Exactly! I mean, shooting someone to defend yourself doesn't make you a bad guy. I don't know if I would have done the same -- because I'm actually quite nervous about guns -- but I can understand why Han did it. I mean, it's not black and white. It's just doing what you can to survive on what's an honestly dangerous job.
That and kids are smarter than people give them credit for. There's definitely a line to what they can be shown (e.g. extreme graphic violence), but otherwise? They can handle hard/gray subjects. Disney and Pixar know that. The Rankin-Bass Christmas specials know that. J.K. Rowling, for all her faults, knows that. Doctor Who knows that. Most of the good kids movies know that. And Star Wars was more than willing to give kids credit -- so what made Lucas think kids couldn't handle something like Han shooting first?
I know that, to quote something Dave Filoni once said, Star Wars wants kids to know that evil is evil, but I think another important lesson to learn is that sometimes there are gray areas too. Doctor Who's a great example of that, and it's one of many reasons I love that show. But yeah, give kids more credit, Lucas. Seriously.
And yeah, I agree with you on Han. He's a very complex character and I wouldn't have him any other way. And yeah, later Han...I could do without him. So very much. It's like he lost his sense of compassion he gained in ESB and ROTJ, and his sense of fun. That later Han's really not Han. It's just someone wearing his face and clothes and piloting his ship calling himself Han.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2013-12-15 08:29 pm (UTC)That and kids are smarter than people give them credit for. There's definitely a line to what they can be shown (e.g. extreme graphic violence), but otherwise? They can handle hard/gray subjects. Disney and Pixar know that. The Rankin-Bass Christmas specials know that. J.K. Rowling, for all her faults, knows that. Doctor Who knows that. Most of the good kids movies know that. And Star Wars was more than willing to give kids credit -- so what made Lucas think kids couldn't handle something like Han shooting first?
I know that, to quote something Dave Filoni once said, Star Wars wants kids to know that evil is evil, but I think another important lesson to learn is that sometimes there are gray areas too. Doctor Who's a great example of that, and it's one of many reasons I love that show. But yeah, give kids more credit, Lucas. Seriously.
And yeah, I agree with you on Han. He's a very complex character and I wouldn't have him any other way. And yeah, later Han...I could do without him. So very much. It's like he lost his sense of compassion he gained in ESB and ROTJ, and his sense of fun. That later Han's really not Han. It's just someone wearing his face and clothes and piloting his ship calling himself Han.