LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens

An insert into this month's LEGO fan club magazine is all about Star Wars: The Force Awakens LEGOs and includes some brief information about characters. I have scanned the insert and am posing the pics below: (Click for large size

A Name for Star Wars Fans

"Star Trek" fans are 'Trekkies' or 'Trekkers'. "Doctor Who" fans are 'Whovians'. "Firefly"/"Serenity" fans are 'Browncoats'. But for nearly 40 years, "Star Wars" fans are 'Star Wars fans'. We don't have a name for our fandom -- at least, one that has caught on yet. We've had one for 10 years now that works really good, but not enough people know about it.

In the May 13, 2005, edition of the "Heart of the City" comic strip, Heart's friends Dean and Anu want her to go with them to the midnight showing of "Revenge of the Sith". Anu suggests that Heart tells her mother she wants to do it for a school project. Heart responds, "'SWEEKS: The Study of a Bizarre Phenomenon.' I like it!" Anu asks Dean, "What's a "SWEEK"? Dean replies, looking angry, "'Star Wars Geek'."

"SWEEK" is the perfect name for Star Wars fans, because we are Star Wars geeks! And, a trip to urbandictionary.com says that 'sweek' is a slang term for 'cool', so if we wanted to pretend that we geeks are hip, we can say that being a "SWEEK" is 'sweek'!

So come on! We've gone 38 years without having a fandom name, and an accurate and appropriate name has been around for ten years (to the day)! Let's proudly start referring to ourselves as "SWEEKs"!!!

My Pitch for a Yoda Origin Story Movie

Back in 2012, when Disney bought Lucasfilm and announced new "Star Wars" movies - not just a new trilogy of episodes but spinoff (now known as anthology) movies - fans immediately started clamoring for the "stand-alone" movies to focus on their favorite characters, like Boba Fett, Han Solo, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Yoda. The latter character is the one fans are most hesitant about, but two-and-a-half years ago I came up with a perfect concept for a Yoda origins movie. In finally making my private ideas public, I am authorizing Lucasfilm to use this concept. All I ask in return is a "story-by" credit and we can negotiate compensation.

The movie will be a comedy focusing on Yoda's early life. He will be a young (whatever creature Yoda is), in his early 100s. He will be over six feet tall, portrayed by John Lithgow - who was the voice of Yoda in the NPR "Empire Strikes Back" and "Return of the Jedi" radio dramas. (This way, Yoda will not need to be Muppet or CGI; he will be an actor in makeup and costume).

We only know of Yoda as a wise, backward speaking Jedi master. As a young "man" Yoda is immature and speaks normally. He is known around the Jedi Temple as a prankster, always orchestrating practical jokes. After one of his pranks goes terribly wrong, Yoda ends up in a coma with some brain damage. When he awakes, he has lost his sense of humor and speaks backwards. He takes his training much more seriously, becoming the greatest Jedi that ever lived. Since the comedic movie ends on a serious note, there will be a mid-credits montage of CGI Yoda in exile on Dagobah starting to go crazy and becoming the eccentric version of himself we first meet in "Empire".

It's just an idea that would need to be worked on by a great scriptwriter, but I feel it would make a great movie that would have a completely different tone from other "Star Wars" movies.

THEORY: Star Wars Episode VII Title Change

I have many theories about the upcoming "Star Wars: Episode VII". Out of all of them, the one I am about to propose here is the least likely.

On November 6, 2014, the official Star Wars Twitter account sent out this tweet:

Star Wars: The Force Awakens has completed principal photography. #StarWarsVII #TheForceAwakens pic.twitter.com/mFTP9YbKNN

— Star Wars (@starwars) November 6, 2014

Fans were taken aback by the way the title of the movie was announced in a seemingly random tweet. The tweet was sent just 15 days after the first trailer for "Avengers: Age of Ultron" was leaked online before it was scheduled to air on ABC. Because of this, many people assumed that Disney/Lucasfilm had caught wind that the Star Wars VII title may be leaked online and so they took control of the situation by leaking it themselves. That is probably what really happened.

Then 22 days after that the teaser trailer was released. The trailer featured dialogue from Andy Serkis' character saying, "There has been an awakening. Have you felt it? The dark side...and the light," followed by the title "Star Wars: The Force Awakens"

But what if Lucasfilm is pulling a "Revenge of the Jedi" and "The Force Awakens" is a fake title? What if, next week at "Star Wars Celebration", JJ Abrams and Kathleen Kennedy reveal the new trailer and teaser poster for Episode VII that feature a new title for the movie?

No official merchandise has been released with "The Force Awakens" on it. Sure, "The Journey to The Force Awakens" books and comic books have been announced, but they come out in September or later and could easily have the banner changed.

It's very unlikely that is what will happen, because unlike the "Revenge of the Jedi" situation, "The Force Awakens" being a fake title would be a deliberate deception. But if this does come to pass, I would not be surprised. I take that back. I would be surprised, that my crazy theory was actually true.

Answering Jedi Alliance's Top Five Questions

I started watching a Star Wars fan webshow called "Jedi Alliance" in December 2014. Each time there is a guest on the show, the two hosts (Ken and Maude) ask their guest the Top Five questions to find out more about the guest's fandom. There are actually six questions...

@brassyalien Fav movie is an add on to 'first time' - we thought we were subtle! Haha looking forward to reading yours!
— Jedi Alliance (@JediAllianceSK) January 20, 2015

...but they say that the second question is paired with the first. So there are five questions, from a certain point of view.

The questions (restated in my own words for clarity) are:
1a. When was the first time you watched "Star Wars"?
1b. What is your favorite "Star Wars" movie?
2. Which "Star Wars" character is your favorite?
3. Do you have a "Star Wars" quote you use in everyday conversation?
4. Which Force power would you want to have?
5. Would you go to the Dark Side?

The hosts also ask their fans to answer the questions as well. So here are my answers:

1a. When was the first time you watched "Star Wars"?
My mom¹ bought the Original Trilogy boxed set that had a limited release in 1995.

She bought them either in late 1995 or early 1996, so I would have been five when I first watched the Star Wars movies.² I do not specifically remember my first time watching the movies³, but I know I watched the movies many times before the Special Editions were released to theaters in 1997.

1b. What is your favorite "Star Wars" movie?
It depends on the era of my life. As a child, "Return of the Jedi" was my favorite and was the one I watched the most. Then "The Phantom Menace" came out when I was nine, and that became the movie I watched over and over. I completed my Star Wars on DVD collection in 2010. Over the last few years, as an adult, I now think that "A New Hope" is my favorite movie. As of this writing, I think I rank the movies like this:

"A New Hope"
"Return of the Jedi"
"The Phantom Menace"
"The Empire Strikes Back"
"Revenge of the Sith"
"Attack of the Clones"

For the most part my childhood opinions still factor in to how I rank the movies.

2. Which "Star Wars" character is your favorite?
I say this in all honesty with absolutely no irony: Jar Jar Binks.

I completely related to him as a child, and I relate to him even more now that I am an adult. Jar Jar is a sympathetic character. Instead, nearly everybody treats him the way the Gungans treat him, and they miss the point. He was banished by the Gungans because he is clumsy and annoying. You are supposed to feel sorry for him. I may be the only person on Team Jar Jar, but I am going to keep defending him the way AMC Movie News Editor-in-Chief John Campea defends the Ewoks.


3. Do you have a "Star Wars" quote you use in everyday conversation?
No, but I really should. Sometimes I say "okie-day" like Jar Jar, but that is not exclusively his. Lately when I mess up I catch myself merging "whoops" and "oops" into "woops" like 9-year-old Anakin says, and I hope that he is not the reason I subconsiously started doing that. As a Sweek⁴ I really need to find a Star Wars quote to start using everyday (even though it will probably annoy my family).

4. Which Force power would you want to have?
If you learn to master the Force, don't you have all of them? Aren't they a package deal? I just want to be a Jedi and have all the force powers...and a lightsaber.

5. Would you go to the Dark Side?

No. I have always wanted to be on the side of good. I have never been attracted by anything on the Dark Side. The Rebel Alliance has cookies too.

-----

Footnotes:
1. Mom is Star Wars. Dad is Star Trek.

2. The videos began with Leonard Maltin interviewing George Lucas about making the movies. As I five+ year old I would fast forward through the "boring old men" talking so I could watch the movies. Now that I am older I am more interested in those interviews, but we no longer have the VHSs. Fortunately the interviews are posted to Star Wars' YouTube channel, so I am able to watch them now that I can appreciate them.





3. I do have one specific memory from watching the movies with my mom; I don't know if it is from the very first time, but it may be. During the infamous Han vs. Greedo scene, Mom pointed out how Han was tapping his left-hand fingers on the wall to distract Greedo as he was pulling out his blaster under the table. Even as a five year old I understood that Han was getting the drop on Greedo, so that is why I don't accept Lucas' comments about why he changed the scene in future editions.

4. Portmanteau of Star Wars Geek, as used in the May 13, 2005 "Heart of the City" comic strip.