Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Boiled Leather Audio Hour #43

Star Wars: The Force Awakens, or Episode Seven Kingdoms

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, Sean and Stefan discuss the new Star Wars movie! Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens Jedi mind tricked us into dedicating this episode of our A Song of Ice and Fire podcast to an entirely different fantasy franchise. How did the film fit in with larger saga? How did J.J. Abrams’s direction differ from George Lucas’s? Is Rey a Mary Sue, and if so, how does that impact the film? What the hell was up with Starkiller Base? We answer all these questions and more, including a discussion of the film’s cinematography, the performances of its actors, the pros and cons of the characters, and even a few connections to the world of Westeros. I’ve got a good feeling about this…

Download Episode 43

Additional links:
Mirror.
Stefan’s review of the movie.
Tasha Robinson’s essay on Rey.
Previous episodes.
Podcast RSS feed.
iTunes page.
Sean’s blog.
Stefan’s blog.

3 comments:

  1. Great Episode! One thing: I would say Ned is the character most closely following the Hero's journey.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am going to do this from memory, so I might miss some parts, but the basic structure:
      Call to action: Lysa's letter
      Refusal of the call: Ned's still uncertain, called to action by Robert's arrival.
      In King's Landing, his meeting with Littlefinger is the meeting with the magical helper, who lets him enter the new, dangerous world (the world of intrigues and the seedy underbelly of KL). There, he has many adventures that I would have to look up. Cat's arrival is the reuniting with the mother.
      Finally, he has found what he needed to find, and returns to the real world to bestow his blessing (the knowledge of the Lannister's deeds) to his community.
      Only instead of succeeding in that last step, he dies.
      (Jaime might be the dragon, etc..., like I said, would have to look it up, but the very basic structure and the core elements that show up in each of the quarters of the hero's cycle seem to be there perfectly.)

      Delete