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David Brin on "Attack of the Clones"
dpt writes "Science fiction author and scientist David Brin caused quite a stir at the time with his article on The Phantom Menace, and now here are his thoughts on Episode II. Not being as harsh, it hasn't received much attention, but it's an interesting read anyway."
Except for the countless times people on this board have mentioned that in the Star Wars universe, droid routinely have there memories wiped out. Shit man, it's like the most posted message on this site.
Finally, math books without any of that base 6 crap in them.
...obviously start with Startide Rising, a much better book set in the same universe (The Uplift Saga, which has six volumes). The Uplift War is just as good, even though I suspect it was conceived as a giant pun. It may also appeal to your Libertarian instincts.
Then you're faced with a choice. If you just can't get enough Uplift, the last three books of the saga are really one story or trilogy and introduce many new and interesting ideas. But the climax is not as satisfying as Startide or Uplift War.
If you liked the eco-libertarian side of The Uplift War and (especially) Startide Rising, Earth develops these ideas much more fully, but it may not be entirely non-unsettling to a true believer in the Libertarian Cause.
If you liked the puns in The Uplift War, Kiln People delivers puns at a rate which has to be seen to be believed. This book also does a lot better job of transferring the mystery genre to sci-fi than Sundiver. And he even explains why his gumshoe maintains a running dialog in his head.
If you like Asimov's Foundation, then Foundation's Triumph will be of interest. Otherwise ignore it.
Perhaps his most interesting book was written with Gregory Benford -- Heart of the Comet, biological sci-fi set in deep space.
Eternal vigilance only works if you look in every direction.
Bottom of the page.
I don't care if he's jealous. His addendum RAWKS!
God, it's so good, I wish I'd thought of it!
note to self: read more of his books!
In the future, I would want to not be isolated from my friends in the Space Station.
How many protocal droids have we seen in th3e movies so far that look exactly like Threepio. Quite a few. In fact, usually the only difference is that their coverings are a slightly different shade.
Also, keep in mind that Threepio's coverings have been completely replaced by the time he and Owen meet again. He is a completely different color.
Why should Owen necessarily recognize him?
There they were, sitting in the van with all those dials, and the cat was dead. -V. Marchetti, CIA
I think droids are a commodity in the SW universe, much like toasters are today. Mass produced, identical, and when you come down to it: mere tools.
Why would Owen remember it?
Murphy was an optimist.
Insert "Clerks" quote here:
Dante: My friend here is trying to convince me that any independent contractors who were working on the uncompleted Death Star are innocent victims when it was destroyed by the rebels.
Customer: Well, I'm a contractor myself. I'm a roofer - Dunn and Reddy Home Improvements --- and speaking as a roofer, I can tell you a roofers personal politics comes into play heavily when choosing jobs.
Randal: Like when?
Customer: Three weeks ago I was offered a job up in the hills: beautiful house, tons of property-a simple reshingling job. They told me, if I could finish it in one day, I would double my price. Then I realized whose house it was.
Dante: Whose house was it?
Customer: Dominick Bambino's
Randal: "Babyface" Bambino? The gangster?
Customer: The same. The money was right, but the risk was too high. I knew who he was, and based on that I turned the job over to a friend of mine.
Dante: Based on personal politics.
Customer: Right. And the next week the Foresci family put a hit on Babyface's house. My friend was shot and killed. Didn't even finish reshingling.
Randal: No way.
Customer: I'm alive because I knew the risk involved with that particular client. My friend wasn't so lucky. Any contractor working on that Death Star knew the risk involved. If they got killed, it's their own fault. A roofer listens to this [taps his heart], not his wallet.
Bill Clinton: Pimp we can believe in. - The Shirt!!!
Does anyone else have any ideas as to what this "something special" which David Brin is referring to might be?
Anyone who read the *entire* article might.
In fact, a scenario is possible, if Vader and Obi-Wan conspire together against BOTH Emperor and Yoda. Go on, follow all the movies with this possibility in mind.
Why else would Obi-Wan 'hide' Vader's son in Vader's home town? Their final 'deathfight' distracts the guards to let Luke/Han/Leia get away. How else do you explain that Vader grabs/interrogates Leia, yet never detects her force? Watch carefully... Vader's 'chase' of Luke in the first film clears all the other Imperial fighters off his son's back and halts the antiaircraft guns, giving the kid a clear shot! And guess who's the only Imperial survivor?
It goes on and on! (Including the coincidence of whose droids carry the message.)
It's a matter of context. The 70's were full of "anti-hero" movies - Bonnie and Clyde, Dirty Harry, etc - that people were longing for simple Good vs Evil plots and action. Darth Vader was unambiguously bad, Luke Skywalker was unambiguously good. Star Wars was a breath of fresh air in a very dark decade for movies.
Of course Star Wars was derivative - that's a big part of why it worked. We didn't have to contemplate the brooding anti-hero's motivations. The robots were from Kurosawa, the final Death Star battle was from Dambusters and other WWII movies, and the overall structure from old movie serials like Flash Gordon. This was familiar ground writ large.
Raiders of the Lost Ark succeeded for much the same reasons.
Yoda trained Qui-Gon ... who trained Obi-Wan, who trains Vader. And if Yoda trained Sidious!!!
Yoda trained Dooku, Dooku trained Qui-Gon.
"Nine times out of ten, starting a fire is not the best way to solve the problem." - my wife