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”.
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