Tag: ask

Do you think it would have been better if, instead of having to share Kylo, Finn could be set up more specifically against Phasma, with her having a larger role? Then we could have a one-for-one pattern of the Resistance main trio against the First Order main trio (with Poe set up against Hux, naturally). You could do something interesting with Phasma having no loyalty to the First Order either, but without any moral reasons behind that.

It’s an interesting idea and I think that’s how Johnson was trying to go (minus giving Phasma or Hux any meaty role), but I think that also has the risk of splitting the plot in three. Ultimately I think it’s more satisfying to have a central Big Bad so that the plot coheres into one, especially in movies for theatrical release.

I wish the sequels had never been made so we could enjoy a Star Wars free of TLJ’s mess. We’re getting all this great stuff and it would be so much better without TLJ’s stain on the franchise. Only thing is that if the sequels were never made or if they waited until now to start making them, we wouldn’t get the original cast appearing ever again.

I still have hope for the ST but agree TLJ has made everything worse 😦 It burns me up that this was the last movie Carrie appeared in and hope IX will avenge her honor!!!

You read up on East Asian history? Excellent! I’m determined to learn more about the ancient cultural and economic exchanges between South Asia and East Asia, and I’d love to enthuse about that topic sometime!

Omg YES SO MUCH THIS because there have been exchanges throughout history (and before recorded history) between East and S/SE Asia! One study found that 20-30% of Koreans have Southeast Asian heritage through the paternal line, and you can tell from the difference in looks, too. There have been historical records of intermarriage as well: It is said that King Suro, who ruled the Kingdom of Garak (unrelated to Elim Garak the Cardassian spy) in the southeast of modern Korea, married a princess of Ayodhya in the north of modern India. This was way back in the 1st-2nd century AD!

Now, this far back history gets muddled and mixed up with myth, and the same record also says Suro and his wife both lived to be 157 years old so it’s probably best to take everything with a grain of salt. Some have said that while Suro did marry a princess who traveled from a faraway land, attributing to her the background of an Ayodhyan princess is likely to be a later addition after Buddhism came to Korea a few centuries later. This, of course, shows in a backhanded way the awareness of and prestige attached to India.

Though not S/SE Asia per se, there has been active exchange with Central Asia and the Middle East as well. The reason we use the name “Korea” to refer to this peninsula is because of Arab merchants who who traded in select ports and spread the name. “Korea” comes from Goryeoh btw, the kingdom that ruled most of the peninsula from 10th-14th century.

It has also been suggested that a major figure in Korean religion and mythology, Cheo-Yong, was originally an Arab or Persian man who settled in Korea for a while and married a Korean woman. There’s a similar Persian story of an exiled Persian prince marrying a Korean princess.

Long story short, the history of exchanges with parts of the world outside of China and Japan is an area that’s extremely understudied in Korea and there’s a whole book on the subject of exchange between Korea and SE Asia that I’m excited to read! Let’s definitely talk more and swap info.

There are toooo many leaks that suggest Hux is the true villain which leaves too much daylight for “Ben” to be redeemed.

Even aside from the fact that a lot of the “leaks” floating around are reylow fanfics, that would be a terrible move in general. Hux was a caricature in his first movie and a chew toy in his second. Making him the Big Bad of the third movie would feel cheap and unearned after all the setup Kylo Ren got as an interesting main villain.