Embracing the Mess
An interesting criticism of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019) is that it’s ‘fan service’. I wasn’t aware that fans desired plot holes, shallow characterisations, contrived narrative, an incomprehensible edit, and the return of a villain long dead. They were never on my wish list. I don’t think they were on anybody’s. The Rise of Skywalker isn’t fan service. It’s damage control. It’s Disney backtracking from what they’ve given us and trying to find the Star Wars in their Star Wars. And they accomplish that in the tiniest and briefest ways. The Rise of Skywalker puts the trio of main characters in an adventure together. It gives Rey an…
How I Would’ve Done It: The New Trilogy
In case it’s not evident, I’m a huge pop culture nerd. Growing up as a teen in the 1980s and aspiring to write, I had a writing bucket list – and, tragically, it still exists today. I’d love to write features for DC superheroes, such as Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman; I’d love to write a James Bond movie; I would love to create a Star Trek series; and I would love to write a Star Wars movie. (Even more tragically, this is not a comprehensive list.) In the early 1990s, I wrote some of this as fan fiction. I probably actually wrote too much, given I had no avenues…