Farewell (Retiring)

[Cerez]

Hey guys, well... this is my "official" resignation from not just the JKHub community, but the greater Star Wars online community at large as well.

 

I am no longer able and willing to follow the latest trends in Star Wars, and I've grown a strong dislike (to put it mildly) for Disney's new direction and changes of the Star Wars we've known and have grown to love.

 

It wasn't enough that Lucas had to go and mess up the magic of our original trilogy (and the amazing work of his younger days), but now a foreign entity, a greedy corporation that's grown incredibly arrogant and selfish has decided to take control of the things we love, and revamp everything (with a solely for-profit focus) -- and with it force a change in our community as well, where it should really have no reach. I see Disney as a merciless tyrant, bent of tweaking and manipulating our world to please its selfish financial goals.

 

Some of you may not see this yet, and what I'm talking about may sound incredulous to you, or even crazy, or highly exaggerated, but I'm confident that ultimately it will show with time. It always does.

 

I feel it only fair to share my perspective with you in the hope of opening a few more eyes in alertness to the changes ahead, whether now, or sometime in the near-future, to avoid being cheated, spending a lot (of time, spirit, and money), and suffering a great disenchantment/disappointment.

 

As a seasoned Star Wars fan, I've seen enough to know that this new direction is unfortunately not headed on a fulfilling path, and who knows, a decade from now maybe no-one will remember Star Wars, or they will not remember it as it was, the high quality stories and themes that charmed us when the original trilogy came out. If this new, deliberately destructive direction continues, the outstanding qualities of classic Star Wars will fade into obscurity.

 

This is my current perspective. Either way, what I've come to realise is that I've grown old, and it's time for me to retire.

 

I find no inspiration in the new Disney-driven content, and for this reason I've been gradually falling out with this community as well. I haven't created anything new in Star Wars for a long-long time now. I feel that pretty much all that's worth creating has already been created -- with only a few exceptions to spare, most from the more recent Clone Wars TV series, for which, too -- with Rebels pushing in aggressively -- interest has waned now.

 

I'm not a fan of any of this brand new content. And with it being targeted for a much younger audience, it's no surprise I don't find it the least bit inspiring.

 

So it's time for me to admit and accept that I've had my run with Star Wars, have the memories to prove it, and it's time to move on to other things.

 

I've thoroughly enjoyed spending time with you guys, and each one of you will stay with me for life. If you've known me well, you know who you are. This has been one creative community I will never forget. I have no words to describe how fond I am of you all, and proud to have known you, learned from you, and shared with you in our creations and our experiences together. Rest assured that you'll all be thoroughly missed, and if I could, I would give you all a big hug right now.

 

It's been great -- I've known no greater community than this one -- and I've known plenty.

 

So please fare well, keep doing what you're doing, be kind and considerate to each other, and I promise I'll check in every once in a while, just to see how you're all doing, and still help out where I can.

 

But as an active member, and an active and dedicated (new) Star Wars fan, I am saying my goodbyes. *waves*

 

Be good, and don't tear the place apart.

 

*walks away into the sunset*

 

*explodes*

[therfiles]

Hey Cerez! Sorry to see you go . Good luck with stuff and I've really enjoyed having you around this place. Hope you manage to recapture the magic of Star Wars for yourself someday!

[Bek]

Nooo! Why couldn't this be posted 3 days ago? (April Fools).

 

I'll miss you @@Cerez. At least keep us updated on your work with Blender.

 

(╯︵╰,)

[Darth Sion]

Hey guys, well... this is my "official" resignation from not just the JKHub community, but the greater Star Wars online community at large as well.

 

I am no longer able and willing to follow the latest trends in Star Wars, and I've grown a strong dislike (to put it mildly) for Disney's new direction and changes of the Star Wars we've known and have grown to love.

 

It wasn't enough that Lucas had to go and mess up the magic of our original trilogy (and the amazing work of his younger days), but now a foreign entity, a greedy corporation that's grown incredibly arrogant and selfish has decided to take control of the things we love, and revamp everything (with a solely for-profit focus) -- and with it force a change in our community as well, where it should really have no reach. I see Disney as a merciless tyrant, bent of tweaking and manipulating our world to please its selfish financial goals.

 

Some of you may not see this yet, and what I'm talking about may sound incredulous to you, or even crazy, or highly exaggerated, but I'm confident that ultimately it will show with time. It always does.

 

I feel it only fair to share my perspective with you in the hope of opening a few more eyes in alertness to the changes ahead, whether now, or sometime in the near-future, to avoid being cheated, spending a lot (of time, spirit, and money), and suffering a great disenchantment/disappointment.

 

As a seasoned Star Wars fan, I've seen enough to know that this new direction is unfortunately not headed on a fulfilling path, and who knows, a decade from now maybe no-one will remember Star Wars, or they will not remember it as it was, the high quality stories and themes that charmed us when the original trilogy came out. If this new, deliberately destructive direction continues, the outstanding qualities of classic Star Wars will fade into obscurity.

 

This is my current perspective. Either way, what I've come to realise is that I've grown old, and it's time for me to retire.

 

I find no inspiration in the new Disney-driven content, and for this reason I've been gradually falling out with this community as well. I haven't created anything new in Star Wars for a long-long time now. I feel that pretty much all that's worth creating has already been created -- with only a few exceptions to spare, most from the more recent Clone Wars TV series, for which, too -- with Rebels pushing in aggressively -- interest has waned now.

 

I'm not a fan of any of this brand new content. And with it being targeted for a much younger audience, it's no surprise I don't find it the least bit inspiring.

 

So it's time for me to admit and accept that I've had my run with Star Wars, have the memories to prove it, and it's time to move on to other things.

 

I've thoroughly enjoyed spending time with you guys, and each one of you will stay with me for life. If you've known me well, you know who you are. This has been one creative community I will never forget. I have no words to describe how fond I am of you all, and proud to have known you, learned from you, and shared with you in our creations and our experiences together. Rest assured that you'll all be thoroughly missed, and if I could, I would give you all a big hug right now.

 

It's been great -- I've known no greater community than this one -- and I've known plenty.

 

So please fare well, keep doing what you're doing, be kind and considerate to each other, and I promise I'll check in every once in a while, just to see how you're all doing, and still help out where I can.

 

But as an active member, and an active and dedicated (new) Star Wars fan, I am saying my goodbyes. *waves*

 

Be good, and don't tear the place apart.

 

*walks away into the sunset*

 

*explodes*

Whilst there are certain aspects of this "epic", that I DO agree with (Particularly with Disney).. There are certain elements of the STAR WARS universe that Lucas changed for the better, I thought. Things that made perfect sense and felt like "Yeah, that actually DOES make sense and is a good change", (whilst there was also some bad changes, I'll admit).

 

A prime example of some of the good changes he made, was in scenes like this:

 

In the Death Star, Han and Chewie are chasing down like, 3 Stormtroopers, to stop them calling for "backup".. In the original version, before Han's scream, there were 3 maybe 4 Stormtroopers in a corner. Now, that's nothing to really scream about, when you consider the new version (in the video posted below) has greatly improved that scene and if you watch, you'll see why.. 

 

That is just one of the many "good" changes that was made. I won't even go into the bad changes, but one that DOES spring to mind, is in RoTJ, when Vader says "Nooooooooo!" and throws the Emperor over the railing into the abyss, below.

 

**NOTE**

For a list of changes made (just in case you're interested).. You can check them out, here:

 

In regards to Disney, although not done by Lucas, himself.. I did thoroughly enjoy "The Force Awakens", but got a sense that it did give off the idea of "empowerment to women", maybe more so than men. Whether that is to do with Kathleen Kennedy or not, I don't know..

I haven't started watching SW Rebels, but the only thing I'm not liking about it so far, is how thin the lightsaber blades are in that show. But from snippets and such that I've seen, it does look very promising (especially if you consider the history behind it, leading upto it).

 

"but now a foreign entity, a greedy corporation that's grown incredibly arrogant and selfish has decided to take control of the things we love, and revamp everything (with a solely for-profit focus) -- and with it force a change in our community as well, where it should really have no reach. I see Disney as a merciless tyrant, bent of tweaking and manipulating our world to please its selfish financial goals."

 

To be perfectly honest, that's what most major companies are doing, these days. EA springs to mind, as being the most notorious of them all. Activision are up there and whilst not quite as bad, Ubisoft can tend to push that line, too. These are just gaming companies, sure.. And there are others, but unfortunately it's companies like the one's stated that are the cancer of today's modern era and how they treat their consumers. To make profit on a named brand for their own material gain, just because it's a popular work of art.

Edited April 4, 2016 by Darth Sion

[Omicron]

God speed.

[DT.]

Damn. Going to miss you around this place man, won't be the same.

[DarthDementous]

while I doubt people that really enjoyed TFA and other media output since Rebels are suddenly going to turn around and realise 'they've been had' I think its more real to imagine that your passion for Star Wars has simply died out, which is fine. good luck in your future endeavours, keep modelling I'm sure it'll turn into a useful skill some day.

[eezstreet]

Sad to see you go. Hope you enjoy yourself in some other fandom perhaps.

 

 

I did thoroughly enjoy "The Force Awakens", but got a sense that it did give off the idea of "empowerment to women", maybe more so than men. Whether that is to do with Kathleen Kennedy or not, I don't know..
 

I do not understand how this is a bad thing. We need more well-written/deep, capable female protagonists in general, not just in Star Wars.

[Darth Sion]

Sad to see you go. Hope you enjoy yourself in some other fandom perhaps.

 

 

I do not understand how this is a bad thing. We need more well-written/deep, capable female protagonists in general, not just in Star Wars.

Again, I re-iterate. It gave off a powerful notion of "empowerment to women". I didn't say it was necessarily a bad thing. Take that as you please. I'm not knocking the movie in any way, I was merely stating that the movie seemed to favour females over males. I just hope that it doesn't become a regular trend through the next 2 films. It needs to be mixed, rather than solely focusing on one sex group.

[Cerez]

I did thoroughly enjoy "The Force Awakens", but got a sense that it did give off the idea of "empowerment to women", maybe more so than men. Whether that is to do with Kathleen Kennedy or not, I don't know...

This is a growing trend today, and while I personally find it innovative (when not over-used), that's pretty much the only thing I find truly original in the new Star Wars movie. A lot of it is thanks to Kathleen's spot-on casting and strong performance.

 

To be perfectly honest, that's what most major companies are doing, these days. EA springs to mind, as being the most notorious of them all. Activision are up there and whilst not quite as bad, Ubisoft can tend to push that line, too. These are just gaming companies, sure.. And there are others, but unfortunately it's companies like the one's stated that are the cancer of today's modern era and how they treat their consumers. To make profit on a named brand for their own material gain, just because it's a popular work of art.

You are so right here that it's frightening. It's becoming truly Big Brother (in the classic, Orwellian sense). Except instead of one tyrant, we have a dozen. The fans do not get the respect we deserve, and the objects of our affection and passion are twisted by these corporations in order to control our habits, spending, and like. Disney is certainly up there with EA, maybe even topping the chart.

 

Thanks for the good wishes, guys, and I'll really miss you, too, @@DT85, and kitty (), but as I said, I'll try to drop in from time to time for a visit.

[Cerez]

Sad to see you go. Hope you enjoy yourself in some other fandom perhaps.

Not likely. Disney's Star Wars has left me pretty scarred now as to fandoms, Eez...

[eezstreet]

Again, I re-iterate. It gave off a powerful notion of "empowerment to women". I didn't say it was necessarily a bad thing. Take that as you please. I'm not knocking the movie in any way, I was merely stating that the movie seemed to favour females over males. I just hope that it doesn't become a regular trend through the next 2 films. It needs to be mixed, rather than solely focusing on one sex group.

In what way does the film favor females though?

In numbers? Can't be. There are half as many female characters in the film as male characters, and half of those female characters have less than 10 minutes of combined screen-time.

In diversity? Again...not really. The male characters enjoy a wide diversity of species, ethnicity, age and race, whereas the female characters are comprised of...three variably aged white chicks and a space alien.

In societal rank? Possibly. Mas seems to hold her own and run a respectable cantina. Leia is commander of the Alliance, but only after Han and Luke give up their stake in it. Phasma is a captain, but she's still lower ranked than Hux, Snoke and Ren. She does control Finn for a period of time, so there's that.

In character significance? The only real arcs we see in this film are Rey and Finn (and maybe to some extent Kylo Ren and Han Solo), so in that respect, I'd say it's pretty equal.

In dialogue? Well...Rey has the most spoken dialogue in the film and it is the first time that a Star Wars movie passes the Bechdel test, so maybe that's something.

I guess the only way that it 'favors females' is that Rey kinda kicks Kylo's ass at the end, but that's only because he had just been hit in the stomach with a weapon which was prominently shown throughout the movie as wrecking everything in one bolt. And, she's apparently force sensitive in some way, but we don't know how.

 

tl;dr, I don't think it's 'female empowerment' at all really.

[TheWhitePhoenix]

And...Bechdel test references make me want to avoid some people.... * sighs *

[Rayce]

http://www.nooooooooooooooo.com/

 

While I personally enjoy TFA and Rebels, I understand your stance. Sorry to see you go, and wish you good luck in your endeavors.

 

And, for perhaps one last time,

 

May the Force be with you.

[mrwonko]

What you're talking about sounds highly exaggerated to me, but I totally get not being active any more - I haven't produced much in the last years either. Still sad to see you go.

 

And everybody else please shut up about not wanting women in your Star Wars. If you need to share your bigoted views, create a separate topic in nonsense; I don't feel that's a productive discussion in this thread.

[Darth Sion]

What you're talking about sounds highly exaggerated to me, but I totally get not being active any more - I haven't produced much in the last years either. Still sad to see you go.

 

And everybody else please shut up about not wanting women in your Star Wars. If you need to share your bigoted views, create a separate topic in nonsense; I don't feel that's a productive discussion in this thread.

Ok, let me just stop you right there. 1) Before you start proclaiming too much and start talking like you have the moral high-ground, everyone has a right to an opinion, whether or not you think it's "bigoted" and "nonsense", is your problem. Deal with it in your own way. And 2) I was simply stating my own opinion of SW, as @@Cerez has done here, that has made him lose his passion for something he once loved. How is the opinion I've shown, any different than that of his?! Please, explain.. And finally, 3) I am expressing to Cerez, my disagreement with certain statements he's made and showing that not all the changes in the SW universe are bad. If you wanna be a feminist, that's fine. But don't push your whimsical "reasons because.." on people who don't appreciate your tone.

[Cerez]

Calm down, guys. Everyone's entitled to a point of view, and we don't all have to agree on a point. There's absolutely no need to lash out at each other.

 

And I don't mind if the role of women in Star Wars is discussed here, @@mrwonko -- so there's no need to worry. @@Darth Sion hasn't said anything sexist or offensive, he's simply stated his point of view on the use of the dominating, strong female lead actress in this movie. It's new, so it's fine to think about it and discuss it as a topic.

 

I do think that Rey will continue to be the main protagonist of this new movie series, @@Darth Sion. One of the main creative objectives of this reboot seems to be to give Star Wars a female lead for a change. That doesn't mean that men won't be able to enjoy it as much, it just means that instead of a young male lead (Luke Skywalker), now we have a young female one (Rey Skywalker -- spoiler: I'm pretty sure she's Luke's daughter XD). In many ways Rey has already shown courage on the level of Luke's endeavours. And she's certainly not the girly-girl, so there's no need to worry about gender stereotypes impacting the action-packed story experience.

[TheWhitePhoenix]

Ok, let me just stop you right there. 1) Before you start proclaiming too much and start talking like you have the moral high-ground, everyone has a right to an opinion, whether or not you think it's "bigoted" and "nonsense", is your problem. Deal with it in your own way. And 2) I was simply stating my my own opinion of SW, as @@Cerez has done here, that has made him lose his passion for something he once loved. How is the opinion I've shown, any different than that of his?! Please, explain! And finally, 3) I am expressing to Cerez, my disagreement with certain statements he's made and showing that not all the changes in the SW universe are bad. If you wanna be a feminist, that's fine. But don't push your whimsical "reasons because.." on people who don't appreciate your tone.

That...was brutal and to the point. And I have to admit, I applaud you @@Darth Sion for that.

 

Calm down, guys. Everyone's entitled to a point of view, and we don't all have to agree on a point. There's absolutely no need to lash out at each other.

 

And I don't mind if the role of women in Star Wars is discussed here, @@mrwonko -- so there's no need to worry. @@Darth Sion hasn't said anything sexist or offensive, he's simply stated his point of view on the use of the dominating, strong female lead actress in this movie. It's new, so it's fine to think about it and discuss it as a topic.

 

I do think that Rey will continue to be the main protagonist of this new movie series, @@Darth Sion. One of the main creative objectives of this reboot seems to be to give Star Wars a female lead for a change. That doesn't mean that men won't be able to enjoy it as much, it just means that instead of a young male lead (Luke Skywalker), now we have a young female one (Rey Skywalker -- spoiler: I'm pretty sure she's Luke's daughter XD). In many ways Rey has already shown courage on the level of Luke's endeavours. And she's certainly not the girly-girl, so there's no need to worry about gender stereotypes impacting the story experience.

I'll admit, while I didn't like Rey at first, I have calmed down enough to try and analyze her situation and some things about her actually do make sense. Though I'll admit, they could've done some things better with her and explained things a bit better, but if you want a better explanation, that's where the Novel of the movie comes in. Now...if they were to put Mara Jade in the story in some way, that will get me a great amount of interest.

[Darth Sion]

That...was brutal and to the point. And I have to admit, I applaud you @@Darth Sion for that.

 

I'll admit, while I didn't like Rey at first, I have calmed down enough to try and analyze her situation and some things about her actually do make sense. Though I'll admit, they could've done some things better with her and explained things a bit better, but if you want a better explanation, that's where the Novel of the movie comes in. Now...if they were to put Mara Jade in the story in some way, that will get me a great amount of interest.

Whilst I too, would love to see Mara Jade brought onto the scene. They'd certainly have to find an actress of Luke's age, otherwise it would just look slightly weird and out of place. I have heard through sources I'd prefer not to disclose, that in Ep. VIII, Luke will have a love interest of sorts. Now, whether this turns out to be Mara Jade or not, remains to be seen (one can hope). Problem is, all of that is "legends" now (according to Disney.. which again, comes back to @@Cerez's original post towards Disney). Although they do pick different things out that they wanna use, which isn't all bad. But if they seriously have any interest in Star Wars lore and its stories, they need to keep what has already been written, included.. and not stray off and create their own content for the sake of their own profit and continuation.

 

I think that's where LucasFilm (whilst now being owned by Disney, like Marvel is owned by Disney) still has control of the direction the movies take.

[eezstreet]

And...Bechdel test references make me want to avoid some people.... * sighs *

Why? It is a pretty solid measure I'd say.

[NumberWan]

@Cerez

If you are leaving JKHUB, maybe there are other ways of keeping in touch with you? Surely, Star Wars isn't the only field of interest both for you and people you talk to here on the forum.

[Darth Sion]

Why? It is a pretty solid measure I'd say.

I'm gonna go out on a whim, here.. And say it's an idiotic system, made for idiots, by idiots. It's all this politically correct stuff of the modern era, that's ruining everything. This isn't right because of this.. Or this is wrong because of that. People will always be offended by something. In this case, if women aren't shown to be equal to men (something that has only, in recent years, come to light), there's a massive out-cry and backlash from certain parties and activist groups.

[TheWhitePhoenix]

Whilst I too, would love to see Mara Jade brought onto the scene. They'd certainly have to find an actress of Luke's age, otherwise it would just look slightly weird and out of place. I have heard through sources I'd prefer not to disclose, that in Ep. VIII, Luke will have a love interest of sorts. Now, whether this turns out to be Mara Jade or not, remains to be seen (one can hope). Problem is, all of that is "legends" now (according to Disney.. which again, comes back to @@Cerez's original post towards Disney). Although they do pick different things out that they wanna use, which isn't all bad. But if they seriously have any interest in Star Wars lore and its stories, they need to keep what has already been written, included.. and not stray off and create their own content for the sake of their own profit and continuation.

 

I think that's where LucasFilm (whilst now being owned by Disney, like Marvel is owned by Disney) still has control of the direction the movies take.

The problem with that would be since Mara Jade is ORIGINALLY Timothy Zahn's creation, they might have to go to him for permission. And knowing Disney, they might not be willing to compensate him. But stranger things have happened, and EVERYONE, even some of the Casual Crowd, know who Mara Jade is.

[eezstreet]

I'm gonna go out on a whim, here.. And say it's an idiotic system, made for idiots, by idiots. It's all this politically correct stuff of the modern era, that's ruining everything. This isn't right because of this.. Or this is wrong because of that. People will always be offended by something. In this case, if women aren't shown to be equal to men (something that has only, in recent years, come to light), there's a massive out-cry and backlash from certain parties and activist groups.

So let me get this straight.

"Politically correct" people are ruining things for you because you can't be blatantly racist or sexist anymore?

Seems legit.

 

EDIT: In any case, this is neither here nor there.

[Seven]

So let me get this straight.

"Politically correct" people are ruining things for you because you can't be blatantly racist or sexist anymore?

Seems legit.

 

EDIT: In any case, this is neither here nor there.

These topics are the worst. It's easy to call people sexist and it's easy to call people idiots. But it's just not that black and white. Political correctness, the thing that feels odd in media with diversity is when a movie studio just goes "Women, check! Black person, check! Latino, check!" and breaking a guideline like that makes a movie bigoted. But really you shouldn't go throwing around insults to people that misinterpret you blasting female roles in movies, Darth. Just keep open minds and be respectful.