What I would have done differently in Star Wars: The Last Jedi

What I would have done differently in The Last Jedi (WARNING: some shameless fan theory insertion can be found within, I admit):

1.      Opening Dreadnought battle – mostly the same. Would have removed the cringe “yo momma” joke with Poe and General Hux. Also would have made the Resistance bombers have bombs reminiscent of Y-Wing bombers rather than the bombs we saw in this film. Would have avoided the “where is the gravity?” criticism in this case.

2.      Ahch-to – rather than Luke’s slaptick “throw the lightsaber over the shoulder” bit, I would have had his hand shake and he simply drops the lightsaber at his feet. Would have given the same impact of showing us Luke’s shame as a failed Jedi mentor without the annoying slapstick way of going about it that we got.

3.      Kylo Ren and Snoke Throne Room scene – First thing’s first, I’m going to come right out and say that I think Snoke should have been Darth Plagueis. There, I said it. I think it would be a good way of tying together all three trilogies without meddling with the new characters and concepts of this trilogy.

a.      In this scene, we get some hints that Snoke is Plagueis without him overtly saying it. He says something like “after decades of biding my time, I’ve finally taken my rightful place” or something along those lines. Also, after he angers Kylo Ren and Kylo nearly attacks him and is repelled by Snoke, Snoke says something like “I’ve been killed by an apprentice once before, it won’t happen again!” as a nod to Palpatine/Sidious “killing” him the first time. None of this dialogue has to be him flat out saying that he is Plagueis, but this dialogue hints it enough to us while also giving general audiences insight into Snoke’s backstory.

4.      Kylo Ren Bombing Bridge scene – I would remove the Leia floating through space bit entirely. It was silly and unnecessary, in my opinion. Instead, Leia using her brief force connection with her son to warn Admiral Ackbar to put power to forward shields. When Kylo’s wingmen fire on the bridge, the torpedoes are repelled thanks to Kylo hesitating to kill his mother, and Leia using that to her advantage. This scene also still serves to show us that Kylo is still conflicted since he could not kill his mother.

5.      Admiral Holdo/Leia – Would have removed Admiral Holdo entirely, or given her a much smaller role in the movie as just an officer of Leia’s. I found her emphasized role in the movie to be obnoxious and her character serves no purpose other than to push a misplaced and misguided “men vs women” narrative that just didn’t belong here. Sorry, that’s just the way I felt. Instead, Poe begins to quarrel with Leia herself throughout the movie and Leia is not unconscious for half the movie. She tells Poe her plan to keep retreating while broadcasting for help, and he disagrees with her, wanting to stop the First Order fleet somehow.

6.      Canto Bight – would have removed this entire storyline. It sucked and no one liked it. I’m just saying what everyone pretty much felt. Instead, Finn, Rose and BB-8 sneak aboard Snoke’s flagship much sooner in the film (using Rose’s hacking expertise rather than DJ’s). If the director wanted Benicio del Toro in the film that badly, they can just make him a Resistance or First Order officer or something. Otherwise, DJ doesn’t need to be in this. I personally didn’t care for the character that much, as with the entire Canto Bight thing.

7.      Finn/Rose – rather than Canto Bight, Finn and Rose’s storyline in this film takes place primarily on Snoke’s flagship. This makes for something of a covert, Death Star-style mission/adventure where they are in disguise, sneaking past guards, encountering various obstacles etc. I would also use this storyline as an opportunity to give us more of Captain Phasma.

8.      Captain Phasma – she encounters Finn and Rose during their hacking mission much earlier in the film. This leads to a sort of cat & mouse chase and confrontation throughout the ship, as Phasma ruthlessly stalks for Finn and Rose. We also get some more insight into her past interactions with Phasma and Finn while he was a Stormtrooper under her, through Phasma’s dialogue here. This dialogue could suggest that her harsh methods as an overseer were meant to make Stormtroopers like Finn strong and unyielding, but they just ended up pushing Finn too far. Phasma’s death can then be the same on that we got, but it would actually mean something and feel impactful this time around since we would actually get more than 30 seconds of her in the movie this time.

9.      Luke’s Jedi Temple Backstory – maybe rather than Luke contemplating killing Ben Solo when he feared that he was turning to the dark side, he confronts him. Ben Solo was growing attached to one of Luke’s other Jedi students, and Luke feared that this would be an almost identical turn to the dark side like his father’s (loving and then losing Padme etc). Luke perhaps reprimands him for this, leading to Ben beginning to mistrust him as a teacher. Meanwhile, Snoke had already reached out to Ben through the force and began to pour poison into his ear, twisting Ben’s mind and convincing him that Luke would try to destroy him. When Luke goes to try to make amends, Ben reacts defensively and collapses the hut on top of him. The female Jedi student who Ben is in love with witnesses this and tries to calm Ben down and he accidentally kills her in his rage, leaving him distraught. Blaming Luke for this, he destroys the Jedi school.

a.      Luke blames himself for this because, despite him growing wiser over the years, he comes to the realization that he made the same mistake that the original Jedi did with his father regarding his relationship with Padme. On Ahch-to, he found records of the original Jedi not detaching themselves from emotions such as love and passion etc. He concludes that rejecting these notions made things worse, making it easier for Palpatine to turn his father to the dark side and take control, just as he accidentally allowed Snoke to do with Ben Solo.

10.   Rey’s Mirror Vision – rather than the annoying fake-out that we got in this film, Rey instead does see her parents. As Kylo said in the film, they are nobodies, and we as the audience do not recognize them, but this will become more clear later. However, Rey does realize as she always secretly suspected, that her parents were nobodies and is distraught by this.

11.   Snoke Throne Room Scene – it is revealed here that Snoke/Plagueis “created” Rey by influencing the Force to produce the ultimate Force prodigy, just as he did with Anakin Skywalker decades earlier. So even though Rey was born to irrelevant junk trader parents on Jakku, she was created by the Force through Plagueis’ meddling. Plagueis also reveals to her that Luke initially wished to take her from Jakku years earlier, when he was looking for Force-sensitive children for his Jedi school but ended up rejecting her when he realized just how powerful she truly was. This is why Rey saw the vision of that ship flying away from her as a little girl on Jakku, during the flashback montage in TFA.

a.      Plagueis/Snoke expects Rey to join with him since he considers her his Force progeny, but he is rejected by her. She tries to turn Kylo Ren to the light side as she did in the film.

b.      Plagueis/Snoke gives Rey her lightsaber back, and forces either Rey or Kylo to kill the other, or he will kill both of them.

c.      Kylo is about to ignite his lightsaber, but he does the same trick he does in the film, with Snoke/Plagueis’ red lightsaber on the throne next to him (the same lightsaber Palpatine/Sidious used in Revenge of the Sith, as a nod to Palpatine taking it from him after he “killed” Plagueis).

d.      Plagueis/Snoke is cut in half and then Kylo Ren and Rey fight the Praetorian guards the exact same way they did in the film.

12.   Admiral Ackbar – Admiral Ackbar was initially convinced by Poe that Leia is not making the right decision. But Leia convinces them about Crait and regains their trust in her leadership. Ackbar is the one who elects to stay behind to make amends. When the shuttles are targeted by the First Order like in the film, it is Ackbar rather than Holdo who crashes his ship into the First Order flagship. This, I feel, is a fitting end to the character, with Ackbar saving lives and going down with his ship.

13.   Throne Room Aftermath – rather than Kylo becoming the new Supreme Leader, he and Rey briefly fight for control of Anakin’s lightsaber and it is cut in half. Afterward, with the flagship falling apart, Rey has escaped to the Falcon using an escape pod and Kylo regains consciousness and escapes aboard his Tie Silencer.

14.   Snoke/Plagueis is “Reborn” – General Hux and several of his officers enter the throne room and fight it empty. Snoke’s lightsaber is beside his throne, his black crystal ring and his robes are piled on the ground, as Snoke’s body has disintegrated. General Hux, distraught at the supreme leader’s death, picks up the black crystal ring. Snoke/Plagueis then speaks through Hux’s mind and possesses General Hux’s body. This hints that Plagueis is now an ethereal being who cannot become one with the Force when he dies, because the Force itself rejects him due to his evil and his frequent attempts to defile the Force. With his previous body destroyed, he inhabits Hux’s body. And when Hux speaks, Snoke/Plagueis’ voice is spoken from his mouth. The other First Order officers bear witness to this, and recognize Snoke, using Hux’s body, as their supreme leader. This also provides a bit of irony; Hux has always been a bit of a brown-noser and ass-kisser when it comes to wanting to please Snoke. It would be ironic how Snoke/Plagueis "rewards" Hux's loyalty by taking possession of his body and completely stripping him of his free will.

15.   Battle of Crait – mostly the same, but rather than getting the cringe line from Rose about “fighting for love” and having her simply push Finn’s speeder out of the way, she is the one who sacrifices herself in order to prevent Finn from doing the same. This would have given enough to shock the audience without taking away from Finn’s attempted heroism, and allows him to stay alive to do more in episode 9. This, in my view, is better than the terrible scene we got and would have made Rose’s story arc feel more satisfying and less of a joke, frankly.

16.   Luke on Crait – Luke faces off IN PERSON rather than as a Force projection against Plagueis/Snoke (using Hux’s body), and rather than against Kylo Ren. Luke is also using his green lightsaber rather than blue. Kylo is not present during this battle at all. Plagueis/Snoke gloats that he has won, and that the galaxy already belongs to him and the First Order, but Luke insists that there is still hope for the galaxy to fight back. Leia and the Resistance escapes using Rey’s help as with in the film. An epic fight reminiscent of Voldemort vs Dumbledore in the 5^th Harry Potter film ensues, with Luke and Plagueis both throwing lightsaber blows and epic force abilities at each other. Plagueis, however, is victorious and stabs Luke. But Plagueis realizes too late that Luke was just buying time for Leia and the others to escape with help from Rey. Luke ominously tells Plagueis that the Jedi will not die with him. He looks off in the distance and sees the ghosts of Anakin, Yoda and Obi-wan. Luke smiles at them and then dies.

17.   End scene – Kylo Ren (who hasn’t been seen since the Throne room scene) is on Ahch-to. He is seen using the force to put his lightsaber back to together after having taken it apart. When he ignites the lightsaber, is glows white colored (similar to Ahsoka Tano’s white lightsabers from Star Wars rebels, indicating that she is neither Jedi nor Sith, but in the middle). The last shot of the film, is Kylo sitting atop the boulder that Rey was sitting on while training under Luke earlier in the film, looking at the twin suns off in the sunset.

How I think this would have been better than the version of TLJ that we got:

1.      Going into episode 9, it makes Kylo Ren a wild card, with all of us wondering what he is going to do? Will he oppose the Resistance still? Can he bring himself to join the Resistance considering how much harm he’s done to it, or will he choose to go against Snoke/Plagueis’ armies alone? Will HE come up with the secret to destroying Plagueis once and for all?

2.      It gave the original trilogy leads (Luke, Han, Leia) the sendoffs that they deserve. Han dies tragically in a pivotal character moment for Kylo Ren. Luke dies heroically, buying time for the Resistance and redeeming himself for his past failings in a way that isn’t just him doing a fancy projection trick from Ahch-to. Leia dies peacefully, surrounded by those in the Resistance who care for her (maybe have her funeral at the beginning of Ep 9, after a time jump).

3.      It gave more satisfying character background and moments to characters like Phasma, Snoke, Finn, Rose and Ackbar.

4.      It makes Rey come across as less of a Mary Sue, since there is a partial explanation as to why the Force chose her to be so powerful. It doesn’t fix all the issues that I frankly have with her character, but it fixes a few of them.

The New Deal vs Competing Capitalist Theories

Just as America has been a melting pot of many differing ideals, so too has there always been differing theories about how the economy and interrelation between the social classes should be organized. Economic capitalism, which has been a baseline economic system in the country harkening back to the deeply-rooted tradition of the Protestant Ethic. In theory, this economic system uplifts the American Dream by rewarding those who work hard to earn their wealth and their happiness. However, when systematic failures in the economy, such as the Great Depression, prevent this economic organization from working properly, it soon becomes a question of how wealth should be distributed to those who have been most impacted by a financial crisis and what the relation between the wealthy and the working classes should be and how wealth is distributed between them. Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s theories laid forth in the New Deal doctrines call for a distribution of wealth that allows for the working class and underprivileged to be provided for in times of need or crisis while maintaining the capitalistic spirit and promise of the American Dream. The New Deal theories are preferable to social Darwinist theories like those of William Graham Sumner and anti-capitalistic theories like those of Orestes Brownson, on the grounds that Sumner’s vision does not fully take into account unfair business practices within American capitalism while Brownson fails to juxtapose capitalism with an alternate economic theory that upholds the promise of the American Dream.

"The Queen's Burden" Novel Prologue

Prologue: Blueberries and Mutton

 

Plumes of smoke billowed and rose into the air, drifting and spiraling violently toward the clouds like many writhing worms emerging from nooks of dirt. The suffocating stench of death that came with the smoke permeated throughout the very air along with the smell of burning oak and wood as the forest itself was put to the torch. Above, between pillows of rising smoke, trees one by one became enveloped in orange as flames licked away at their coat of leaves, turning them into dead husks with burning twigs, before the flames spread to the adjoining tree and the process repeated itself.

Edric the miller had not seen such a horrid spectacle of flames in his fifty years of life.

The tall, burly miller stood back, watching flames scorch away a large blueberry bush where he’d gathered blueberries for his youngest daughter only the week prior. For just a brief moment, Edric pictured his daughter screaming and burning amid those leaves and berries just as the flames destroyed one of the meager things that had always brought her joy. The orange flames mirrored themselves upon the older man’s glistening grey eyes as he watched the bush die in fire, but the resilient miller willed himself not to let tears be shown.

The man who’d set the blueberry bushes on fire stepped back, pulling away his torch. The gaunt, grinning man with a stormcrow emblem upon his tabard turned to Edric, waving his torch nonchalantly while his other hand rested upon the hilt of the sword at his hip. The man’s grin showed thin, chiseled lips and highlighted his sunken-in, skeleton-like cheeks.

The armed man licked cracked lips. “Smell that, miller?”

When Science Fiction Gives Way to Science Nonfiction

Modern science and technology has allowed humankind to answer many of the questions that humans have been asking for years. While we now have a more thorough understanding of puzzling conundrums such as gravity and motion, for instance, there are certain questions that our scientific and technological prowess has not yet allowed us to answer. First and foremost, there are things that fall into the realm of supernatural and paranormal that have not yet been fully explained or answered by scientific study or academia. Since modern science is always in flux and changing, it is possible that new explanations may arise to support the existence of these supernatural or paranormal phenomena. For now, however, it is possible that certain phenomena may exist in our world or universe, even if we cannot yet see or explain them scientifically. Paranormal phenomena that science cannot yet give explanation to may be present in our world today.

Since my first foray into science-fiction pop culture, beginning with Star Wars and Ghostbusters, I’ve agonized over whether or not ghosts, witches, telepathy, aliens, and other supernatural and paranormal phenomena exist. After a long time fathoming over it, I’ve come to the conclusion that there is a high likelihood that these things do exist in our universe in some form or another. Believing in paranormal activity is not always easy since we humans want to put stock in tangible things that we can see, taste, touch, or give explanation to with science. However, just because our naked eyes may have never beheld something, does that mean that it absolutely doesn’t exist?

Is Digital Entertainment Overtaking Traditional Toys?

Movies and video games have become so widespread in recent years that they are practically becoming one of the most dominant forms of entertainment. Does this compliment the toy industry, or spell danger for it?

Hasbro, one of the largest and well-known toy companies, announced in a statement that they were to divert funding and focus onto their entertainment division of the company. With other toy-influenced films such as Battleship, Candyland and a G.I. Joe sequel set to be released, Hasbro for one seems intent on establishing an enterprise in digital entertainment, particularly after the success of such Hasbro entertainment films as the Transformers film series.

Though a general shift toward pushing digital entertainment may compliment toys themselves, it may also lead to a decline in purchasing and utilizing real, physical toys, particularly amongst children.

This reminded me of a commercial (the product of which I can’t remember) that I had seen recently in which a little girl uses her toy chest as a chair to sit at the computer and play an online video game. It made me realize that perhaps children had averted much of their creative interest from physical, tangible toys to visual stimulation in the form of movies, television and video games.

When I was a kid, my parents often tried to let me expand my creative horizon of my own accord, rather than confining me to common toys or franchises. When thinking of unique gift ideas, they did their best to balance visual entertainment with fun, creative toys that I could physically engage in. Instead of action figures, they bought me sets of assorted Lego pieces, which allowed me to build my own creations and personalize the toys according to what I enjoyed, rather than pushing mainstream, already assembled toys that didn’t expand personal creativity.

I think that although digital forms of entertainment are fun and should flourish on their own, they shouldn’t take the place of conventional toys that allow children and adults to expand their personalization and creativity. A balance should be struck in which both digital entertainment, and classic toys should be allowed to exist harmoniously, without one taking over the other.  

Siri: Is it a Threat to Search Engines?

The tech and social media world was abuzz with the release of Siri (Speech Interpretation and Recognition Interface) for Apple iOS devices last year. Siri is the app for Apple devices such as iPhones, which allows users to ask a question into the speaker of the device and Siri will interpret and answer the question.

This app has proven to be quite a useful one in the short time since its initial release in August, 2011. Apple and Siri inc. have programmed an unprecedented amount of information into this app and thus molded a personal electronic assistant that borders on super intelligent. This allows a nearly limitless range of questions to be correctly answered on the spot. If there is to be a spawning of an intelligent race of sentient machines as portrayed in Terminator or The Matrix, Siri just may well be its precursor.

Though this has become a reliable means of searching for answers, this growing app may pose a future threat to some of the largest social media search engines out there, such as Google and Bing. The ease and accessibility of merely asking a question into your phone and getting a reliable answer can arguably bode ill for the common search engines if Siri becomes more widespread.

Like Google and other search engines, Siri has the ability to adapt and be programmed with even more answers to questions. It will record questions asked and add them to its database so that it grows and becomes an even larger repository for information, questions and answers.

What may stall the rise of Siri and competition against Google and other search engines may be that Siri has only become available on the newest versions of iPhones and iOS devices. Since the app hasn’t been implemented into the older generations, it may not yet threaten the largest search engine databases.

Only time will tell if Siri will come to rival the largest search engines in years to come.

Call to Arms: Social Media Groups Can Rally People to Action

The growing phenomenon of social media, such as Facebook, has done far more than to merely entertain and connect various people. It can be observed that social media also has a way of enlightening people about controversial current events and inspiring scores of users to jump in and take a side on some of these issues and concerns.

Groups on Facebook and Twitter often serve as places for people who have a common interest to chat with each other about their shared interests. These groups can range anywhere from something mundane and satirical, to a group involving a shared interest in a particular movie or TV show.

However, as groundbreaking and ongoing events arise and circulate through social media, groups have subsequently arisen in response to these events. As a result, thousands or even millions of people will join these groups and pledge their support to different sides of these social issues.

A notable example of how Facebook groups have pulled in support from large numbers of users is with the growing support for the Stop Kony 2012 campaign that launched in March. With the release of the viral film, several Facebook groups spawned as a result, with each of them amassing thousands of new group members and “likes” from people who support the attempts to bring war criminal, Joseph Kony, to justice. 

Many people who were previously unaware of similar phenomena are not only informed and enlightened about them, but also inspired to take action and become involved. Though many people believe that there has been growing apathy when it comes to protesting social issues, these social media groups show that people may not be as apathetic as was first thought.

Social media groups are easy ways for people to get involved in pivotal current events without having to physically risk their physical well-being in actual protests. They have become popular motivators for a generation of people previously believed to be apathetic in social phenomena.