Archive for December, 2019

On a (Not-So) Rise of Skywalker

Posted in Grumblings with tags , , , on December 25, 2019 by chemiclord

(Note: This will NOT be entirely spoiler free.  I really can’t avoid it in this case, I’m sorry.)

Let’s get this out of the way.  “Rise of Skywalker” is an entirely average Star Wars movie.

Kinda like the other eight.

It’s end goal is to keep you mildly entertained for two hours without having to think too hard.  It does that.  Rian Johnson wanted to try and make it broader than that, but the old guard clearly refused to allow that, so… here we are.  Back to the old formula.

That’s something to keep in mind as I proceed through my thought space here.  For as much as I scoffed at Episode 7 (https://tkocreations.com/2015/12/29/on-an-awakening-force/) or lauded Episode 8 (https://tkocreations.com/2017/12/17/on-the-best-last-jedi/), there’s really not all that much of an overall quality difference between any of the Star Wars films.

Because there is a problem that really emerges with this trilogy especially; Rise of Skywalker suffers for it, and I fear every successive film is going to suffer even more as inevitably this story continues.

It is trying way too hard to placate a segment of the fan base that is frankly going to be impossible to placate.  Rise of Skywalker does everything it can to get back in the good graces of the “long time fan.”  You guys had a big problem with Rose?  Okay, she’s a bit player now.   Hated that Ray was just a nobody without any ties to a noble bloodline?  Hey!  We fixed it!  Couldn’t stand that some woman that could have been Ackbar tried to tell Poe what he couldn’t and couldn’t do?  He’s the general now!  We brought back all these old faces that you remembered from thirty years ago!  Isn’t that awesome?

Guys?  Please, don’t be angry anymore!  We’re trying to give you what you want!

The problem is what the “old guard” wants isn’t something that they’ll ever get.  They want to be 10-15 years old again watching “A New Hope” for the first time.  They want that magic back.  But they can’t get that feeling back.  They are going to be perpetually enraged no matter how many times you try to callback.

Stop trying.  Let Star Wars be for a new generation.  Yes, the perpetually online old guard will be pissed about it.  But guess what?  They’re gonna be pissed at anything you do.

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On Becoming Useless…

Posted in Grumblings on December 17, 2019 by chemiclord

In 2014, I was hit by a car in a rather “classic” hit-and-run while exiting a biking trail.  While the damage definitely could have been a lot worse, what did happen was bad enough, nasty scarring on my right calf for one, some lacerations, some bruises, and most significantly, a severe herniation of the L5/S1 disc that required emergency surgery.

My surgeon for the procedure was excellent, explaining that this was as close to a routine surgery of the spine as you can have.  But even then, she also told me that it was never going to completely heal.  I was never going to go back to what I was.  It was merely a matter of sustaining function as long as I could before the inevitable.

A sign of that inevitability came this morning, as I was informed that I would be given “lifelong” restrictions at my day job.  There are going to be elements of what I did that I shouldn’t ever do again for the sake of my health (and ability to walk).

It’s… been a blow, to be honest.  I did everything I could to avoid having this meeting, because I knew this was what I was going to hear.  I spent most of my adult life trying to be the guy that you could count on, that could do anything you needed.  And now I can’t.  Now I get to be lumped in with the stigma of “lazy” people.

“If you can do [x], why can’t you do [y]?”

“If you can do [y] for twenty minutes, why can’t you do it for eight hours?”

Here in the US of A, this is part of the “working man” motif, and not even I am immune to it.  Even if by all rationality, I should be celebrating this good thing… I can’t.  I’m no longer the “good worker.”  I can’t be.  Now I’m the “useless worker,” the “lazy” one.

And it hurts.

It’s probably going to hurt for a while, at least until a new normal sets in.

Here’s hoping.

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