The Court Martial of Poe Dameron

Last week I examined one of the most loathed works of fan fiction, “The Last Jedi: Defeminized”. Not all fan fiction is so terrifying, however. This week I want to draw attention to a beautiful piece of fanfic: “The Court Martial of Poe Dameron”.

“The Court Martial of Poe Dameron” isn’t a fan film, but a live performance which was put on by “The Legal Geeks” at San Diego Comic Con last summer. The proceedings focuses on the recently demoted Captain Dameron who is being prosecuted for insubordination and leading a mutiny. The 50-minute faux-trial can be viewed on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCni3EoS1tQ

The “Legal Geeks” are a team of lawyers (Jessica Mederson and  Esq. and Joshua Gilliland, Esq.) who have been tackling “Star Wars” legality for years. They have examined the legal consequences of Han shooting first, the morality of Rebels destroying contracted workers on the second Death Star (ala Clerks), and even the infamous Chewbacca defense (ala South Park).

“The Court Martial of Poe Dameron” featured a cast of real judges and real lawyers who enacted a mock-trial in front of a live audience and included Rachel Williams as General Leia Organa and Marcus Holt as Poe Dameron. The result is a funny and entertaining performance, but the most interesting aspect isn’t whether Poe is innocent or guilty. The most compelling part of the event, for me, is the focus on character motivation.

“The Last Jedi” has been criticized over the past year for many things, including the opinion that characters make reckless decisions that make little sense (other than to move the plot forward). However, The Legal Geeks, really take a close look at these characters and pick apart exactly what was zooming through their brains during the fast-paced action of “The Last Jedi”.

It’s easy to criticize a film or poke holes when you’ve seen it one time and don’t care to really examine the themes, structure, or character motivations. Yes, It’s easy to gripe at a piece of art, but it's also lazy.

What is harder to do when you dislike a film, is to really listen to what the storyteller is trying to say- dig in and analyze the story choices being made. Maybe even form a second opinion during a later viewing.

The Legal Geeks, pick apart the characters of Poe and Leia in a very beautiful way that deepens fan understanding. They truly listen to the characters and add to the enjoyment of the original movie.

I think sometimes people get so hung up on “the rules” and “science” of Star Wars, that they forget that the franchise has never been about how gravity works in space or whether one fleet can use light speed to catch up to another fleet. Star Wars has always been about characters interacting with other characters- and more-often-then-not those characters are in conflict with each other, even if they are supposed to be on the same side.

In many ways the conflict between Poe, Leia, and Holdo gets at the core of what makes “Star Wars” “Star Wars”. Leia, after all, has been griping at fly boys since she was nineteen.

So if you aren’t doing anything important during this holiday season take a look at “The Court Martial of Poe Dameron” and some other articles and podcasts by “The Legal Geeks”.

http://thelegalgeeks.com

What I learned watching "The Last Jedi De-Feminized"

“The Last Jedi De-Feminized” is a fan edit which seeks to remove “Girlz Powah and other silly stuff” from the original film.

Though I don’t watch fan edits often, I have seen a couple edits of the prequels including “Balance of the Force” and “The Clone War”. The prequel fan edits usually seek to “fix” some of the slapstick humor from the first couple prequel films, including the paring down of Jar Jar, a character who many fans see an annoyance.

Though I found “The Last Jedi” to be a very high quality film, I thought it might be interesting to watch “The Last Jedi De-Feminized” to see what specific issues some fans had with the film. I wasn’t totally prepared for how sick I would feel over the result.

“The Last Jedi De-Feminized” doesn’t just pare down “annoying characters” or try to “fix” plot lines- the film silences the voices of women. From the very first shot of the film, it seeks to declare the Star Wars galaxy as a “Man’s World Only”. Billy Lourd’s character of Lieutenant Connix (who has some of the first lines in the original film) is cut out of the opening scene. Her male counterpart is retained, but she is literally cropped out of the picture.

Rose’s Sister Paige, has also been removed, and her role has been replaced by a male. Though Rose, is in the film, she doesn’t really speak much. She just sort of follows Finn around. According to the editor of “De-Feminized”: “Asian chick speaks less, doesn't bully Finn, Finn doesn't try to escape, she is never formally introduced. She is just there and occasionally smiles at Finn or screams "Finn!". She has no sister. Serves her right for all the heinous stuff she did.” In this edit of the film, Rose and Finn never go to Canto Bight. They just fly right into “The Supremacy” and attempt to take down the tracking system.

Another character removed from this film is Admiral Holdo whose sacrifice near the end of the film is now completed by Poe Dameron. Princess Leia still appears, but according to the editor she “never scolds, questions nor demotes Poe.” – which means that Leia doesn’t do much until she is killed by her son, Ben Solo. That’s right, in this version of the film Ben doesn’t hold off on firing on his mother, he pulls the trigger and blows her up.

Though I was saddened by the removal of the female roles and the wonderful dialogue these characters brought to the film, I found the treatment of Rey’s character the most sickening.

The island of Ahch-To is one of my favorite parts of the original film, but in this version a lot has been removed. The opening scene where Rey gives Luke the lightsaber is gone and (per the new opening credits), Luke’s training of Rey has already begun. This fan edit attempts to focus this story on Luke and not Rey. Rey still gets to be a Jedi apprentice, she just doesn’t get to say much. 

For me, Rey is a heroic and strong character, but seeing her silenced, was really too much for me. It’s like the editor wants her to be there, he likes the idea of her, he just doesn’t want her to have a voice. He doesn’t want her to be a full person.

I think for the first time in my life I truly understand how some men objectify women. It’s not just that they treat them as objects, it’s that they literally want them to be objects, with no opinions, with no inner strength.

In this version Luke leaves the island on the Falcon instead of staying behind. Later, when Rey encounters Kylo Ren, she is again silenced. There was no “force connection” in this edit, so the two characters never interact until they are aboard “The Supremacy”. When they encounter the supreme leader, Snoke is allowed to have his full speech, while Rey just listens submissively, never questioning, no opinion.

 Ben Solo, who has now killed his mother and father, does betray Snoke in this version, but the implication is that he does it for himself, and not for Rey. Snoke does not fall to pieces in this version, but fades away into a Force Ghost. Ben and Rey fight the guards together, but according to the editor “Kylo takes on more of Snoke's guards, Rey struggles with a single one” this is important to the editor because according to him “Women are naturally weaker than men”.

After the fight, Kylo offers Rey the chance to join him. When she refuses he zaps her with Force Lightning and imprisons her within the ship. Why? Because in this version: “Kylo is more badass and much less conflicted and volatile.” It seems Kylo is real hero to this fan editor. In this version of the film he kills his mother, kills his master, is completely unaffected by the character of Rey and then by the end of the film he kills his uncle too. And he does it all without being emotional and without remorse. 

Luke doesn’t do the whole projection thing in this version. He just fights Kylo with a lightsaber and ends up losing. In this way, even Luke Skywalker doesn’t get to be a fully realized character. According to the editor there is “No whiny/reluctant/murderous psycho Luke.” in this film. But as a consequence there is really no “Luke” in this film. A lot of fans choose not to remember that Luke Skywalker was whiny from moment one of “A New Hope”. He was whiny in “The Empire Strikes Back”. It was an artistic choice that Mark Hamill made and it is part of Luke’s character.

In the world of this editor women should be weak silent and men should be should be strong and never conflicted or emotional. It’s a scary version of the world, but it’s a version of the world that has been drilled into the minds of many people throughout their lives.

Some people dislike “The Last Jedi” because they find Canto Bight to be silly or they find Rose to be annoying and that’s okay. But it is not okay to dislike “The Last Jedi” because it threatens your sexist and racist worldview.

This fan-edit represents something truly sad and dangerous and something that makes me sick to my stomach. But it did help me realize what sexism really looks like. I feel so sorry for this editor. The messaging he has received and integrated into himself was one born out of our culture. It is not entirely his fault. We must do better.

Rian Johnson’s version of “The Last Jedi”, the original one, the one where women are allowed to be strong and men are allowed to be emotional- maybe it’s more important than we think. Films like this might just save the world. Star Wars might just save the world.

Han Solo vs. Crocodile in Space

The Star Wars universe outside of the films was a weird landscape throughout the late 70s and 1980s. Star Wars comics brought us oddities such as Jaxxon theSpace Rabbit and books such as “Lando Calrissian and the Mindharp of Sharu” felt more Science Fiction than Space Opera. Even Alan Moore (of Watchmen fame) contributed to Star Wars during this period where non-cinematic Star Wars was finding its footing and that stuff got strange…

And it was in this period of strangeness that Han Solo fought a crocodile in space. “Han Solo at Stars’ End” was a 1979 novel by Brian Daley (the first in the “Han Solo Adventures” trilogy). A short time later the novel was adapted into a newspaper comic strip which ran from October 1980 – February of 1981. The strip was then colorized in 1997 and collected into a volume. The digital version of the colorized collection is now sold online by Marvel for $4.99, which is how it got to me.

In “Han Solo at Stars’ End”, Han and Chewie are sent on a mission to recover the father of Han’s old girlfriend, Jessa. The problem is that he is being kept on an Imperial prison planet at Mytus VII. The planet is supposedly located furthest from the core of the galaxy (thus “Stars’ End).

Han’s mission takes him to some interesting places including the farming planet of Orron III. It looks exactly like the America Midwest including tractors, but it’s a whole planet!!! Han also makes friends with some Cat people and a droid called “Blue Max” which is a little blue cube (like the one from Animorphs). But Blue Max is actually a droid within a droid because he is housed inside of BLX-5, or Bollux (which sounds like a British curse word).

Eventually Solo and Chewbecca make it off of the farming planet and find “Stars’ End” where they attempt to rescue Jessa’s father, but things go a little wrong and the whole prison facility is inadvertently turned into a rocket and launches into space. This is when the Crocodile (named Uul-Rha-Shan) suits up in space gear and attempts to take down Han Solo once and for all. However, as we all know, it is hard to get the drop on Han Solo….

“Stars’ End” is and odd story for an odd era of Star Wars. Remember that this was the time that “The Star Wars Holiday Special” was made. Eventually Timothy Zahn’s “Thrawn Trilogy” would set the standard for what Expanded Universe stories should actually look like. The “Wildspace” days of late seventies and eighties would come to an end. But we can still look back at those times. There are a lot of little gems to discover. So, dig deep, Star Wars fans. We have not yet begun to unearth all things Star Wars.

Dark Horse Comics (Link)

Dawn of the Jedi  Dawn of the Jedi

Tales of the Jedi Tales of the Jedi

Knights of the Old Republic Knights of the Old Republic

Star Wars: Republic Star Wars: Republic
Dark Times Dark Times
Empire & Rebellion Star Wars: Empire & Star Wars: Rebellion
Brian Wood's Star Wars Brian Wood's Star Wars
Dark Empire Dark Empire
Crimson Empire Crimson Empire
Invasion Invasion
Legacy Vol. 1 Star Wars: Legacy
Vector Star Wars: Vector
Legacy Vol. 2 Legacy Volume 2
Infinities Infinities
The Star Wars The Star Wars

Star Wars Tales Star Wars Tales

Marvel Comics

Original Marvel Comics Original Marvel Comics
Star Wars #108 Star Wars #108
Alan Moore's Star Wars Comics Alan Moore's Star Wars Comics

Han Solos Vs. Space Crocodile Han Solo vs. Crocodile in Space

Marvel's New Star Wars Line Catching Up With Comics

Age of Republic Age of Republic
Age of Rebellion Age of Rebellion
Age of Resistance Age of Resistance

Star Wars #1... Again Star Wars #1... Again
Ewoks in Comics Ewoks in Comis
Who is Doctor Aphra Who Is Doctor Aphra

The Last Jedi Expanded Universe The Last Jedi Expanded Universe
Who is Jaxxon Who Is Jaxxon

IDW Comics
Tales from Vader's Castle Tales from Vader's Castle

Return to Vader's Caslte Return to Vader's Castle

Tales from Vader's Castle

This Halloween readers of IDW's "Star Wars Adventures" were given a treat. Each week in October a comic called "Tales from Vader's Castle" brought a little darkness to the Galaxy. Sure, "Star Wars Adventures" is aimed at children, but that doesn't mean adults can't share in the fun.

Issue #1: The Haunting of the Ghost

Kanan, Hera, & Chopper

Set in the early years of Kanan & Hera this tale features a Sith ghost that has possessed a crashed ship (and who eventually takes over Chopper). If a Sith infested Chopper isn’t enough, there is also a great Twi’lek pun “You should have run Twi’lek… you should have turned head-tail and fled”.

Issue #2: Count Dooku: Prince of Darkness

Obi-Wan, Adi Gallia, Count Dooku

Jedi Master’s Obi-Wan Kenobi and Adi Gallia have been sent to planet Bray to investigate some dark deeds. High in a fortress the Jedi discover that Count Dooku has teamed up with creatures not unlike giant vampyric bats. Dooku plans to use the creatures to turn the Republic clones against them, but soon Dooku is betrayed and turns into a dark creature himself.

Issue #3: The Briar Witch

Han Solo & Chewbacca

Han & Chewie are hired to deliver a Tooka statue to planet Rendel which is rumored to be haunted. But what they find there is half horror story and half fairy tale with themes drawn from both “Sleeping Beauty” and “Rip Van Winkle”.

It’s still odd to me that there are now two Han Solos in Star Wars canon (Alden Ehrenreich’s version and Harrison Ford’s). Though this story clearly takes place in the Ehrenreich timeline, we do (oddly enough) get a bit of Ford in here.

Issue #4: The Night of the Gorax

Chirpa, Ra-Lee & Logray

A generation before "Return of the Jedi", the Ewoks of Bright Tree Village are in crisis mode. Someone has been taking woklings from their cribs and it’s up to Chripa and his friends to solve the mystery.

Though this story is a mere fourteen pages it manages to cram in almost every aspect of Endor mythology including Wisties, Boar-Wolves, Duloks, Condor Dragons, the Sunstar and a Gorax.

Issue #5: The Terror of Darth Vader

Lina Graf, Hudd, XM-G3 & Crater

  

Lina Graf is one of the protagonists of the children’s book series “Adventures in Wild Space”. In this tale Lina is all grown up and in command of a Rebel mission. When the mission goes sour her team crash lands on planet Mustafar in front of a dark castle. Here they encounter strange beasts, obsidian stormtroopers, and maybe even the Dark Lord himself.

Find these issues in your local comic shop or preorder the full collection now!

More Star Wars Halloween Posts...

Tales from Vader's Castle Year 1:
https://roadto7.blogspot.com/2018/11/tales-from-vaders-castle.html

Tales from Vader's Castle Year 2:
https://roadto7.blogspot.com/2019/10/return-to-vaders-castle.html

Death Troopers
https://roadto7.blogspot.com/2014/10/death-troopers.html

Galaxy of Fear

https://roadto7.blogspot.com/2014/10/spooky-star-wars-halloween-special-part.html