TFA reaction was basically split into three groups:
Group one basically hated it flat out. Correctly diagnosed all the problems. I think this was probably the smallest group at the time. In retrospect, they were also completely correct.
Group two was lukewarm on it. Acknowledged problems, but also held out some hope that the second part would retroactively fix problems with the first by explaining certain things—Rey’s power, the backstory for basically everything—etc.
Group three just uncritically enjoyed it, either because they were lefty feminists, enjoy pacing and spectacle over consistency, were blinded by love for the brand, or a bit of all of the above.
Then TLJ happened. It not only dashed every hope group two had, it also did other stuff that was even worse than failing to fill in the gaps of the first movie. It was so bad it pushed some people from group three into admitting group one was right. It still had fans, of course, but not enough. However, had TLJ been awesome, I think it could have gone the other way and converted people from group one and group two into being complete fans. TFA may have put a couple cracks in the foundation, but the franchise wasn’t doomed until TLJ chose to take a hammer and chisel to those cracks rather than fixing them.
Oh, yeah, I was in group two as well. I think it was a bit naive, but what can you do? Sometimes you're wrong, and I've definitely learned at least some since then.
I was somewhere between group 1 and 2. I didn't diagnose all of the problems, but I recognized that Rey didn't earn or deserve what she was given, and Han was done triple dirty. Also that it was almost beat for beat, A New Hope. At the time that was the greater sin to me. I remember thinking how incredibly safe and lazy that was. It was such a cowardly move from JJ. Then interview after interview seeing him hailed as a genius, laughable.
TLJ did still turn a profit, but the audience numbers were way down from TFA.
TFA turned a lot of actual Star Wars fans off: the ones who knew the story well enough to recognize it as just a shitty do-over with no
fresh ideas. TLJ was the beginning of the real slide because it turned everyone off: even the normies were able to see at the time that it was shit. I'm not sure TLOU is a good video game allegory for that: even now most gamers will insist the first one was good.
I thought the first WAS good, for one playthrough. But after that, "ball and chain dialogues" would hurt every run afterwards. It wasn't in-your-face queer propaganda until that DLC, which I didn't play.
TLOU1 (with no DLCs), I played it with a dormmate in college, and the game was so piss-easy that we had a rule that you could backseat game at any time, and it had to be obeyed so long as it wasn't immediately suicidal. That made for a fun playthrough, and we both riffed the game the entire time. Game-and-story separation was a common riff. "Oh, the kid is whining again, that means we just killed the last enemy, it's amazing she can instantly tell, I thought for sure there was one more".
...But it's a narrative game with one predetermined ending, and juuust preachy enough to be mildly grating. Which is fine when learning that ending, but not so much on re-experience.
The first? Really? Not TFA which just did ANH all over again?
TFA reaction was basically split into three groups:
Group one basically hated it flat out. Correctly diagnosed all the problems. I think this was probably the smallest group at the time. In retrospect, they were also completely correct.
Group two was lukewarm on it. Acknowledged problems, but also held out some hope that the second part would retroactively fix problems with the first by explaining certain things—Rey’s power, the backstory for basically everything—etc.
Group three just uncritically enjoyed it, either because they were lefty feminists, enjoy pacing and spectacle over consistency, were blinded by love for the brand, or a bit of all of the above.
Then TLJ happened. It not only dashed every hope group two had, it also did other stuff that was even worse than failing to fill in the gaps of the first movie. It was so bad it pushed some people from group three into admitting group one was right. It still had fans, of course, but not enough. However, had TLJ been awesome, I think it could have gone the other way and converted people from group one and group two into being complete fans. TFA may have put a couple cracks in the foundation, but the franchise wasn’t doomed until TLJ chose to take a hammer and chisel to those cracks rather than fixing them.
I am ashamed to admit I was in group two. Denial was a real thing for months after that. Felt so much cognitive dissonance leaving the theater.
Oh, yeah, I was in group two as well. I think it was a bit naive, but what can you do? Sometimes you're wrong, and I've definitely learned at least some since then.
i was in group 1, but almost everyone around me was in group 3 for TFA
after the TLJ only one friend moved to group 1 while the rest of the people i knew stayed in group 3 or some moved to group 2
the programming is still strong in these ones
I was somewhere between group 1 and 2. I didn't diagnose all of the problems, but I recognized that Rey didn't earn or deserve what she was given, and Han was done triple dirty. Also that it was almost beat for beat, A New Hope. At the time that was the greater sin to me. I remember thinking how incredibly safe and lazy that was. It was such a cowardly move from JJ. Then interview after interview seeing him hailed as a genius, laughable.
was the last jedi the 2nd or 3rd movie? I can't even recall the 3 names any more.
2nd
TLJ did still turn a profit, but the audience numbers were way down from TFA.
TFA turned a lot of actual Star Wars fans off: the ones who knew the story well enough to recognize it as just a shitty do-over with no fresh ideas. TLJ was the beginning of the real slide because it turned everyone off: even the normies were able to see at the time that it was shit. I'm not sure TLOU is a good video game allegory for that: even now most gamers will insist the first one was good.
I thought the first WAS good, for one playthrough. But after that, "ball and chain dialogues" would hurt every run afterwards. It wasn't in-your-face queer propaganda until that DLC, which I didn't play.
It certainly wasn't the worst thing ever made, although I never though it lived up to the hype.
TLOU1 (with no DLCs), I played it with a dormmate in college, and the game was so piss-easy that we had a rule that you could backseat game at any time, and it had to be obeyed so long as it wasn't immediately suicidal. That made for a fun playthrough, and we both riffed the game the entire time. Game-and-story separation was a common riff. "Oh, the kid is whining again, that means we just killed the last enemy, it's amazing she can instantly tell, I thought for sure there was one more".
...But it's a narrative game with one predetermined ending, and juuust preachy enough to be mildly grating. Which is fine when learning that ending, but not so much on re-experience.