Further Star Wars Thoughts
Still in a Star Wars mood last night, I watched The Empire Strikes Back. I guess I wanted to watch Boba Fett in the context of his first live action appearance (not counting the Episode IV special edition footage added in the '90s). Of course, nothing Boba Fett does in the movies contradicts the way he was characterised in The Book of Boba Fett. Even if you discount the possibility that Boba Fett is the kind of person who could grow and change, two of his few lines in Empire have him asking Vader not to kill Han Solo. So the idea that he's not a killer by default was already present. A bounty hunter isn't an assassin.
Some people have refined their complaints to say that the collective impression of Boba Fett that developed over decades is more important than the actual evidence in the films. Watching Empire Strikes Back, I could certainly sympathise with this. I remembered the various books and video games that played off impressions of the world in the original trilogy that could only form in the absence of any additional information supplied by the special editions and prequels. We had so little information about Boba Fett, people's imaginations were free to roam wild based just on that cool, quiet helmet. George Lucas quite intentionally left things mysterious in the original trilogy in many cases, a more significant example being Darth Vader himself. There was plenty of speculation but there's actually no information anywhere in the original films as to why Vader always wears a mask and suit until the end of Return of the Jedi. And then it's no more than the observation from Luke; "But you'll die!" when Vader asks that he remove it.
Jon Favreau respected the idea of a character never removing his helmet--that's a foundational concept on The Mandalorian. Favreau made a mistake when he provided a reason for it. If he wanted it to work like in the original films, he should've just had Mando going about his business, wearing the helmet, and everyone around him not even questioning it, just like Boba Fett in the movies. But Favreau couldn't have done that with Fett himself because Lucas had already given him a backstory in the prequels and on Clone Wars. For better or worse, Boba Fett had already ceased to be the guy who wears his helmet all the time long before The Book of Boba Fett came along.
I wonder if a Star Wars film as good as The Empire Strikes Back could be made now under Disney. It doesn't seem likely, not entirely because of an absence of will or even a willingness on Disney's part to take a risk. The ideas that make Empire work are ideas that audiences are increasingly less willing to engage with. The Empire Strikes Back is one of the greatest movies ever made about the messiness of youth contrasted with the clarity of adulthood. Yoda and Darth Vader, as the elder characters, are genuinely shrewd and confident. Luke, Han, and Leia, because they're young, have beliefs about the universe and each other that are very confident but often mistaken. One of the most memorable being Han and Leia's feelings for each other. He pushes her on a journey to realising that she's been in falling in love with him but he goes to his doom without owning up to feeling the same way about her. The reason that tragedy is so effective is because their awkwardness is written so authentically.
Few people would relish the idea of experiencing the intense and painful trials and tribulations of youthful romance. So it's no wonder that young people increasingly prefer to be alone with an increasingly addictive alternative--the internet, where all social mistakes can be erased with your screen name. Under the philosophy of fear and avoidance that builds up in such a community, a scene like Han pressing close to a recoiling Leia on the Falcon would be terribly problematic, and wouldn't be seen for what it is--an accurate and really sweet portrayal of two kids not quite knowing what they're doing and perhaps letting their instincts guide them to an accident.
Good romance has been sadly lacking in Star Wars since the prequels. The idea of Anakin and Padme as a romance is a good one and John Williams wrote a lovely theme for it. But it fails largely because of Natalie Portman's weak performance and the infamous dialogue. But the strongest part of the sequel trilogy was Rey and Kylo in The Last Jedi. Rian Johnson, for all his faults, knew what was wrong with Rey in The Force Awakens and he correctly remedied it--just because she's a smart girl, even a genius, doesn't mean she wouldn't make big mistakes, particularly about her own motives. It's a shame the subsequent film couldn't have developed it further. With all the confusion and compulsion implied between them in The Last Jedi, the followup could almost have been a story like Vertigo, in which the two struggle to see the truth past each others' attempts at manipulation. Of course, in The Force Awakens, Finn is the best character because he has to carry all the credible youthful confusion.
The Disney+ shows have curiously focused on older characters. The Mandalorian is played by 46 year old Pedro Pascal, Boba Fett by 61 year old Temuera Morrison, and the upcoming Obi-Wan series stars 50 year old Ewan McGregor as one of the most famous oldsters in film history. 42 year old Rosario Dawson will embody an older and (so far) less interesting version of Ahsoka Tano in her series--the Rogue One prequel series, Andor, will star 42 year old Diego Luna. Though it is supposed to be set before Rogue One so he'll at least be playing younger. The Book of Boba Fett actually spent time ruminating on what it means to grow older, leading to a nice pay-off in the dialogue of the climax. But maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea to make a Star Wars show about young people at some point, especially since that's part of what made Star Wars successful to begin with.
Mind you, I'm not counting Grogu. He's cute but he's more of a doll than a character.
Twitter Sonnet #1521
The trembling mochi's baked by nervous hands.
An eye became a pen to write a road.
The friends became a pair of deadly bands.
The flashing swords and dust on horses rode.
The faster gun was never seen by some.
The bitter eye was blind to sweeter sights.
The dancer couldn't sing but softly hummed.
A name by any slip was dead to rights.
The dusty tinsel hid behind the plug.
He turned the spit to clearly roast the ham.
As juices dripped she waited close and snug.
The fading stars present the shape of ram.
The active feeling fell upon a crew.
Alone, the lovely legs were cold and blue.