There is a segment of fandom that is very concerned that Star Wars Rebels will be a "kid show". These people likely base if off the fact that Lucasfilm is owned by Disney and that the show will be on the Disney XD channel, which has a target segment of pre-teen/young teenage boys.
For me, I am hoping it *is* a "kid" show. Let's face it, while the Clone Wars featured fantastic animation and frequently very good storytelling, it was really not meant for kids - teenagers and adults, yes, but not for younger kids. When watching some Clone Wars episodes with my nine year old son recently on Netflix, he asked me if there was an episode without so much killing. This was why I stopped watching the show with him during season one. I thought a few years later he would be more comfortable with it. But I must conclude that no, this show is just not meant for kids.
I think it is telling that a recent Star Wars blog posted the top five kid-friendly episodes in the Clone Wars series. I agree with the list and I also think that the reason it is a top five list and not a top ten list is because those are the only episodes out of 122 that really are kid friendly.
Honestly, what is wrong with a "kid" show? I know popular culture is telling us the only way you can tell appealing stories for adults is to fill it with gratuitous violence, sex, and foul langauge (see Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, and practically every other television series). But I completely disagree. One of Walt Disney's guiding principles when developing his entertainment - whether it was movies or amusement parks - was that it appeal to both children and adults. It was entertainment that everyone could enjoy together. How is that a bad thing?
I can offer up at least one prime example of a great television series that we all watch together as a family, on Disney Channel no less - Phineas and Ferb. Think of it as a more light-hearted Simpsons without the off-color humor or cynicism. There are funny references in there that adults can chuckle at and plenty of action that the kids can really get into.
Episode IV did have some dark elements to it, but it was also fun and adventurous. It's a movie that I know the whole family can enjoy. I saw the recent clip from Rebels and I am very encouraged that the show will follow in its style. Bring on the kid show!
A blog about all things Star Wars, and more, from the perspective of a father of two kids.
Sunday, August 31, 2014
Saturday, August 16, 2014
Steampunk
I recently purchased the 80 Days app on my iPhone and have thoroughly enjoyed it. It takes Verne's novel, Around the World in 80 Days and put an extra steampunk layer of fiction on top of it.
Below is a list of steampunk ideas that I will look into. I would like to read at least one *good* steampunk novel sometime soon!
Wikipedia cites these works as precursors to steampunk:
- The Aerial Burgler by Percival Leigh - A short story written in 1844.
- Metropolis - A 1927 film by Fritz Lang. I have seen this film several times as a kid. It is a very nice work and you can clearly see how the robot that is featured in it inspired the design of C-3PO
- A Nomad of the Time Streams Trilogy by Michael Moorcock - Novels written in the 1970s.
The term itself was coined by author K. W. Jeter as an attempt to describe the style of fiction written by himself and his peers in recent years:
- The Anubis Gate by Tim Powers (1983)
- Homunculus by James Blaylock (1986)
- Morlock Night by K. W. Jeter (1979)
- Infernal Devices by K. W. Jeter (1987)
However, other fictional works preceded the use of the steampunk neologism:
- Worlds of the Imperium by Keith Laumer (1962)
- Queen Victoria's Bomb by Ronald W. Clark (1967)
- A Transatlantic Tunnerl, Hurrah! by Harry Harrison (1973)
Here are other interesting steampunk-type books:
- The Last Man by Mary Shelley (1826) - Apocalyptic
- The Difference Engine by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling (1990) - Victorian
- The Leviathan Trilogy by Scott Westerfeld - Victorian
Thursday, July 24, 2014
Data Analysis for the GFFA
One of my favorite blogs I have discovered recently is FiveThirtyEight. It is a blog started by Nate Silver for data analytics oriented toward a general audience. Today the folks over there published a blog analyzing results of a Star Wars survey. One of the great things about this site is that most of the data they report on is made available via the code sharing site, GitHub.
You can hop over to their site to read the article. It is a great write-up, but I wanted to dig a little deeper. So I pulled the data and did my own analysis, which I am posting here. I didn't have much free time so this is just an initial study. But, I think you will find these preliminary results interesting!
One aspect I was curious about is how both the Star Wars (SW) fan and the Non-SW fan views the major characters in the films. This was a topic of heated debate between Jason Swank and Jimmy Mac of the must-listen Star Wars podcast, Rebel Force Radio. There was a "spirited" debate as to how recognizable Boba Fett was versus Han Solo or other characters. We now have some hard data to add to the discussion!
In terms of the survey data itself, it comporises a sample of 1,186 participants. Of those surveyed, 79% have seen at least one Star Wars film and 47% identified themselves as fans. So this looks like a healthy sample of data of both fans & non-fans for studying.
First let's start with the fans. Below is my graphic showing how the fans view the characters as requested in the survey:
Many characters come as no surprise in terms of favorability: Han Solo tops the list, followed closely by Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi. Luke, Leia and Artoo make a strong showing with Threepio a step behind. Seeing Jar Jar Binks at the bottom of the rankings is also no surprise!
Vader's lower position on the list is a little surprising, but he is a villain so I'd think many would skew to a negative vote in light of that fact. This wouldn't necessarily mean they did not like the character.
What I found most interesting is Boba Fett. Not only is he towards the bottom of this list but that the distribution of favorability is also across the spread evenly across the spectrum. Our perception of him as being such a huge fan favorite may be due to how a vocal a subset of fandom is relative to the broader fan base.
Now let's turn to the non-Star Wars fan:
Wow! Han Solo is much lower on the favorability list even with Harrison Ford's marquee name. In contrast, Luke, Leia and Artoo - despite having not been on screen in thirty years - are still ranked as the most favorable Star Wars characters among non-fans. Vader and Yoda are well up on the list as well. Vader's distribution of favorable and unfavorable ratings again is likely driven by his status as a villain.
You may notice that the last several names have a mostly invisible bar on the right hand side of each stacked bar column. This indicates the survey respondent marked this character as uncertain (not known). Poor Padme, the mother of Luke Skywalker is unknown to a large swath of non-fans. Even Lando! Oh the humanity!
...and then there is Boba Fett. You can see he is among the lesser-knowns and those that do known him are mostly indifferent. This data is hardly a compelling case for the much-rumored Boba Fett spin-off film.
Before I warp up this blog post, I thought I'd show you an interesting comparison of how fans and non-fans ranked the six films.
For the fans in this dataset, the interpretation is clear and predictable. They love the original trilogy with The Empire Strikes Back as their top favorite. The chart below is the mean (average) rating given ranging from 1 (best) to 6 (worst). The light blue bars indicate the prequel films:
For the non-fans, the results are surprisingly different. The Phantom Menace is, on average, ranked higher than Return of the Jedi! Attack of the Clones ranks higher than A New Hope! Wow....
You can hop over to their site to read the article. It is a great write-up, but I wanted to dig a little deeper. So I pulled the data and did my own analysis, which I am posting here. I didn't have much free time so this is just an initial study. But, I think you will find these preliminary results interesting!
One aspect I was curious about is how both the Star Wars (SW) fan and the Non-SW fan views the major characters in the films. This was a topic of heated debate between Jason Swank and Jimmy Mac of the must-listen Star Wars podcast, Rebel Force Radio. There was a "spirited" debate as to how recognizable Boba Fett was versus Han Solo or other characters. We now have some hard data to add to the discussion!
In terms of the survey data itself, it comporises a sample of 1,186 participants. Of those surveyed, 79% have seen at least one Star Wars film and 47% identified themselves as fans. So this looks like a healthy sample of data of both fans & non-fans for studying.
First let's start with the fans. Below is my graphic showing how the fans view the characters as requested in the survey:
Many characters come as no surprise in terms of favorability: Han Solo tops the list, followed closely by Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi. Luke, Leia and Artoo make a strong showing with Threepio a step behind. Seeing Jar Jar Binks at the bottom of the rankings is also no surprise!
Vader's lower position on the list is a little surprising, but he is a villain so I'd think many would skew to a negative vote in light of that fact. This wouldn't necessarily mean they did not like the character.
What I found most interesting is Boba Fett. Not only is he towards the bottom of this list but that the distribution of favorability is also across the spread evenly across the spectrum. Our perception of him as being such a huge fan favorite may be due to how a vocal a subset of fandom is relative to the broader fan base.
Now let's turn to the non-Star Wars fan:
Wow! Han Solo is much lower on the favorability list even with Harrison Ford's marquee name. In contrast, Luke, Leia and Artoo - despite having not been on screen in thirty years - are still ranked as the most favorable Star Wars characters among non-fans. Vader and Yoda are well up on the list as well. Vader's distribution of favorable and unfavorable ratings again is likely driven by his status as a villain.
You may notice that the last several names have a mostly invisible bar on the right hand side of each stacked bar column. This indicates the survey respondent marked this character as uncertain (not known). Poor Padme, the mother of Luke Skywalker is unknown to a large swath of non-fans. Even Lando! Oh the humanity!
...and then there is Boba Fett. You can see he is among the lesser-knowns and those that do known him are mostly indifferent. This data is hardly a compelling case for the much-rumored Boba Fett spin-off film.
Before I warp up this blog post, I thought I'd show you an interesting comparison of how fans and non-fans ranked the six films.
For the fans in this dataset, the interpretation is clear and predictable. They love the original trilogy with The Empire Strikes Back as their top favorite. The chart below is the mean (average) rating given ranging from 1 (best) to 6 (worst). The light blue bars indicate the prequel films:
For the non-fans, the results are surprisingly different. The Phantom Menace is, on average, ranked higher than Return of the Jedi! Attack of the Clones ranks higher than A New Hope! Wow....
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)