ForceCast.net: Listener Mailbag: February 9, 2012

Listener Mailbag: February 9, 2012

Posted by Eric on February 9, 2012 at 12:00 PM CST

This week in the mailbag: a rant against Lucas apologists, a counter-rant against people who call other people Lucas apologists, a message from "across the pond" in the U.K., and more!

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Dark Side warning:

ForceCast leads to annoyance,

Annoyance leads to hate

Hate, leads to want of murder

Murder, the dark side it is.

Hello There,

I�m the guy known as commanderNikitikin or CC-645 on various websites (though I�ve listened to your show for about two years, I don�t have an account on your websites).

Well, I gotta say, I�m disgusted with various Lucas apologists (not just you), and with those who bash other fans for what their opinions are.

For one thing: If someone wants to do a fan edit of a movie, it�s their choice, it�s not as if they spam the market with it, and instead of the �real� Star Wars there is only �fan Star Wars�. There is absolutely NO REASON for YOU or ANYONE else to say how bad the fan editors are.

Everybody, repeat after me: �Fan Films, Fan Edits, Fan Fictions, Fan Audio are FINE!�

As for myself I couldn�t give a Bantha poodoo whether or not the Ewoks blink or Han shot first!

All I need is one copy of Episodes 1-6 and I�m content!

All that outburst isn�t to say that there aren�t any trolls (or should I say �Rancors�) out there -- of course there are. There are Star Wars fans out there who are fans of hating it, but that is a minor minority, and even they are entitled to their opinions, as long as they don�t disturb �friendly� sites.

Another group of people are ones that want unrealistic things, some want some kind of Star Wars, well, last show I wanted to be Darth Vader and choke you lot.

What being a �fan� means for me:

I like my certain ally of Star Wars, always in motion is the story, and many possible stories there are.

I don�t care about simple tweaks or changes, or whatever, I care about the story/stories

What I classify as types of fans:

1. Completionists � Fans who
- Love everything
- Collect everything
- And hold it sacred to the point of being insane fanatics, not just fans.
- And extreme Apologists who criticise everyone else
- (yes I classify you two as such)

2. Mild fans
- People who have their dislikes, likes and wishes: They don�t claim that they are the ultimate fans, or that they need things their way, and their way only
- Collect only really interesting things
- Go to see SW only occasionally, not every single time it comes on in the theatre.
- Only have one box set, and don�t buy every single edition

3. Neutrals � don�t hate it, don�t like it, don�t bother anyone one way or another

4. Haters � Have everything, and everybody

To end my email on a lighter note, I enjoy your news coverage, and the �Galaxy of Music� series

Thanks, and MTDSOTFBWY

Nik Skywalker

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Greetings from the Commonwealth of Virginia,

First off, I�ve been a die hard fan (though I hate that term) of Star Wars since my childhood (I�m not 33�. Wait, 35), and somehow, I just discovered The ForceCast last year. I love your show. It makes my Friday trips to the gym far more enjoyable, and I appreciate that.

Let me address the GL haters: Get a life, man.

Seriously, there are more important things to get worked up about. People are starving in the streets of our cities. Our soldiers are facing danger overseas. There are children whose lives are being destroyed, while you accuse a movie maker of �raping� your childhood. Get a freaking life. Don�t watch the Blu-ray, if you don�t like the changes. It�s this simple; if you don�t want to hear Vader scream �no� in Return of the Jedi, don�t watch the Blu-ray. Quit acting like someone is forcing you to endure this so-called tragedy. You act like you know better than Lucas does about his creation, yet you�re the ones who paid $90-$140 for something you seem to hate. Idiots.

And we all know that if Lucas released the original, original, editions on Blu-ray, the same losers would be complaining that he�s making them buy multiple copies of the same movie. Cry me a river.

Again, love the show, and May the Force be with you.

-Brandon

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Hi Jimmy, Hi Jason.

Just a quick E-mail to let you know you�re doing a great job keeping us informed and amused with everything Star Wars related, and that I�ve just booked tickets for me and my son, Lucas, to see Episode I: The Phantom Menace in 3D next week and we can�t wait.

Been listening to the podcast for about 2 years now and I love it and I really should listen in on one of the shows live soon. I�ve been a Star Wars fan since my mum took me to see Episode IV: A New Hope back in 1978 when I was seven years old (that makes me now 42) and I was totally blown away by what I saw. The exciting thing about the 3D release is that my son will see it for the first time on the big screen and he will also be seven, exactly the same age I was the first time, I�m sure his reaction will be the same even though he has seen all the films on DVD/Blu-ray.

We�re both a bit disappointed that season 4 of the Clone Wars is not been shown here in the UK, guess we�ll just have to wait until the Blu-ray release. Finally, just thought I�d mention a show that was shown here on the BBC just before Christmas. I�ve not heard you mention it so don�t know if you�ve heard about it. It was called �Life�s Too Short�. It was a
spoof mockumentary by Ricky Gervais and starred the one and only Warwick Davis (who actually came up with the idea for the show). Warwick plays himself as a struggling dwarf actor/agent with a huge tax bill and a failing marriage. It ran for 7 episodes, had many guest appearances including Liam Neeson, Johnny Depp, Steve Carell and Sting and had several Star Wars references. The funniest was the second episode where Warwick attends a sci-fi convention and then attends a Star Wars themed wedding, I thought it was very funny and my wife found that particular episode hilarious although it received mixed reviews here in the UK. I think HBO have the rights to show it in the US sometime in 2012.

Anyway, I�m off now to read the latest Star Wars novel. Keep up the great work and bye from the UK.

Terry and Lucas Glover

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Hey guys,

I just looked at the link from Twitter and read all the letters in the mailbag. One struck me in particular, a letter from Sal Attinello. We met on some Star Wars website a couple of years ago. Last year at Celebration V in Orlando, Sal, his wife, my husband, and myself met up and have been friends ever since. Though they live in San Diego and we in a small town in North Carolina, we chat on the phone, send cards and plan on visiting each other in the future. I just wanted to comment on what the Star Wars world has brought to our lives. I being an only child and just losing my Mom in October to cancer many people whom I do not know personally have sent well wishes from this great community. We are all united by the genius of George Lucas. My 23 yr old daughter prefers the new trilogy whereas I prefer the old being a child of the 70�s of course, but we can still enjoy both TOGETHER.

Even though yes, I did not like the new as much as the old, it has nothing to do with the story, characters, or changes, it�s just I believe the memories of childhood and how it made you feel. Everyone as they get older wants to re live those moments. For me the changes mean I can see it on the big screen once more and feel like that 13 year old girl again.

It�s like this: the Bible has been translated into many versions and languages, but the meaning is still the same. That�s the way I feel about Star Wars. I do think Mr. Lucas deserves as big a retirement as he can have and May the Force be forever with him.

Keep the ForceCast casting,

Janice Combs

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I just wanted to tell you all thank you. I started listening to the ForceCast shortly after Celebration V just because my fandom was in a frenzy and I was trying to absorb as much as I could from that con. Since then your shows have been like my Jedi spirit guides. Whether it is leading me to great books like the Making of Star Wars by J.W. Rinzler or continuing to bring more depth to The Clone Wars by raising thoughts and highlighting details I might have missed. The reason I am writing now though is because for Christmas I had bought tickets for my better half to go see her brother and his family in Sacramento, CA. Then I hear on your show that Steve Sansweet was going to open up tours to his ranch. Needless to say I wrote instantly to get details and two days ago I was able to take the tour. Steve and Anne were great! Another experience that lived up to the hype you guys give.

Thanks,
Andew Nowicki

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Hey Jimmy and Jason,

Just like every Star Wars fanatic I am so excited to see Star Wars back in the movie theatres!

I do have a confession to make..I have never seen the prequels in the theatre. My son was born in 1999, so I missed Phantom Menace (it�s not my fault!), too busy for Attack of the Clones, and he was just a bit too young I thought to see Sith. Since, of course, we have seen them many times at home.

So this will be an extra special event for both of us!! There were a couple years where his fandom waned a bit. He was
embarrassed of being a Star Wars fan, but I am happy to say he is back!! I bought us both new Star Wars shirts (to wear to the movie) from Target and we started collecting the new Star Wars �Pod� figures and ships. Super cute little things that we will have to make sure our new puppy doesn�t find. (Why did I have to go down the kids bedding aisle and find that great big stuffed Yoda too??)

Have a great week!

May the Force be with you!

Jenny

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Jimmy and Jason,

I've been a listener for close to 2 years now and really enjoy all the different ForceCast offerings (roundtables, collector-casts, Galaxy of Music and more). Thank you for bringing us a great variety of guest from across the entire spectrum of Star Wars media. It really helps to keep my fandom in focus and fresh in my mind every week.

With all the positives you bring to the fans every week I only have one request that I hope you could fulfill: please stop giving so much time to the "hater" Star Wars fans. It seems like more and more towards the end of the Weekly Force-cast episodes you are defending our fandom to the haters and giving them valuable air-time that could be used more positively.

I am one of the original fans from '77 that is getting a little long in the tooth. I still look to Star Wars for enjoyment and escape. I remember a comment that you made a couple weeks ago to the effect of "it's all about how Star Wars made you feel when you first discovered it" and the entire Force-cast team and guests certainly does a great job in re-enforcing those feelings.

With all the other nonsense going on in the world: the stress filled world of current events (politics, elections, right vs. left, this religion vs. that religion, heck just the news in general) we really need the Force-cast to encourage our sense of escapism from the day to day noise coming out of our various electronics.

We are very fortunate to have so many varieties of Star Wars to entertain us that we all can't possibly either like or partake in it all. I have never enjoyed or quite frankly understood RPGs and online gaming and I only like certain EU authors, but I have never talked down to those who enjoy things that I don't. It's not my place. At the risk of sounding like an old grandpa...for those who do hate on Star Wars, George Lucas, or any of the licensees, please consider this:
I remember a time when you couldn't pop in a disc and watch your favorite episode when the urge hit you, a time when you couldn't sit in front of a computer and instantaneously share your fandom with people around the world or buy a toy/collectible at a moment's notice without depending on the hope that your local department store would have the new wave of figures that we've waited so long to buy, and I certainly remember a time that you couldn't come home from a long week at school or work and enjoy a Star Wars TV show on Friday nights that we have had the privilege of tuning in to for almost 4 years now (Droids and Ewoks barely survived half that amount of time). There is always something new to discover if you choose to and you shouldn't look at it as a money grab from GL or the licensees. No one is holding a gun to anyone's head to buy anything. If you don't want to buy something, don't.

I have tried other Star wars podcasts and if the haters want to listen to "fans" tear Star Wars down there are plenty of other choices out there. I am confident that I am in the majority of your listeners that enjoy a positive, uplifting experience when they tune in to the ForceCast family of podcasts.

Please don't go further down the dark path and turn back while you still can :). There will always be haters and there is nothing we can do about it. We can only continue to enjoy Star Wars in the many varieties that it is offered to us.

May the Force continue to be with us all and thank you again for everything you do.

Ryan L.

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Hey Jason and Jimmy,

I just finished listening to The Weekly ForceCast for January 27th and was very interested in the whole "hater" conversation. I remember you reading that email that categorized fans into 4 sections, and I would consider myself in the 3rd. That section being a fan who does not agree with all the changes and issues of the prequels, but accepts them and loves them anyway. I admit that when I heard about the "NO" from the ROTJ Blu-ray, I was really upset because they took what was a beautiful, emotional, wordless scene and put it right out there in front of us and took away all subtlety. But after about 2 weeks, I realized that saying "I hate this" or "this is stupid" is not going to change a thing. And at the end of the day, it's just a movie.

I would also like to weigh in on the prequel vs OT debate.

This is an article I wrote for starwarsunderworld.com (we were the
Underworld before the show was). I would appreciate if you read the entire article to get my full points, but in short, I am saying that when comparing the two, there is no contest. From a production stand-point, the originals are superior in almost every way. The writing is better, the acting is better, etc. And from that same point, the prequels are a burning wreck. But I still prefer the prequels, and here's why...

What many fans fail to realize is that there is a major difference between something that is good, and something you like. Phantom menace for example, has a lot of flaws and is probably the worst of the bunch, but I still love it. Now let's take A New Hope for example. Great movie, but probably my least favorite of the 6.

Yes, I will take Phantom Menace over A New Hope.

(I felt a great disturbance in the force....as if a million fanboys suddenly cried out in terror....)

Granted, I don't always agree with everything the two of you said, but in my opinion, that's what makes a great fan of both The ForceCast and Star Wars as a whole. Someone who isn't always going to blindly follow and agree to everything thrown in front of them. Sometimes bad calls are made, and people need to be called out on them, but at the same time, great calls and points are made and should be praised as such. I love you guys and the fact that you "leave no fan behind" is what makes you my number one source for SW news and coverage.

Keep up the great work, and may the force be with you...always.

-Dave

Warwick, Rhode Island

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Thanks to all of this week's mailbag contributors! Keep your emails coming to forcecast@forcecast.net.

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