#who's one of the most kind and intelligent and brave characters in the entire trilogy

[major-alenko]

Sometimes the way a thing goes down does matter, Shepard. Later, when you have to live with yourself. Knowing that you acted with integrity—then it matters.

[fans-to-stans]

The Impact of Dystopian Novels on Gen Z

In the following post, I will be discussing the digital revolution as well as YA novels, namely the dystopian type from the late 2000’s to the early 2010’s, and the various impacts they have had on Generation Z. I will focus mainly on the effects of fandom culture as well as the adoption of culture and characteristics of fictional realities, and the emergence of the dystopian female lead trope.

Following the digital revolution, access to information and discussion platforms (such as Tumblr) became rampant. Fandoms hence became one of the dominant modes of engagement online. People across the globe could now find a community of people who share the same interests on the same platform, hence creating common ground for like-minded people to relate. That being said, fan culture existed way before the arrival of the internet, but I will be specifically referencing the post-internet understanding of fandoms as that is what I can relate to. The arrival of the internet led to a new level of globalization of fandom culture. (Janya Sindhu, 2019) These communities were based off popular culture such as tv shows, books, films, music, and more. I will be discussing the impacts of The Huger Games series and the Divergent series. 

Both novels are set in dystopian, futuristic realities where the general population has been divided into separate classes. In the Hunger Games, we are introduced to the concept of “districts”, running from 1-12, where each district is in charge of a specific industry. This is a fascinating depiction of classism as it clearly demonstrates the disparity between amount of work and the level of compensation received depending on which district you were born in. Katniss Everdeen, the protagonist, was born into the 12th, the poorest district, which focuses on coal. (Henthorne, T., 2012)

On the other hand, the Divergent series is separated into factions. There are five factions, Erudite (the intelligent), Amity (the peaceful), Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless) and Dauntless (the brave). In the divergent universe, people are born into a faction, and on their sixteenth birthday, they can choose which faction they wish to switch to. From then on, they have to forget who they once were (including their families) and adopt the traits of their new persona. 

The reason I am explaining these fictional social systems is that following the arrival of social media platforms, people began relating and adopting certain aspects of these novels. People could now order the signature mocking jay pin worn by Katniss Everdeen as a symbol of revolution, or perhaps her bow and arrow, As for Divergent, online quizzes could tell you what your true faction was depending on your personality. What was once a figment of one’s imagination, generated by a script could now feel and seem as real as ever. You could now literally immerse yourself in these universes with some kind of physical “proof”. (Janya Sindhu, 2019)

One of the first instances of this happening was following the Harry Potter boom, where the different Houses and their given specific personality traits created an obsession amongst fans to see where they fit in. People began adopting these traits and labeling themselves accordingly. Obsession could hence be legitimized and encouraged. The development of a new kind of fan known as a stan where someone revolves their entire like and personality around a specific cultural idol can be observed here. The internet, where personality quizzes, discussion platforms, immediate and intimate access to celebrities through Instagram and more injected fandom and stan culture with an extra strength dose of false legitimacy. Even if the algorithm that creates these life altering claims off of 12 seemingly random questions is completely random, the obsession some people have with inserting themselves in their beloved fictional universe will legitimize nearly anything.

 Moreover, Gen Z has grown up reading these dystopian novels and idolizing their female protagonists. Katniss and Tris (the protagonist from the Divergent series) heavily impacted me growing up. It was once of the first instances that I can remember where the lead female was not depicted as the damsel in distress, but as the hero. On multiple occasions, both Katniss and Tris were both the brains and the muscle behind successful operations aiming to either overthrow their corrupt governments or save their male love interests. (Balkind, 2014) Unfortunately, both of these novels only depicted hetero-normative relationships. That being said young girls everywhere began idolizing these characters as it finally gave us a positive depiction of woman in sci fi where their looks and sexuality were not the main focus. Women began wearing their hair in a single French braid pushed to the side because “that’s how Katniss wears hers”. I was absolutely one of those girls. There is a certain empowerment that comes with mimicking one’s heroine, especially at such a young age. In the Divergent series, Tris joins the Dauntless faction where she breaks down gender stereotypes by becoming one of the most lethal members of the faction. (Wiyani, et al., 2017) Katniss is a really interesting character as she demonstrates typically male characteristics (such as being removed, thinking with her head and confidence) all the while maintaining her compassionate side which is shown to her loved ones. The female dystopian lead trope is one of my favourites as, more often than not, these women clearly struggle with trying to find balance with where and how they fit in with society as so many women do. They are absolutely not perfect and often make biased choices and mistakes but that is what I believe makes them so relatable. (Nelson, C., 2014)

To conclude, in my opinion, Generation Z is becoming one of the most outspoken and influential generations yet. With access to information at the tip of our fingers and platforms such as TikTok, twitter, Instagram, etc., our voices and opinions can be shared effortlessly. Growing up with rebellious and headstrong icons such as Tris and Katniss have given young women a chance to see how powerful one person’s voice can be when utilized properly. In the context of fandom and stan culture, the impact of the digital revolution is incomparable.

References: 

2015. What Divergent faction are you?. [image] Available at: <https://www.playbuzz.com/ralflet210/what-divergent-faction-are-you> [Accessed 2 May 2021]. Henthorne, T., 2012. Approaching The Hunger Games trilogy: A literary and cultural analysis. McFarland. https://br.pinterest.com/saradomonkoov/ - Image taken from Pinterest Wiyani, N.P., Sili, S. and Valiantien, N.M., 2017. The Psychoanalytical Study on The Characteristics and Causes of Adolescent Deviant Behavior Found in Divergent Novel by Veronica Roth. Ilmu Budaya: Jurnal Bahasa, Sastra, Seni dan Budaya, 1(2). Janya Sindhu, 2019, Medium Journal, How the Internet has made Fandom Culture Powerful. [online] Available at: <https://medium.com/swlh/how-the-internet-has-made-fandom-culture-powerful-7609ae60e4bf> [Accessed 2 May 2021]. Reid, S. and Stringer, S., 1997. Ethical dilemmas in teaching problem novels: The psychological impact of troubling YA literature on adolescent readers in the classroom. Balkind, N 2014, Fan Phenomena : The Hunger Games, Intellect Books Ltd, Bristol. Available from: ProQuest Ebook Central. [1 May 2021]. Nelson, C., 2014. Female rebellion in young adult dystopian fiction. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd..

[sound-of-random]

This Is Not An Endgame Review.

And there are spoilers in here… not all of them, but the most important one(s).

I need to vent so let’s start at the very beginning… for most of you, that’s probably 2008 but I started watching marvel movies in 2012, when one of my classmates gave me pirated copies of all that were already out, on a pen drive.

I saw Avengers in the theater.

I’m a very basic bitch and also extremely weak when it comes to sparkly eyes and wicked smiles so obviously my Tumblr was a shrine to Tom Hiddleston immediately after that and it was well deserved because he is rather brilliant.. but that did change though.

I honestly can’t pinpoint exactly when Tony Stark became my favorite avenger but I was firmly team Iron Man when civil war happened even though I didn’t agree with Tony at all. Maybe around my 12th rewatch of the Iron Man trilogy when I realized exactly how deeply generous, inspiringly intelligent, horribly blunt, flaky, prideful, arrogant, belligerent, stubborn, reckless, mean, assholish, betrayed, abused, love-starved, vulnerable, anguished and brave the man was.

And before I lose the measly audience that I have gathered, let me make it clear that I fully understand that these movies and characters aren’t real.

It’s just that he was so intrinsically flawed and yet so good at learning from his mistakes and becoming better.

He was betrayed by his father figure in the very first one and I felt that because my father betrayed/abandoned me too.

He was self-destructive when he was dying and I felt that because I’ve done some pretty self-destructive things when I was so depressed that I was borderline suicidal.

He was willing to die to save the world in the first avengers' movie… and I felt that because I was pointedly aware of the fact that I will never be capable of that kind of selflessness.

He hid behind his armor and had those panic attacks when he was coping with past trauma and I felt that because my anxiety sometimes makes me feel like I can’t breathe.

He tried to build an armor around the world and was faced with his worst nightmare, being surrounded by his dead family and I felt that because that’s my worst nightmare too.

He wanted more accountability for himself because he’s a huge bag of guilt and self-loathing and I felt that… but y’all probably get the drift by now.

I’ve also obsessively read every single word that has ever been published about Robert Downey Jr. (Everything that I could find anyway) because he plays the character I love and quite frankly… he is just as inspiring as Tony. He isn’t an engineer or a nuclear physicist but there’s a reason why everyone agrees that he’s the only one that could have played Tony as well as he has. There’s a phoenix metaphor that’s a commonality between the real guy and the character. It’s breathtaking. So is Robert Downey Jr.’s face by the way. Seriously the man is so ridiculously beautiful… it’s borderline offensive. He’s like 54 and yet he could ruin my entire life and I would thank him for it.

Here comes the hurt.

They killed Tony Stark in Endgame… I cried.

And after being on team Iron Man for a good 6 years now, this grief sits very heavy on my chest. I know Tony Stark isn’t real and I understand that RDJ will do other stuff but it still feels like a very good friend has passed away.

It was a good death. It was a hero’s death.

He saved the world again, he defeated the fear that haunted him from the moment he flew into that wormhole with that nuke.

He had achieved the life that he wanted for himself.

It was a great death.

I still wish they hadn’t killed him. I wish they hadn’t given him all that he had found after losing in Infinity War only to have him ripped away from it all.

Maybe he could have lost his arm and then retired forever but apparently, people who like comic books, really like it when heroes die in comic book movies so that the stakes are higher and feel real. Because you know… we don’t have enough death in our real world.

Do I sound bitter? I’m sorry.

The movie was actually pretty good. I laughed, I cried, I yelled so loud along with everyone else in the hall that I lost my voice. Tom Holland’s Spiderman made me cry again. Brie Larson’s Carol Danvers makes me feel like I am the one with superpowers.

Scarlett Johansson’ Natasha Romanoff is the truest of friends.

I have questions about how Steve pulled that off and what exactly does the bit with Loki mean but it was a good movie.

Actually, I’m not sorry.

I just… wish that my heroes didn’t have to die.

[enemyofperfect]

favorite female & nb characters!

All right, last week @maculategiraffe​ tagged me for this delightful meme, and now I’m finally getting around to it!  I’m going to follow her excellent example in not merely listing but also rhapsodizing somewhat about each of my faves.

Rules:  Name your top ten favorite female or nonbinary characters from different fandoms.  Tag ten people.

I think Joss Carter held first place on my list for a similar meme a while back, but I can’t help it, I still love her.  She didn’t bend.  Her entire life story was of repeatedly colliding with unjust and broken systems, from the US Army to her own marriage, and refusing to accept their failings.  Of course, since this was Person of Interest, her workarounds weren’t always legal, but Taraji P Henson always made me believe that it was in service of some higher standard, some blazing better world that was yet to be.  She always snarked with the best of them, too.

Kate Reed of the short-lived USA series Fairly Legal was just as tenacious but far less organized, a female counterpart to countless male protagonists who break every rule and social norm, but with a disarming smile, so of course they end up winning in the end.  She starts the series out grieving, half-divorced, and having just launched on a major career shift, but she's as undaunted by her own pain as she is by any other obstacle, determined to slip past or scrabble over top it in order to find the happy ending she knows is almost within reach, and that’s what makes her unforgettable, for me.

Ann Leckie’s Imperial Radch trilogy is populated almost entirely by nonbinary characters, most of whom are human, but as much as I love Breq’s stoic relentless Breqness, for this meme I’m going to list Mercy of Kalr, the spaceship who saw Breq and wanted her for a captain -- even though no one asks ships their opinions about these things -- and combines all of the virtues of ships (polite, restrained, tactically passive-aggressive) and, ultimately, of citizens as well.  My favorite cinnamon roll ever to fly through space, by far.

Annalise Keating of How to Get Away with Murder is a terrible person, and I love her desperately.  She’s manipulative, compassionate, vulnerable, implacable.  She juggles a dozen disasters at any given time and keeps more of them up in the air than anyone else ever could.  She gets to ignore repeated warnings and give voice to her outrage and, despite being a black woman in America, still win.  She is the center about which the show revolves and without which it could not possibly exist.  And it doesn’t hurt any that she’s also proof that Viola Davis deserves every damn award.

Eleanor Shellstrop is an asshole, plain and simple.  She might or might not be the first to admit it, but if she wasn’t, she would defiantly agree just to make sure the first person realized that noticing that pretty obvious fact didn’t give them any kind of hold over her.  She’s selfish.  The only reason she even tries to change is to avoid punishment.  But she does change.  I love her because she loves herself, and because Kristen Bell is kind of a genius, and because of the genuinely beautiful things The Good Place says through her progress.  She’s fantastic.

Do I even need to speak in praise of Joan Watson?  She, along with a refreshingly empathetic iteration of Sherlock Holmes, is what makes Elementary Elementary.  I love that she’s both principled and pragmatic, that she’s compassionate and dispassionate at once.  I love how many times she’s reinvented herself, and how driven she is, no matter what she does, to do it well.  I admit I’m a little confused about why the show has decided to give her an adoption storyline, but at the same time, I love every single thing about it so far.  I love that the life she lives is exactly her own.

Faris Nallaneen is the protagonist of Caroline Stevermer’s novel A College of Magics, and she breaks my heart.  Heir to a small Ruritanian polity and sent by her wicked uncle to the titular college, she is sardonic, iron-willed, passionately devoted to her people -- and living in a world that is so much bigger and more terrible than she is, and which she will fight with everything she has in her to save what is hers to defend.  Looking only at its outline, her story could have easily been silly or slight.  It is neither of those things, and she’s strong enough to bear it -- even though, at the same time, she is so young.

Sulla Pinsky of O Human Star is even younger, and as a humanoid robot in a world whose human population is still adjusting to the existence of artificial intelligence, she’s got her own share of struggles.  Making friends after a life lived in secret, for example.  Or deciding which secrets to keep for fear of being rejected, and which to share so that she can be loved as who she really is.  She’s by turns enthusiastic and shy, skittish and utterly brave.  She has that wisdom of youth that sees what is wrong in the world and meets it with unflagging hope.  I love her so much.

Kel Cheris of Yoon Ha Lee’s Machineries of Empire series... what do I even say about Cheris?  Absurdly brave, but that’s Kel for you.  Absolutely brilliant at math, but it’s not like the story gives concrete examples, or like I could have appreciated them if it had.  She’s kind to robot servitors.  She’s kind to the ghost that takes up residence in her mind.  I could say that she does her best in a world of terrible cruelties, and that’s true, but I also feel like that’s missing the point in some strange way; hers isn’t really the kind of story you can tie up in an inspirational bow.  But I love that she is kind.

And then there’s Murderbot, of The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells, who is probably the most relatable of any of these characters.  I’ve only read the first novella so far, but Murderbot leaves a hell of an impression:  part bot, part organic, and 100% socially anxious media fan.  Why do these humans keep wanting to talk?  Why does plot keep getting in the way of binge watching the best drama of all time, Sanctuary Moon?  Murderbot is intensely awkward, chronically cranky, occasionally heroic, and really doesn’t want you to take that last as an excuse to try and interact.  I could not ask for more in a protagonist.

I’m going to skip the tagging step because I’ve worn myself out with how much I love all of these amazing fictional people, but please, if you’d like to play, consider yourself tagged!  I love hearing about people’s faves!

[redrikki]

So, I just watched The Last Jedi and I have thoughts. More with some spoilers below.

I felt like I was watching two movies. Both had some pretty great visuals, but that was about all they had in common until they somehow intersected right at the end. The first movie, the one about the girl looking for belonging and help with her magical powers, was actually pretty decent. The second one, the one where all the people of color are incompetent and need to be rescued by white people, kind of sucked.

So, it was pretty obvious that the Rey-Luke-Kylo Ren storyline was the only one the author actually gave a shit about. And, you know, it wasn’t completely terrible. I’d read enough spoilers to know that Luke was not the Luke of RotJ, so, once I accepted, that I could move on and enjoy him rediscovering the Force and peace and purpose. Rey deciding that she could fix Kylo Ren and all that was actually handled in a fairly organic way that wasn’t anywhere near as forced as spoilers had lead me to believe.

The second storyline, the Resistance-Poe-Finn-Rose litany of failure and stupidity, was just, sigh. Why was Poe suddenly a completely different person then seen in TFA, the comics, and, oh, anything else in which he appeared? Why was Finn suddenly naive, cowardly comic relief instead of the intelligent, competent, and brave person he had been? Isn’t it one of the story group’s jobs to make sure things are consistent or is that just for plot points and not characterization? Why were we suddenly watching Battlestar Galactica? I could literally rant for at least a half an hour about just how fucking dumb nearly every aspect of this storyline was, but I don’t want to bore you. 

I think if Rian hadn’t been forced to write a B-plot for the Resistance gang, he probably could have written a pretty good film instead of a decent and moderately entertaining one. If he cared to respect the fact that he was writing within an existing series with established characters instead of feeling the need to make his mark by shitting all over his predecessor’s creations, then it might have even been a good Star Wars film. Like, I get that the message of the film was to let go of nostalgia and burn down the past, but, like, our nostalgia for Star Wars is literally the only reason we’re bothering to see the film. Telling us we’re idiots for continuing to care about the characters and stories paying to see more of is kind of insulting. 

Stray thoughts:

The final battle on the salt planet was fucking gorgeous in all aspects.

If they insisted on killing Luke, that was probably the way to do it. It also means he can still show up in later films since he’s made himself a Force ghost. 

That was an incredibly unflattering shirtless scene. 

Leia was criminally underused and largely passive. 

So much Finn/Rey in this. Also, hints of Finn/Poe and Finn/Rose. Literally everyone loves Finn. He mostly seemed concerned about/in love with Rey though, so, there’s that.

Wow, they really shoehorned Maz in there, didn’t they. Sigh.

Learning from failure was apparently the lesson of the film, but only Poe really seemed to have learned anything from his. 

They had Yoda deliver that message. Fucking YODA, the dude who learned absolutely nothing while he was still alive decides to school Luke on learning from failure? Yoda can suck it. Fuck that guy.

Fighting for what you love instead of against what you hate was apparently the other lesson of the film although it was said aloud to entirely the wrong person. Poe was the one fighting what he hated. Finn had been the guy fighting for who he loved the ENTIRE FUCKING TIME. Remember when Rose called him a coward and tased him for that? I sure do. Maybe we’re supposed to take it as her having finally learned that lesson? Whatever.

Um, how are the Resistance rebels now? They were affiliated with the rightful government of the Republic. They are defending Republic territory against the invading force which just destroyed their capital. Unless we’re claiming that the First Order is now the rightful government, then they are not Rebels. 

Canto Bite was so disappointing. Why were there no legacy aliens there? That would be the perfect place for it. Why was everyone wearing black and/or white? Do they not have colors there? They used to have them back in the PT era. Most visually boring racino ever.

A young white slave boy with the Force? We’ve certainly never seen that before. I can’t wait for Rian’s trilogy all about that kid. We’ve never had an impoverished, orphaned boy learn about the Force while joining a rag-tag rebellion before. 

Speaking of, when Kylo Ren is doing his abusive you’re-a-nothing-except-when-you’re-with-me speech he says that she has no part in their story because she’s not part of their super special legacy. That’s a legacy of three generations that started with a slave and includes another slave and a farmer. For a film and a guy so obsessed with destroying and breaking free of legacy, they ascribe way more prestige to the Skywalker legacy than it actually had. 

Rian managed to tie up nearly all the dangling plot threads and mysteries that J.J. left dangling. Too bad he answered half of them with a resounding ‘fuck you for even caring.’

Didn’t love it. Didn’t hate it. Was more or less entertained while watching it when I wasn’t rolling my eyes.

[roguexunited]

Wtf Star Wars: The Last Jedi, W.T.F.

“Wtf Star Wars: The Last Jedi, W.T.F.”

DON’T READ THIS IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE MOVIE, IT CONTAINS SPOILERS.

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

Just coming out of the movie theater I still find myself with a sense of discontent after watching the newest installment of the Star Wars saga. Unfortunately for the franchise, Episodes I-III made me jaded about the whole affair, and I came to expect very little out of it, just with the exception of Rogue One, which till this day I think is the best the franchise has to offer, but more on that later. After the fiasco of the last one ― which was a carbon copy of Episode I, which itself is a carbon copy of Episode IV ― I was not expecting the story to deviate that much from the jewel that is The Empire Strikes Back, nonetheless, I found a very different Star Wars than what I expecting.

           Different is good, it means that we are not getting dealt the same story over and over again and that the writers and producers understand that times have changed. In particular, I think that stories, even Disney stories, have come to understand that even though there is good and evil nothing is as black and white; Zootopia, Moana, and Brave have been some of the examples in which this dichotomy has been challenged and questioned, bringing forth a richer plot. Kudos for Star Wars for realizing that times have changed, but the execution of set change was deplorable, especially coming from a cinematic universe which foundation is precisely this dichotomy, light vs dark, good vs evil. Making the plot askew from this preset would have shifted the entire basis of the Jedi/Sith relationship, and shaken the galaxy as we know it. They tried, they really tried, most of the movie is trying but not doing anything to achieve change, falling Yoda's teachings in every step.

           Let’s begin with the First Order and the dark side. What is up with that? It is understandable that, after one faction has taken out the opposition, the mentality and remnants of the fallen government doesn't just simply disappear, but apparently they didn’t disappear at all but thrived, grew and overtook this new Republic in record time. How? We don’t know. Why? We don’t know either. Mimicking A New Hope, where the story beings a medias res (literally as it is Episode IV), The Last Jedi takes off fighting a force which is not really explained, they are simply the bad guys. There is a rebellion, which should actually be the ruling government, but if it is seen as trying to silence the voices of the opposition then it becomes a new empire. So all the heroes we love needed to be forced into playing the role of the underdog once again. The First Order, with its religious and programed fanaticism, is unexplained and uncontested at the moment. At least, through the second trilogy (Episodes I-III) we so the rise the empire, explained through a political intrigued that showed that the battlefront had two fields: the political one, that was never the Jedi’s strong point, and the actual war, which was just a diversion to take over the Senate. In that regard, the second trilogy was very intelligent in paving the way for the original trilogy. Now, after two trilogies it is ludicrous that they present a villain in such an old fashion way. This is a nod to the original foundation of the Star Wars universe, the First Order represents darkness, and darkness rises from nowhere.

           I also find it hard to believe that history is just that, old tales that don’t mean anything. Having heroes who fought in the original war are still alive and well (although in some cases dying), it is unbelievable that they didn’t see the signs and tried to put a stop to this whole dark side shenanigan. But yet again, they can’t be seen as the oppressors, so once more they are driven to become rebels, repeating the same hubris as the Jedi Knights before them, and so hope can only rise when the safety of the universe is in peril and when the good guys are backed up into a corner.

           Now the same thing happens to Kylo Ren as a villain, just like Darth Vader before him, he was really no backstory, just that he is the son of two of the most beloved characters of the saga, but that for some reason he was corrupted. Unlike Vader, who we had to wait years until the second trilogy to find out the hows and whys of his downfall (which made The Revenge of the Sith tragic but necessary) I doubt Kylo Ren is going to get Episodes VII.I to VII.III to endear him to the audience just to break our hearts with his turn from the light. All we are left with is with some small insights to his character from a very detached set of parents and uncle, leaving Kylo quite un-humanized in that regard. With Rey, we see how they somewhat mirror each other, playing with the idea of the Ying and the Yang, but still a connection that at this moment seems forced and superficial. His struggle is mostly internal, we kind of see hints of grey, or at least Rey helps us point out those hints, but in the end, even when the writers tried to drag Star Wars kicking and screaming into a storyline that questions who are the good guys and who are the bad guys, they just couldn’t shake off the foundation of their universe, and so most of the movie is pointless in that regard, which is one of the reasons this rant was spurred into life.

           Then we have General Hux, who is a cartoon villain with blind ambition, a short temper and a fragile male ego. I really don’t have much to say about him. He’s just there. Serving as an example of why this First Order needs to be taken down, sometimes as comedic relief, but mostly his just there fulfilling his role in this universe of unshakable black and white presets.

           And where Oh! where do these almighty Sith Lords keep sprouting out of? This is a question that has been baffling me for years. Where? How? There was just supposed to be two, a master and an apprentice, yet they have been lying to the Jedi for centuries now because clearly there are more than two. If the Jedi would just admit that fact, then they wouldn’t be so surprised every time a Sith Lord takes over and darkness rules the galaxy. They should learn to be always on high alert because those guys are like cockroaches, they are the proverbial hydra that is invisible and will never be truly dead. But now, they are taken by surprise every time. Well, no, they were not taken by surprise, Luke knew, but what did he decide to do with the knowledge? Hide, that’s what he did.

           Now to the good guys, The Republic/ The Rebellion. As mentioned before, they forced the characters back to the place where we found them back in the 70´s, fighting from the trenches (literally this time), the underdog, the last beacon of hope, and it’s starting to get old. How stupid can they be to let this happen a second time, after those poor folks in Rogue One gave their all to bring Leia hope, and the put everything into action! I am upset in their behalf. One would think it might take at least two or three generations to shift the balance of power, not just a couple of years. I guess what they are trying to achieve if to show that armed rebellions are not rewarded with steady long lasting governments, and then suddenly Star Wars gets too real.

           Rey, Finn, and Poe. They are okay, but just okay guys. I mean, Rey is struggling with both light and darkness within herself, but just like Kylo’s struggle it is just a fleeting moment and ends up being superficial. Finn, was heroic the previous movie as they used him to show us that, against all odds, Stormtroopers can think outside the box! Who knew? His struggle, I think is the one that questions the dichotomy in the best way, as it shows how good and evil blur in the world beyond an individual, and how their balance affects the whole world. It is through this former Stormtrooper’s eyes that we begin to see beyond the Skywalker horizon. Let’s stick to it, let’s see where it takes us. And so all we have left is Poe, AKA, reckless, trigger-happy, stock hero that is just coming to understand those heroics have a human cost. Hurray for character growth (this is sarcasm by the way)!

           Now, unfortunately, I am comparing The Last Jedi to Rogue One, which, in the blink of an eye, became my favorite Star Wars movie, right along with The Empire Strikes Back. In its core, Rogue One showed us the human side to both the Rebellion and the Empire. In the span of a movie, we were introduced to complex characters that were not black and white, but that stuck to their belief, even for a brief moment, which translates into knightly honor and another building block of the Star Wars universe. Their struggle was plagued with character flaws from both sides, we saw hesitation from members of the Empire as the pulled the trigger of the Death Star, we saw Bodhi and Galen Erso, who showed as the reluctance of some members of the Empire and that some had a choice and decided to do something about it, now Finn joins their ranks. We also so Cassian who was not a boy scout and who struggled with the difficult decisions being at war brought him to. We also witnessed that not everyone in the Rebellion’s command was completely trustworthy and good. All in all, we saw Star Wars done well. And now this. THIS.

           The Rebels we found in Rogue One ― whose flaws made them endearing and, to me, even more heroic ―  are lost, all that’s left is the carcass of a rebellion that has lost its light and pins all of its hope on Carrie Fisher, who we literally have lost. I understand why Leia is the beacon of hope, she is the lady of light that has guided the Star Wars universe since the beginning. But now that we have lost Fisher in live all I have to look forward to is a CGI Leia, which breaks my heart, the technology hasn’t been developed to the extent Sim0ne promised. Now, with that beacon of light dwindling, we no longer have a general to guide the way. Rogue One was powerful, their suicide mission to give it all in the name of the Rebellion was pure perfection, but Leia’s appearance at the end just sealed the deal and made it greater. Now all is gone, and we have to wait and see how they will solve this problem now that they literally placed all their eggs in the Leia basket.  

           Now, to the grey areas. The only character that showed an inch of complexity, perhaps a little more profound than questioning of a couple of beats, was DJ as he was the only one that understood that things are not just black and white, but he is despicable because he has no true honor, or so we’ll see. As I said before, knightly honor is another building block in the Star Wars universe, and because he has none, his teachings will go unheeded until he either chooses a side or dies a horrible death, will just have to wait and see.  

           Finally, I’ll write about my pet peeve. There was an astounding lack of decorum in this movie, and some of the jokes (most of them actually), were lame, VERY lame. In past movies, we’ve seen that the comedic relief is up to the droids and the non-humans, and in some cases the heroes, but this time the jokes, to my perception, were very poorly timed. Yes, Luke Skywalker I’m talking about you, you know what you’ve done! I miss the days when Jedi masters were either true knightly gentlemen or completely batshit crazy, but not something in between. Luke, “You are the celery of desserts, be ice cream or be nothing.”

           I will not delve into the rest of what caused me pain about this movie. Although, as my friend WiseCube pointed out, the amount of Pokemon was astounding now that they’ve discovered CG, but that is a rant for another day. All that is left to say is that if Rogue One hadn’t come along this rant would be much shorter and probably more private, what that movie showed me was that there are possibilities for the Star Wars universe, possibilities that can be executed well when their goals are well scripted. And so now, the rest of the saga needs to step up, no more slacking!

[ramajmedia]

The Star Wars Original Trilogy Characters Sorted Into Hogwarts Houses

The scope and breadth of the Star Wars fantasy world was unlike anything that anyone had ever seen when it first came out. It has grown into a fantasy monster beyond even George Lucas' wildest dreams, but the original Star Wars trilogy was a science fiction fantasy series that ignited the imaginations of millions in itself. This intergalactic saga wove together dozens of stories, characters, and places into a tale that Lucas himself dubbed a "space opera."

RELATED: The Goonies Sorted Into Hogwarts Houses

In a sense, the original Star Wars trilogy shares a lot of fundamental similarities with something like the Harry Potter series. Harry Potter is also an epic saga of characters, stories, and places that all culminates into an almost Shakespearean drama. So, if these two massive fantasy worlds collided, what would the results be? More specifically, if the characters in the Star Wars original trilogy went to Hogwarts, which Hogwarts house would they have wound up in?

10 R2-D2: Ravenclaw

R2-D2 may look like an average astromech droid on the outside, but this tiny glorified garbage can has actually played a huge part in saving the galaxy about half a dozen times throughout his life in the Star Wars universe.

R2 is certainly loyal enough to roll with the Hufflepuffs and brave enough to stand alongside any Gryffindor, but the mere fact that this robot seems to be smarter than every human that has ever possessed him makes him an ideal fit for Ravenclaw. If every piece of artificial intelligence could be as awesome as R2 then the galaxy would undoubtedly be a much better place.

9 C-3P0: Hufflepuff

C-3P0 is a protocol droid, which means that he is designed to make everyone around him feel as comfortable, welcomed, and understood as he possibly can. 3P0 has moments where he seems exceptionally judgmental, but in the end he is a decent and accepting android.

RELATED: Thor: 10 MCU Characters Sorted Into Hogwarts Houses

On top of his ability to get along with nearly everyone, he's also a very loyal droid when it comes to the people that he has affection for, and while he's never one to be running headlong into danger he will accompany those who are running into the fray. His shiny gold paint job even coordinates with Hufflepuff's colors!

8 Chewbacca:  Hufflepuff

Chewy is such a formidable and intimidating badass that surely every Gryffindor at Hogwarts would hope that he'd end up in their house the moment they saw him. While Chewbacca is undeniably brave and an incredible fighter, that's not really what drives his personality and emotions.

This exceptional wookiee is is so exceptional because he is such a loyal and unflappable friend. Chewy and Han Solo's friendship is the stuff of legend, and it's Chewy's love and loyalty that truly drives him to do whatever he does. He's certainly a decent dude in his own right, but it's people that mean the most to him, not ideals.

7 Lando Calrissian:  Hufflepuff

Lando Calrissian is the kind of chameleon who could probably become one of the coolest kids at any one of the Hogwarts houses, but Lando would probably be at his best if he were in Hufflepuff.

He's tough, but he'll stay out of a fight unless he has no choice. He's sneaky, but only when he has to be. He's clever, but he doesn't value cleverness over all other things. However, when it comes down to where the rubber meets the road, it's Lando's love of his friends and home that drives him to make the choices that he makes.

6 Emperor Palpatine: Ravenclaw

Palpatine may be the purest evil to ever evil, but it seems unlikely that he would have wound up in Slytherin over Ravenclaw. Yes, he can be cunning and cruel, but in order to achieve the level of power and control that Palpatine has over the entire galaxy, he needed the kind of intelligence that is pretty much one in a billion.

RELATED: Muppets Sorted Into Their Hogwarts Houses

It's a shame that someone so capable decided to use his capabilities in the worst way anyone ever could, but it's possible that an education in Ravenclaw could have helped Palpatine channel his energies into something slightly less evil than galactic domination.

5 Obi-Wan Kenobi: Gryffindor

The Obi-Wan Kenobi that we see in the original Star Wars trilogy is a much different person than the one we see in the prequel trilogy, but at his heart he is still the same person. Clearly (and understandably), his experiences with Anakin Skywalker broke his faith in the Force and in the Jedi order.

While he spent most of the last few decades in isolation on a desert planet in the Outer Rim of the galaxy, watching over Luke and waiting to see if he was another ticking time bomb, Obi-Wan came back into the brave warrior that he really was in the end.

4 Darth Vader: Slytherin

Darth Vader is arguably one of the scariest and most intimidating villains in cinematic history, but obviously his development over the course of the original Star Wars trilogy reveals a much more complex and morally gray character than this black phantom appeared to be at the start.

RELATED: Twilight Characters Sorted Into Hogwarts Houses

Darth Vader does belong in Slytherin, but it's not because he's evil. It's because he always thought that he could game the system in order to get what he wanted. He wasn't as concerned with the costs of getting what he wanted as he should have been, either, even if those costs were great and terrible.

3 Princess Leia Organa: Gryffindor

The original Star Wars trilogy is full of characters who you really don't want to mess with, but few of them are more intimidating or awesome than Princess Leia. Leia is smart, capable, and tough, and most importantly, she knows it.

Her level of arrogance is intimidating to almost anyone who meets her, but she has all of the skills and abilities to back it up. She is the kind of person who would learn a lot from any one of the Hogwarts houses, but her boldness and bravery is so prominent that it would be absurd if she wound up anywhere besides Gryffindor.

2 Han Solo: Slytherin

Han Solo actually evolves into quite the hero over the course of his tenure in the original Star Wars trilogy, but he is really a rascal at heart, and he knows how to play any situation to his advantage and tends to care more about his own wants and needs than almost anything else.

Han's manipulation and trickery is the stuff of Slytherin legend, and since Han is always looking for another way to be sneaky or another way to pull out a miraculous win for himself, it seems like he would really benefit from a Hogwarts education in Slytherin house.

1 Luke Skywalker: Gryffindor

Luke Skywalker began his journey in the series as a character who seemed like someone who was stuck in a Hufflepuff world but was dreaming of a Gryffindor life. After experiencing some horrors at the hand of the empire, he took matters into his own hands and made himself into the kind of hero he spent his childhood days fantasizing about.

Luke truly believes in all of the same ideals that Godric Gryffindor believed in, and while Luke wasn't always a rousing success at it, he did at least try to be the kind of man who embodied all of those ideals.

NEXT: The Star Wars Prequel Trilogy Characters Sorted Into Hogwarts Houses

source https://screenrant.com/star-wars-original-trilogy-sorted-harry-potter-hogwarts-houses/

[duckielover151]

The Outliers Trilogy Review

I always feel like I’m not doing enough with my platform here, so I’m going to start posting book reviews--with no particular schedule, just chronicling books of interest or whatever I’m currently reading. So to start:

The Outliers Trilogy by Kimberly McCreight

1) The Outliers (2016)  2) The Scattering (2017) 3) The Collide (2018) 

Summary: The Outliers is the story of Wylie Lang and her scientist father’s research into emotional intelligence. Through his experiments, he’s found a group of people-- all young girls-- who showcase ‘heightened emotional perception.’ Basically, they’re empaths-- people capable of sensing and feeling the emotions of those around them. (In the case of Dr. Lang’s study, these were the girls able to consistently identify the emotions of the other people in the room while blindfolded and with their ears plugged.) And because this premise is so scientifically-based, this has earned them the name ‘The Outliers.’ 

But there’s no shortage of people who are looking to profit from or feel threatened by his research in some way. Wylie herself is an outlier. She and her now-estranged best friend Cassie took her father’s test for fun, inadvertently putting them both in danger. The first book starts with Wylie receiving a distressed text from Cassie. So she teams up with her friend’s boyfriend-- who has a shady, violent history-- to save her.

Things don’t go quite as planned, and Wylie ends up locked up in the hospital with a group of other outliers... who ultimately lead her to the one important one-- a girl named Riel whose grandfather, a senator with military ties, is the mastermind behind the danger. And it’s Senator Russo Wylie and Riel will have to expose and overthrow to protect themselves and other outliers like them. 

(We’ve reached my personal opinions on this trilogy, so if there are any real spoilers, you’ll find them here. But to summarize: This was a series with a very interesting premise and a fresh take on how to approach a ‘teenagers discover they have supernatural powers’ story, though the writing and execution fell short a lot of the time. But if you think it sounds like a series you’d be interested in, I urge you to make your own conclusions. If you're sticking around for the spoilers... in no particular order: )

(+/-) Pros and Cons:

+ Character with Anxiety: Early on, we get a really good depiction of anxiety with Wylie’s characterization. It’s something she’s struggled with her whole life but has worsened since her mother’s recent, unexpected death. At the start of the story, she actually hasn’t left her house in three weeks, trying to fend off frequent panic attacks. She’s enrolled in online schooling, is attending therapy via phone... It’s only the possibility that her friend is in danger that finally pushes her out of the house.

+ Wylie: Excluding the last book, where her story kind of gets lost amidst the many POV switches, Wylie was a good protagonist in general. Her anxiety is real but exacerbated by her abilities. It lessens as she starts to learn how to separate other people’s emotions from her own. She learns to be strong and brave in general, determined to save the other outliers.

+ Riel: (Unfortunately) the only other really interesting character in this series. Riel, too, was strong and brave but flawed. She’s kind of at the end of her rope at the start of the trilogy, leading a hacker group called Level 99. She and her younger sister were both outliers, chronicling their abilities long before any official experiments were performed. Riel got caught up in the web of shady, manipulative villains in this story and was partially responsible for putting Wylie in danger in the first place. But she is passionate about making sure the right person is held responsible. 

- Jasper: Cassie’s (and later Wylie’s) boyfriend. He was a promising character at first. Wylie didn’t trust him because of the rumors of his own anger issues and her suspicion that he was a bad influence on Cassie. But it quickly becomes clear that he’s actually just a really good guy and Cassie was the one taking advantage of him. At the end of it all, he feels like more of a plot device than a character, though. Book two touches on is self-esteem issues, and book three goes into his tendency to fall in love with literally any girl who pays attention to him for sixty seconds. But he’s never developed enough to feel like he exists for more than to support Wylie. 

- The Romance: For the abovementioned reasons, the Wylie/Jasper romance felt really flat to me. Maybe it was the way Jasper talking about how he was starting to think Cassie was the first girl he’d ever truly loved was such a big deal in book one. Or how in book three, he starts to consider two other girls in a romantic light (one who he knows is super petty and responsible for getting Cassie into drugs and one who later tries to kill him) while simultaneously insisting that what he has with Wylie is different from all the girls who came before. It just felt really contrived to me.

- Gideon: Wylie’s twin brother who suffers from many of the same problems as Jasper only with even less character development. At the beginning, he’s just really obnoxious and petty. But it’s worth noting that he’s also dealing with their mother’s death and then with their father giving so much extra attention to Wylie. By book three, he’s taken Jasper’s role as Wylie’s chauffeur/ever-present support character, plagued by guilt for being the one to betray Wylie to the rival scientists who locked up all the outliers. But we never get the emotional reconnection between the siblings after a lifetime of differences that I felt Gideon’s character was (should have been) leading up to...

+/- Token Diversity: Eh, I actually don’t think this particular point is the worst thing, necessarily. Mostly, what I mean when I say this series includes ‘Token Diversity’ is that there are a few instances of really offhand lines... like when Wylie is describing a library she and Gideon go to in The Collide and along with the scenery, there are “two female librarians definitely flirting with each other.” Like, the most minor of minor characters. There is Riel, who mentions that her mom was white and her dad was black... but as a way to introduce that her grandfather is racist as well as sexist, not because being mixed race is important to the way she’s characterized. I don’t think diverse characters being minor characters is bad, necessarily. Obviously, I would like to see some of them fleshed out more, but I also like that we’ve reached a point where LGBT characters can be mentioned in a way that’s not a big deal. There’s acceptance there, at least. (And considering that in this particular series there are literally only two characters who are developed completely...) There was only one occasion where this ‘token diversity’ was a problem for me. Which brings us to...

- Elise: Prepare for a long one... So, it was disappointing in general that Riel and Wylie were the only two outliers to be truly important to the story. When Wylie’s briefly locked up in the hospital with a group of other outliers, I got super excited, ready for some magical girl-esque team to form. And because the girls were all local, Wylie recognized a few of them Or knew of them, at least. And one of the girls-- Elise-- is mentioned to be transgender.

By all rights, Elise should have been developed more, and not just because it’s cool to include trans characters. Early on in the series, there’s a lot of focus on the science behind being an outlier, and one of the biggest things they mention people feeling threatened by is the fact that only girls have been discovered to have these abilities. You can’t tell me it’s not relevant-- gender was introduced as a central point to this story before Elise was. And Elise’s inclusion indicates some interesting things. First and foremost that being an outlier was not some secret genetic factor hiding out on the second X chromosome. Her presence also sheds doubt on the cause being some purely environmental factor either-- some commonality about the way they were all raised. Elise isn’t developed enough to reveal what kind of relationship she has with her family, but even if she came out early and her parents were totally supportive and understanding, I think it’s safe to say they wouldn’t have had the intuition to raise her as a girl from day one. I think Elise was a fascinating inclusion to this story, and one of my greatest disappointments about this series is that she remains a strictly minor character. 

- The Science: Kind of stemming from the last one, the scientific atmosphere that was so prominent early on really fades by the time we’re through. There was so much they could have done with just their ability to feel others’ emotions, but the focus really shifts to be about their heightened intuition, which felt really deus ex machina-y a lot of the time.

- The Villains: And lastly, the villains. There are a ton of shady figures in this series, and the story is kind of convoluted in general. (Wylie is betrayed by practically everyone she dares to trust.) They wrap it all up at the end by killing off almost 100% of the bad guys immediately after throwing together an explanation of how they were involved-- sometimes without even a proper why. It just felt lazy to me.  

Conclusion: I realize that this ended up being comprised almost entirely of negative points... I really didn’t hate this story; I just found it disappointing. (And there’s a book by the same author that I love.) I was really passionate about what this series could have been. I just wish the idea had been handled a little better. 

[recentnews18-blog]

New Post has been published on https://shovelnews.com/is-han-solo-stupid-an-investigation/

Is Han Solo Stupid? An Investigation

It’s been roughly three months since the dust has settled on Han Solo’s standalone movie, Solo: A Star Wars Story. And now the Lucasfilm train is rolling forward with the start of production of the untitled Episode IX – which will see pretty much every classic character returning other than Han Solo. (Though, it would be funny, after Han died basically three times in The Force Awakens, if he showed up again with no explanation: “Hey, how can I help?’ “Great to have you back, Han.”)

But the one quote I haven’t stopped thinking about since that film came out was a quote from Lawrence Kasdan that he’s been saying since at least 2015, “He’s cynical. He’s tough. He’s pragmatic. He’s not that smart.” These quotes resurfaced when Phil Lord and Chris Miller left Solo, with the point being made that Han Solo is not “funny,” but instead cynical and dumb.

Of the films in the Original Trilogy, Kasdan was only involved in Return of the Jedi from start to finish. He wasn’t involved with Star Wars at all and came on late to The Empire Strikes Back. (With Empire, Leigh Brackett wrote the first draft and it’s a fascinating thing to read and looks very little like what that movie turned out to be. Lucas then rewrote Empire himself, declining a writer’s credit. Kasdan then came on to rewrite the dialogue.)

But, here’s the question: Is Han Solo actually stupid?

Let’s go through all of Han Solo’s major moments in the Original Trilogy where he has to make some key decisions and we can decide.

STAR WARS

Lucasfilm

Mos Eisley Cantina

Here’s where we first meet Han Solo. In this establishing scene Han is definitely overconfident and seems a little defensive when Luke and Ben had never heard of the Millennium Falcon. Han says the price for his services is 10,000, but over the course of the negotiation that figure goes up to 17,000.

Then, when confronted by Greedo, Han wastes little time dispensing of poor Greedo when he starts to seem like a threat. And then after all this, Han still escapes with all of his passengers unscathed even as Stormtroopers attack the docking bay.

Verdict: Smart

Lucasfilm

Millennium Falcon

Han’s moment here is to tell Luke and Ben that he’s seen a lot of strange things but he doesn’t believe in the Force. Now, in the context of the original Star Wars, the Force is a lot more mysterious than it became later. The case could be made pretty easily that it was all nonsense. As a viewer, we don’t see anything levitate until Empire, which is why it was so shocking the first time we see Luke use the Force to grab his lightsaber on Hoth. So in the context of what we know in this movie alone, Han isn’t being stupid, he’s just being skeptical.

Verdict: Skeptical, but not stupid

Lucasfilm

Remnants of Alderaan

When the Millennium Falcon reaches what’s left of Alderaan, Han decides to follow a TIE Fighter in the hopes to destroy it, which is maybe a little stupid. But we can give Han the benefit of the doubt here that in situations like this before, not letting that TIE Fighter tell the rest of the Empire about the Falcon’s location is maybe a smart move. Regardless, once the Falcon is caught in the Death Star’s tractor beam, Han decides he’s going to fight the Death Star on his own, which is really dumb. But then Ben quickly talks him out of it and decide to hide instead. So at least here it shows Han is somewhat reasonable.

Verdict: Had some stupid ideas but didn’t really do anything stupid

Lucasfilm

Death Star

For most of the Death Star sequence, Han just kind of goes along with other people’s plans. Luke is the one who comes up with the idea to pretend Chewbacca is a prisoner and Leia comes up with the whole trash compactor plan. The one decision that is actually Han’s here is the one to chase a bunch of Stormtroopers down a hallway. On the surface this is dumb, but it’s actually a smart move. If Han, Chewbacca, Luke, and Leia all run, they will be captured. But instead Han pretends that their group is much larger than it is and turns the tables on the Stormtroopers. Sure, the Stormtroopers figure this out, but Han has already bought their group a lot of needed time. (It’s this scene, more than any other, that I wish we had seen more like it in Solo.)

Verdict: Smart

Lucasfilm

Death Star Escape

After escaping the Death Star (which, yes, was Vader and Tarkin’s plan all along), Han and Luke have a nice moment in the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon. Han realizes that Luke has feelings for Leia and, basically, decided to mess with him. “Do you think a princess and a guy like me…” to which Luke cuts him off and says, “no.” Han smiles because he’s gotten under Luke’s skin.

Verdict: Cocky

Lucasfilm

Yavin

Han wants no part of an attack on the Death Star and he’s taking his money and leaving before the Rebel base is destroyed.

Verdict: Smart

Lucasfilm

Assault on the Death Star

Han comes back in the nick of time to save his buddy Luke, giving Luke a clear shot on the Death Star. This is one of Han’s most heroic moments but it was also a little stupid. But here Han isn’t any more stupid than the entire Rebel Alliance.

Verdict: A little stupid but it worked out

***

THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK

Lucasfilm

Hoth

Han ignores the advice of that poor Rebel soldier about Taun Taun’s freezing and ventures out in the night to rescue Luke. This isn’t Han being dumb because he knows the risks, it’s just brave because he has to save Luke. And then Han is smart enough to use Luke’s lightsaber to cut open the Taun Taun and use its warmth to save Luke. Han also figures out that an attack by the Empire is imminent, resulting in an evacuation being ordered.

Verdict: Smart

Lucasfilm

The Asteroid Field

Han famously ignores the odds and flies into an asteroid field in an effort to escape an Imperial convoy. This feels less “dumb” and more “we are out of options.” In the end, it doesn’t really work out, but it at least buys them all some time. Also, Han tricking a Star Destroyer into thinking the Millennium Falcon is attacking, then attaching itself to the backside of the ship is very clever.

Verdict: Smart

Lucasfilm

Cloud City

Han doesn’t fully trust Lando at first either, but succumbs to Lando’s charms. Leia even tries to warn Han that this all smells and Han just gets defensive about the whole thing. In the first two films, this is probably Han’s dumbest moment. Once C-3PO shows up in a box, they all should have gotten out of there as quickly as possible. But, during the carbon freezing scene, Han is smart enough to know that he needs to surrender. When Chewbacca starts to fight, it’s Han who talks him out of it, knowing it’s futile at this point. Han accepts his fate knowing it is the best thing for his friends.

Verdict: Han got tricked, which is dumb, but he was still smart enough to save his friends

***

RETURN OF THE JEDI

Lucasfilm

Tatooine

After being thawed out, Han tries to bargain with Jabba when he’s in no position whatsoever to bargain. When Han hears that they are being thrown into the Pit of Carkoon, he comments that it doesn’t sound that bad. Han then kind of just stand there while everyone else does the fighting. Though, Han does accidentally ignite Boba Fett’s jetpack, sending him into the Sarlacc.

Verdict: Dumb

Lucasfilm

The Rebel Fleet

Han accepts a promotion in the Rebel Alliance and, even though he’s the best pilot in the galaxy, he agrees to lead a ground strike force on a moon of Endor, making sure his greatest skill isn’t used at all.

Verdict: Dumb

Lucasfilm

Endor

Han does a lot of dumb things on Endor. When his team encounters two Biker Scouts, Han says he’ll handle it and of course gets caught when he steps on a loud branch and then gets punched. This results in Luke and Leia having to clean up Han’s mess, which eventually gets Leia separated from the rest of the team.

Then Chewbacca finds some meat randomly hanging in the forest and Han just looks at it like an idiot and says he doesn’t get it. It’s again Luke who has to warn them it’s bait, but it’s too late and Han and his team are captured.

At the Ewok village, Han finds Leia crying after she just found out Luke is her brother and Vader is her father, but Han can’t read the room and instead accuses her of being in love with Luke. To his credit, he comes back and apologizes, but come on, Han.

When Han and his team raid the bunker, his big plan is to do it “real quiet like.” (When did Han Solo ever used to talk like this?) Another tactic Han uses is the ol’ “tap on one shoulder but I’m really on the other side” technique. Of course, it’s a trap and Han and his team are captured, again. Then, finally, after R2-D2 is shot, Han thinks he can hotwire open a door and, instead, manages to close a second set of doors. It is actually insane that somehow, in the end, Han and his team manage to blow up the shield generator because Han Solo, on this mission, is the worst leader in the history of the Rebellion. It’s no wonder by the time we see him in The Force Awakens he’s just kind of floating through space smuggling monsters.

Verdict: Dumb

So the answer is that in both Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back, Han Solo is fairly intelligent – or, at the very least, very clever. By the time we see him in Return of the Jedi he is a dumb guy who says stuff like “We’ll do it real quiet like.” The only in-story explanation is that the carbonite made him dumb.

Final Verdict: The Han Solo from Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back is not the same character as the one from Return of the Jedi.

You can contact Mike Ryan directly on Twitter.</em

Source: https://uproxx.com/movies/is-han-solo-stupid/

[iftekharsanom]

The Lord of the Rings: The 10 Worst Movie Book Shifts

The art of adaptation is a cruel business. For a beloved property like J.R.R. The trilogy of The Lord of the Rings Tolkien is not limited to being victims when they move from page to screen. Peter Jackson calmly led the attack to bring Tolkien's rich Middle-earth world to life by adding some of his own artistic flowers. The King's Return Ring Society, Jackson has taken the highest of high fantasy concepts and translates them into three thrilling adventures. He just won three Academy Awards in 2004 for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay.That is, the films are not flawless. Fans of the books know how much Jackson left from Tolkien writing, especially his adaptation of the two towers. The characters are distorted, omitted from the underestimated key elements and important events, often to the less effective substitute. Here are the 10 worst book changes to Lord of the Rings movies. 1. To a joke Gimli

Unlike trilogy to his portrayal in Peter Jackson, Gimli is a tough warrior and a dwarf only. Although he is a fool in films essentially Tolkien put him as "an obscure character, usually only occasionally, to laugh, and although in some rare cases, entertainment, but never a joke." He certainly is not the idiot who thinks he can break the ring with a single blow from his ax. If in the laughter of the community conversion to Gimli, it undermines the dwarven moments of gravity. Take the darkest moments of the Battle of Helm's deep links, which is the Battle of Normandy beach from Middle Earth substantially. Although Aragorn and Theoden prepare their men and their bark orders, Gimli is on the edge how to make cracked strength and laughing. There is room for humor, even in the most difficult situations, but not at the expense of Gimli's character, approaching caricature throughout the filming. 2. Pass the Shire Wash

Long before J.R.R. Tolkien wrote at the end of The Return of the King, he planned to bring the epic circle of fantasy. Amidst the destruction of mighty Middle-earth, the region was not spared. Tolkien noted that "an image of the last decrepitude of the old flour mill, with its pool, which seemed so important to me." The picturesque image was Tolkien's own Shire, and he also had the hounds were destroyed. When the Hobbits return home (in the books), they discover that their homes have changed their own lives so much. Saruman and his servant Wormtongue moved to Frodo's facility in Bolson, and the evil forces of Mordor moved to Shire. The last battle of the War of the Ring found in Bilbo Baggins's backyard, and sees that the hobbits bravely fighting and Saruman is the death he has always deserved. Although Hobbits are peaceful short of Shire's tongue Snake's neck and his master will distribute dead by a shower of arrows. These sequences have added the already epic runtime of the film, but have the omnipresence of the evil Sauron demonstrated inspired. Without them making the movies that region than practically unchanged despite the apocalypse around them, which not only reduces the risks, but raises the question of whether Bag-end was out of danger, should not Frodo simply stay at home? Tolkien hanging entire story on this penultimate chapter because it represented during the war, even the most sympathetic people or the field are safe. 3. No Closure For Saruman

Saruman is a central character in The Lord of the Rings, so why was the ending so unsatisfactory? Sauron may be the most difficult of all bad guy, but is caught in an eye presence for the whole trilogy. This leaves Saruman as the main enemy to take shape in the flesh, and once all the chaos caused in Middle-earth, you would think that Peter Jackson would have enjoyed the opportunity to take his death in the final movie. In the theatrical edition of The Return of the King, all we say (by Tree Beard) is that the twisted wizard was locked in his tower, disappearing, until death comes to him. When the Ents had under her command, certain that she would be unhappy some form of punishment, instead of imposing a prison sentence. The species decimated the population, after all. Unfortunately, Jackson decided not to close for the White Magician to give to save for more cut of his death, in Isengard. As the director himself admitted, "I reluctantly decide to save this sequence for the DVD The selection based on was made that most people assume that Saruman was defeated by the events of deep and Helm's Ent. End appropriate, it is strange, "take over", the fate of Saruman in the film. Trimming to Shire: This inconsistency can be explained by the lack of other key element books. 4. Escape ARAGORN a hero in HAMBRIENDO CAR

If there was no model to compare with Aragorn movies, you can think of it as the ultimate hero. He is discreet, (relatively) early, and if you are struggling to convince bravely in the battle. This is all very well, but Aragorn as you can imagine from J.R.R. Tolkien is much more pronounced. More self-abominable in the movies, the Aragorn books unkempt, and almost reluctant leader is poised for leadership. More than any other man in history, Aragorn is the bearer of heroism. He does not withdraw his fate, nor does he question his role in the fate of Middle-earth. No, he embraces his role as Isildur's warm heritage. In movies, it always seems to have a foot out the door. A shining example of heroism confused his decision Aragorn the heads unarmed emissary Sauron in the Black Gate. Although the creature is uglier than the sin and mocks Aragorn, Legolas and should never the heir of Isildur get his moral code broke and a messenger of peace killed Gandalf on the fate of Frodo, the "Mouth of Sauron." Tolkien would be such an act reserved only for the most famous characters in Middle-earth. 5. HUMANIZING GANDALF against the Witch King

Speaking of King Warlock, if you have a scene to add in the fight with Gandalf, you can not let him win. Or if you are going to put the Wizards knees, do so after a glorious battle, love the kind of writers of fan fiction to create. For some reason, the extended version of Peter Jackson has the Return of the King a scene in Minas Tirith where the Witch King walk to stop Gandalf with Pippin flies. Though one of his greatest enemies in the present, Gandalf did not move, and instead sits on his horse to the shudder expecting Nazgul. Kill. Witch King sends a magical force field from Gandalf to destroy and then thrown from his horse in a really humiliating way. It is a pointless moment that not only adds value to the film again but has zero relationship with Tolkien's books and reduces Gandalf's omnipotent power without even a chance to respond, to give. 6. Neutralization THE IMPORTANCE OF Merry and Pippin

In general, Comic Relief is managed throughout the trilogy The Lord of the Rings and Peter Jackson and co-writer Philippa Boyens. Bring out Bilbo's 111th birthday to the end, Merry and Pippin laughing with their intrusive and audible. Unfortunately, the two hobbits are the Middle-earth puppet theater depicted far beyond the Tolkien borders. His wit and courage, unfortunately, lost in the shuffle. If for Merry and Pippin, Frodo and Sam were not they would never come with success in the region in the first place. Although they are out of their league long history, Merry and Pippin are quick to accept and learn as they go. In the movies, but Merry and Pippin are presented as accidental warriors who come to the community in a fantasy. In the books they need Frodo to come on the trip and, although hot Elrond to protest against his presence, Gandalf who insists on being accepted is. Finally, it is argued in value that it has been neglected by the death of Éowyn important against the Witch King, the Merry contribution. Without his dagger and his mystical wave of daring, Nazgul did not weaken to such an extent that a single strike would end. Although the Cheerful films show the dagger on the side of the spectrum to bring down, he received no credit in the episode. 7. Notes ENTS Daft

Despite the many missed opportunities, Peter Jackson's adaptation of The Hobbit achieved its calmer scenes, especially in moments of music. When the dwarves of the "misty mountains," a haunting and hypnotic Braman theme, all majesty in Tolkien's mind seems to thrive. It is particularly strange that Peter Jackson several minutes running precious time to see Thorin Shield of Oak hum an output melody when you consider that the rest of the movie is consumed by the CGI high frame rate. It is not until Bart tree hobbits on a walk in the afternoon when he finally got the decimation of his colleagues testify Ents. Like Eowyn, he uttered a cry from Darth Vader-lite of the sadistic magician knows that his days are numbered. This is a slap in the face that created Tolkien's character for the first time. In the books, the arrival of Merry and Pippin comes just before Entebate where Barbary and Co. quickly decide to bring ruin to Saruman. There is no need to think about it because they are intelligent, experienced and proud of their people. The movies show the Ents have little or no agency, but rather serve as the filling time, while the rest of the plot unfolds kills. 8. Reduced almost all songs and POEMS

Despite the many missed opportunities, Peter Jackson's adaptation of The Hobbit achieved its calmer scenes, especially in moments of music. When the dwarves of the "misty mountains," a haunting and hypnotic Braman theme, all majesty in Tolkien's mind seems to thrive. It is particularly strange that Peter Jackson several minutes running precious time to see Thorin Shield of Oak hum an output melody when you consider that the rest of the movie is consumed by the CGI high frame rate. This moment is just one of the many songs and poems written throughout the text of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Pippin Music in The Return of the King is one of the most prominent in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and Jackson used it with great effect. If only the original songs of Tolkien object of frequent use. Without suggesting that the trilogy a full-length music film would have benefited from the song Frodo in the Bouncing Pony or Aragorn's poem about Gondor. This is of great imagination, which Tolkien wrote after all for the same reason of such a long list of songs in the first place. 9. MAKING HEROES IN PRACTICAL ELAS

For many fans of the film, the battle of the Abyss of Helm, the highest mark was two towers in the water. It was a confrontation in the rain of Uruk-hai furiously against an army of men and elves. It is a scene that is opposite to the best fights of Game of Thrones, but it is a pity that Peter Jackson strongly to interpolate the raw material and wrote basically the whole nature of the war. The most notorious of all, he relied on warrior Elven to fight against the Dark Army. To be clear, there were no elves for the Abyss of Helm in the books when the film a team of five hundred archers shows from Lothlórien to sent the scene of the fight. Army Theoden consisted largely of "soldiers [I have seen many winters or very few." Of course, this does not mean it describes the presence of immortal popular Elf. In the battle of Horburg, Theoden did not shoot the luxury of a battalion of experienced archers dozens of bloodthirsty Saruman warriors. This is a recurring theme in The Lord of the Rings, the world of men shows that they strive to survive in a universe where everyone, even the elves flee to safety. This subtly benefits Theoden and Aragorn's deep Helms allows elves to save the day. 10. CASTING Hugo Weaving AS ELROND

When we meet Elrond in the Fellowship of the Ring, which is about 6,500 years old. JRR Tolkien describes him as "noble and just as an elf-lord, as strong as a warrior, as wise as an assistant, as venerable, as king of the dwarves, and just as in summer." Briefly, Elrond is the total package . His debut on the big screen can be described as something of a sage, but pushes Elrond in a much more humane way than his elvish nature area can withstand properly. To be sure, he is as mortal as she is eternal, he can not quite god-like in appearance and be in nature. Hugo Weaving, despite his entire talent and screen presence, may not have been the ideal role for an actor. His dullness and his ridiculous "Mr. Anderson" make him more militant than he probably thought Tolkien. Although dressed in the best clothes and insignia, the fabric looks more like a front-warriors than an old-fashioned board. It actually looks right at home in flashback scenes during the Battle of Dagorlad.

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[nadbooks]

My Favorite Books of 2016

So I know this is really late but I only just decided to start a book blog and what better way to start than with this kind of post. So here we go! Here are the top ten books I read in 2016, rank-ordered, all of which I gave 5 stars to.

10. Beside Myself by Ann Morgan

This book is about a pair of twins who like to pretend to be each other until one day, one of the twins refuses to switch back. It’s basically a look at how people’s perceptions of you can really influence your entire life trajectory. It’s the most insane case of a self-fulfilling prophecy I ever read about and as a psychology student, I’m a complete sucker for it. The story does get a bit dramatic and it seems that anything bad that can happen to our main character will happen. Still, it is a really interesting look at how the way we judge people can really influence who they become and also highlights some of the worst parenting I’ve ever read about. Kind of an eye-opening book which is why it made it onto my list!

9. Genesis by Bernard Beckett

This book... man, I don’t even know how to describe this book. It’s some sort of dystopian I guess but it’s a relatively short book that takes place over the course of a few hours. The story follows our main character as she takes a history exam about her society so we get to learn about the history of this society and how it came to be from her answers on the exam. It’s a really interesting way of introducing the world that was informative and felt genuine and didn’t feel like info-dumping. Other than the way the story is told, this book also discusses really interesting philosophical questions like how different is artificial intelligence really from humans and what gives humans our humanity? Overall, a really mind-blowing read which I did not expect at all, and one that will make you think.

8. Nineteen Eighty Four by George Orwell

You will soon realise that I am a huge fan of dystopian books and I will likely feature many of them on my blog. This is one of the most classic dystopians out there so I thought I should give it a read if I wanted to proclaim myself a dystopian fan. It’s easy to see how this book became such a staple for the dystopian genre. It is creepy and unsettling in a quiet way, as all dystopians should be. I thought the idea of language as the thing that allows us to have independent thoughts was fascinating and the idea to severely limit the vocabulary of the society so that people cannot even think rebellious thoughts was the creepiest thing I had ever read about. That is essentially mind control in the subtlest yet most powerful way. There were so many quotable passages in this book and I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy so that I can highlight them all! I also liked how the ending was different from many other dystopians in that it is a pretty bleak one and essentially nothing has changed. Much more realistic in my opinion, albeit a tad depressing. That’s just the way I like my books though!

7. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

This book is extremely well-loved in the book community and perhaps it is surprising that it is only number 7. Unfortunately, this is entirely my own fault as I saw the movie before I read the book (I know, burn me at the stake) so I knew what was going to happen in the end. Still, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and I still felt all the emotions that I was supposed to throughout the entire story (though maybe a little less strongly). I thought having Death as the narrator was genius and made the writing so interesting. It was dark but also funny. The plot of the story itself was a little lacking perhaps so what I really enjoyed about this book was the writing. I really do wish I had read this before I saw the movie because I think it would have packed a much bigger punch but oh well... Still a wonderful story and an instant favorite.

6. Faking Normal by Courtney C. Stevens

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I loved this book. This is a story about a girl who was raped and is trying to deal with that. I thought this book showcased a way of dealing with rape that is different from what I usually see in other stories. Our main character in this story is actually quite high-functioning and is able to go about her life like usual. It is only when she is alone at night that the nightmares come. I thought this was an interesting portrayal of that. I also loved the romance and friendship in this story. It is not a ‘love fixes mental issues’ kind of story but more like ‘love gives you the strength to face your issues’, which I thought was beautiful. The love interest was so kind and respectful and I just want every love interest to be like him. I am so done with the bad boy trope, give me more nice guys! Contrary to popular belief, they don’t finish last, at least not in my books. The mystery element and sibling relationship in this book were also really great.

5. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

This has got to be my absolute favorite historical fiction so far. The story follows a blind Parisian girl and a German boy sent to Hitler Youth and it is a slow build-up to when their paths eventually cross. I don’t usually care about beautiful or poetic writing but Anthony Doerr, man, you sucked me right in. The writing was truly, truly beautiful and was absolutely perfect for a story like this. I fell in love with all the characters and although this book was a chunker, I never wanted it to end. I wanted to keep following these characters forever. Unlike other historical fictions, I thought this one also had a pretty solid plot that had an element of mystery in it, which I loved. This book is just so beautiful (inside and out) and I can’t recommend it enough.

4. The House of Hades by Rick Riordan

This is the fourth book in The Heroes of Olympus series. Last year, I read the whole Percy Jackson and the Olympians series and The Heroes of Olympus series and it was incredible. The world of Percy Jackson is so cool! I was always fascinated by Greek mythology as a kid and I only wish I had discovered Percy Jackson sooner! It is just as enjoyable to read these books even now when I’m 23 though! The Heroes of Olympus is definitely my favorite of the two series because I just love all of the characters and their character development was just incredible. You know Rick Riordan is an incredible author when he is able to fully flesh out 10 characters in the space of 5 books. The House of Hades is my favorite one because this was like the peak of all the character development (especially precious Nico!!) and it was also incredibly exciting because we were building up to the finale. Also, Percy and Annabeth are #relationshipgoals. I can’t wait to dive back into the Percy Jackson world with the Magnus Chase and Trials of Apollo series!

3. Champion by Marie Lu

Ahhh here we go again with the dystopians. Champion is the third book in the Legend trilogy. I was pleasantly surprised by this trilogy. I thought it would be just another dystopian, following the same kind of formula all dystopians seem to follow these days. And yes, it kind of did, but it did it well. I thought the Legend trilogy was a bit more political than most other dystopians which I actually enjoyed. I like seeing how people actually carry out decisions in these societies and the kinds of biases that pervade the people. I also think this series is different in that the characters actually work together with the government (or at least a member of the government) to bring about a better society, rather than to just rebel and cause social upheaval and violence. June and Day are also OTP and while many people hated the ending of Champion, I actually really loved it, especially the epilogue. It really struck me and left me thinking about them long after I closed the book, which I can’t say for many other couples in books.

2. Unwind by Neal Shusterman

Whoo boy, how do I even begin to explain my love for this book and this series in general. The Unwind dystology consists of four books and is a dystopian series (surprise, surprise) set in a world where parents are allowed to harvest their children’s organs if they want to. Sound creepy yet? This world is so incredibly fleshed out (no pun intended) and I think that is largely due to the multiple POVs. We get so many interesting POVs throughout the series that really let us see this world and society from every possible angle. It is also the dystopian that seems closest to our real world which is incredibly scary. The process of unwinding really got me shook. Aside from the world and the multiple POV writing, our main characters are also so interesting and brave and just human. I love love love Connor, Risa and Lev and I think they are some of the most interesting but relatable heroes ever. Gaaaaahhhh I can’t say enough good things about this book and it pains me that it is not more well-known or well-loved. It has quickly become my favorite dystopian series, even surpassing The Hunger Games! If that doesn’t tell you to go read this series, I don’t know what will.

1. A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

I really struggled between Unwind and A Monster Calls for the number one spot but I decided to give it to A Monster Calls. This book packs such an emotional punch for one that I read in two hours. It is a story about a boy dealing with grief and I think it is such an important read for everyone. Another beautiful story with simplistic but beautiful writing. The story is just so incredible and I am amazed at how it is able to capture so many themes and ideas about grief in such a short and simple story. A must read for anyone who is dealing with grief and highly recommended for everyone in general. The movie was also incredible and really brought out all the raw emotions I felt while reading this book. Please, do yourself a favor and read this if you haven’t. You’ll get a whole new understanding of grief and life and eventually being okay again.

So those are my top ten books of 2016! I’m excited to start book blogging although I’m not sure how often I can do it. I planned to start in 2018 but I thought I would give it a go first with some posts. I will soon post my Least Favorite Reads of 2016 and also Booktube’s Favorite Reads of 2016 where I list out the definitive top ten list of books based on 30 booktubers’ Favorites of 2016 videos. 

Cheers and happy reading!

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The Star Wars Prequel Trilogy Characters Sorted Into Hogwarts Houses

Star Wars is a fantasy world (or really, galaxy) that deftly combines fictional elements of sci-fi and mysticism, in a way that has captured the imaginations of millions ever since A New Hope was initially released. The magical roots of the Star Wars universe find their home in the Jedi order, a group of people and beings who have an ability to control the "Force", a power that unites and lives in everything in this universe.

RELATED: The Goonies Sorted Into Hogwarts Houses

So, you could almost say that the Jedi order is like the Star Wars version of Hogwarts. It's an interesting thought to explore, these two fantasy worlds colliding, and it's cool to imagine where all of the characters in Star Wars would have wound up if they had been sent to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. So, here are all of the most important characters in the Star Wars prequel trilogy, sorted into their Hogwarts houses.

10 Shmi Skywalker - Hufflepuff

Shmi Skywalker ultimately wound up giving birth to the boy who became... well, we all know what and who he became. Shmi's beginning, end, and most of her middle were quite humble, though. Sadly, she spent a large chunk of her life living as a slave on Tatooine, and aside from the miraculous fatherless birth of Anakin Skywalker, her life was particularly unexceptional.

She appeared to be a very loving and caring woman, though, and even though she ultimately let Anakin go for what she thought was his own good, she likely would have been happy to just have a safe home with her son. These all sound like Hufflepuff traits to us.

9 Chancellor Palpatine - Ravenclaw

Chancellor Palpatine's admission to Ravenclaw would probably be a pretty controversial decision, since he's such a pure and unadulterated evil character that the only Hogwarts house that would even accept him would seemingly be Slytherin. However, Palpatine's genius is literally unparalleled.

RELATED: Thor: 10 MCU Characters Sorted Into Hogwarts Houses

In an entire galaxy of sentient beings, you'd think there would be at least one person who could outwit him, but that was apparently not the case. Palpatine managed to pull the fabric of reality apart around everyone without anyone even realizing that he was the culprit, and he built the galaxy back up around his power before anyone had the sense to stop him. When it comes to brilliant and wit, then, you're in Palpatine's wheelhouse.

8 Jango Fett - Gryffindor

There are many things that could be said about Jango Fett, but no-one would ever accuse him of being a coward. This man became the most feared bounty hunter in all of the galaxy, and he was such a fierce and fearsome warrior that he became the genetic prototype for the entire clone army.

Fett's bravery and fearlessness definitely got him very far in the Star Wars universe, but perhaps a Gryffindor education would have helped him to channel all of those strengths into something even better.

7 Count Dooku - Slytherin

Count Dooku was undoubtedly a clever man who managed to outsmart a lot of extremely capable and intelligent people, but he wasn't quite smart enough to survive the titular wars of Star Wars. Count Dooku's ability to be cunning was exceptional, though.

Even the Jedi, who have a mystical sense of the goings-on in the galaxy, didn't suspect him as a villain until it was already far too late. Dooku's willingness and ability to do whatever it takes to achieve his own ends seems like a perfect fit for Slytherin.

6 Mace Windu - Hufflepuff

Master Mace Windu is undeniably one of the most badass members of the Jedi order, but he is generally a pretty straight shooter and by-the-book warrior. He's brave enough for Gryffindor, to be sure, but his commitment to justice makes him a better fit for Hufflepuff.

RELATED: Muppets Sorted Into Their Hogwarts Houses

What's more important is that, while Mace doesn't always adhere to the laws and rules of society, he does always do what he believes is morally right and in the best interest of the world. His desire to work for the greater good, no matter what, would make Helga Hufflepuff very proud.

5 Yoda - Hufflepuff

Hufflepuffs don't get nearly the amount of credit that they deserve for being the natural born leaders that they are, but Master Yoda definitely embodies all of the inherent leader qualities that allow the greatest Hufflepuffs to shine. Yoda has a very naturally calm temperament, judicious attitude, and operates on a very even keel.

All members of the Jedi order have their particular strengths and weaknesses, but it's these qualities that make Master Yoda the most trusted and respected member of the order. Plus, Yoda's commitment to teaching all Padawans is exactly the philosophy that Helga Hufflepuff herself embraced.

4 Qui-Gon Jinn - Gryffindor

Every member of the Jedi order is either born with or taught to have a whole lot of bravery, because it would be difficult to survive as a Jedi without it. However, Qui-Gon Jinn clearly didn't need a Jedi or Hogwarts education to become one of the bravest members of the order.

RELATED: Twilight Characters Sorted Into Hogwarts Houses

It may not have been the best move in the long run, but even when the Jedi were reluctant to train Anakin Skywalker, Qui-Gon didn't hesitate to go against the grain and push for what he truly believed was the right thing to do.

3 Obi-Wan Kenobi - Gryffindor

It comes as no surprise that Obi-Wan Kenobi was paired up with Qui-Gon Jinn for his education in the ways of the Jedi, because they both have the bravery and impetuousness that are the hallmarks of any Gryffindor.

Obi-Wan certainly adheres to the rules of the Jedi when he feels it's appropriate, but he's not afraid to go off on his own and make his own decisions if he thinks that someone else is doing the wrong thing. He's a fierce fighter but is still an extremely decent person; exactly the kind of guy that Gryffindor house would love to count among its ranks.

2 Queen Amidala - Ravenclaw

Queen Amidala demonstrates a lot of different qualities that would make her a good fit for any one of the Hogwarts houses. However, given what a brilliant woman she is, it seems unlikely that she would have wound up in any house besides Ravenclaw.

Padmé was elected as the queen of her home planet of Naboo when she was still just a teenager, and she managed to protect her people and maneuver her way through a lot of dangerous political entanglements with the wisdom and creative thinking of a woman ten times her age. Even Rowena Ravenclaw probably would have been intimidated.

1 Anakin Skywalker - Slytherin

Slytherin often times gets an unfair rap for being the "evil" house at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and Anakin Skywalker doesn't just belong in Slytherin because he wound up turning to the dark side. Anakin did go on to become Darth Vader, one of the greatest villains in all of film history, but Anakin's true motivations were always the fear of losing what he loved.

The signs of Anakin's ability to manipulate and behave in cunning, sneaky ways to get what he wants have been there for a very long time, and clearly he was willing to go to any extreme he thought necessary in order to achieve his aims.

NEXT: Animal Kingdom Characters Sorted Into Hogwarts Houses

source https://screenrant.com/star-wars-characters-prequel-trilogy-sorted-hogwarts-houses/

[ramajmedia]

The Star Wars Prequel Trilogy Characters Sorted Into Hogwarts Houses

Star Wars is a fantasy world (or really, galaxy) that deftly combines fictional elements of sci-fi and mysticism, in a way that has captured the imaginations of millions ever since A New Hope was initially released. The magical roots of the Star Wars universe find their home in the Jedi order, a group of people and beings who have an ability to control the "Force", a power that unites and lives in everything in this universe.

RELATED: The Goonies Sorted Into Hogwarts Houses

So, you could almost say that the Jedi order is like the Star Wars version of Hogwarts. It's an interesting thought to explore, these two fantasy worlds colliding, and it's cool to imagine where all of the characters in Star Wars would have wound up if they had been sent to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. So, here are all of the most important characters in the Star Wars prequel trilogy, sorted into their Hogwarts houses.

10 Shmi Skywalker - Hufflepuff

Shmi Skywalker ultimately wound up giving birth to the boy who became... well, we all know what and who he became. Shmi's beginning, end, and most of her middle were quite humble, though. Sadly, she spent a large chunk of her life living as a slave on Tatooine, and aside from the miraculous fatherless birth of Anakin Skywalker, her life was particularly unexceptional.

She appeared to be a very loving and caring woman, though, and even though she ultimately let Anakin go for what she thought was his own good, she likely would have been happy to just have a safe home with her son. These all sound like Hufflepuff traits to us.

9 Chancellor Palpatine - Ravenclaw

Chancellor Palpatine's admission to Ravenclaw would probably be a pretty controversial decision, since he's such a pure and unadulterated evil character that the only Hogwarts house that would even accept him would seemingly be Slytherin. However, Palpatine's genius is literally unparalleled.

RELATED: Thor: 10 MCU Characters Sorted Into Hogwarts Houses

In an entire galaxy of sentient beings, you'd think there would be at least one person who could outwit him, but that was apparently not the case. Palpatine managed to pull the fabric of reality apart around everyone without anyone even realizing that he was the culprit, and he built the galaxy back up around his power before anyone had the sense to stop him. When it comes to brilliant and wit, then, you're in Palpatine's wheelhouse.

8 Jango Fett - Gryffindor

There are many things that could be said about Jango Fett, but no-one would ever accuse him of being a coward. This man became the most feared bounty hunter in all of the galaxy, and he was such a fierce and fearsome warrior that he became the genetic prototype for the entire clone army.

Fett's bravery and fearlessness definitely got him very far in the Star Wars universe, but perhaps a Gryffindor education would have helped him to channel all of those strengths into something even better.

7 Count Dooku - Slytherin

Count Dooku was undoubtedly a clever man who managed to outsmart a lot of extremely capable and intelligent people, but he wasn't quite smart enough to survive the titular wars of Star Wars. Count Dooku's ability to be cunning was exceptional, though.

Even the Jedi, who have a mystical sense of the goings-on in the galaxy, didn't suspect him as a villain until it was already far too late. Dooku's willingness and ability to do whatever it takes to achieve his own ends seems like a perfect fit for Slytherin.

6 Mace Windu - Hufflepuff

Master Mace Windu is undeniably one of the most badass members of the Jedi order, but he is generally a pretty straight shooter and by-the-book warrior. He's brave enough for Gryffindor, to be sure, but his commitment to justice makes him a better fit for Hufflepuff.

RELATED: Muppets Sorted Into Their Hogwarts Houses

What's more important is that, while Mace doesn't always adhere to the laws and rules of society, he does always do what he believes is morally right and in the best interest of the world. His desire to work for the greater good, no matter what, would make Helga Hufflepuff very proud.

5 Yoda - Hufflepuff

Hufflepuffs don't get nearly the amount of credit that they deserve for being the natural born leaders that they are, but Master Yoda definitely embodies all of the inherent leader qualities that allow the greatest Hufflepuffs to shine. Yoda has a very naturally calm temperament, judicious attitude, and operates on a very even keel.

All members of the Jedi order have their particular strengths and weaknesses, but it's these qualities that make Master Yoda the most trusted and respected member of the order. Plus, Yoda's commitment to teaching all Padawans is exactly the philosophy that Helga Hufflepuff herself embraced.

4 Qui-Gon Jinn - Gryffindor

Every member of the Jedi order is either born with or taught to have a whole lot of bravery, because it would be difficult to survive as a Jedi without it. However, Qui-Gon Jinn clearly didn't need a Jedi or Hogwarts education to become one of the bravest members of the order.

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It may not have been the best move in the long run, but even when the Jedi were reluctant to train Anakin Skywalker, Qui-Gon didn't hesitate to go against the grain and push for what he truly believed was the right thing to do.

3 Obi-Wan Kenobi - Gryffindor

It comes as no surprise that Obi-Wan Kenobi was paired up with Qui-Gon Jinn for his education in the ways of the Jedi, because they both have the bravery and impetuousness that are the hallmarks of any Gryffindor.

Obi-Wan certainly adheres to the rules of the Jedi when he feels it's appropriate, but he's not afraid to go off on his own and make his own decisions if he thinks that someone else is doing the wrong thing. He's a fierce fighter but is still an extremely decent person; exactly the kind of guy that Gryffindor house would love to count among its ranks.

2 Queen Amidala - Ravenclaw

Queen Amidala demonstrates a lot of different qualities that would make her a good fit for any one of the Hogwarts houses. However, given what a brilliant woman she is, it seems unlikely that she would have wound up in any house besides Ravenclaw.

Padmé was elected as the queen of her home planet of Naboo when she was still just a teenager, and she managed to protect her people and maneuver her way through a lot of dangerous political entanglements with the wisdom and creative thinking of a woman ten times her age. Even Rowena Ravenclaw probably would have been intimidated.

1 Anakin Skywalker - Slytherin

Slytherin often times gets an unfair rap for being the "evil" house at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and Anakin Skywalker doesn't just belong in Slytherin because he wound up turning to the dark side. Anakin did go on to become Darth Vader, one of the greatest villains in all of film history, but Anakin's true motivations were always the fear of losing what he loved.

The signs of Anakin's ability to manipulate and behave in cunning, sneaky ways to get what he wants have been there for a very long time, and clearly he was willing to go to any extreme he thought necessary in order to achieve his aims.

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source https://screenrant.com/star-wars-characters-prequel-trilogy-sorted-hogwarts-houses/