"Good lord, Internet! Cut it out!" On Excessive Beiber Hate

[nickiknack]

On the subject of Star Wars, I really hope the majority of the EU isn't thrown by the way side, I've invested way too much time into it.

That being said:
1. I never understood Lucas's hatred of Mara Jade.
2. *pulls out DL-44 heavy blaster pistol* I demand there be a movie made off of the Darth Plagueis novel, and I demand one of the most perfect British bastards alive be cast as a young Palpatine. I'm willing to do ANYTHING for this to happen.

Any particular British bastards in mind?

Yeah, this one:

(click to show/hide)

I want to stab him for what he's done to my ovaries.

On the subject of Star Wars, I really hope the majority of the EU isn't thrown by the way side, I've invested way too much time into it.

As far as we know, that's what's going to happen. The new movies are going to be sequels not based on any of the novels, comics, video games, etc.

For those who don't know, canon in Star Wars is set up like a pyramid: movies at the top, then novelizations of the movies, then EU novels, then comics, then video games, etc. Anything that contradicts a level above it is non-canon, though often only that particular contradiction is removed. So all of the battles and missions that are exclusive to the video games are canon as long as no novels, comics, or films specifically state that they could not have happened. And any specific details in said battles are removed from the equation if a higher authority contradicts them, but the rest of it is there. It's a relatively easy way to handle fights about canon and ensures that the universe can actually continue expanding.

Currently, Episodes VII, VIII, and XI are going to be original stories. Timothy Zahn said that years ago, Lucas said that he'd do it as "three generations", so the third trilogy would likely deal with Luke's children. He also confirmed that it won't be dealing with the Thrawn Trilogy.

The problem is that because the movies are the highest canon, anything that they contradict will be made invalid unless they change the canon hierarchy. It would completely wreck the current understanding of the fictional universe. Imagine the results of J.K. Rowling creating a Harry Potter prequel series that completely changes how magic works, replaces Voldemort's backstory, and changes Harry's birth date at the end of the last book. That's the kind of shakeup this would be.

I think it's doable to create an original story that could take place at the same time without fucking up the EU storyline too much.

[chitoryu12]

I think it's doable to create an original story that could take place at the same time without fucking up the EU storyline too much.

It would be very, very hard. The main group (Luke, Leia, Han, Chewbacca, etc.) have had most of their lives covered by the Expanded Universe by this point. If they go with the "third generation" idea and cover Luke and Leia's children, the Yuuzhan Vong invasion takes up literally everything from 25 to 29 ABY. Just about every year before that is covered for them already. Even having their kids not be the same ones from the EU would wreck literally almost everything in existence past Thrawn.

[nickiknack]

And they're always adding on to it, adding new story lines and whatnot. I personally feel they're not going to fuck things up too much, maybe a small  change here and there, but nothing major.

[chitoryu12]

And they're always adding on to it, adding new story lines and whatnot. I personally feel they're not going to fuck things up too much, maybe a small  change here and there, but nothing major.

It takes very little to make a major change. So much stuff in the EU is connected that all you have to do is state that a particular faction never arose to ruin most of the content. Think about how much would be deleted if they had a universe where Thrawn never showed up and started fighting the New Republic. Or if Jaina, Jacen, and Anakin Solo were replaced by different kids; even changing their birth date can wreck a ton of the continuity if they need to be a certain age or have existed at a certain time. If A doesn't happen because of a "minor" change, it's likely that B couldn't happen, which means C can't happen, etc.

[PosthumanHeresy]

Apparently, they're doing the Emperor's clone thing. So, they're using some book stuff.

[Askold]

I am going to go with the assumption that EU canon is going to be messed up. More or less. Won't change the fact that Thrawn trilogy is my favourite Star wars thingy, even if it will become non-canon.

Just a pity that they can't do an alternate timeline thingy like they did for Star trek reboot.

[chitoryu12]

Apparently, they're doing the Emperor's clone thing. So, they're using some book stuff.

Well, "maybe." That article only confirms that Episode VII will have Ian McDiarmid coming back as Palpatine. It could be the Emperor's clone. Or it could be a Force ghost. Or a flashback. Or an android. Or a dream. Or hallucination. Or....

[PosthumanHeresy]

Apparently, they're doing the Emperor's clone thing. So, they're using some book stuff.

Well, "maybe." That article only confirms that Episode VII will have Ian McDiarmid coming back as Palpatine. It could be the Emperor's clone. Or it could be a Force ghost. Or a flashback. Or an android. Or a dream. Or hallucination. Or....

True, but they're not saying "for a cameo". Normally they specify cameos.

[nickiknack]

I personally think they're going with a flashback of whatever, also yesterday was Ian's Birthday, so those things tend to get thrown around at times like this.

[Witchyjoshy]

As someone who enjoyed the prequel trilogy (but thought that they would've been better if George Lucas wasn't fully in charge) I'm actually looking forward to episodes 7, 8, and 9.

The special effects in the 2 and 3 were AMAZING (with 1 bridging the gap between the original trilogy and the prequel trilogy) so I can't wait to see what they do with 7, 8, and 9.

...After all, that's kinda the main reason to see a Star Wars movie, right?  The special effects?  Granted, if it was JUST special effects that would be boring.

[lord gibbon]

Hey, I'm an optimist, so I'm willing to believe the new Star Wars movies might be  good. That said, I really doubt I'll be completely satisfied, seeing as I'm a huge Zahn fan and Thrawn is probably my absolute favorite of Star Wars villains. But that just kinda fits with the main point of this topic. Just because it's not exactly what I wanted or like, does not mean that it's bad. I'm not a fan of metal music or Picasso's art (by the way, how's that for a weird combo?), but I won't say they're bad.

Twilight is total trash, though. That is totally true.

[Lt. Fred]

I have no issue with that. I get they need money. I just know that there a million skilled, awesome bands that would make just as much money for the executives if they told told the public to like that instead.

The problem is that you're assuming that the public is "told to like it." They're not. Our brain responds well to patterns, including in music. Everyone knows how a pop song will go, and our brains are outright demanding predictability so it can reward itself with figuring out the pattern. That's why this stuff is popular: the public is demanding it from the executives, not vice versa.

Be careful about universalising Western music. Guess where Western tonality isn't the norm? Most of the world.

[chitoryu12]

I have no issue with that. I get they need money. I just know that there a million skilled, awesome bands that would make just as much money for the executives if they told told the public to like that instead.

The problem is that you're assuming that the public is "told to like it." They're not. Our brain responds well to patterns, including in music. Everyone knows how a pop song will go, and our brains are outright demanding predictability so it can reward itself with figuring out the pattern. That's why this stuff is popular: the public is demanding it from the executives, not vice versa.

Be careful about universalising Western music. Guess where Western tonality isn't the norm? Most of the world.

Read the article I posted, and you'll see that they covered that exact same thing. Pop music is different in different countries, but pop is still pop: they all follow similar patterns that are popular in that culture.

[Lt. Fred]

I have no issue with that. I get they need money. I just know that there a million skilled, awesome bands that would make just as much money for the executives if they told told the public to like that instead.

The problem is that you're assuming that the public is "told to like it." They're not. Our brain responds well to patterns, including in music. Everyone knows how a pop song will go, and our brains are outright demanding predictability so it can reward itself with figuring out the pattern. That's why this stuff is popular: the public is demanding it from the executives, not vice versa.

Be careful about universalising Western music. Guess where Western tonality isn't the norm? Most of the world.

Read the article I posted, and you'll see that they covered that exact same thing. Pop music is different in different countries, but pop is still pop: they all follow similar patterns that are popular in that culture.

Pop is a little over fifty. It simply is not universal. It just isn't. Our modern preference for very simple music is not hardwired into our brains.

[chitoryu12]

Pop is a little over fifty. It simply is not universal. It just isn't. Our modern preference for very simple music is not hardwired into our brains.

No, the music that Western audiences perceive as "pop" is a little over 50. The article I linked specifically mentions how someone raised on Western music won't be able to predict patterns in Indian raga. However, the article's main point is how music's evolutionary purpose is likely linked to predicting patterns. Our brains respond well to being able to identify patterns. Different cultures have different ideas of common music, but what's consistent is that our brains are wired to respond positively to something predictable. It just so happens that modern pop music is what we're raised on, and thus what we can most easily predict.