Star Wars with occasional sarcasm
These products aren’t wacky in and of themselves: Who doesn’t love cookies and pancakes? It just seems a bit strange that they appear at a place like Williams-Sonoma. (Though they are a sister brand to Pottery Barn, so it’s not totally out of the blue.) Sure, $20 cookie cutters are mildly ridiculous, but we’re tremendously jaded, and at least you get Vader-shaped food out of it.
It’s getting kind of hard for me to get worked up over authors making sweeping ignorant statements about fanfic, but it’s also impossible to ignore. The latest culprits are big names: Time-travel romance author Diana Gabaldon and epic fantasy MVP George R.R. Martin.
And luckily, there are plenty of folks stepping up to the plate this round: I particularly appreciate Catherynne M. Valente’s take:
So much ire spent over something that ultimately helps books, keeps the conversation going past the long tail of marketing, keeps them alive and loved—I’ve never understood it. Quashing fan activity is not only self-sabotaging, but unkind. I have always been delighted when told there was a piece of fanfic inspired by a book of mine floating about. I don’t read it for legal reasons, but I’m thrilled to know it’s there. Someone cared. Someone loved it enough to spend their free time writing about it for free.
And with a more bare-bones look at things, Kate Nepveu:
People gossip about their favorite characters; become fascinated by unexplored characters, locations, histories, themes, implications; imagine what would happen next, or if, or instead; and critique every aspect of a work. Sometimes this takes the form of passing in-person conversations, sometimes of blog discussions, sometimes of scholarly works, and sometimes of stories. (Sometimes, even, of critically-acclaimed, award-winning, professionally-distributed stories.) I would be astonished to hear that your own writing never was influenced by this impulse—I say this not to suggest that you’ve been writing fanfic all along, but to point out the strength and universality of this impulse.
(What fan activity isn’t born of that impulse?)
Granted, for the most part, my personal experience with fanfic has been within Star Wars, and Lucasfilm has, for the last, oh, 20 years or so, pretty much turned a blind eye. (No, this wasn’t always the case.) But I’ve been in a few smaller author-based fandoms over the years where it was politely asked that fans not engage in fanfic of the books at hand, and people complied. (And not only that, they self-policed.) It’s not perfect, and may be hard to enforce with a larger fandom, but treating your fans with respect is never a bad move. Doing otherwise just makes one look like a bully – and a particularly petty one at that.
‘Isabella’ and ‘Jacob’ are topping the list of baby names for 2009. Granted, ‘Jacob’ has been #1 for 11 years now, and Isabella has been in the top ten since 2004, but there’s no way I’m not pointing fingers at Twilight: How else can one explain ‘Cullen’ hopping 297 spots?
As for Star Wars, Lucas is rising at #39, Luke is #48, Owen #49 and Ben is #653; On the girls list, Mara is #758 and Leia is #822. Han, Anakin, Shmi, Padme, Jaina and Jacen haven’t cracked the top 1000. Do your own search at SSA.gov.
Disney is taking the old Star Tours up for one last go-round as a part of the Celebration festivities. But is the ride worth $75, even with the nostalgia factor and extra events? Still, I doubt they’ll have trouble selling tickets.
Hyperspace is going away next year.
Started right before Revenge of the Sith began principal photography as subscription section on StarWars.com, Hyperspace went through several incarnations. During the ROTS filming it offered fans extraordinary access to film’s set in Sydney with a live webcam, chats, and a set diary by Pablo Hidalgo. (It also had the nice side effect of effectively ending the cut-throat fansite spoiler-wars that marked the runup to The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones.)
However, once Revenge of the Sith was released, Hyperspace had much less to offer subscribers (even the ‘ad-free’ promise eventually expired.) Features were added, like the blogs, but the content over the past few years has been irregular and often only of interest only to those who enjoy fairly obscure parts of the GFFA.
It even merged with the fan club and became part of a package deal with Star Wars Insider for a time. The Insider is no longer included, but the Official Fan Club still uses the ‘Hyperspace’ name. (If Hyperspace is truly being discontinued, will the fan club be getting another makeover in the coming year…?)
I can’t say I’m surprised at this – the ‘exclusive’ content has been sparse for years and StarWarsShop probably brings in far more revenue – but Hyperspace has been around for quite a while in internet times, and it’s entwined with some particularly interesting times in the fandom for me. But it’s clearly been on the backburner for quite a while, so might as well give up the ghost and move on. And hey, what the hell – I renewed my subscription one last time this evening for old time’s sake.
Yes, TomTom is actually offering a Darth Vader voice for their GPS, with Threepio, Yoda and (seriously?) Han Solo coming soon.
It’s a trap! A ‘Death Trap’ to be precise – young Boba Fett makes his Star Wars: The Clone Wars debut in the start of a three episode arc with him seeking revenge, Inigo Montoya style. Obviously, he can’t bump Mace Windu off in the first act (or at all, knowing Mace’s role in Revenge of the Sith), but he can throw a monkey-lizard wrench into the Jedi’s plans. Continue reading “Reviewing The Clone Wars: ‘Death Trap’”
I’m going to be honest: This Star Wars Jib Jab thing freaks me a bit out out and is giving me an epic case of Do Not Want. But I know some of you will love it, so here you go. Have at it!
So in the midst of real life and other such horrors, I missed a great deal of Celebration V news. First off, you should know that we are now 99 days out from the event, a fact which strikes me with terror because I haven’t done a damn thing to prepare. (Yes, I really need to stop moving in Celebration years.) But onto the news:
Also hosting (at the Behind-the-Scenes Stage) is Internet Rockstar Pablo Hidalgo and LucasArts’ David Collins (on the Digital Stage.) Alas, this crushes my secret hope for a Pablo-staffed continuity-counseling booth (mockup at right) but it is more likely to keep him from running like a madman into the night.