Suicide Squad - Comic-Con First Look [HD]

Tonguez · Jul 19, 2015

MechaPilot said:
I get that a fair number of Star Wars fans like or adore Boba Fett, but I've never seen the allure based on his appearance in either the original trilogy, the prequel trilogy, or all six movies as a whole.

I think that the allure of Boba Fett was more about what he could have been rather than how he was actually presnted in the movies and his stoopid demise in the Sarlacc Pit.

He could have been a major badass, the pale rider, conflicted bounty hunter and last survivor of his kind. He could have been a legend in his own right, but the movies wasted the opportunity. The Sarlaac Pit was just dumb and the background added via Jango was a bit naf.

Boba Fett has become cool because of fan imaginations rather than anything in the movie presentation

MechaPilot · Jul 19, 2015

Tonguez said:
I think that the allure of Boba Fett was more about what he could have been rather than how he was actually presnted in the movies and his stoopid demise in the Sarlacc Pit.

He could have been a major badass, the pale rider, conflicted bounty hunter and last survivor of his kind. He could have been a legend in his own right, but the movies wasted the opportunity. The Sarlaac Pit was just dumb and the background added via Jango was a bit naf.

Boba Fett has become cool because of fan imaginations rather than anything in the movie presentation

If I am understanding you properly, he is cool because he is an empty shell that fans can project their imaginations onto (and perhaps because fans may have thought his armor and weapons looked cool as well). If I am understanding you properly, what makes him any cooler than any of the other empty shell characters in Star Wars?

Morrus · Jul 19, 2015

MechaPilot said:
If I am understanding you properly, he is cool because he is an empty shell that fans can project their imaginations onto (and perhaps because fans may have thought his armor and weapons looked cool as well). If I am understanding you properly, what makes him any cooler than any of the other empty shell characters in Star Wars?

"Coolness" (though that probably is not the right word) isn't a measurable definable thing, and it's unlikely anybody can explain it. It just is. For whatever reason, Boba Fett had the right combination of factors; I don't imagine it can be deliberately replicated, or that the film makers had any idea that it would happen.

Ryujin · Jul 19, 2015

trappedslider said:
I hate to tell you this but the Joker has never had a set in stone origin story. The origin given in the Keaton movie however is the most commonly told one. He's even the trope namer for Multiply choice past.

http://batman.wikia.com/wiki/The_Joker#Origin

"They've given many origins of the Joker, how he came to be. That doesn't seem to matter—just how he is now. I never intended to give a reason for his appearance. We discussed that and Bill [Finger] and I never wanted to change it at that time. I thought—and he agreed—that it takes away some of the essential mystery."

– Jerry Robinson, the Joker's creator

"Sometimes I remember it one way, sometimes another ... if I'm going to have a past, I prefer it to be multiple choice!"- Joker

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joker_(comics)#Origins

That would go back to post #33

MechaPilot · Jul 19, 2015

Morrus said:
"Coolness" (though that probably is not the right word) isn't a measurable definable thing, and it's unlikely anybody can explain it. It just is. For whatever reason, Boba Fett had the right combination of factors; I don't imagine it can be deliberately replicated, or that the film makers had any idea that it would happen.

I agree with you that "coolness" is probably not the right word. Somehow, the Boba Fett character has managed to engage the imagination and adoration of a great many Star Wars fans (I have always suspected that the role he plays in the prequels was intended to be a nod to the fans who loved him in the original trilogy, though the effect of the way he was included is highly debatable). I also agree with you that the reasons for this are probably indefinable, especially given how subjective individual tastes are.

Let me throw out another example of the undefined past: Eastwood in High Plains Drifter (my father loves westerns, so I've seen a few of them). They leave the real identity of that character untold throughout the entire movie, and if I recall correctly they don't even give him a person's name to go by. I have always thought that this movie was an interesting example of supernatural elements being slipped into an old western, because it seems to me that Eastwood's character is some kind of spirit/creature of vengeance sent to make everyone pay who was complicit (even via inaction) in allowing the brutal whipping to death of the town marshal. But, they never do say who he is, and he could just be a good friend of the marshal come to make sure everyone gets what's coming to them for the death of his friend.

Morrus · Jul 19, 2015

Yes, I've seen HPD. Your description is accurate.

Ryujin · Jul 19, 2015

MechaPilot said:
I agree with you that "coolness" is probably not the right word. Somehow, the Boba Fett character has managed to engage the imagination and adoration of a great many Star Wars fans (I have always suspected that the role he plays in the prequels was intended to be a nod to the fans who loved him in the original trilogy, though the effect of the way he was included is highly debatable). I also agree with you that the reasons for this are probably indefinable, especially given how subjective individual tastes are.

“Of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these, 'It might have been.” ― John Greenleaf Whittier

Let me throw out another example of the undefined past: Eastwood in High Plains Drifter (my father loves westerns, so I've seen a few of them). They leave the real identity of that character untold throughout the entire movie, and if I recall correctly they don't even give him a person's name to go by. I have always thought that this movie was an interesting example of supernatural elements being slipped into an old western, because it seems to me that Eastwood's character is some kind of spirit/creature of vengeance sent to make everyone pay who was complicit (even via inaction) in allowing the brutal whipping to death of the town marshal. But, they never do say who he is, and he could just be a good friend of the marshal come to make sure everyone gets what's coming to them for the death of his friend.

It's even hinted that the Drifter might have been the spirit of the young murdered marshal, with the way that he arrives and vanishes in heat haze.

MechaPilot · Jul 19, 2015

Ryujin said:
It's even hinted that the Drifter might have been the spirit of the young murdered marshal, with the way that he arrives and vanishes in heat haze.

It is hinted at, but he is also very clearly depicted as having a corporeal form (otherwise he could't eat or have sex as he does in the film).

Tonguez · Jul 19, 2015

MechaPilot said:
It is hinted at, but he is also very clearly depicted as having a corporeal form (otherwise he could't eat or have sex as he does in the film).

I always thought of HPD as an Angel of vengeance. funnily enough when thinking about Boba Fett, HPD and Preacher of Pale Rider were the characters that popped into my head too.

That probably helped Boba Fetts coolness, he managed to tap the mythic archetype of silent gunman. He's also the neutral both the outsider - neither Rebel or Empire - and the badass normal (no jedi powers, no Wookie companion) of Star Wars

MechaPilot · Jul 19, 2015

Tonguez said:
That probably helped Boba Fetts coolness, he managed to tap the mythic archetype of silent gunman. He's also the neutral both the outsider - neither Rebel or Empire - and the badass normal (no jedi powers, no Wookie companion) of Star Wars

He probably would be the badass normal if his badassery were ever truly established in the films. As I recall the films (it has been a year or two since I've watched the original trilogy), the most badass thing he accomplished was a jetpack-assisted jump and momentarily binding Luke with that cable that was very quickly cut with the lightsaber before Han accidentally poked him in the jetpack and sent him flying like a bottle rocket.

At least with Pale Rider the badassery is established: we see Eastwood knock that giant in the crotch with the sledge before helping him back onto his horse (and that's just one instance).