Boba Not-So-Feckless

 This post is in the way of an apology to the producers and writers of The Book of Boba Fett, A few days ago, I complained that they had apparently ignored the relationship between Fett and the Tuskens in setting up the "current day" portion of their story. This week, they corrected that "error"--which I admit was not one--by showing that the Pikes (the fish-like aliens who ran the train through the Tusken territory) wiped out the Tuskens in revenge, while Fett was away.

In addition, except for that one scene, they avoided flashbacks for the most part this time around, finally telling a story that was predominantly about Fett's struggle to control his domain. A good part of it, though, was simply a Tattooine-based version of a classic urban car chase in any contemporary crime caper--it was fun, but the various tropes they included were just too obvious.

Boba Feckless

 Watched the second episode of The Book of Boba Fett last night. I have a couple of problems with this series, which really began with the first episode and have not been corrected with the second (if anything, they have been exacerbated).

The first is the extreme reliance on flashbacks to give us Boba Fett's backstory--a backstory that, so far, seems to have little relevance to his current situation. Why is he not relying on his close relationship with the Tuskens in his position as the new boss on Tattooine? Why use the apparently unreliable Gamorreans (after all, they turned on their last two employers)?

The second is the content of that backstory. Last night, my first impression was that this was just a new version of the first several chapters of Edgar Rice Burroughs' A Princess of Mars, as John Carter is first captured and then ingratiates himself with the Tharks. On second thought, I realized it was really all based on T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) and his campaign to assist the Arabs in fighting the motorized forces of the Germans. In either interpretation, it all smacks of the "great white savior" trope, doesn't it?

Anyone else see it all this way?

Belated Star Wars Day

 The rector of my Episcopal parish posted this on Facebook yesterday and I decided it was too good not to share more widely:

No Pleasing Some People

I have come to the conclusion that one useless man is a called a disgrace.... No, sorry, that's John Adams at the beginning of 1776.

What I have concluded is that it's simply impossible to please some people--especially, currently, some segments of Star Trek and Star Wars fandoms. And I'm not just talking about the incel/comicsgate/sad puppy brigade who reject anything that suggests that those fictional worlds should reflect or comment upon current events in the real world...particularly if they tend toward a liberal viewpoint.

No, I'm talking, in addition, about the ones who seem to think there's no room for humor or light-heartedness or satire in the canonical material of these two universes. The ones who object to Star Trek: Lower Decks because it is comedic; the ones who think any Star Wars story must be about the battle between the Light and Dark Sides of the Force.

For god's sake, guys, lighten up. Some of the best remembered episodes of the original series of Star Trek are the comedies: "The Trouble with Tribbles" and "Piece of the Action." Some of the fan-fave scenes in the very first Star Wars episode are the humorous ones: "Aren't you a little short for a storm trooper?" "Reactor link, very dangerous...."

The creators of these universes aren't writing Scandinavian noir thrillers. They are writing light entertainment for the masses.