#i think you can totally say 'andor ENHANCED rogue one'

[a-couple-of-notes]

Okay but the frustrating part of Andor is that I know it's good, I am happy it's good, and I am aware that that is a net positive for Rogue One and Star Wars in general - but I can't help but think that this will skew so many discussions of Jyn and Cassian's relationship (and, to an extent, Rogue One as a whole) to just be about how Andor reframes Cassian's feelings/actions. Like there's so much Cassian content now that Jyn will get lost.

And yeah, I know that's a little irrational, and no fault of the show at all. I also think it's very fun to talk about how Andor reframes our understanding of Cassian! But Jyn's so interesting in her own right. I wanna talk to people about how "her line about people not sticking around when things go bad is even MORE meaningful than it was before" and "now Jyn's bitterness toward the rebellion/Cassian makes so much more sense" because I don't think we talk about the fact that Cassian wasn't the only child soldier in that ship NEARLY enough

I guess I'm just saying - Jyn deserves her own show.

[faithdlee]

Fan Service Fantastico!

Last night I spent a very happy evening re-watching Rogue One. Well, I say happy because of course I ended up in floods at the end of it. But I digress.

I’m pretty sure the internet doesn’t need to me to tell it, but Rogue One is bloody terrific.

It is also totally a fan service film. I’d actually even go so far as to say it’s a fan fiction. 

And this is what makes it good. Saying something is “for the fans” should be a bench mark of quality, and yet somehow this phrase is being used to justify sub par movies and tv shows.

Let me explain...

Rogue One is fan piece.

I mean seriously, arguing about the Death Star is a staple of the fandom, right?We’ve surely all seen Kevin Smith or the like cover it in glorious, verbose, geeky fan analysis.  And how often have Star Wars peeps wondered about the exhaust port thing?

Rogue One is as fan fictiony as fan fiction gets, it also just happens to be official. (Pause for a moment and imagine the sheer joy and terror of being given that writing task).

Let me back up my point.

Fan fiction authors are “readers who appropriate popular texts and reread them in a fashion that serves different interests”, according to Jenkins (p. 23).

Honestly, I think the whole of the new Disney Star Wars cannon aligns with this definition.  Disney have (to depressing controversy) made real strides in opening up the Star Wars universe to different groups, including having its first two movies feature female and POC protagonists and background characters.  

I’ve already written elsewhere about the significance of Diego Luna portraying Cassian Andor with his Mexican accent, something which the actor himself has commented on.

One of the things I love most about fan fiction is the fact that it gives voice and reinterprets existing cultural artefacts to better represent groups and ideas that are often, for many reasons, under-represented or un-represented in the original.

Secondly,  “In fanfiction, all offstage events are possible, whether they take place before, during, or after the established action” (Burns and Webber, p.27).

Does that not perfectly describe Rogue One? What even is Rogue One but a little self-contained bubble in Star Wars lore? It wasn’t necessary to learn how and why the Death Star has such a glaring weakness, but my God isn’t it awesome now that we do?

Rogue One is fan service. It’s opened up the word, filled in blanks, shown different view-points and given voice to characters (and representations) that have only enhanced the cannon.

And it also happens to be brilliant. 

It’s sad, funny, poignant, and it adds to the mythology. The production values, direction, acting and special effects are super high class.

Which is why it annoys me so much when sub-par fandom films and tv shows excuse themselves by saying “it’s for the fans”.

No. You don’t get to make something badly and then ignore the criticism by saying you made it for the fans. Your fans deserve better than that.

Suicide Squad, Batman Vs. Superman and Iron Fist have all, in different ways, come out against the negative critical reception they received by saying their product was designed with the fans in mind, not the critics.

But everything - everything - should always be produced with the fans in mind. That doesn’t mean you get to make something haphazardly, incoherently, or simply too quickly to be good.

I am a big believer in personal taste. I think, genuinely, that ‘quality’ is subjective. So, regardless of whether you loved or hated the above Marvel and DC offerings, if you’re a fan, I genuinely think that excuse should rile you.

It’s insulting.

Let’s take another couple of recent examples of fan service done right.

Deadpool is amazing! Slick, funny, in tune with the character, original... Well made. Well thought out. Well written and well acted. And totally, completely made for the fans, by fans.

I think by now it’s an unspoken truth that Ryan Reynolds leaked the original Deadpool footage online to force Fox’s hand when it looked like they were going to bail on production.

But that gamble only worked because, ultimately, what they had produced was good enough to get the fans excited.

Next up:

Oh. My. God.

LOGAN.

How totally amazing is this film? I mean, seriously, this is the X-Men film I know I’ve been waiting for! I’ve already taken to the ‘net to rant about Days of Future Past, and I couldn’t even bring myself to talk directly about Apocalypse.

But Logan knocked it out the park. It’s a beautiful movie, part character study, part Western, all awesome.

And what about this lil’ piece of terrific:

I’m not even sure I can imagine the pitch meeting for Legion...

“Hi. I wanna do an X-Men TV show. About a possibly schizophrenic mutant who is totally OP, in which the Big Bad is a incorporeal monster which is sometimes Aubrey Plaza and sometimes not. And I’m gonna set it mostly in an asylum. I’m thinking a kind of Catch 22-esque plot structure as well. Basically, it won’t even begin to make sense until about midway through. And colour - wow, have I got some ideas for colour! I also really want to visualise the inconsistency of the lead character’s mind, so I’m also gonna do some pretty trippy stuff with camera angles, focusing effects and set design. Think Wes Anderson, but more so. The fans will love it, honest!”

And we did!

Basically, the point I’m trying to make here is that fan service does not need to be, and should not be, an excuse for making something poorly. 

It should be a call to action for making something amazing.