Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens

[Borgholio]

At the end Finns face is like OH CRAP what did I get myself into.

Yeah I don't think he expected the other dude to pull out a lightsaber.

[Galvatron]

Twist prediction: Starkiller Base is a ruse and it's actually some super powerful character using the Force to snuff out entire star systems (making the Death Star seem insignificant by comparison).

[Borgholio]

And for today's dose of utter stupidity...

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-v ... ook_151019

"Boycott 'Star Wars VII'" Movement Launched; Movie Called "Anti-White"

The new movie is "promoting white genocide" say those behind the Twitter hashtag.

The Force is with the Internet as it (im)patiently awaits the release of the first trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Not everyone is looking forward to the chance to revisit a galaxy far, far away, however; a social media movement is asking fans to #BoycottStarWarsVII.

The hashtag, which started appearing on Twitter Sunday night, expresses objection to the fact that The Force Awakens features lead characters who aren't white males, with its users accusing the movie of pushing a sinister multicultural agenda.

"#BoycottStarWarsVII because it is anti-white propaganda promoting #whitegenocide," read one tweet from an account calling itself "End Cultural Marxism." (A subsequent tweet from the same account read "A friend in LA said #StarWarsVII is basically 'Deray in Space,' " — a reference to civil rights activist DeRay Mckesson. "Jewish activist JJ Abrams is an anti-white nut.")

Another Twitter account, calling itself "Captain Confederacy," similarly griped that "SJWs [Social Justice Warriors] complain about White artists 'misappropriating' culture created by blacks but then celebrate a non-White Star Wars." Yet another complaint read that the movie should be boycotted "because it's nothing more than a social justice propaganda piece that alienates it's core audience of young white males."

A Twitter account named after the hashtag has been set up to promote the hate-filled hashtag and retweet comments posted using it.

Ignoring the fact that, while hardly a bastion of cultural diversity, even the earliest Star Wars movies featured leads of color (James Earl Jones voiced Darth Vader through the entire original trilogy, and Billy Dee Williams's Lando Calrissian joined the series with the second installment, The Empire Strikes Back), it should be noted that this isn't the first time that the more closed-minded Star Wars fans have been vocal about increased representation of minorities in the franchise; author Chuck Wendig responded to some homophobic fans upset at his inclusion of an openly gay Imperial officer in the novel Star Wars: Aftermath by imploring them to "stop being the Empire." (Wendig has also responded to the current situation.)

[Anacronian]

That's a joke right?.. it gotta be a joke.. must be.

[The Romulan Republic]

Apparently "Not completely dominated by white men"="genocide". Imbecilic would-be despots.

I believe I'll go see the movie twice, even if its crap (presuming I can afford to), just because of this.

[Purple]

Well to be fair all the villainous mooks are dressed in clothing that is specifically designed to make them appear to be white male humans.

[The Romulan Republic]

Well to be fair all the villainous mooks are dressed in clothing that is specifically designed to make them appear to be white male humans.

No they're not.

White armour does not equal white skin (a point that should have been especially obvious after Episode II, when all the clone soldiers turned out to be non-white). And in any case, white stormtrooper armour dates right back to the original film, which is the most white male-dominated Star Wars film.

[Purple]

Well to be fair all the villainous mooks are dressed in clothing that is specifically designed to make them appear to be white male humans.

No they're not.

White armour does not equal white skin (a point that should have been especially obvious after Episode II, when all the clone soldiers turned out to be non-white). And in any case, white stormtrooper armour dates right back to the original film, which is the most white male-dominated Star Wars film.

I probably should have included a in that post. I just figured that the mockery would be so obvious that I did not need to.

[Galvatron]

[The Romulan Republic]

Well to be fair all the villainous mooks are dressed in clothing that is specifically designed to make them appear to be white male humans.

No they're not.

White armour does not equal white skin (a point that should have been especially obvious after Episode II, when all the clone soldiers turned out to be non-white). And in any case, white stormtrooper armour dates right back to the original film, which is the most white male-dominated Star Wars film.

I probably should have included a in that post. I just figured that the mockery would be so obvious that I did not need to.

That sort of thing doesn't always translate well on the internet. You don't get stuff like tone of voice and facial expressions, and considering their are plenty of people dumb enough to say it with sincerity...

But seriously, the hateful entitlement of such assholes attacking the film for daring not to be all white-dominated...

You know, I wouldn't have gotten all worked up if it hadn't been diverse, but I'm glad that it is for a lot of reasons.

1. Because any actor with talent should have a chance to get good roles, and a huge success with Star Wars will encourage more films to cast more diversely.

2. Because its something that will keep this film from being basically the OT Mk. II. This will set the new films apart.

3. Because its a realism issue- humans aren't all white men, and I'd expect us to be even more diverse in a galactic civilization of thousands or millions of worlds. So to have only or almost only white men on the screen or in significant roles would be just silly.

4. Because anything that sticks it to these assholes brings a smile to my face.

5. Because ultimately, what's most important is not the appearance of your leads, but that the characters and story are well-written. So why not have a more diverse cast? It won't hurt the film in the mind of anyone who's not crazy or a bigoted asshole.

My only concern is that it might piss some of them off enough to lead to threats or violence. I really hope that doesn't happen. Though at least, unlike the Interview, Star Wars is big enough that I really doubt they'd cave and pull it from theatres.

[Galvatron]

Just imagine the ensuing furor if Finn and Rey become an item.

[The Romulan Republic]

Just imagine the ensuing furor if Finn and Rey become an item.

Which they probably will, since they're the new male and female leads.

Though Star Wars has a history of messing with expectations in this respect (Luke and Leia turning out to be related and Leia ending up with Han instead of Luke).

[Galvatron]

Yeah, I'm already expecting Rey to fall for Poe.

[Borgholio]

Just imagine the ensuing furor if Finn and Rey become an item.

Popcorn for the movie, popcorn for the fireworks caused by watching racists' heads explode...I fail to see the problem.

[The Romulan Republic]

Pathetic or not, I just keep watching that trailer over and over. Not perfect, but it keeps growing on me, its got a nice mix of atmosphere and hope and mystery and menace, and my God the visuals are gorgeous. Some of the music is damn good too. Not that I'd expect anything less from Star Wars.

[Galvatron]

The prequel trailers all captured me with soundtrack cues from the OT so I sincerely hope that JJ brings back those old themes for the actual movie and doesn't rely on John Williams to compose all new music. I thought the PT soundtrack was a meandering ramble, myself.

[The Romulan Republic]

I think the PT had some fine music.

[Galvatron]

Meh. None of the PT's new music held a candle to Leia's Theme, Yoda's Theme or the Imperial March (among so many others). Anakin's Theme and Duel of the Fates from TPM were probably the only new themes I actually liked.

[The Romulan Republic]

Duel of the Fates is pretty good. That's probably the most memorable major piece from the PT, though not the only one I liked.

[ray245]

I really like Battle of Heroes.

[Tychu]

Interesting: reputedly it bears many similarities with Centerpoint Station. I wonder whether they borrowed that idea straight out of the EU.

I was thinking the "Starcrusher" piloted by a young Kyp Durron. I pictured a small ship while reading the book in the late 90s

[The Romulan Republic]

Their doesn't appear to be anything small about the super weapon in The Force Awakens, if its that giant Death Star look-alike on the poster.

[Crazedwraith]

Does any one else find it funny a main character is apparently Finn the human?

[The Romulan Republic]

The Force Awakens breaks sales record and crashes websites:

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/en ... story.html

"Star Wars" fans may have crashed Fandango's website, but they also set a record for the online movie ticket seller.

The first day of presales for "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," which arrives in theaters Dec. 18, was by far the biggest ever for Fandango.

It generated eight times the volume that the previous record holder, 2012's "The Hunger Games," sold on its first day on the market, Fandango said Tuesday in a statement.

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Tickets went on sale Monday to coincide with the debut of the full-length trailer during ESPN's Monday Night Football game. The Walt Disney Co., which is releasing the film, also owns ESPN.

'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' trailer
New 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' trailer
For many consumers, it wasn't a smooth jump to light speed. The high demand for early tickets overwhelmed Fandango and other ticket-selling websites, where some frustrated customers were met with error messages and long wait times.

“With such extraordinary demand, we saw intermittent technical challenges that caused some consumers to queue online longer than expected," Fandango said. "Nevertheless, we were able to continuously serve ticket sales throughout the night."

AMC Theatres, the nation's second-largest theater chain, was among those affected. Austin, Texas-based Alamo Drafthouse and Los Angeles-based Arclight Cinemas also had difficulties with their websites.

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"We greatly apologize for the inconvenience, but we are working quickly to get the website back up ASAP," Arclight said in a statement Monday night.

Theater chains in the United Kingdom experienced similar problems with early ticket sales. The ticketing problems are an embarrassment for chains that are hoping to cash in on the biggest movie of the year, one that could help the industry set a new box-office record.

Tim League, chief executive and co-founder of Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, offered a contrite statement to customers, saying the surge in traffic "exposed weaknesses" in its online ticketing systems.

The cinema chain switched from its own crashed system to Fandango once that site was back up and running.

"We tried to be ready for this hugely important day, and we missed the mark," League said.

I do worry that the expectations are so high that the film will never be able to satisfy them, leading to another round of Prequel-style whining and bashing. Still, "Impressive. Most impressive."

[Lagmonster]

I don't think it matters how the film looks after days of review and consideration, because all fiction looks dumb when you start thinking rationally about it.

The only thing that matters is whether the audience feels that rush when they are walking OUT of the movie for the first time. That's the high that justifies the cost, not whether nerdly and film critic analysis discovers a low number of flaws.