What’s Up With May 4?

starwars.com has taken advantage of faux holiday May the 4th to break some news or other about the upcoming Blu-Ray release.

Today, they sent out an e-mail with this graphic:

If you go to the link, there’s a countdown clock. Oooooh…

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SW Prequel Appreciation Day Reminder

Just a reminder…anyone submitting a “What I Love About The Prequels” between now and May 18 is entered for a drawing for a cool prize (I know, I’ll announce what it is soon). Guidelines are at the bottom of the page here and you can e-mail your entry to SWPASadmin@gmail.com.

Tragedy Of The Heart

You’ll really want to check out a new essay on the Forcecast’s editorial page called Tragedy of the Heart. In it, the author explains why Padmé’s fate makes sense:

In the real world, the bottom line comes down to one inescapable conclusion: It’s not Lucas’s fault that modern movie audiences can’t accept a death unless it’s accompanied by a gunshot, huge explosion, or similar trauma. George Lucas has constructed numerous stories based on components from mythology and classic storytelling that have proven successful in the past. While this cannot account for any proposed lack of power in writing or plot, the use of proven literary devices that require some forethought and insight from the viewing audience is not an “easy out” to quickly wrap up a story that would otherwise go nowhere fast.

Happy Easter

Hope it’s a great one!

The Prequel Appreciation Day 2011 Facebook Page!

Sign up to “attend” today! Here’s the link.

E-Tailer Saga Continues

So I dropped a line to customer service at Superherostuff.com:

Dear Superherostuff:

I was perusing the Star Wars merchandise on your site and clicked on the link to “Star Wars Merchandise” so I could see everything in one place. At the top of the page was this poorly-written, bizarre screed:

(Quote from website.)

I’m 41 years old. I saw all of the first three Star Wars films in the theaters. But I love ALL of the Star Wars films and I am offended that your company would gratuitously bash movies that have a great deal of meaning and value to me. How dare your company say such garbage about George Lucas, who I still admire. It’s the height of hypocrisy that you’re selling stuff based on HIS films, including Darth Maul tees, clonetrooper stickers and buttons, toys, etc. that came from that “series of total fracking trash.” Really? Then why sell it to us? Why wouldn’t you think this could potentially turn off someone in search of some prequel merchandise? I could buy this same stuff from outlets like Things From Another World or Entertainment Earth that don’t try to insult anyone.

Unless and until this statement is removed from your site and an apology issued, I will not purchase anything from Supeherostuff.com and will discourage others from doing so.

And to its credit, the customer service guy responded very quickly:

Hello,

Thanks for your email and I am so sorry that you feel that way. We weren’t trying to be offensive or anything like that! We have quite a few people who write things for the webpage(myself included) and we are encouraged to put a bit of personality into what ever we do. I mean, I can personally understand where you are coming from because Star Wars is a huge deal from me too! I spend a lot of time making light saber sound effects and pretending I can use the force(and a lot of my friends think I can to some degree). I don’t take anything people here say or write seriously – we spend the vast majority of the day arguing Marvel vs DC, Star Trek vs Star Wars and anything else we can possibly fight over. I suppose that is what happens when you pull a bunch of nerds together in an office! We poke fun at pretty much anything we can, from Spider Man to Cyclops and all the way to the Penguin. Again, we weren’t trying to be hypocritical or anything like that and I really am sorry that you were offended by it! Nobody here actually hates Star Wars – I think the guy who wrote that was just trying a little too hard to be funny 🙂

I hope this has absolved you of some of your anger – we’re just a bunch of geeks having fun.

So, this is what I said back:

Thanks for responding so quickly. I can appreciate your defending your company but I honestly can’t see why anyone would believe that blurb wouldn’t offend or turn off Star Wars fans who do like the prequels. Maybe somebody was trying for laughs but as someone who has had to put up with this nonsense for over a decade now, I just don’t find it funny. There’s a difference between laughing with Star Wars (Robot Chicken does that successfully) and aggressively pandering to a certain kind of fan who’s unhappy with Lucas and his more recent movies. Whatever the case, the blurb is still up there and I’m still not satisfied.

And this is the reply:

Thanks for your response. I am so sorry that you feel this way! We aren’t meant to be taken seriously, and all of the years we have been open you are the first to complain about this particular issue! I can tell by your tone that you are a die hard Star Wars fan and probably have had enough of people poking fun at the prequels. Believe me(I have Jedi as my religion on Facebook), I know…it’s fashionable to take pot shots at Jar Jar Binks or Young Anakin’s acting ability and as you clearly have stated, Robot Chicken has done this quite a few times. Remember the scene where Darth Vader does his “I am your father” line and then discloses the course of the ‘first’ 3 movies to Luke and Luke just walks away complaining about him not taking things seriously? It’s almost the same thing though Robot Chicken did it with a tad bit more subtlety (they have those fancy Hollywood writers). As mentioned in my last email, we poke fun at everything in the pop culture land. I’ve personally written a ton of product pages for the Star Wars items and they are all ridiculous! If anything is truly offensive or over the line, we do censor it for the sake of civility but we do not believe that this blurb contains any kind of sexism, racism, or other forms of misanthropy. I’m with you that people have gone a little overboard with the new Star Wars hate, but they entitled to feel that way just as we are free to enjoy the movies – something they just won’t understand!

I hope that this clears things up and as always, may the Force be with you.

Hmm, I’m thinking I have go higher on the food chain.

Another E-Tailer Bashes The Prequels

The “Eps IV-VI > Eps I-III” banner on ThinkGeek is nothing compared to what’s on Superherostuff.com if you click on the link to all Star Wars merchandise:

“A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away. …”, the Galactic Civil War was fought, with the ragtag Rebel Alliance battling the Galactic Empire in what is now considered a national epic of good vs evil, democracy vs empire, for the United States. George Lucas managed to turn a beautiful story, episodes IV, V, VI, into a prequel series of total fracking trash! The romantic, lovable, nostalgic sci-fi hero/rogue story was utterly destroyed by the likes of Anikan (sic), Jar Jar Binks and the boring, yet sexy, Queen Amidala! Thank you George! Now pass the friggin’ torch!

I’m not sure which is more offensive: the gratuitous prequel bashing or the poor writing.

They mock and disrespect Lucas as well as half the saga, yet they want to make dough off of his creations. That includes the Darth Maul t-shirts, from that “prequel series of fracking trash,” they are selling here. Or the Maul belt buckle for sale here. Or the clonetrooper button here. Or the Clone Wars keychains, including one of that “Anikan” here. Plus there are patches, wristbands, tin/lunchboxes, license plate thingies, stickers, and toys.

You can contact Superherostuff at:

admin@superherostuff.com
1-866-SUP-HERO
231 E. Penn Avenue
Robesonia, PA 19551

Star Wars Prequel Appreciation Day May 19, 2011

Just when you thought, “Hey, is there going to be a Star Wars Prequel Appreciation Day this year?” I’m finally announcing that there is going to be a Star Wars Prequel Appreciation Day on May 19. I’ll work on updating the Facebook page from last year in the next few days and will send a press release to various fan sites.

This year though there will be a drawing for a supercool prize for anyone and everyone who submits a What I Love About The Prequels essay to SWPASadmin@gmail.com between now and May 18! For those of you who have already submitted one, don’t worry…you’re automatically entered! I’m excluding myself though ;). I’ll draw and announce the winner on May 19-20.

Thought-Provoking Essays

Paul McDonald has posted two fascinating and thought-provoking essays on the expanded universe and fans’ attitude toward SW. They are not strictly about the prequels per se, but they are relevant. Check them out

Offline Until 4/18

I’m taking off again, so no updates until 4/18.