# I used to like Star Wars.... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 26, 2016, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-like-star-wars/744278 "2016-01-26T17:46:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**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:** [January 28, 2016, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-like-star-wars/744278/41 "2016-01-28T02:59:12Z")
> [@Henga](#): > > If Vader built 3P0, what guarantee did Vader have that the robot’s mind had been erased at some point in the past so he couldn’t give away any information that the Rebels could have used against Vader? Why not simply pick 3P0 up in the air with the Force and dash him to dust rather than take chances? When was Vader supposed to do that? ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2016, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-like-star-wars/744278/42 "2016-01-28T03:18:31Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > Because it’s stupid to have C3PO created by Anakin Skywalker. It makes the Star Wars universe tiny. Not to mention the way baby Boba Fett was crammed into the prequels! As if he needed to be there at all, being such a minor bit character from the original trilogy. His appearance only being a reminder that he became really popular with fans for being a Cool Looking Guy and so hey, let’s shove some backstory for him in there too. I’ve re-watched the prequels lately so this is fresh in my mind; what’s even more absurd is the scene where Mace Windu lops off Jango Fett’s head. Despite the fact that there’s a battle raging on where he has just killed a bunch of other people without missing a beat, there’s a pause in the action at this point to show Dooku and Mace himself visibly distraught about it for some reason. It’s almost like they’re distressed because they _know_ how cool little Boba (who then goes and picks up the helmet presumably with the head still inside, which is creepy) is gonna turn out to be someday! Go figure. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2016, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-like-star-wars/744278/43 "2016-01-28T03:45:05Z")
WRT the OP, your list just seems like minor gripes and errors such that I could find in any movie. Certainly in a series of 7 movies. I think you just don’t like the series (and that’s fine) and are scrambling to find some justification for that. But you don’t have to justify that feeling. * * * My own perspective is that even episodes 4 to 6 don’t have a good story (5 is just passable IMO). They blew everyone away because of the scale of the movies, how interesting the characters were, cool vehicles, fantastic score, the light saber was a great way to make fights up close and personal (yet keep a sci fi theme) and the force was a nice way to make some kid with no social standing matter. Of course, in at least the case of the Force it could hardly be called an original idea, but it all came together so well in those first two/three movies especially compared to other sci fi movies at the time. That’s it. It’s a “space opera”. Pointing out flaws in the story is somewhat missing the point. ---
**Author:** ![FluffyBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecb155/32.png) [@FluffyBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FluffyBob)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2016, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-like-star-wars/744278/44 "2016-01-29T01:28:53Z")
Yeah its space opera which is intrinsically stupid, and Lucas was absolutely indulging that from the beginning with Star Wars. Some of that stupidity like ominous evil space wizards in robes and helmets makes it what it is. On the other hand mini Anakin building C3P0 from scraps is just lame and stupid without building atmosphere, or genre or anything really. I think there are lots of things that could be better about all the movies. Next time I create an industry changing series of blockbuster movies I’ll be sure to tie it all up better than Lucas. Probably. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2016, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-like-star-wars/744278/45 "2016-01-29T02:32:19Z")
Star Wars was never that interesting. I prefer modern television to that cinema. It has No appeal for me. I’ve gotten much more enjoyment out of Justified, the sopranos, Weeds, Game of Thrones, etc etc. than I ever could from that frozen turkey. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2016, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-like-star-wars/744278/46 "2016-01-29T03:33:06Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > Anakin, Luke and Rey all share a proclivity for repairing and piloting things. In many cases, they have no real excuse to have learned that ability. Luke is the least exaggerated of the three, but nevertheless, he repairs 'vaporators and droids for his uncle, then bulls-eyes womp rats in his spare time. This qualifies him to jump into a military starfighter and defeat the Death Star? How similar can a T-16 and an X-Wing be? > > Anyway, Anakin and Rey are so exaggerated in their abilities that we can’t justify it through normal reasoning. We kind of have to accept that it’s either a Jedi capability or a Skywalker family trait that they can do this stuff. With the ::shudder:: virgin birth and ::shudder:: midichlorians involved, I guess it’s not so far-fetched that they know/do things a normal human wouldn’t. First off, I note that you are concluding that Rey is Luke’s daughter. So am I, but it wasn’t actually stated in “The Force Awakens”. Second, Luke is a teenager who grew up on a farm. He knows about farm technology (upkeep of vaporators), and he has piloting that he likely cultivated because he works on a remote farm. Now admittedly, the idea that any pilot can pilot anything is a sketchy premise, but nobody ever says “Oh no, I can’t pilot _that_, I only know how to drive a landspeeder, not fly a Correllian freighter/Star Destroyer. That requires a different certification.” Rey, meanwhile, is a pilot - we don’t know where she learned the skill, but she is also an adult, not merely a teenager, let alone a 9 year old. It’s perfectly reasonable for her to have acquired skills to make a living on that dreadful planet. It’s Anakin that is the inexplicable wunderkind. > [@](#): > > This is part of the problem with the prequels: it’s hard to tell when it’s ham-fisted filmcraft and when an important point is being made. Yeah. > [@Henga](#): > > If Vader built 3P0, what guarantee did Vader have that the robot’s mind had been erased at some point in the past so he couldn’t give away any information that the Rebels could have used against Vader? Why not simply pick 3P0 up in the air with the Force and dash him to dust rather than take chances? ## Do you know what you are talking about? Vader made C3PO when Vader was a 9 year old boy (Anakin). C3PO was memory wiped and given away by Obi-wan after Anakin was left for dead, to protect Luke and Leia’s identity. 3PO did not have any secrets of Vader’s to spill. Later, Vader didn’t care that his protocol droid was still running around somewhere in the galaxy, let alone recognize him when they met in “Empire”. [scene: Cloud City, Bespin, cargo freezing room] Darth Vader: Is the carbomite equipment ready for young Skywalker? Leia: That will kill him! ## Darth Vader: Good point. I will test it first on Han Solo. Oh, and get my droid off that walking carpet’s back. Poor C3PO, how I’ve missed you all these years. [/scene] > [@Rigamarole](#): > > Not to mention the way baby Boba Fett was crammed into the prequels! As if he needed to be there at all, being such a minor bit character from the original trilogy. His appearance only being a reminder that he became really popular with fans for being a Cool Looking Guy and so hey, let’s shove some backstory for him in there too. The prequels are full of this stuff - it’s one of the defining features of the prequels, Lucas’s need to tie everything back together and show us everyone we see in the original three. I can see Tatooine making an appearance, because of Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru being Anakin’s family. But why did we have to see Jabba the Hutt? Or Greedo? Why the need for C3PO and R2D2? Why Chewbacca? Why did we have to have little Boba Fett, and tie his back story to the stormtroopers? You can’t go a hundred meters without running into someone that shows up in the original three. Focus on Anakin and Obi-wan and Yoda and Palpatine as the people who interacted in both sets of movies. Then create new characters. Yeah, I know there are others like Qui-gon and Mace Windu and Darth Maul, it just feels like there are too many “callbacks” that don’t serve the story, just serve to make the universe tiny. Same way he had to leave everything completely set up at the end of “Sith”, with Vader not only in the suit, but with the Death Star already in work. 17 years before “ANH”. > [@](#): > > I’ve re-watched the prequels lately so this is fresh in my mind; what’s even more absurd is the scene where Mace Windu lops off Jango Fett’s head. Despite the fact that there’s a battle raging on where he has just killed a bunch of other people without missing a beat, there’s a pause in the action at this point to show Dooku and Mace himself visibly distraught about it for some reason. It’s almost like they’re distressed because they _know_ how cool little Boba (who then goes and picks up the helmet presumably with the head still inside, which is creepy) is gonna turn out to be someday! Go figure. Meh, that’s just movie making. Highlight the significant events, even if they occur in the middle of a melee and shouldn’t be significant from the characters’ perspectives. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2016, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-like-star-wars/744278/47 "2016-01-29T05:08:17Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > First off, I note that you are concluding that Rey is Luke’s daughter. So am I, but it wasn’t actually stated in “The Force Awakens”. I’m open to other explanations… but her connection to the light saber makes it a pretty safe bet that she’s got Skywalker blood in there somewhere. If she was Leia’s kid, we’d expect that to come up in some of the dialogue. On the other hand, a separated at birth scenario wouldn’t be a first for Star Wars. Anyway, I’m not sure we see any reference to her piloting before… doesn’t she say something in TFA to the effect that she’s never done that before? I might be remembering wrong. Does the movie say how old she is? I’m assuming she’s no older than Luke from the first movies, just based on her insistence that someone will be back for her. I kind of expect an adult to be more ready to move on and be independent. And, yes, Anakin is always the least plausible of the bunch. Either they were just hoping to sell more toys, or they were trying to tell us that Skywalkers are naturals at certain skills. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2016, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-like-star-wars/744278/48 "2016-01-29T05:22:18Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > I’m open to other explanations… but her connection to the light saber makes it a pretty safe bet that she’s got Skywalker blood in there somewhere. Didn’t Kenobi have that lightsaber longer than both Skywalkers put together? It was just, like, _right there,_ in the room, next to him, as he meditated, year after year? ---
**Author:** ![FluffyBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecb155/32.png) [@FluffyBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FluffyBob)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2016, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-like-star-wars/744278/49 "2016-01-29T06:45:01Z")
Probably set it to incognito while he was ‘meditating’. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2016, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-like-star-wars/744278/50 "2016-01-30T01:55:55Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > I’m open to other explanations… but her connection to the light saber makes it a pretty safe bet that she’s got Skywalker blood in there somewhere. If she was Leia’s kid, we’d expect that to come up in some of the dialogue. On the other hand, a separated at birth scenario wouldn’t be a first for Star Wars. I’m with you. My speculation, we got the “abandonded but we don’t know by who” combined with Luke disappearing to the ass end of the galaxy combined with her obvious Force abilities, and I feel as strong “I am your father” moment coming. I just wanted to point out it was _not_ stated in this movie. > [@](#): > > Anyway, I’m not sure we see any reference to her piloting before… doesn’t she say something in TFA to the effect that she’s never done that before? I might be remembering wrong. I don’t recall that. What I recall is her and Finn are running from the Stormtrooper attack, and she says they can escape in a space ship, and he says “We need a pilot”, then says in disbelief “You?” Or something like that. > [@](#): > > Does the movie say how old she is? I’m assuming she’s no older than Luke from the first movies, just based on her insistence that someone will be back for her. I kind of expect an adult to be more ready to move on and be independent. Daisy Ridley was born April 10, 1992. She will be 23 this year, which means she was about 21 when cast, right? That’s a couple years older than Luke. > [@](#): > > And, yes, Anakin is always the least plausible of the bunch. Either they were just hoping to sell more toys, or they were trying to tell us that Skywalkers are naturals at certain skills. Lucas was trying to say that Anakin was super special. That doesn’t necessarily imply that all Skywalkers have those traits. We don’t know enough about how midichlorians work to know how inheritable those traits are. 😉 Seriously, I never got the connection from Star Wars that Luke was exceptional as a pilot. His buddy vouched for his piloting skills and that’s how he got slated to an X-wing. That, and an all volunteer organization uses what it has. Just because here on earth being able to pilot a twin engine Otter doesn’t mean you can helm a commercial airliner, and knowing how to pilot a small jet doesn’t mean you can pilot a 747, Star Wars is a fantasy universe, so all pilots are pilots, dammit. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2016, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-like-star-wars/744278/51 "2016-01-30T02:25:13Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Didn’t Kenobi have that lightsaber longer than both Skywalkers put together? It was just, like, _right there,_ in the room, next to him, as he meditated, year after year? > [@FluffyBob](#): > > Probably set it to incognito while he was ‘meditating’. Lightsabers actually make excellent hotplates for heating up your galactic instant bread portions. ---
**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:** [January 30, 2016, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-like-star-wars/744278/52 "2016-01-30T02:51:01Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > Anyway, I’m not sure we see any reference to her piloting before… doesn’t she say something in TFA to the effect that she’s never done that before? I might be remembering wrong. As **Irishman** mentioned, when they’re running from the TIE fighters, Finn says, “We need a pilot!” and Rey replies, “I am a pilot!” She does say something like, “I’ve never done anything like that before,” after they get away, IIRC, but she’s referring cutting the Falcon’s engine’s mid-air to line up a perfect shot for Finn. She meant that specific (presumably Force-aided) bit of trick piloting, not the entire flight. FWIW, in the old EU, “mechanical savant” was one way Force sensitivity could manifest itself. I think this idea predates the prequels. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-like-star-wars/744278.md?page=2)