110 replies to this topic

[ᗅᗺᗷᗅ]

The issue with Han shooting first is that it means he meant to kill Greedo, an idea that doesn't sit well in our modern, helicopter-parented society.  Of course he shot first, it was never intended to be taken any other way.  Lucas wrote it that way, because it was the 1970s and it was a space opera and you shoot the scaly green monsters.  Duh.  All that other stuff came later.  Even scaly green space monsters are people now.

 

Thanks, Oprah.

[Shokkou]

in our modern, helicopter-parented society.

 

Ugh. If you'll excuse me I feel my lunch coming back up.

[Redezra]

They're not that bad, right? 

[Shokkou]

The grilled hot dogs I had for lunch? No. They were pretty good actually.

[Redezra]

No no, helicopter parents.

[Shokkou]

If they're bitching about a character in a movie shooting another, then they kind of are. Then again, if they object to the content of a movie why are they watching/letting their kids watch it? Alternately, why are they letting kids that they apparently think are so impressionable watch a movie if they don't know the content of it?

[Redezra]

Cause they're shit at helicoptering?

[ᗅᗺᗷᗅ]

Ha!

 

I think it's the idea that Han Solo, the hero, was going to shoot someone in cold blood.  But that's the thing — at the time that scene was written, no one gave a second thought to the idea that you would shoot the scaly green monster.  Greedo was a throwaway character, introduced specifically for the purpose of getting shot.  We didn't think about movie violence back then the way we do now.

[Shokkou]

He's not the hero though. Luke is. He's not even really an anti-hero at first. He's just a pragmatic man in a dangerous line of work trying to make a living and not die. The fact that Greedo was a scaly green alien had nothing to do with the fact that Han shot him to protect himself. I wouldn't call it cold blood, but I will agree that violence wasn't looked at the same way then as it is now.

 

I think Redezra just won the "best worded post of the day" award.

[ᗅᗺᗷᗅ]

He's one of the main heroes of the film.  From a child's point of view he is the "good guy."  I think that's why people have such a problem with him shooting first.  It's stupid, but there you go.

[Shokkou]

From a child's point of view he is the "good guy."  I think that's why people have such a problem with him shooting first.  It's stupid, but there you go.

 

Fair enough. That still comes around to my question of why parents are letting kids watch movies if they don't know the content of that movie, but that's already been answered. They're idiots.

 

EDIT: Or, as Redezra put it, "shit at helicoptering." :v

[ᗅᗺᗷᗅ]

Oh, I think they know the content.  I think they know the content very well — that was the problem.  So when their kid asked, "Daddy, why did Han Solo shoot that man?" they were put in an awkward position.  "Because he's a badguy" doesn't cut it, because the follow-up question is, "So it's okay to shoot badguys?"  I think in a perfect helicopter-parent world, Han would have given Greedo fair warning to surrender, and then only shot him when he had no choice.

[*Anastasia]

I think it a perfect helicopter parent world, everything would be ruined by their stupidity.

[ᗅᗺᗷᗅ]

No, everything would be SAFE and PERFECT for their little angels, and nothing bad would ever happen.  Is that so much to ask? 

[Shokkou]

Jorost, if they know the content then why are they letting their kid(s) watch it?

[ᗅᗺᗷᗅ]

Because it's Star Wars.  So they have to find some way to justify it.  That's why Han shooting first is such a problem.

[Shokkou]

Why do they have to justify it? Movies have ratings for a reason. They should know what a movie is rated and why, as well as what they find acceptable.

 

EDIT: I'll cut to the chase, since we've both already stated they're idiots. I am wholly unsympathetic to their plight.

[ᗅᗺᗷᗅ]

Because it's STAR WARS.  It's not just a movie.  To a certain generation of people it not just formative, it is almost sacred.  They want their kid to experience the magic, to feel part of what THEY felt growing up, to share a piece of who they are.  But they also don't want them to realize that the world is a scary, dangerous place.  They want them to think there are heroes and honor and nobility.  Shooting someone in cold blood kind of puts a damper on that.  So they retcon it to make it fit the idealized world they want their children to experience.

[Shokkou]

I am wholly unsympathetic to their plight.

[*Anastasia]

If it was so great for them, it can be great for their kids, without any alterations.