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Posted: 2004-02-18 11:40pm
by Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi
I wouldn't be surprised if people in the SW galaxy smoked and did drugs. The dangers of smoking being clear hasn't stopped people from doing it on earth, after all. They could have advanced and effective measures for stopping addiction, though.

Posted: 2004-02-18 11:53pm
by Sarevok
An advanced culture like the SW galaxy might even have technology that reduces or eliminates smoking risks.

Posted: 2004-02-19 03:47am
by Comosicus
Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi wrote:I wouldn't be surprised if people in the SW galaxy smoked and did drugs. The dangers of smoking being clear hasn't stopped people from doing it on earth, after all. They could have advanced and effective measures for stopping addiction, though.

Drugs indeed exist, as we can see in the cantina in AotC: the Death Sticks.

Posted: 2004-02-19 03:55am
by Kurgan
You guys crack me up.

I guess I should write up that Bendu/Bindu thing after all! ; )

Posted: 2004-02-19 03:56am
by Peregrin Toker
Spanky The Dolphin wrote:If you're suggesting that Tusken Raiders are rip-offs of Fremen, then you are indeed thick.
Well, while the Tusken Raiders certainly NOT are Fremen rip-offs, they do have something in common. (namely that they both are desert warriors and literally worship and revere the creatures they use as mounts)

I think the only thing about the Tusken Raiders which probably are lifted from the Fremen are that they revere the Banthas like the Fremen revere the Shai-Hulud.

Otherwise, the Tusken Raiders are probably based upon bedouin nomads as depicted in "Beau Geste".

Posted: 2004-02-19 04:02am
by Spanky The Dolphin
I think that's post hoc ergo promtor hoc stretching it.

Posted: 2004-02-19 01:53pm
by Comosicus
Jedi do smoke. Here is the proof :mrgreen:

Some say this is a spoiler

EDIT: linked the picture, instead of showing it.

Posted: 2004-02-19 03:24pm
by Lord Pounder
Kurgan wrote:You guys crack me up.

I guess I should write up that Bendu/Bindu thing after all! ; )
Post it if you want. After the shit my brother is putting me through at the monent i need a laugh.

Posted: 2004-02-19 09:29pm
by Robert Treder
If you want to see a rip off of Dune, look at The Lion King, not Star Wars. Think about it: a king is betrayed and killed by someone close to him, the prince is forced into exile to live with eccentric desert nomads, and then he comes back to kick the shit out of his usurpers when he's older. Cue the rain.

Posted: 2004-02-19 10:41pm
by Kurgan
Actually I always thought of Dune as being a parallel of Lawrence of Arabia (real historical figure), the rise of Islam, the environmental movement & the current (or current as of the 1960's) turmoil in the middle east. That only scatches the surface of course.

Dune seems based on history itself mostly, though I'm told that Asimov's "Foundation" influenced it a lot (the idea of an esoteric sect guiding history and the a galactic empire) which I haven't read. Star Wars is based mostly on other 'fiction' (be that comic books, old serials, adventure films, science fiction that Lucas liked, myths that he studied, etc).

I see Dune as one of the many influences on Star Wars, but definately an important one (and continues to be). It's in the same genre, achieved wide popular success and was established only a decade before, plus Lucas was familiar with it.

I'm not crying "rip off" but pointing out the obvious influence one series had on the other. So feel free to continue to scoff at the idea, but here's another argument for it (one could write a book on the subject but it looks like somebody has already gone to some trouble):

http://www.jitterbug.com/origins/dune.html

(the article writer mentions Shakespear, which had occured to me in the manner the characters conduct themselves say in the Lynch film version, the whole atmosphere of court intriuge and soliloquay, of course Shakespear based his own stories on history, albeit with vast poetic liscense)

Incidentally, I didn't pull this idea out of my ass, in fact I didn't even consider that Dune and Star Wars might be cousins until I saw the sci fi Miniseries, which inspired me to read the books.

More and more I saw parallels between the two. This is perhaps more true of Lucas's story as it evolved than just the films themselves (reading early Star Wars drafts and biographies of Lucas makes this more clear).

The EU extends the parallels which may or may not have anything to do with Lucas's idea, but it would stand to reason that they drew from the same influences he did (for example some of the Marvel comic books explicitly say they watched old Flash Gordon to draw inspiration for Star Wars comics made after the movie).

Posted: 2004-02-19 10:55pm
by Drooling Iguana
Robert Treder wrote:If you want to see a rip off of Dune, look at The Lion King, not Star Wars. Think about it: a king is betrayed and killed by someone close to him, the prince is forced into exile to live with eccentric desert nomads, and then he comes back to kick the shit out of his usurpers when he's older. Cue the rain.
They both ripped off Macbeth.

Posted: 2004-02-19 11:10pm
by Kurgan
I'm not saying anybody is ripping off (ie: direct plagiarism).

Rip off =! Influenced/by

In a sense all fiction is in one way shape or form derivative because people tend to write about "what they know" which means they draw on earlier stories, etc.

Even the most original stories tend to be where people "react against" what they know (which is supposedly what Herbert did with Foundation, but again, not having read Foundation, I can't agree or disagree with that).

Now if you want to get into the Star Wars EU and Star Trek (post Roddenberry) ripping each other off, that's a whole 'nother topic. ; )


EDIT: Comosicus, please use spoilers when posting Episode III materials! ; )

Posted: 2004-02-20 02:33am
by Comosicus
Kurgan wrote: EDIT: Comosicus, please use spoilers when posting Episode III materials! ; )
Is that a spoiler? I thought it is a modified comic picture that came close to the subject of the thread. It's from a funny picture site. But if people insist, I'll link it.

Posted: 2004-02-20 02:41am
by Kurgan
Actually I was just making a lame joke (you know, that Yoda turns out to be a chain-smoking drunk in Episode III)


OOPS! *covers mouth in horror*

Posted: 2004-02-20 08:59am
by Comosicus
Kurgan wrote:Actually I was just making a lame joke (you know, that Yoda turns out to be a chain-smoking drunk in Episode III)


OOPS! *covers mouth in horror*

I'll just leave it this way. And please announce "JOKE" when making one :mrgreen:

Posted: 2004-02-20 01:06pm
by Slartibartfast
Oh please, no more of the "important influence of Dune". If there was any strong influence it would have been in the EU writers. The Sand People appear for all of 2 minutes during the movie, and are just a bunch of savages with sticks and big elephants. (nobody worshipped any Banthas during those 120 seconds of them pummeling Luke's face and dismantling the landspeeder before running away from a old guy making funny noises)

And Jedis like to smoke and make big dinners.

Posted: 2004-02-20 03:34pm
by Lord Pounder
More importantly the idea of Sand People worshiping Bantha's came from which writter that now co-writes in the Duniverse?

Give it up Kurgan, your wanking away but i doubt anyone is buying it.

Posted: 2004-02-20 03:40pm
by Slartibartfast
Remember that this is the same guy who said that even if some other author writes it, it's still Lucas universe and he must have thought everything about it in advance.

So in effect, EU writers are just typewriting monkeys able to read Georgie's mind.

Posted: 2004-02-20 04:06pm
by Lord Pounder
He did. I guess that explains a lot.

Posted: 2004-02-20 06:07pm
by Kurgan
Remember that this is the same guy who said that even if some other author writes it, it's still Lucas universe and he must have thought everything about it in advance.

So in effect, EU writers are just typewriting monkeys able to read Georgie's mind.
Lol ! This is actually not MY argument, but the argument of the EU apologists on these forums.

Though they do have a point, Lucas (or somebody representing him through his company) DOES "approve everything that's official" (whatever that means) and so in whatever sense, whatever is in the EU is "his will" even though he freely contradicts it when he chooses.

See, this is why I can't win. If I defend the EU, I'm an EU apologist, if I attack the EU, I'm a purist asshole. If I denigrate Star Wars I must hate it, if I approve it, I must be a fanboy wanker!

Well, I guess you can't please everybody, especially when they build their Walls of Ignorance so high.

Posted: 2004-02-21 11:24am
by Lord Pounder
Your accusing me of having a WoI. And they say fanatically dumb people don't have a sense of irony. On another note since you seem to have all the angles covered in your weird theory Jabba = Who in Duniverse? ISD's = What? Come on numb nuts amaze me already.

Posted: 2004-02-22 07:18am
by Peregrin Toker
Lord Pounder wrote:Jabba = Who in Duniverse?
Jabba bears a vague resemblance to God-Emperor Leto II in his sandworm form.

However, I don't have a clue what the Duniverse equivalent of an ISD is.

Posted: 2004-02-22 01:35pm
by Lord Pounder
Peregrin Toker wrote:
Lord Pounder wrote:Jabba = Who in Duniverse?
Jabba bears a vague resemblance to God-Emperor Leto II in his sandworm form.

However, I don't have a clue what the Duniverse equivalent of an ISD is.
You're suggesting that The God Emperor of the Known Universe, Leto II, is the inspiration for a sweaty crimelord? I surely hope your taking the piss.

Posted: 2004-02-22 04:25pm
by His Divine Shadow
Durandal wrote:We don't know what smoking is like in Star Wars. Maybe they've refined it in such a way that you retain the high with no significant long-term health risks. After all, Gandalf and just about every other character in Lord of the Rings was a dirty reefer addict.
Is there even any high? What if it's more like Tobacco instead?

Posted: 2004-02-23 08:07am
by Kurgan
Slartibartfast wrote:Remember that this is the same guy who said that even if some other author writes it, it's still Lucas universe and he must have thought everything about it in advance.

So in effect, EU writers are just typewriting monkeys able to read Georgie's mind.
(emphasis added) Non sequitur in that last sentence btw.
Lord Pounder wrote:He did. I guess that explains a lot.
Where exactly did I say this? Or were you referring to someone else?