Famous last words

Bath time Sunday night, and the boys had watched the sadly disappointing Clone Wars DVD after dinner.

Dex says to me from in the tub, "Daddy, what Star Wars guy do you wanna be?"

"Well, Son," I reply after careful consideration, "I think I'd like to be Han Solo.  Is that OK?"

"Sure, Dad."

"And what Star Wars character do you want to be?"

"Um, I think I want to be Anakin."

I look at him a little sideways.  "Well, OK.  Just don't go and turn to the dark side on me, all right?"

As I walk out of the bathroom he replies to my back, "Don't worry, Daddy, I won't."

Comments

[Mark]

I'm so happy to know that Dex is enjoying the Star Wars universe. I know you were looking forward to his introduction to it for quite some time. So, what was his first taste? I don't remember your mentioning that.

[Simian Farmer]

Mark,

I'm pretty sure all they've seen so far is the Clone Wars DVD stuff. The cartoons. Both the two series that were broadcast on Cartoon Network, and now the recent theatrical release that, in my now-jaded opinion, sucked wookiee balls. I think they've seen snippets of the various movies, but we've never sat down and intentionally sat through one. We'll get there though.

[Émilie B.]

DV - "Luke, I'm your father."
LS - *confusion*
HS - "Luke, I'm your GRANDPA."
LS - "Wha..?"
HS - "And, btw, can I hook up with your sister?"

Is Han more interesting because Luke can't have an interest in Leia? Or is it that he has so much less baggage to live with? (And that it's the only actor who survived the original trilogy?) A Han Solo was totally missing in the prequel.

[Simian Farmer]

Han's more interesting simply because he's more interesting than Luke. Luke's a sniveling little whiny-boy who eventually grows up and brings balance to the force. He's just hard to deal with for the three movies he stars in. But Han is pretty much MADE of brass cojones from the get-go. No contest there. As a character, Han Solo is hard to beat. He's basically the Boba Fett of the good guys, only he doesn't get eaten by a Sarlacc.

[Moksha Gren]

I can almost see the caped shadow follow Dex out of the room ;)

Have you been watching the Clone Wars series? Much better than the "film." The last two episodes were better than just about anything to come out of the SW universe in quite some time.

The one part of SW that I do not look forward to explaining to my daughter is that Han shot first. It's an important detail and one that you and I take for granted. But I imagine that it will be a point of confusion for young Lutine. I tried to explain it to her the other night as we watched...but she didn't really care one way or the other.

I was thinking the other day what a better saga Star Wars would have been if Lucas A) wouldn't have slid off the deep end of his own ego and kept up his old knack for good story telling and B) been able to tell the story in the following order by episode: 4,1,2,3,5,6. Think about what a cooler reveal everything would have been. We'd have been watching the prequal trilogy waiting for this Vader fellow to show up and kill our hero Anakin. We'd have had no idea who ended up on the throne. The birth of the twins would have been truly shocking, etc, etc. Then, we'd pick up with Empire having learned sympathy for Vader and really pulling for Luke to save him. Anyway, I'm just thinking out loud to one of the only people I know who would care enough to discuss this with me ;)

[Simian Farmer]

I actually haven't been following the Clone series on TV. I've caught a few partial episodes by accident when surfing the TV on Sunday evenings, but I have since told myself that I'm going to buy the DVDs anyway when they come out, and then I can watch them on my own terms. What little I've seen so far raises my hopes at least a little. With your own praise (at least versus what we've seen lately), I am further bolstered.

The time jump might be a bit confusing if you tell tell the story in the 4,1,2,3,5,6 order, but the reveals would certainly make for better payoffs. Too bad that the days of the 1970s are long gone, when Lucas HAD to rely on story-telling and ingenuity to get by instead of throwing gobs of money at special effects and rolling in the merchandising revenue.

[BOB]

Han Solo all the way.

Presuming we are only allowed to be/play Good Guys.

I always wanted to play in a Star Wars roleplaying game and be the Empire. Chasing down the rebels with what should be great ease but being thwarted by stupid Imperial bureaucracy. Hunting down, finding clues on where they could be, associating with Bounty Hunters it all seems to be a heck of a lot more fun than running and hiding in swamps.

Of course getting that premium posting to that new toy of the emperors would sort of suck if you don't find the rebels first.

BOB