Legacy #5 and review of "Anticipation"

[lazypadawan]

It's back to the ongoing story and Jan Duursema's art. Yay! This issue features lots of shooting and lightsaber action as the gang run into more Jedi and a Sith. Cade whoops some Sith-wannabe butt, and he's almost recognized by one of the Jedi. The blue Twi'lek chick stupidly trusts the guy who runs the "Imperial Mission" (wth is that anyway?). She also happens to be the twin sister of one of the Jedi (naturally, a Twi'lek). There's also a great scene where Darth Krayt makes a trip to Korriban to discover some Sithly secrets from holocrons. He calls up Darths Bane, Nihilus, and (?) to ask their advice. They basically tell him, "FOAD, you faker." Bane tells Krayt he's a moron for changing the Rule of Two. Krayt's response to the dead Sith is, "Fine, be that way!" and he stomps off in a huff. Heh heh.

"Anticipation: The Real Life Story Of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace" by Jonathan L. Bowen

This is a fan-written book about the phenomenon that was TPM, covering everything from casting up through the DVD debut of the film in 2001. The author began writing it when he was 16 and finished it 6 years later. For the most part it is a trip down memory lane. Even I'd forgotten about some of the events described in the book, like the 50-day countdown to the film's release in USA Today (but the author forgot about the 80-odd day countdown on Access Hollywood). It's in many ways a look back at the crazed carnival surrounding the film. The best part of the book though is how it chronicles TPM's incredible run at the box office and the successes it had on the home video market. It does describe the rash of negative and often inaccurate stories in the media but it's a book more about pre-release hype and TPM's accomplishments rather than about the backlash against it. The Oscars' shafting of the film isn't even mentioned.

The book's downside is that you can tell it was written by someone who's articulate but not terribly experienced. The book's bibliography shows the author did a lot of research but there are no footnotes anywhere in the text. Unless he's directly quoting a source, you have no idea where he got his stats. The division of the chapters and even the narrative is a bit disjointed at times. For instance, he puts a chapter about the film's critical reviews before a chapter about the marathon line-ups. He also feels the need to include even the most trivial factoid, which makes the book a bit pedantic at times. Yet he misses some things that would bolster his case, such as at TPM winning a couple of awards at the 2000 Saturns. And he's way too nice to TFN ;).

Still, it's the only book to date that has covered the craziness that preceded and continued after TPM's release. It presents a good argument why TPM is one of, if not the most important and influential films to come out in the past 10 years. It also makes it crystal clear that despite what Darth Media and the internet echo chamber would have you believe, AUDIENCES LIKED THE MOVIE!! Despite "Anticipation"'s imperfections, it's also a wealth of information. Let's see if a better and more experienced writer can take on the topic sometime.

Comments

[krpalmer.livejournal.com]

I once saw a fanfic that used "Darth Nihilos" or something very similar as a Sith name, and thought it to be a very compelling one. It seems that one more person has had the same idea.

I've heard a little about that book, and even looked up its amazon.com entry once. In a way, I'm impressed by how young the author is, although it sounds as if he could have used an editor. Of course, I might be more interested in what defence of TPM the book makes than in a rundown of the runup to it. Even at the time, I was trying to keep my distance from it in a (somewhat unsuccesful) attempt to avoid spoilers and from the uneasy feeling that letting anticipation run away on me was a short trip to ending up unsatisfied. (I could have done without the apparent proof of that, too... although I did a bit better at avoiding learning about the surprises of AotC and Rots.) Still, I think the argument that the movie did very well for itself, and that "fandom" can indeed lose track of enjoying the things it's supposed to be interested in, should be made... although I can't escape thoughts of the final counterargument, "If the masses enjoy something, then obviously it has to be pitched at the lowest common denominator!" After that, what can you say?

[lazypadawan.livejournal.com]

Regardless of how detractors might feel about the quality of the film, the book certainly refutes the oft-repeated argument that most people found it disappointing or bad.