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Rebel Moon and the Politics Of Fandom.
Dec. 24th, 2023 11:31 amOK, so Rebel Moon is perfectly servicable sci fi and I liked it. I think people are being especially nitpicky because it's like "Oh so Zack "his mother's name is Martha" Snyder thinks he can make a Star Wars movie? We'll see about that!" And it doesn't feel like Star Wars. It feels like Firefly if 1. The enemy was the Imperium from Warhammer 40k 2. the white people weren't cursing awkwardly in Mandarin. But there are other derivative elements from other stories, and yes this whole thing is hella derivative. Yes, it's supposed to be like Star Wars with the serial numbers filed off. And lest we forget, Star Wars itself is hella derivative. It was supposed to be Flash Gordon with the serial numbers filed off, and the plot is inspired by a Kurosawa film (A Hidden Fortress.)
It was still a blast in my opinion. I'm eagerly awaiting the Holiday Special (GUNNAR: "Kora, we have to get back to Veldt in time for the Winter Solstice Festival!") even though this kind of *is* the Holiday Special, since it's being released at Christmas?
And this got me thinking about the whole debacle between Zack Snyder and Joss Whedon. As in, "not only is Zack "300" Snyder turning out to be the more politically correct of the two, not only did he make a better Justice League, he made a better Firefly, to boot."
Yes I was a Browncoat back in the day. But so much of what Joss has made has a stink on it now for me. And knowing how Joss Whedon treated Ray Fisher while he was on Justice League makes it great to see Ray Fisher shine for the like 20 minutes he's onscreen in Rebel Moon.
I know it seems hypocritical to go "this thing that I used to like has faults, and the faults were kind of red flags that the creator maybe had some problematic issues. But before I knew about the creator's issues, it was possible for me to like this story despite its faults, or ignore the faults and pretend they weren't there. After I became aware of the creator's issues, those faults just seemed even more glaring and egregious and impossible to ignore." But that's what I've been doing, with Joss Whedon and with Jowling Kowling Rowling/Harry Potter.
Firefly was a product of its time. We liked it, because it was the only thing doing what it was trying to do (be a space western) at that time, if that makes sense. And let's be honest - a lot of it was Nathan Fillion and the rest of the cast doing all the heavy lifting, making it work despite dialogue that makes me cringe to hear it now when I go back to rewatch it.
And It's very clearly the product of a guy who was trying to appear to be forward-thinking and a feminist and an ally, who was really none of those things. Because to do that, to be that, you have to be a decent human being first. You have to understand *why* we should treat people with respect, and truly *want* to treat people with respect, and not to just appear to be doing so for brownie points.
This has also got me thinking about the knee-jerk reactions of fans on all sides who attack or defend a franchise due to its perceived "political correctness" or "wokeness" or lacktherof. It's become a form of tribalism. But seriously: like what are the 4channers who got on the Snyder Bro Bus with the release of 300 going to do if he turns out to have been "woke" this whole time?
EDIT: And this is not just "I think Firefly sucks now because I don't like Joss Whedon anymore." I liked aspects of Firefly, but there was always something off about it. Like Joss was trying too hard to make us like it. Just something about the ham-handed twangy folksiness of Our (Big Damn) Heroes, ("this is what a city slicker with Liberal pretensions from Southern California thinks people from the rural South/Southwest sound like") and the admitted tone-deaf weirdness of trying to tell what is essentially a "ex Confederate soldiers turned outlaws" story; but with diversity! And cursing in Mandarin. In the future. In space!
What makes Zack Snyder's version of this concept "better" in my opinion? I'm still working on putting it into words, but here are two reasons that immediately come to mind:
1. He's not in love with his own perceived cleverness and glibness in the way that Joss Whedon is, by self-admission (in the DVD voiceover commentary for the film Serenity, no less.) The dialogue is allowed to do its generally intended thing of moving the plot and the characters forward instead of showcasing how he can dispense "Whedonesque" turns of phrase.
2. I don't really know how to explain it any better than this; but even though it's one of the most tropey bundle of tropes that ever troped, Rebel Moon makes you feel it. It hit me during the scene where Sam makes the flower crown for Jimmy that this show has more "heart" than Firefly, and also more the last few Star Wars films combined - except for Rogue One. Maybe there's just something about these kinds of stories that just resonates with me.
EDIT II: After a rewatch, one week later: what he lacks in character development and dialogue, Zack Snyder makes up for in atmosphere and visual storytelling. Also, I love the score.
It was still a blast in my opinion. I'm eagerly awaiting the Holiday Special (GUNNAR: "Kora, we have to get back to Veldt in time for the Winter Solstice Festival!") even though this kind of *is* the Holiday Special, since it's being released at Christmas?
And this got me thinking about the whole debacle between Zack Snyder and Joss Whedon. As in, "not only is Zack "300" Snyder turning out to be the more politically correct of the two, not only did he make a better Justice League, he made a better Firefly, to boot."
Yes I was a Browncoat back in the day. But so much of what Joss has made has a stink on it now for me. And knowing how Joss Whedon treated Ray Fisher while he was on Justice League makes it great to see Ray Fisher shine for the like 20 minutes he's onscreen in Rebel Moon.
I know it seems hypocritical to go "this thing that I used to like has faults, and the faults were kind of red flags that the creator maybe had some problematic issues. But before I knew about the creator's issues, it was possible for me to like this story despite its faults, or ignore the faults and pretend they weren't there. After I became aware of the creator's issues, those faults just seemed even more glaring and egregious and impossible to ignore." But that's what I've been doing, with Joss Whedon and with Jowling Kowling Rowling/Harry Potter.
Firefly was a product of its time. We liked it, because it was the only thing doing what it was trying to do (be a space western) at that time, if that makes sense. And let's be honest - a lot of it was Nathan Fillion and the rest of the cast doing all the heavy lifting, making it work despite dialogue that makes me cringe to hear it now when I go back to rewatch it.
And It's very clearly the product of a guy who was trying to appear to be forward-thinking and a feminist and an ally, who was really none of those things. Because to do that, to be that, you have to be a decent human being first. You have to understand *why* we should treat people with respect, and truly *want* to treat people with respect, and not to just appear to be doing so for brownie points.
This has also got me thinking about the knee-jerk reactions of fans on all sides who attack or defend a franchise due to its perceived "political correctness" or "wokeness" or lacktherof. It's become a form of tribalism. But seriously: like what are the 4channers who got on the Snyder Bro Bus with the release of 300 going to do if he turns out to have been "woke" this whole time?
EDIT: And this is not just "I think Firefly sucks now because I don't like Joss Whedon anymore." I liked aspects of Firefly, but there was always something off about it. Like Joss was trying too hard to make us like it. Just something about the ham-handed twangy folksiness of Our (Big Damn) Heroes, ("this is what a city slicker with Liberal pretensions from Southern California thinks people from the rural South/Southwest sound like") and the admitted tone-deaf weirdness of trying to tell what is essentially a "ex Confederate soldiers turned outlaws" story; but with diversity! And cursing in Mandarin. In the future. In space!
What makes Zack Snyder's version of this concept "better" in my opinion? I'm still working on putting it into words, but here are two reasons that immediately come to mind:
1. He's not in love with his own perceived cleverness and glibness in the way that Joss Whedon is, by self-admission (in the DVD voiceover commentary for the film Serenity, no less.) The dialogue is allowed to do its generally intended thing of moving the plot and the characters forward instead of showcasing how he can dispense "Whedonesque" turns of phrase.
2. I don't really know how to explain it any better than this; but even though it's one of the most tropey bundle of tropes that ever troped, Rebel Moon makes you feel it. It hit me during the scene where Sam makes the flower crown for Jimmy that this show has more "heart" than Firefly, and also more the last few Star Wars films combined - except for Rogue One. Maybe there's just something about these kinds of stories that just resonates with me.
EDIT II: After a rewatch, one week later: what he lacks in character development and dialogue, Zack Snyder makes up for in atmosphere and visual storytelling. Also, I love the score.
