Babel Clash

Also be sure to check out our awesome Star Wars eBooks page, created to celebrate the release of the entire Expanded Universe in eBook format! We’ve got links to every single title, presented in an easy to read timeline, so you can start in any era of Star Wars history.

This week’s guest is Alex Bledsoe, author of the Eddie Lacrosse novels (a series that is a great mix of high fantasy and hard-boiled detective fiction), a series of vampire novels (Memphis Vampires), and a new series starting this Fall starring Bronwyn Hyatt, an injured war vet who comes back from the war, only to be faced with her obligations to the Tufa people, who have a distaste for outsiders and no clear idea about their origin.  That novel is called The Hum and the Shiver.

   

When the series “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” premiered my six-year-old son was immediately hooked. 　He’d seen, and loved, five of the six films. 　He had not, and still hasn’t, seen “Revenge of the Sith.” I wish I could keep him from ever seeing it; further, if I could go back and stop him from watching “The Clone Wars,” I would. 　Here’s why.

To paraphrase Henry V following the battle of Agincourt, “I was not angry at George Lucas until this instant.” 　Sure, his inexplicable decisions annoyed the long-time fan in me, but as a content creator myself I couldn’t argue with his right to do whatever the hell he wanted with his property. 　Tweak the effects, change the narratives, screw with the music–those are his prerogatives. 　But “Revenge of the Sith” and “The Clone Wars” are a whole other dark side. 　

Think about what he’s done. 　Three years after “Revenge of the Sith”–definitely NOT a movie for small children, as the PG-13 rating bears out– he began a children’s show that makes heroes of both Anakin Skywalker and the clone troopers themselves. 　He’s deliberately getting an entire generation of kids–little kids–attached to these characters (and of course reaping the financial benefits of his marketing savvy in the process). 　The only problem is, eventually all of them–even my son, still clinging to the innocence of true childhood–will have to deal with what happens next: the clone troopers become the storm troopers, and Anakin Skywalker becomes Darth Vader.

Worse–and unforgivable, in my estimation–is that, in “Revenge of the Sith,” Lucas shows Anakin killing Jedi children. 　This is not mentioned off-screen, or shown in a quick cutaway like the deaths of Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru. 　No, we actually see the terror on a Jedi child’s face, a boy not much older than my son, as he realizes Anakin is about to kill him. 　It’s a much bigger betrayal of his audience than having Greedo shoot first.

This isn’t about dramatics. 　The plot point could be covered in any number of discrete ways. 　This is about a man, a content creator, truly not giving a shit.

Several months ago I explained to my son that the clone troopers become the storm troopers. 　He seemed to take it well. 　Then, twenty minutes later, I found him huddled in the corner of his bedroom sobbing. 　When I asked him why, he said it was because, “I’m a fan of the clone troopers.” 　He felt the kind of betrayal only a child can feel. 　And he felt it for all the wrong reasons, chiefly among them profit. 　Which is why I’m putting off “Revenge of the Sith” as long as possible, and no longer actively encouraging “The Clone Wars.”

I don’t imagine my worries will bother George a bit. 　His insular serenity in interviews shows that he’s above such petty terrestrial concerns. 　But as far as I’m concerned he let down both my son and me, the 14-year-old kid who fell in love with Star Wars back in 1977. 　I can only hope that eventually his heart will grow three sizes in one day and he’ll comprehend what he’s done to this generation of adoring innocents. 　And maybe then, he’ll cry like my son.