Some points about the 108-page "A Study in Fanboy Stupidity" essay
lazypadawan made an entry about an essay that takes apart a video critique of The Phantom Menace. The essay, which can be downloaded here, seems a bit daunting at 108 pages, but it's a well-constructed essay and definitely worth the read.
I decided to read it because I've always wondered why people hated TPM. The only things I found really annoying about it were Jake Lloyd's acting and Jar-Jar Binks, but neither of those stopped me from enjoying the movie. Admittedly, I haven't watched the actual Red Letter Media video review, so this is a fairly one-sided reaction to what I read in the essay. Nevertheless, the essay very thoroughly quotes and recaps the parts from the RLM review that he addresses, so it's easy to understand even if you've never watched the video.
Speaking of which, I should probably watch it some day to get a more complete reaction, but I'm a bit afraid to now because it just sounds so stupid and a total waste of 70 minutes. Then again, I'm trying to convince myself that the thing has to have some merit, but after reading some of the comments on this page, I'm starting to lose faith.
Anyway, the essay-writer, who apparently goes by Jim Raynor online, basically critiques the criticisms made of TPM in the RLM video. It's nothing fancy, just logic, but it amazes me how anyone could totally miss so much of what happened in TPM. Mr. Raynor does an excellent job at refuting the video's points, but like anyone with a LiveJournal, I've got some points of my own.
Page numbers refer to the page number in the PDF where the issue appears, and the issue I'm discussing refers to one of the many bogus opinions from the RLM video.
p. 13
Re: Anakin's not appearing until 32 minutes in, and why this disqualifies him as a main character
When a character appears in a story has nothing to do with whether or not he is the main character. Jay Gatsby doesn't appear in The Great Gatsby until chapter 3, although he is mentioned earlier, and he is very obviously the main character. Mr. Raynor also makes a fantastic point later on, about how Luke doesn't appear in ANH until 17 minutes in, and I think you'd be hard-pressed to argue that Luke is not the main character of Episode IV.
As it is, I don't wholly agree with Mr. Raynor about Qui-Gon's being the main character of TPM. He's one of them, definitely, but everyone knows this entire series is about Anakin. It's like with ANH -- Luke is the main character, but Vader plays such an important part you have to see him as one too, especially when you look at the series as a whole.
p. 64
Re: Qui-Gon's moral values being questionable because he used the Force to fix the bet against Watto
Uh, you mean when he used it on the weighted die? This is just Qui-Gon's way of fighting fire with fire. Sure, two wrongs don't make a right, but I think it would be more immoral of Qui-Gon to just sit and watch as a blatantly sneaky junk dealer tried to cheat him out of a chance to free Anakin.
p. 91
Re: The "flawless choreography" of the Duel of Fates
Oh please, if this lightsaber duel had been like the duels back in the original trilogy, Plinkett would probably be complaining about how, in 20+ years, Lucas and his crew hadn't improved enough to have choreography of high enough quality. I happen to like well-choreographed fights, which is why I went through a phase of watching YouTube videos of martial artists fight with lightsabers, and I rank this duel among one of the best in Star Wars. Maybe it doesn't have the raw emotion of Luke beating up Vader in RotJ, but you can't say it lacks humanity and emotion.
And also? This is an action scene. People expect action. I, for one, expect good action. The Duel of Fates is good action.
p. 95-96
Re: Obi-Wan and Darth Vader's duel in ANH being "much more interesting" than Obi-Wan and Anakin's duel in RotS
Ha ha. Again, this is an action scene. People are interested in action when they watch action scenes. Especially now that the standards are so high. If I want to watch people talking while dueling with lightsabers, I'll watch duels from The Princess Bride with lightsabers put in.
To tell the truth, I cringe sometimes when I watch the ANH duel because the choreography is just so bad, although I have to excuse Obi-Wan for it since he is an old man, and I guess Vader also because he's in a big clunky outfit and there's no way he could pull off the moves he could in a regular body. As for the RotS duel... every time I watch it I am in awe. Action-wise, all three prequel trilogy duels are excellent, and Lucas saved the best for last. There's no way anyone could legitimately call this duel less interesting than the one in ANH, although of course standards of interests differ from person to person. But honestly? Come on.
I decided to read it because I've always wondered why people hated TPM. The only things I found really annoying about it were Jake Lloyd's acting and Jar-Jar Binks, but neither of those stopped me from enjoying the movie. Admittedly, I haven't watched the actual Red Letter Media video review, so this is a fairly one-sided reaction to what I read in the essay. Nevertheless, the essay very thoroughly quotes and recaps the parts from the RLM review that he addresses, so it's easy to understand even if you've never watched the video.
Speaking of which, I should probably watch it some day to get a more complete reaction, but I'm a bit afraid to now because it just sounds so stupid and a total waste of 70 minutes. Then again, I'm trying to convince myself that the thing has to have some merit, but after reading some of the comments on this page, I'm starting to lose faith.
Anyway, the essay-writer, who apparently goes by Jim Raynor online, basically critiques the criticisms made of TPM in the RLM video. It's nothing fancy, just logic, but it amazes me how anyone could totally miss so much of what happened in TPM. Mr. Raynor does an excellent job at refuting the video's points, but like anyone with a LiveJournal, I've got some points of my own.
Page numbers refer to the page number in the PDF where the issue appears, and the issue I'm discussing refers to one of the many bogus opinions from the RLM video.
p. 13
Re: Anakin's not appearing until 32 minutes in, and why this disqualifies him as a main character
When a character appears in a story has nothing to do with whether or not he is the main character. Jay Gatsby doesn't appear in The Great Gatsby until chapter 3, although he is mentioned earlier, and he is very obviously the main character. Mr. Raynor also makes a fantastic point later on, about how Luke doesn't appear in ANH until 17 minutes in, and I think you'd be hard-pressed to argue that Luke is not the main character of Episode IV.
As it is, I don't wholly agree with Mr. Raynor about Qui-Gon's being the main character of TPM. He's one of them, definitely, but everyone knows this entire series is about Anakin. It's like with ANH -- Luke is the main character, but Vader plays such an important part you have to see him as one too, especially when you look at the series as a whole.
p. 64
Re: Qui-Gon's moral values being questionable because he used the Force to fix the bet against Watto
Uh, you mean when he used it on the weighted die? This is just Qui-Gon's way of fighting fire with fire. Sure, two wrongs don't make a right, but I think it would be more immoral of Qui-Gon to just sit and watch as a blatantly sneaky junk dealer tried to cheat him out of a chance to free Anakin.
p. 91
Re: The "flawless choreography" of the Duel of Fates
Oh please, if this lightsaber duel had been like the duels back in the original trilogy, Plinkett would probably be complaining about how, in 20+ years, Lucas and his crew hadn't improved enough to have choreography of high enough quality. I happen to like well-choreographed fights, which is why I went through a phase of watching YouTube videos of martial artists fight with lightsabers, and I rank this duel among one of the best in Star Wars. Maybe it doesn't have the raw emotion of Luke beating up Vader in RotJ, but you can't say it lacks humanity and emotion.
And also? This is an action scene. People expect action. I, for one, expect good action. The Duel of Fates is good action.
p. 95-96
Re: Obi-Wan and Darth Vader's duel in ANH being "much more interesting" than Obi-Wan and Anakin's duel in RotS
Ha ha. Again, this is an action scene. People are interested in action when they watch action scenes. Especially now that the standards are so high. If I want to watch people talking while dueling with lightsabers, I'll watch duels from The Princess Bride with lightsabers put in.
To tell the truth, I cringe sometimes when I watch the ANH duel because the choreography is just so bad, although I have to excuse Obi-Wan for it since he is an old man, and I guess Vader also because he's in a big clunky outfit and there's no way he could pull off the moves he could in a regular body. As for the RotS duel... every time I watch it I am in awe. Action-wise, all three prequel trilogy duels are excellent, and Lucas saved the best for last. There's no way anyone could legitimately call this duel less interesting than the one in ANH, although of course standards of interests differ from person to person. But honestly? Come on.