# 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:** 5
**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, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-the-other-side-things-that-bug-you-about-star-wars/177442/81 "2003-05-26T20:42:36Z")
Um…yeah. So was I right? ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-the-other-side-things-that-bug-you-about-star-wars/177442/82 "2003-05-26T20:49:46Z")
yes (I had to reread it, but I think you had it right, just without all the diagrams) Well, I’m off to the big BBQ now. Keep everything neat and tidy for me, **Buckleberry**. Unless… you wanna come, too? Plenty of room, loads of eats. Let **Spoofe** tackle all the trivia stuff, we’re gonna have some fun. ttyl ---
**Author:** ![Marlow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Marlow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marlow)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-the-other-side-things-that-bug-you-about-star-wars/177442/83 "2003-05-26T21:05:59Z")
I can’t believe that nobody mentioned Anakin’s virgin birth. It’s virtually an off-handed one-liner, which is never referred to again. Why did he put it in? ---
**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, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-the-other-side-things-that-bug-you-about-star-wars/177442/84 "2003-05-26T21:08:32Z")
I came to the conclusion that he wasn’t born, just sort of…iunno, materialized due to the “midichlorians.” ---
**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, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-the-other-side-things-that-bug-you-about-star-wars/177442/85 "2003-05-26T21:22:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Marlow \* > \*\*I can’t believe that nobody mentioned Anakin’s virgin birth. It’s virtually an off-handed one-liner, which is never referred to again. Why did he put it in? \*\* I dunno, I sort of got the idea that he was the product of a “one night stand” that momma didn’t want to discuss. (Coyote love, anyone?) ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-the-other-side-things-that-bug-you-about-star-wars/177442/86 "2003-05-26T21:24:32Z")
Very, minor,I realize…but Yoda’s syntax. Here he is one of the masters of the _FORCE_. One of the practicioneers of the Jedi mind trick. Capable of virtually making people invisible, of minipulation of solid objects in space, of internal control of…(but you get the idea) but he can’t speak a subject-verb sentence? It’s just wrong…Sorry, that should be, Wrong it just is. TV ---
**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, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-the-other-side-things-that-bug-you-about-star-wars/177442/87 "2003-05-26T21:30:50Z")
See your point, I do. Agree slightly, I can. Enjoy Yoda as he is, I must. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-the-other-side-things-that-bug-you-about-star-wars/177442/88 "2003-05-26T21:45:20Z")
Having droids—namely, the truly sentient ones—freely bought and sold as property. It just…bugs me, that’s all. Too much like Dred Scott. ---
**Author:** ![robertliguori](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/46a35a/32.png) [@robertliguori](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robertliguori)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-the-other-side-things-that-bug-you-about-star-wars/177442/89 "2003-05-26T22:44:36Z")
How about having people freely bought and sold as property? ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-the-other-side-things-that-bug-you-about-star-wars/177442/90 "2003-05-26T22:45:13Z")
“Lightsabers” are a Super-Advanced-Nifty-Cool-Exotic-Spiffy piece of technology that works. And anyone that reads too much into the nomenclature of an item is looking _too_ hard for things to criticize. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-the-other-side-things-that-bug-you-about-star-wars/177442/91 "2003-05-26T22:56:11Z")
I think my rants have been covered. In IV, when Obi-Wan mentions the Clone Wars, I used to get this “ooooh, clooone waarrrs” tingle. It was great mythology. Now it turns out to have been just a little incident 20 years before. 20 years! Gah. And Amidala meeting a little kid (a stupid little kid, may I add?) and then ten years later she meets him again and gets all drooly over him? She’s a grown woman! How many women in their 20s would even look twice at some punk kid they knew when he was 7? Ick. ICK! And now I can’t even watch the original three. Vader used to be a badass and now I know he’s just a punk kid with bad hair. _sob_ For the record, I hated the idea of prequels. I wanted sequels. I didn’t care how Vader came to be Vader. The whole point of Vader was that he was big, dark, and mysterious. _sob_ Julie ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-the-other-side-things-that-bug-you-about-star-wars/177442/92 "2003-05-27T00:13:47Z")
Yoda always bugged me. Here’s this wise old Jedi who knows all, is strong in the force, etc.etc., and when we finally meet him, it is fucking GROVER FROM SESAME STREET! What the hell?? Why didn’t they get a real actor to do the voice at least, instead of muppet-boy. I just couldn’t take that little muppet seriously. Planet of the teddy bears. Happy smiley ghosts at the end of ROTJ. Light sabers. I don’t care how they work; what bothers me about them is that they these amazing science-fiction weapons are just sticks. The mighty Jedi fight with sticks! Sticks, for chrissake! ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-the-other-side-things-that-bug-you-about-star-wars/177442/93 "2003-05-27T00:45:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by robertliguori \* > \*\*How about having people freely bought and sold as property? \*\* Eh. Humans are jerks, anyway. Who cares about them? 😉 Seriously, though…you’d never see the “hero” characters buying or selling “organic” slaves, but as long as it’s a droid you’re talking about, then everything’s OK. And it’s not like I’m fretting about _all_ the droids. I mean, the ones that are clearly mindless automata, I can see being bought and sold. But…Threepio? Artoo? ---
**Author:** ![lokij](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/5e9695/32.png) [@lokij](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lokij)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-the-other-side-things-that-bug-you-about-star-wars/177442/94 "2003-05-27T00:49:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by NoClueBoy \* > \*\*A parsec is a unit of distance. > > Parallax of one second of arc. > > It’s larger than a light year (which is another term that gets mixed up, btw) > > So anyways… > > It’s like saying, “I ran the marathon in 82 leagues.” > > Sounds cool, unless you know it’s misused. I was a bit of a science and math geek in school. \*\* Actually they explain this in the book a bit. The reason making the Kessel Run in 12 parsecs is boast worthy is because there is a huge ass black hole near Kessel that forces average pilots to take a large detour around the area because of the gravitational disturbances. A hot shot pilot who has a very good ship with experience in the area (especially smugglers) can cut it closer to the black hole without getting sucked in, a sort of short cut. Shorter distance means less time. ---
**Author:** ![BuckleberryFerry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5f9b8f/32.png) [@BuckleberryFerry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BuckleberryFerry)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-the-other-side-things-that-bug-you-about-star-wars/177442/95 "2003-05-27T00:53:35Z")
I KNEW Han was the coolest! ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-the-other-side-things-that-bug-you-about-star-wars/177442/96 "2003-05-27T01:02:42Z")
I always thought it was better if you assume that Han is just trying to BS them by making up something that sounds impressive, even if his ship is pretty good. It looks to me like Obi-Wan can tell that Han is full of it, but also that they needed him. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by robertliguori \* > How about having people freely bought and sold as property? At least they seem to acknowledge that this is wrong. ---
**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 27, 2003, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-the-other-side-things-that-bug-you-about-star-wars/177442/97 "2003-05-27T01:13:38Z")
They’re not real-they’re droids! Ewoks are cool, okay? And Yub Yub is a word in the Ewok language-read the Wraith books. See, here’s what I think-I think Palpatine engineered the birth of Anakin-he somehow had Shmi impregnated, and had her memory wiped. ---
**Author:** ![BuckleberryFerry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5f9b8f/32.png) [@BuckleberryFerry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BuckleberryFerry)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-the-other-side-things-that-bug-you-about-star-wars/177442/98 "2003-05-27T01:16:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Guinastasia \* > **…Yub Yub is a word in the Ewok language-read the Wraith books…** I don’t doubt that it’s a word, I’m merely saying that when most humans say “yub yub,” they are referring to “yub nub,” the sing at the end of ROTJ, which means “freedom.” ---
**Author:** ![Parallax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bbce88/32.png) [@Parallax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Parallax)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-the-other-side-things-that-bug-you-about-star-wars/177442/99 "2003-05-27T01:23:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Achernar \* > **I always thought it was better if you assume that Han is just trying to BS them by making up something that sounds impressive, even if his ship is pretty good. It looks to me like Obi-Wan can tell that Han is full of it, but also that they needed him.** Yeah - the databank on [StarWars.com](http://StarWars.com) for [Kessel](http://www.starwars.com/databank/location/kessel/bts.html) has three explanations and this is the one I like the best. =) ---
**Author:** ![Soapbox\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Soapbox\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soapbox_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-the-other-side-things-that-bug-you-about-star-wars/177442/100 "2003-05-27T02:44:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by delphica \* > \*\*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. \*\* Why is it hard to grasp the fact that the Empire has only existed for 20 some years? Paul Atreides was able to take control of his galaxy in only 12 years. And I would assume that the Dune galaxy is equal in size if not larger than the Star Wars galaxy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-the-other-side-things-that-bug-you-about-star-wars/177442.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-the-other-side-things-that-bug-you-about-star-wars/177442.md?page=6)