# And now, the other side: Things that bug you about Star Wars. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 25, 2003, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-the-other-side-things-that-bug-you-about-star-wars/177442 "2003-05-25T19:36:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-the-other-side-things-that-bug-you-about-star-wars/177442/21 "2003-05-25T22:38:15Z")
1. Why didn’t the Emperor know about the Ewoks? 2. Why does the Emperor need guards? ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-the-other-side-things-that-bug-you-about-star-wars/177442/22 "2003-05-25T23:32:46Z")
The fact that the scope of the Empire keeps changing. It’s not even THAT OLD, for pete’s sake. I think it would be hard to get an entire galaxy to toe the line within the lifespan of Darth Vader. In ANH, I get the impression that it has been around forever, yet just about half the folks we see would in fact (as we learn in later episodes) have lived much of their lives during the Republic. It seems like it would be very easy for some people to blink and miss the whole rise and fall of the Empire, yet it seems like you can’t throw a stick without hitting Imperial troops. I think this is the same thing that **Engywook** is saying, but I’m also befuddled by how the Clone Wars are treated so mythically in the first three (as if they were like the Hundred Years War or the Spanish Inquisition) but now they seem like something Anakin was up to in his spare time. It was better when they were cool and mysterious. I liked the idea of seeing C3PO and R2 in the prequels when I first heard about it, but the actual results stink. I’m not entirely happy with the idea of Obi Wan and Yoda hiding out on their respective desolate planets since the fall of the republic. Again, this is something that worked better when it seemed like the Empire had been around forever, and that people had to be very underground and secretive. But it seems like all they were doing is waiting for Luke to grow up, surely they could have made better use of their time in the meanwhile. I guess they were like sleeper agents waiting to be activated, but it just doesn’t seem to mesh with how their characters were developed in the prequels. ---
**Author:** ![jimmmy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/73ab20/32.png) [@jimmmy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimmmy)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-the-other-side-things-that-bug-you-about-star-wars/177442/23 "2003-05-25T23:43:28Z")
I can think of 3: A. I don’t believe he has to be a MYSTIC to do it well – But Every once in a while Lucas goes for laughs over the story – so much is so silly it is just beyond belief – it becomes more like a story you & your buddies made up playing with the SW action figures: Jar Jar having a 1/2droid tied to his foot \*\* accidentally\*\* shooting other droids while running around trying to get it off. JJ Tripping and releasing the ordinance mid-battle (partially) devastating the droids. 3PO getting his head on a droids body – in fact a lot of 3PO’s crap thru 5 movies. The aforementioned ‘Yippee’ The burp from the creature on Tatooine after it swallows Boba just got worse and more flamboyant in later movies B We see Anakin pissing, moaning & crapping all over the folks who freed him from slavery & risked thier careeers for him – & d^mn near next thing we know Amadala is kissing him – that struck me as completely unbelievable & false. C. Lucas’s penchant for introducing gimicky distractions rather than characters: N\*Sync, Jimmy Smits, Billy Dee, jar jar ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-the-other-side-things-that-bug-you-about-star-wars/177442/24 "2003-05-25T23:50:49Z")
Everything since 1980. ---
**Author:** ![Netbrian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71e660/32.png) [@Netbrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Netbrian)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-the-other-side-things-that-bug-you-about-star-wars/177442/25 "2003-05-25T23:57:14Z")
The entire pod race sequence. My god, what a waste of time! The addition of truly annoying puns inappropriate places during Attack of the Clones. The sense of a dumbing down of the franchise. And this is from a FAN of the Ewoks! ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-the-other-side-things-that-bug-you-about-star-wars/177442/26 "2003-05-26T00:32:13Z")
Of all the many, many things that bug me about SW, Anakin’s haircut in Ep2 has to be the worst. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-the-other-side-things-that-bug-you-about-star-wars/177442/27 "2003-05-26T00:39:38Z")
The last two movies. Hi, NCB! ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-the-other-side-things-that-bug-you-about-star-wars/177442/28 "2003-05-26T00:50:24Z")
The fact that you can construct a sentient robot who knows millions of languages from an Erector Set. The fact that sentient robots are held in slavery. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-the-other-side-things-that-bug-you-about-star-wars/177442/29 "2003-05-26T00:58:30Z")
Hey-Jimmy Smits is a legit character-he’s Leia’s father. (Adopted, of course, but still the man she called father). ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-the-other-side-things-that-bug-you-about-star-wars/177442/30 "2003-05-26T01:10:58Z")
George Lucus. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-the-other-side-things-that-bug-you-about-star-wars/177442/31 "2003-05-26T01:11:01Z")
That the whole franchise went into decline after _Empire_. ROTJ, started out pretty good, but rapidly went downhill. Not just the Ewoks, but finding out that Luke and Leia were brother and sister was a downer to my early adolescent self who’d spent _years_ fantasizing that I was Luke and I got to nail Leia. As for Ep 1. one of the things that I hated was the dialog (in addition to the long, boring, and soley to sell video games pod race), some of the lines spoken were simply the worst to ever grace the screen. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-the-other-side-things-that-bug-you-about-star-wars/177442/32 "2003-05-26T01:32:08Z")
Hey-quit dissing the Ewoks! Yub Yub!!! Some of this stuff is explained if you read the Expanded Universe. ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-the-other-side-things-that-bug-you-about-star-wars/177442/33 "2003-05-26T01:40:31Z")
Pretty much everything in I and II. I was SO excited when I heard they were making them, and now I’m almost dreading the third one – while II was better than I (how couldn’t it be?) they’re not even close to being HALF as good as the first three were. Considering that the stormtrooper armor didn’t even stop ONE shot, why did they wear it? I find this more funny than annoying, that and their constant missing of targets. There really isn’t anything I find particularly annoying in the first three movies, and any flaws in them are more than made up for by Harrison Ford, circa 1980. _drooooooooooool_ ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-the-other-side-things-that-bug-you-about-star-wars/177442/34 "2003-05-26T01:42:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Guinastasia \* > **Hey-quit dissing the Ewoks! Yub Yub!!!** I got’s yer “Yub Yub!!!” right here, missy! ---
**Author:** ![Monstre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@Monstre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monstre)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-the-other-side-things-that-bug-you-about-star-wars/177442/35 "2003-05-26T02:05:12Z")
The Japanese sounding aliens of the Trade Federation (Neimoidians), and their “dialog”, with the ac **cents** often in the wrong pla **ces** “Wha’ is going on **down** there?” “Dere! Dat will hol’ dem!” “Sir, a tran’mission fron de planet!” ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-the-other-side-things-that-bug-you-about-star-wars/177442/36 "2003-05-26T02:34:14Z")
I really hated how Amidala and Anakin hooked up: he tells her that he massacred a village of Sand People, including women and children. Her reaction? She jumps his bones. He just told her he was a sociopathic mass murderer, and this turns her on. Ewww. I wanted to like Amidala, but her inexplicable attraction to the petulant, surly, execrable Anakin makes me think less of her. The fact that Yoda comes off as an arrogant, close-minded asshole in Ep II also really bothered me. Yoda was a character that I adored as a kid and thought of as possessing enormous wisdom, but he’s shown to be an idiot, one that could even be blamed in part for Anakin’s transformation. Also, I didn’t like seeing Yoda flying through the air battling Dooku. If anything, I’d have liked to see a floating lightsaber with him standing there, directing it. Maybe it’s just me, but it made Yoda look comical. Also, Luke is a whiny pain in the ass in Ep IV. I didn’t like him at all, but now that I’ve seen Eps I-II, I can see where he got it from. ---
**Author:** ![BuckleberryFerry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5f9b8f/32.png) [@BuckleberryFerry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BuckleberryFerry)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-the-other-side-things-that-bug-you-about-star-wars/177442/37 "2003-05-26T02:59:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tuckerfan \* > \*\*I got’s yer “Yub Yub!!!” right here, missy! \*\* A) People who don’t know that it’s [Yub _ **n** _ub](http://www.neuvel.net/ewoksong.htm), the Ewoks’ word for freedom. B) The fact that Vader can both breathe in and speak normally at the same time. C) The torture of Han. And not just because I. WANT. HAN. SOLO. but because there was no legitimate reason for it in regards to plot. As Han said, “they never even asked [him] any questions.” D) Qui-gon. I don’t know why, he’s just irritating. Out of five movies and 26 years of a fandom, these are literally the only four things that ever bothered me. ---
**Author:** ![Wumpus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8c91f0/32.png) [@Wumpus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wumpus)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-the-other-side-things-that-bug-you-about-star-wars/177442/38 "2003-05-26T03:10:52Z")
The fact that a gigantic, spacefaring, evil Empire has to build some high-tech, budget-busting Death Star just to wipe out one measly planet. Hello? A moderately sized asteroid will do the job quite nicely, at a fraction of the cost. No wonder the Empire fell! ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-the-other-side-things-that-bug-you-about-star-wars/177442/39 "2003-05-26T03:18:31Z")
> [@](#): > > I really hated how Amidala and Anakin hooked up: he tells her that he massacred a village of Sand People, including women and children. Her reaction? She jumps his bones. He just told her he was a sociopathic mass murderer, and this turns her on. I can’t believe I forgot this. You’re 1000% right; I remember being utterly confused and repulsed by this - even more than the rest of the movie. 😉 Leia was a consistently strong female character; I guess we know her mom wasn’t. > [@](#): > > Hello? A moderately sized asteroid will do the job quite nicely, at a fraction of the cost. No wonder the Empire fell! Well, you know what they say: a horse designed by a committee… ---
**Author:** ![BlackKnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb8c5e/32.png) [@BlackKnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlackKnight)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-the-other-side-things-that-bug-you-about-star-wars/177442/40 "2003-05-26T03:19:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BuckleberryFerry \* > \*\*C) The torture of Han. And not just because I. WANT. HAN. SOLO. but because there was no legitimate reason for it in regards to plot. As Han said, “they never even asked [him] any questions.” > \*\* The reason Han is tortured is so that Luke will sense his suffering and come to Bespin, which is exactly what happened. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-the-other-side-things-that-bug-you-about-star-wars/177442.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-the-other-side-things-that-bug-you-about-star-wars/177442.md?page=3)