I'm going to call BS on that for reasons stated.
(2) You can have a story that isn't intensely politically-themed. You can also read any story as having a political theme or message if you want to reach far enough.
Animal Farm is politically-themed. Charlottes Web is not.
A Star Wars Story is kind of a mouthful though. :/ I guess it's good branding.
edited 24th May '18 11:31:28 AM by Soble
I'M MR. MEESEEKS, LOOK AT ME!This is mostly an argument about semantics and what you think the word "political" means. People who say that all stories are political don't define it as "only related to a direct, obvious political reality", but rather as "every story is saying something". Charlotte's Web isn't a valueless story because it says something about death, change, and innocence, and those aren't "apolitical" values.
edited 24th May '18 11:34:19 AM by Draghinazzo
I'm reminded of that one Extra Credits video talking about how all media is political and how it's really not possible to take media out of politics. While they are mostly talking about video games, I do think their message that "taking politics out of media would make us lose out on really good works" is an interesting one.
edited 24th May '18 11:35:28 AM by dragonfire5000
"I squirm, I struggle, ergo I am. Faced with death, I am finally, truly alive."Google should probably change it's definition then. When I say "political" I typically mean "relating to politics." That's the way I've understood it. If you say "politics" you typically mean government, news, and world affairs.
"I prefer stories that are not relating to a direct, obvious political reality" doesn't really roll off the tongue.
I'M MR. MEESEEKS, LOOK AT ME!Charlotte’s Web does not have direct 1:1 political allegory in same way as Animal Farm, but it does have mild sociopolitical themes. Significant parts of the story depend on the characters learning: 1. the value of different “people” groups uniting, 2. the necessity of bargains and bribes in a world where few folks are altruistic, and 3. satirizing the effect of repeated propaganda on humans.
All these are simply to serve an entertaining children’s story, but they demonstrate insights in how we view the world to function.
edited 24th May '18 11:52:07 AM by Tuckerscreator
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The thing is though, values are a politicized thing.
Just to pick a somewhat trite example, Mario is a game series that's pretty whimsical and never had any pretensions of being a political commentary about anything. Peach getting kidnapped is really just an Excuse Plot that I doubt the developers ever thought much about. But the fact that this plotline is so common, and that so many other games do it as well, ultimately does end up making a statement on how people view women overall regardless of anyone's intentions, which is very much a directly political value.
That aside, you'll find dictionary definitions are often only so useful. Language is a thing that evolves a lot and is constantly shifting more than ever these days.
edited 24th May '18 11:50:24 AM by Draghinazzo
Well I was going to bring this
to OTC but it got closed the second it opened.
So suffice to say, I'm sorry that "apolitical" isn't the right word. But I'm going to argue against "everything is political" for the heck of it, if and when that thread reopens.
Now, in regards to Star Wars, I still think "Solo" is a better title but I suppose A Star Wars Story is better for branding.
I'M MR. MEESEEKS, LOOK AT ME!Okay just saw it.
Average to mediocre all in all. Particularly unexciting, the characters aren't very interesting or the action not very heart-pumping. It just........ exists.
Best part without a doubt was of course Maul's short apperance. Especially his lightsaber which is clearly the one he stole from the Inquisitor lifted straight from the show. Amazing little detail there.
Hey I'm the first person to have watched this here, nice.
edited 24th May '18 7:29:36 PM by slimcoder
"I am Alpharius. This is a lie."I really hope all of Corellia isn't as poor as the city Han and Qi'Ra are in in the beginning. Core Worlds are supposed to be Shining City types of places. I kind of want Han to meet a fellow Corellian upper class in the comics or novels, now.
"For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die."Glad to hear that Maul is awesome. He is the sole thing I'm interested in.
This song needs more love.Just saw it. Quite good - not phenomenal, but more than good enough than it needed to be. Went over pretty well, too: the audience actually applauded at the end of my screening, which was a surprise.
Reminded me a lot of the Original Trilogy and classic space opera / pulp adventure stories in general, in that it's less concerned with heavy characterization specifically and more in developing the cast in small ways while ferrying the characters from one setpiece and stop on the journey to another, often while throwing in insane left turns out of nowhere. Could have used maybe one or two less of those for pacing purposes, but overall definitely captured that adventure story feel.
If you liked that about the OT, you'll probably like this. If you preferred the more heavy character movement of the modern movies, that might be a sticking point. Han is, admittedly, rather stagnant, but the set of characters around him is vibrant and sell the story well.
The big downside is that the movie can't really decide on its speed: too rushed in some places, too slow in others. Once it hits its groove, it shines, but once the focus is off of those specific scenes that are allowed to breathe it can be hit or miss. Also, the movie has pretty good symmetry overall, but has to throw in the scene of Han getting the Falcon from Lando at literally the last moment, which throws off the flow of the ending. And try as it might to distract from it, there's a big "women as prizes, and men emoting over / losing them" theme that might not go over so well.
If I were to go for a favorite moment, it would probably be the Kessel Run, particularly the Imperial Blockade segment leading up to the unknowable thing in the maelstrom. Gave me Empire Strikes Back shivers. I also like how they play with Han both actually having done the run amazingly and being a bullshitter, in that he still lies about how short the run was.
edited 24th May '18 9:18:06 PM by KnownUnknown
Just got back. It was a pretty solid film and definitely better in the second half.
I don't think young Han is the easiest character to nail, but they got it right (although he's a bit more naive than he really has any right to be). I can see how this idealistic character could become cynical in the intervening years, but keep his more heroic traits.
Though this might be my ignorance talking (and please try and forgive me if it is), I thought Lando's pansexuality was handled decently. He flirts with Han and Qi'ra, and has feelings for L-3, but it isn't a plot point and neither the characters or the directors take any notice of it. I think a bigger problem was him falling into some black stereotypes.
As for L-3, while she was lukewarmly portrayed as being right, I didn't like how she and her cause was treated as a joke.

Completely apolitical stories do exist, but they're universally ass.
"For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die."