ago - a simple lack of information. And besides, it isn't necessarily a contradiction, as this could be simply how the lights work in their universe, but it can be interesting from a filmaking standpoint nonetheless. But I happen to have a friend who's an ex paratrooper, and it made no sense to him as a militarized color or lighting code. So I'm opening the discussion about it briefly. I will do this a few times throughout the assessment, and it's something for the brain to chew on while we approach larger subjects. Hopefully that makes more sense, but if it doesn't, this really isn't the channel for you, and I'm sorry if someone directed you here saying that you have to watch this to understand "X", "Y" and "Z". But then again, if you really did feel that way, I seriously doubt you got to this point in the video, so, umm... let's continue folks! The setup here is that Poe, the daring pilot, has come come to visit Lor San Tekka, an old friend of Leia's. Tekka has an important lead to finding Luke Skywalker, and so Poe is going to collect it. Of course, I only know this man's name from the Wiki page, as the film works quite hard to mystify the origin of the map and its holder, but I would prefer to use the character names when going through it in detail. Tekka says that he wants Poe to take the map, and it will begin to "make things right". Many people associate this line with Tekka saying that the prequels were a mistake, and now this trilogy will rectify them. Which, if true, is a very interesting take on a statement, especially with the Star Wars climate in 2015. But considering where we're at now, assuming that's the point of the line, it's just embarrassing. Though it is confirmation that Tekka has a personal stake in this map reaching Leia. Poe then replies that the general - being Leia - will appreciate having it, and Tekka says: Tekka: The general? For me she's royalty. Mauler: Implying he has known her since the Galactic Civil War, when she was Princess Leia, rather than general Leia. This raising the question again of: why not come directly to Leia if you've known her for so long so well, especially if you're personally invested in this mission? Well, because we need this to happen. After BB-8 detects the incoming troopers and warns Poe to escape, Tekka warns Poe as well, with a moment to discuss the potential rescue of both Tekka and Poe. On top of this, Poe takes a moment to look at the enemies through his binoculars instead of getting to his ship. First of all, had you brought a ship to pick up Tekka with instead of simply meeting him, then this wouldn't have been a problem whatsoever. Secondly, if you had a ship with space for two, rather than a one-seater X-Wing, you and he could have escaped immediately as a safety net, if this was to happen. Thirdly, you CAN escape immediately, and yet you dawdle, looking through your binoculars and telling Tekka to hide in this tiny desert situated village, against a 100 man raiding party with no compunction about brutal murder. Where in the world is Tekka going to hide, and why are you wasting so much time? Another interesting element to explore is that the arrival of Kylo is treated as a bad bit of luck. Why does he know this is happening, and how did he arrive at exactly the right time before it would have been to late? We've already begun copying Star Wars, so we may as well compare. Do you remember how the original film gave us a reason for this? Vader: Don't act so surprised, your highness. You weren't on any mercy mission this time. Several transmissions were beamed to this ship by Rebel spies. I want to know what happened to the plans they've sent you. Mauler: This dialogue is referencing the opening crawl. Spies stole the data, and the Empire followed the transmission of those plans to this ship. And what do we get in this film? Kylo: The map to Skywalker. We know you've found it. Mauler: Okay? It was findable, apparently. And when this old, random guy found it, he must have told the good guys, which alerted the bad guys too. That's unfortunate. This provides us an inconvenience. The original scene was cause and effect. This was just unlucky. But a bit of bad luck or good luck is fine, any story has a bit of both. Let's see how that goes as we progress. Though additionally, I don't know if it's tied to luck or not, but why is it that the Star Destroyer got so much time to approach the planet before anyone detected it? I suppose it's just a little bit hard to believe, considering the technolohy of the universe, and this delay in detection results in the instant grounding of an X-Wing, allowing Poe to be caught, pushing the plot right along. Overall, it's pretty simple, all of these little things simultaneously go wrong, because if any of them behaved as expected, the scene changes dramatically and the good guys end up finding Luke in just under 10 minutes. ...assuming R2-D2 still woke up for no reason. But, let's not get too far ahead of ourselves. The troopers land, beginning an all-out laser battle with the locals, resulting in their death or capture. Two stormtroopers then break off, and shoot Poe's X-Wing, disabling it immediately. After that, the troopers are dispatched and no other troopers seem to notice or care. This is interesting, because how isn't an X-Wing in the middle of a small village that might have the most important data to the First Order not the focus for this assault? It should be a high priority, since it's directly associated with the Resistance and it would likely have the information they would need, as it's the only thing that they can see has the the potential to escape the area. Yet, they send two guys, and once they are dead, nobody seems to give Poe and his craft any attention until the plot demands it. Either way, these two troopers were more than enough to permanently ground the X-Wing. How inconvenient for our hero. Poe then views the damage and doesn't bother with a potential repair from BB-8, when it would be perfect, considering BB-8's skills in that department, and because nobody seems to care about their existence as of right now. Either way, Poe puts the map inside BB-8 and tells the droid to get as far away from this area as possible, only to turn and begin shooting distant troopers that are still unaware of his existence. Poe: Do you hear me? I'll come back for you! Mauler: We will remember that line. Also Poe, I need to level with you here for a second. This is a horribly bad idea. There are four major transports with like, 20 troopers a piece, spilling into this extremely weak village. Most of its defenders are already dead. You cannot win, and you have the knowledge that both the Resistance and the First Order apparently need to win their war, therefore you are putting the galaxy in jeopardy to score a couple of potshots. You have to run! Run like BB-8, but in any other direction, run to a town or hide somewhere. The only thing that can happen here is capture, to ultimately be tortured to death for information. It makes no sense to stay, since that is the worst possible outcome with the information you have. And yet, you're staying. Does anyone want to hazard a guess as to why? Well, Poe needs to be captured in order for the First Order to actually have a plot to follow. And obviously they chose to have it be a bit heroic first. It is interesting that we get to see Poe nail a handful of kills, and he still doesn't get noticed. It's only after he gets very emotional and tries to kill Kylo himself that he's actually caught, meaning that he would have a great chance to get very far away before being caught, had he done the normal person thing and tried to escape, because Tekka could have delayed Kylo. Other than that, I do actually like the detail a lot that Poe, Finn's future friend, is the one that killed Finn's fellow soldier in this scene. The event that put Finn in a position where he wanted to rescue Poe and betray the First Order was his fellow soldier death at Poe's hand. There is certainly something to approach there in terms of conflict, perhaps Finn would no longer see Poe as a hero, or even a friend, if they got to have that discussion. Perhaps by learning that Poe killed Finn's friend, Finn could learn something about the morality of war. No, not in that forced, garbage way. In a nuanced way, both sides commit similar misdeeds in favour of their ideology, when looked at from the surface. They are essentially forced to. So, who do you really wanna serve? Imagine that from there, Finn became a bounty hunter, or a lone gunman, and that he didn't care about the fight between good and bad. Everything about that potential is dropped. The film doesn't explore it, which is a shame, but it actually matches a pattern. It's a setup without a payoff, which could be the subtitle for this film, but that will be explored as we progress. In fact, we can cover it a little bit here. There is a world building issue. Finn the stormtrooper begins to lose his mind because of the violence and death he is having to face, leading to his eventual mutiny of the First Order. Now, the first question that sets off the rest of the questions here is: Hang on, this is a hing that can happen!" Tywin Lannister: Apparently so. Mauler: But wait, ok hang on, we know from the main line of episodes that this didn't happen with the clones, and as for the original trilogy troopers, we weren't given any reason to assume they would defect. The theory would go that the Empire controlled most of the galaxy's resources, thus controlling the troopers with fear or threats. They never make it absolutely clear on how, but they make a rule that the troopers are die-hard Empire loyalists. At least as long as the main figure heads are in charge. That would be something to explore, considering they're all dead, because they were strong symbols of intimidation. Commander: The Emperor is coming here? Vader: That is correct, commander. Mauler: But now it's been made clear that the troopers are conditioned, and that conditioning can be breached. If that happens, it prompts reconditioning, meaning that they can now defect as a rule. So to have a trooper do this in such a dramatic manner really does raise a lot of questions. Is Finn the only one this applies to? If yes, then what in the world made him so special? Of course, there's nothing to answer that, so let's go with the other assumption. They must know this is possible and relatively common, because Hux asks about Finn's previous instances on nonconformity, once Finn attempts to escape with Poe, meaning that there is a protocol to monitor nonconformity, and that wouldn't exist if nonconformity wasn't expected. Which means there should be more instances, so... where are those troopers, and have they ever revealed the fact that the First Order are currently building the Starkiller base? I mean, we already know that Finn has worked on it "extensively", and we're gonna get to that. But yeah, let's ignore secret projects for a second. Have the defects never been able to reveal that the First Order are even a thing? Have they never revealed what they're planning to the Republic, or anyone for that matter? If they are aware the defects exist, then you would need extremely special circumstances for one to escape. It should not be this easy. Though, I am jumping ahead. They've introduced the undoubtedly brilliant idea of troopers having their own agency, their own characters, but they have failed to account for it in terms of world building, because this is a sudden new rule. If they did account for it in their troopers, then how does Finn manage to slip their presumed monitoring and capturing systems, despite having a significant mental breakdown in front of the other troopers, Kylo Ren, and their commanding officer? Only to then kidnap their greatest prisoner moments later. You expect me to believe that they simply tell the defects to go to reconditioning, and hope that they do? They really wouldn't be captured, or at least escorted? Finn's change of heart tells us that stormtroopers are now human in nature. They are layered. They possess a sense of morality. They are not radicalized or conditioned effectively, they can feel for others, as well as themselves. And honestly, that is some fantastic and bold work to give your grunt-like foot soldiers and galactic warfare some depth. From here, we could have scenes reminiscent of many fantasy or science fiction war stories. The troopers can discuss the First Orders positives, perhaps even sharing their past and love for the long gone Empire. Since, as a audience, we now want to know why they would stay, if they can think freely. This is also supported by captain Phasma, in that she chooses to lower the shields in exchange for her life. The film established that they are not complete drones anymore, they are people. The other films didn't explore it because the benefit of having grunts is that you can show death and battle progression, without the audience feeling conflicted on the damage being dealt. And so we can root for the good guys without confusion. Stormtroopers really weren't considered people as opposed to units, but they are now. So the first thing we could expect if Finn is to revolt, is the difficult idea of trying to find allies in the men who are also captives. These are men he respects and cares for, so this entire scenario is going to have massive stress on him. Unfortunately, what I'm talking about is developing the groundwork, groundwork that will be abolished immediately. It's the lack of payoff for a clear set up. Both the Force Awakens and The Last Jedi quickly forget all of the progression provided to the stormtroopers. From here on, they will be nothing more than drones again, except for Finn, of course. This, while also forgetting basic character consistency. Nobody would know that Finn was a stormtrooper from the moment he drops his gear, since that history is never given additional detail, despite being potentially fascinating, to provide a different view to what the audience sees is a reprehensible force. This is the writing equivalent of having your cake and eating it. We want there to be a stormtrooper who mutinies from the First Order due to his natural values overcoming what he was taught, and we want him to become a hero in the story, complete with an extremely helpful and friendly disposition throughout his interactions. That is an interesting idea, sure, but you also want the stormtroopers as a whole to remain docile, cold and faceless, as they are torn down in scores to the satisfaction of the audience. Let me be clear: you cannot have both. The audience is left with a contradiction, and the solution would have been to make it clear why Finn was a special case. Perhaps his conditioning never took place, and that was a mistake in the birth and training of him in the First Order. This could have been accounted for while explaining the worlds progression, in an opening that was far more substantive than what we got. As the film progresses, Finn could have shared that he only stayed with the First Order out of fear, and he couldn't take it any longer. That could work as an arc for his character overcoming cowardice. Though, there are far more writing issues surrounding Finn, and we will tackle them as they crop up later. For now, this is simply a large change for the world that isn't accounted for with any sense of explanation, and it falls back on itself when you approach it with any thought. Kylo: Perhaps leader Snoke should consider using a clone army. Hux: My men are exceptionally trained, programmed from birth. Mauler: Only they certainly aren't exceptionally trained, and that programming doesn't take sometimes. It's also fair to mention that this scene seems to evoke the very influential scene in Saving Private Ryan, which is adding to the confusion. Not to say that this scene isn't directed well, just that many in the audience will be confused as to the situation here, when giving it some thought. Stormtroopers are people when need them to be, also they are not. Kylo Ren then arrives on the scene and it is very reminiscent of Vader's entrance during the original Star Wars: all black, shrouded in smoke, accompanied by his subservient stormtroopers. This scene and the Star Destroyer opening can be seen as respectful references, harmelss if not welcomed. But we've already seen larger plot points ripped from the old, and what decides whether it is a respectful reference, or something far more frustrating and complicated, is something we can cover as we progress. Kylo: Look how old you've become. Tekka: Something far worse has happened to you. Mauler: The dialogue here implies that these characters have a history. What that history is, we never get to learn about, making Tekka's death just as random as the first viewing implies. Then again, Kylo's character history is a whole other topic. Kylo: The map to Skywalker. We know you found it. And now you're going to give it to the First Order. Mauler: There you have it. The First Order simply know about Tekka and the map, compounding how ridiculous it was to palm the information off in this manner. Regardless, Kylo is blatant in what he wants, demanding the map from Tekka, and then something strange happens. Tekka ignores his question, making a comment about how Kylo has not risen from the dark side. This is great dialogue for the audience to chew on, because light and dark is a staple of the Star Wars universe. But the reason this is puzzling to me is that Kylo threatens Tekka, and Tekka basically says "bring it on". Kylo: I'll show you the dark side. Tekka: You may try, but you cannot deny the truth that is your family. Mauler: And then Kylo kills him? Why? This man has very important information, and he is refusing to share it at face value, so know you need to do what you are shown to do later: use your force torture technique on him, here and now. He's old, as you so accurately pointed out, you know he's not going to put much of a fight. He knows where the map is. Kylo even comments on that himself. Look, we are faced with the idea that the First Order need this map to secure their dominance over the galaxy. Of course, we went over the horrid world building, but let's ignore that for the sake of assessing the film's own consistency. This map is more important than anything to the First Order. It will allow them to kill the apparent last Jedi, and they are hell-bent on doing that, according to the opening crawl and subsequent scenes. Yet, Kylo kills the guy who has the definitive knowledge on its location. Because what? He taunted him by suggesting he might not be evil? A common defense for this would be that Kylo is unhinged as a character, and a remark that he is not quite on the dark side was enough to push him to kill Tekka as a moment of rage. But first of all, Kylo is calm, cool and collected. Kylo: You were so right. Mauler: Secondly, if he was enraged, why wouldn't he torture Tekka? Not only would Tekka live for a while longer, allowing Kylo the satisfaction of proving that he is that far gone to the dark side, but he could get the information he knows Tekka has. Thirdly, as we now know thanks to The Last Jedi, Kylo is obsessed with reaching Luke Skywalker more so than any other goal. That motivation informs his investment in the chase for BB-8. He wants revenge on the master that betrayed and failed him, which means the safety of Lor San Tekka should be paramount to success right now, at least until Kylo gets the information. This is just ridiculous to think about. The film would be over if either Kylo tortured Tekka right there, or if Poe would just ran off. Kylo has no leads beyond Tekka. Remember how Kylo can extract the memories of looking at a map from people's minds, and this somehow allows him to transfer it to the First Order hard drive? He doesn't even try that here, it's almost like they invented that as an ability later, when he captures Rey to explain why he decided to leave the planet without BB-8, despite spending the whole film looking for that very droid. Despite all of that, however, lucky for Kylo, the one who has the only remaining lead decided to stay for no reason and openly attacks him the moment he kills Tekka. To be meta for a second, the positive for this execution in terms of the script is that it helps to solidify Kylo as an antagonist to the audience. He happily murders this innocent, defenseless old man who apparently knew him well. We know this guy is bad news. But this process, this method is lifted one-for-one from Star Wars, only in the Force Awakens, it doesn't make sense narratively, whether compared or not. I submit that Disney wanted to recreate this with this. But this made sense, as Vader simply wanted to find the Death Star plans aboard a singular vessel. After the captain he has by the throat lies to him, he is killed. Vader doesn't waste time, he knows the plans are on ship, they can't be anywhere else, so he orders the ship to be torn apart until the plans are found. The current area to search is a small ship. Kylo on the other hand, has the opportunity to get the map location directly from Tekka, only to decide that he won't even try torturing him for information. He will instead just kill him immediately for the impact, and I guess decide to search the area. But for the sake of clarification, the current area to search is a planet, meaning he is now in need of another lead, or he will have to search the entire village, assuming some droid hasn't rolled away with it already. In conclusion, it looks like we have an attempt to gain the same gravitas for Kylo here as Vader during episode IV. They do it with very specific actions being repeated, but in the case of the "clone", it commits to the actions without maintaining a narrative thread to explain why the character performs them. This is an attempt to create emotional resonance without maintaining the intellectual consistency of the story, which is a topic on its own, and there is a selection of people in this world who think intellectual consistency doesn't matter compared to the goal of an emotional payoff; the idea that you should be concerned with being emotional, instead of being concerned with making sense. Just Write: I'm just saying like, you should be more concerned with creating art that is emotionally resonant, than something that is like, intellectually satisfying. Mauler: This is a clip from a debate that was held between myself, Wolf and Just Write about objectivity and subjectivity in art on Wolf's channel. There is a link to the full video in the description. Many statements were made throughout, but none were more troubling than the one I just played. Just Write: I'm just saying like, you should be more concerned with creating art that is emotionally resonant, than something that is like, intellectually satisfying. Mauler: This was covered earlier quite briefly in relation to Patrick Williams, but the first mistake this statement makes is implying that emotional resonance and intellectual consistency are counterbalances to each other when telling a story, that if something becomes more logical, it must become less emotionally effective. This is inaccurate, as many people would cite intellectual consistency as the source in which they draw an emotional response. Seeing a series of events play out in a realistic manner yields more immersion for them, making his statement confusing as a general rule. The second issue is that it blurs subjectivity and objectivity, implying that an assessment of either one infringes on the other. This is an attempt to make objectivity appear as a subjective viewpoint, when in reality objectivity can be used by anyone, and it is beholden to no one. It existed before i was born, and it will continue to exist well after I'm gone, but my subjective viewpoint, how I feel personally about media, that begins and dies with me. It's not hard to distinguish emotional arguments and objective ones. This goes the same for assessing quality. Interviewer: Now here's an interesting one: what's your personal rank of the six Star Wars movies? Oscar Isaac: I mean, I just have to go with emotion on it. For me, number one is Return of the Jedi, then the Empire Strikes Back, Star Wars... and then III, II, I. Interviewer: You put Jedi before Empire and Star Wars? Oscar: Yep. Interviewer: Is that because you grew up with it? Oscar: I recognize that Empire Strikes Back is a better film, but for me, I can't, I can't divorce my emotional response to Return of the Jedi - even the Ewoks, everything about it is, you know, I have a very personal connection to the memories that it elicits. Mauler: Excellent take, Oscar. Empire is the superior film in craft, but Jedi has some incredible emotional payoffs, and many saw it as their first film, so it holds a special position in their hearts. Objectivity and subjectivity sit in separate fields. There is a clear line between them, and the objective assessment merely adds information that can affect subjective quality from the perspective of the viewer, but affects all viewers differently for every case. Thirdly, the statement ignores the cognitive dissonance that occurs when you view content as flawless personally, and flawed objectively. That would normally offer a great opportunity for discussion. Instead, it's avoided. And then, instead of pursuing introspection about this conflict, you suddenly declare that discussions about the measurable qualities of art are harmful to the enjoyment of art, admitting that the truth is causing you discomfort. Just Write: No, but you've reduced the amount of enjoyment in the world, right? Like, if my Hobbit videos actually convinced people to dislike those films, then like, that sucks. Mauler: Which is the crux of this discussion overall. The truth is not something to value, unless it makes you feel good. This is the same logic that we use with Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy, assuming it would take the fun away from children to know the truth. We should not be using this as adults for whether a story makes sense. Debate and discussion help us grow. HelloGreedo: I cannot think of a bigger waste of time than debating art. Mauler: If art is meant to teach us about life itself, while allowing us to escape, then the more it can maintain consistency that we recognize, the stronger immersion can become, because our world is very much a consistent one when it come to cause and effect. I mean, how about we check out Just Write in one of his videos about Game of Thrones? But as he talks, I'm going to change the visuals to apply his own principles on the subject to something else. Just Write: The pressures of creating a serialized story on a schedule almost invariably lead to compromise. Logic is usually the first victim, and convenience becomes commonplace Mauler: He is absolutely right. As you take a story on and on, it becomes more difficult to sit within the rules of your universe, and the more pressure you have to create can result in stories that ignore logic and make strong use of convenience. Just Write: The problems are widespread now, and they are eroding the empathy we had for these characters. Mauler: Just Write, seen here explaining that logical errors and conveniences are ruining the emotional resonance in the content. Just Write: And yet, we go on watching out of some sense of obligation, bonded to it by the empathy it hooked us with in the beginning, blinding ourselves to the faults along the way, because we're going somewhere, right? There has to be some more meaning left, right? Mauler: Yes, that makes a lot of sense. Hbomberguy is a firm believer in the subjective nature of art, yet he will tell people they are playing a game wrong for their choice of gear, and simultaneously refer to an error as a mistake, while maintaining it is not objective. Patrick Williams said there is no reason a company would pay for reviews, only to then share that he will see films based on what the reviews say. He also said that no plot holes actually matter, only to explain that there are certain plot contrivances that do. HelloGreedo argues that debating art is a waste of time, yet he will engage in it regularly both on his channel and his Twitter feed. Quinton Reviews will tell you there is nothing in this world that is objectively bad when he's talking about things he enjoys, only to then call out bad sound design, awful dialogue and low-quality filmmaking in many areas of the media he covers. Just Write will create a video highlighting writing issues and their effect on an audience, only to then recognize those same issues in other media and claim the opposite effect on the audience. Mauler: So, why didn't they use hyperdrive, all the Star Destroyers in the fleet? Just Write: Yeah, I dunno. Mauler: Because, you're gonna tell me they didn't have the fuel? It's like ugh, why, how are they there? Just Write: Yeah. Mauler: I don't know what it means when these content creators end up providing a counter to their own principle. Oftentimes the video that the principle is stated will provide the contradiction, but it always comes down to a bias they fail to see, or actively ignore to protect the media they love. God forbid they admit their sacred cow is flawed. "Hypocrisy is a noxious weed, it should be torn out." Though, to bring it back down, Just Write is very capable of assessing media very effectively. What is being highlighted here is an emotional bias preventing an assessment from reaching the conclusion it would normally reach without hindrance. All of the content creators I have given criticism to in this very video have that issue in select moments, as do I. Working to draw the line and let people know when you are speaking from your own experience and heart is important, versus when you are simply stating facts. If we keep on being vague and using "it's just my opinion" to avoid criticism, conversations and responses are only going to get worse. Growth will be stunted and media will continue to crumble as every IP falls prey to fast, single-draft scripts. Too many people become immediately defensive and assume it's an attack on character whenever you criticize media they enjoy, refusing to engage in discussion. And then, if a conversation is ever going to take place, it starts to sound like this: (Parks and Recreation s05e03) Joan: In my opinion has been embarrasing, and that is a fact. Leslie: No, that's your opinion, it's the definition of an opinion. Joan: Well, that's your opinion. Mauler: I genuinely believe many content creators can do this by mistake, and that includes myself, but you will find several content creators that do this deliberately to try and turn their audience into a weapon against the people they disagree with. Oh, there's Quinton again. That's a pretty strong claim to attach Quinton Reviews' face to, isn't it? On a completely unrelated note, I have a podcast now. It's called Every Frame a Pause, or EFAP. We watch video essays live and Β©react to them with a bit of commentary. There will be a link in the description and I recommend checking out each of the episodes for a little bit of fun, but if you're confused, perhaps episode 10 will answer the question of why Quinton keeps getting referenced. The point is: if you're not accurate and not clear, you can start dealing damage in many ways, and sometimes it can be intentional. And when it comes to art, we can discover the moving parts by talking it through and learning from it when we experience something else. This applies to the very art that creators like myself and Just Write make, but to pretend that we are immune to the very consistencies that we point out in other people's work is simply naive. When telling a story, a human reaction starts at what you saw and heard put together. We build our connection based on the development of the story being told, to what we are perceiving as reality, which is tied to its progression and its consistency within its own rules that it's asking us to remember, in order to create its own stakes. We do not need to lie to ourselves about what took place to make the experience better. When events cause cognitive dissonance, it brings many viewers away from the immersion, thus diminishing the emotional resonance by lack of intellectual satisfaction. We can grow from an experience like that. It can leave us wondering why we thought of it so differently before. Or, you can scramble for any alternative to reconcile the writing flaw, as seen here: Mauler: But then my follow-up question to that would have been: So why didn't you do it when he held her at gunpoint and threatened the lives of the entire ship?" which I don't have an argument for, because it's absolutely ridiculous that she doesn't do it at that point. That's the breaking point in which you're gonna sacrifice the entirety of the Resistance, just to prove a point about Poe's recklessness? Are you kidding me? Just Write: Right, maybe she's, I don't know, like... See, this is interesting, right? Because... for me, like none of that stuff shows up in a first viewing. Mauler: Let's get hyperbolic for a second. How in the world are you meant to feel about Leia performing this act, when it wasn't set up, it creates evidence for her death outside of the danger of space, and it contradicts our universal rules, along with the rules in the Star Wars saga. How could anyone enjoy this, or feel it was well presented? How, I ask you. How!? Well, that is the beauty of subjectivity. Your feelings will always remain as valid as they were when you first felt them. They do not require logic or consistent reality to be considered valid, but they are invalid when submitted as objective evidence. The interesting thing about this is that your subjective viewpoint can be affected by the logical assessment. Breakdowns of media will change your mind at some point, and that's great. - Hi, I'm commander Chris Hadfield, astronaut, spaceship Commander, space walker. I'm here today to hopefully debunk some common space myths. "You will immediately fry to a crisp by the unadulterated solar radiation if you get sucked out of the airlock." In truth, it's way worse than that. In the shade in space, it's like minus 250 degrees, but the part of you that's in the Sun, it's plus 250 degrees at least, so it's like lying on a red-hot stove with a piece of dry ice on your back, and your lungs are gonna be sucked flat instantaneously. Your blood is gonna boil, like opening a can of pop, where suddenly all the little bubbles come out, because there is no air pressure around you, You are going to freeze, boil, burn, get the bends, and no longer be able to breathe. Not a good way to go. Mauler: This is why facts, reason, logic and objective values are important to compare to subjective values. You get to see whether you discern a reaction from the events taking place, or from you interpreting the events taking place due to a bias. From there, you get to explore that bias, and thus you get to explore yourself, but art can also always be deconstructed on a technical level, because that is precisely how its created. George Lucas: You don't invent technology and then figure out what to do with it. You come up with an artistic problem, and then you have to invent the technology in order to accomplish it, so it's the opposite of what most people think it is, and any artist will tell you that. An art on all levels is just technology. Mauler: To ignore the technical backbone of arts from the incredibly complex process of CGI, down to making making marks on a wall is to also deny reality. To preserve that special view of art, that it is something beautiful, mystical and it cannot be boxed, only appreciated through spirituality in a disconnection from the cold, hard reality we all face, when in reality it's both. Denial of this fact lets people run rampant with the idea that no comment is inaccurate or ill-advised. People will then begin to attach connections where there really aren't any. Adam Driver: The world that creates is so, um, a lot of things are very unanswered, so people have attached meaning to things that seem to have no meaning, and that kind of makes it more personal. Mauler: Once you establish reality and compare it to your personal reaction, you can learn far more about yourself and what you value personally. There is this strange myth that I don't value personal experience on this channel, but that is not the case. Subjective assessments will always pop up in my videos, because there are things I like to share with you guys that I felt, rather than something I can prove mechanically. And that is absolutely fine. But you have to accept that on the scale of subjectivity, something like the Last Jedi could be a masterpiece, or it could be nothing. Everyone is different, and that is why objectivity is a valuable baseline to be able to compare. Iterviewer: With every movie we walk away learning something, and in this particular one, what is it that we will be walking away learning? Adam Driver: Again, I think that, sorry... again I think that's a personal kind of thing. For probably some, it will be nothing. For others- (interrupted by forced fake laughing) (still laughing...) Mauler: Yeah, you can laugh, but he's right. Some people really don't respond to content in one way or the other, and what does that mean? Well, they have the bias that takes them out of Star Wars completely. Perhaps it is based on trauma in your life, or lessons that you've come to learn, or a lack of both, but that doesn't take anything away from the objective assessment. They can simply admit that the facts don't affect them in one way or the other, and that is absolutely fine. Rian Johnson: I feel like I need to rewrite the opening sequence, in terms of the big-picture stuff of what's going on, and I freaked out because I'm like 'this doesn't track', you can't follow what's happening, you can't follow what the big stakes are. I got really scared. Mauler: And you see, that's fine, it's only human that you can create something that doesn't quite make sense or it's hard to follow, but that doesn't mean that we should sugarcoat it. Let's talk about reality. The sad fact is that the social influencers, like the many I have covered in this video, believe that objectivity takes away validity from subjective perspectives of art, reducing the meaning, thus making it a negative endeavor. Not to say I am certain of their perspectives, but it is what I have come to understand from several of them, in my opinion. Just Write: No, but you've reduced the amount of enjoyment in the world, right? Like, if my Hobbit videos actually convinced people to dislike those films, then like, like that sucks. Dishonored Wolf: Well, I don't think, when you point out the bad things in something that you perceive to be good, and someone's like "oh yeah, that is kind of bad", I think that really kind of strengthens the enjoyment for the really good things. Like I personally hold the Lord of the Ring movies to be the best movies I've ever seen in my life, and movies like the Last Jedi just kind of enforce why I love those movies so much, because the Last Jedi has so many problems that just aren't even present in the Lord of the Rings films. And so, when I see a bad movie, and I know and understand why it's bad, I think that helps make the good even better. Mauler: As Wolf just laid out, you can now gain enjoyment from it where you previously may not have done, because you didn't register the objective value within the art that could affect your feelings. Thus in that instance, you increase the enjoyment in the world overall. This is the undeniable result of the pursuit of evidence and reason. We don't always like what we find, but sometimes the facts can not only be reassuring, they can be enlightening. Though it is important to remember that facts do not require that we feel they are valid. They simply have to follow defined rules, be it logic or standards of a craft. So to clarify, a subjective feeling of quality must be felt by the person to be considered valid, and it is not beholden to evidence or consistency whatsoever. Emotion is the bedrock of these assessments. An objective fact of quality must match predetermined measurable criteria and definitions. It follows rules and respects consistency, irrespective of feelings. Logic is the bedrock of these assessments. Both of these forms of analysis have standards, and their quality is defined by the degree to which the standard is satisfied, be it the satisfaction of your feelings or the satisfaction of the craft. This creates a line between objective quality and subjective quality, while showing how objectivity can affect subjectivity, but that we shouldn't shy away from it out of fear of losing enjoyment. We should embrace it, as the truth isn't designed to hurt you, it is meant to act as an offer to learn and grow. George Lucas: I would like to see our society mature, and become more rational and more knowledge-based, less emotion-based. Um, I would like to see education play a larger role in our daily lives, and um... you know, have people that come to a larger understanding, the bigger picture understanding of how we fit into the world and how we fit into the universe... not necessarily thinking of ourselves, but thinking of other. Mauler: Too right George. Think what you will of the man, but improving critical thinking through the education system is not an idea that many would disagree with. When it comes to facts about media or life itself, there are instances in which the truth will do massive harm and have zero benefits, and thus we refrain from sharing the truth and we label it a white lie. There should be an important takeaway from that statement. Just Write: No, but you've reduced the amount of enjoyment in the world, right? Mauler: To prevent a loss of enjoyment by avoiding the assessment would be a lie, and since I don't actually intend on sacrificing my integrity, I won't accept a lie. Life and art don't become meaningless by understanding the facts behind them, or to understand a bias about yourself. Timmy thought that the Sun was an alien, and at night the alien goes to sleep. He later found out the facts, and that perspective is now completely changed. The facts exist, and you can feel as you do in support of them, or regardless of them, just don't be so stubborn as to assume that what you felt happened is what actually happened. Rewatch, redraft and explore more than just how you felt. Rian Johnson: ...and it can be sort of like that thing when you saw a movie a long time ago, and you remember a scene one way, but then you watch it again and you're like: "oh, that's completely different than I thought it was". Mauler: Thank you Rian, that was bang on the money. But yeah, it all comes under the difference between arguing from emotion, or arguing from references and confirmable facts. And the latter is what I intend to do with this series. Obviously I'm gonna screw up here and there, but I really have given it my best shot. We have so much to get through, so many stories, rules, characters, lore, tools, people, tech, sources, and of course: much more Star Wars. Obviously I've only tackled about five minutes of the film, but I think you can see that I wanted to talk about a lot of different subjects that have been plaguing my channel as of recently. In a way, this will sort of work as an introduction to how I tackle media. You could watch this video in prep for any of my other series, and you'll get a bit of insight into how I do what I do, and that is why I was comfortable in releasing it on Christmas on its own. Oh yes, by the way, Merry Christmas all. πŸŽ… You can expect that now we're past the introduction, the rest of the parts are pretty much going to be entirely Star Wars. But it's not going to be quite like my usual release schedule that involves one video per week from the release of the first video. That is impossible this time. The rest are not completed, but the moment they are, I will look forward to seeing you folks as they release weekly, from part 2 onwards, and I'm sure I will be called very angry, or very unhealthy from many YouTube medical experts. But at least they'll watch the series before criticizing it, right? Patrick: If you are a person who thinks that SJW's or diversity or feminism ruined this movie, or if you want to tell me that I'm a Disney shill, or if you're going to tell me that I should watch a five hour rant by some angry guy on YouTube... Mauler: Angry guy? I thought I was mostly level-headed... Oh well, integrity is hard, I suppose. And I look forward to 15 hours being referenced everywhere in future instead of five. We can finally shake it up. Thank you all so much for your encouragement and support, I am so glad to finally be putting this series out, and I hope you're having fun with it. Thanks again, and I will see you next time. English subtitles made by MatrixLegion. Yoda: A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defense, never for attack. Luke: The sacred jedi texts! Yoda: Oooh! (f*** that s***)
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Channel: MauLer
Views: 3,250,112
Rating: 4.7333879 out of 5
Keywords: spoilers, discussion, the, last, jedi, Star, wars, Disney, Luke, Skywalker, movies, films, VIII, daisy, ridley, rian, johnson, john, boyega, adam, driver, carrie, fisher, hamill, episode 8, Kylo, Ren, rey, snoke, Lucas, Film, review, lore, George, Rebels, Empire, terrible, worst, awful, Yoda, Oscar, Isaac, Dombhall, Gleeson, Andy, Serkis, Phasma, critique, episode 7, force, awakens, analysis, mauler, mooler, joseph, anderson, patrick, willems, hello, greedo, quinton, reviews, EFAP, jonathan, macintosh, just, write
Id: 95mL3us0HSQ
Channel Id: undefined
Length: 162min 16sec (9736 seconds)
Published: Tue Dec 25 2018
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