Welcome again to We Have Always Live the Kraken, a pop culture blog transmitted directly to you from the belly of the beast. Here in the Notes we’ll show you this month’s posting schedule, but first, here are some thoughts.
Nobody knows what they want out of Star Wars.
Or rather, there are so many Star Wars fans out there, and so many kinds of Star Wars fans, that no one entry in the series can please all of them.
Case in point: mooks. Of the many aspects of the upcoming capstone in the Star Wars sequel trilogy, The Rise of Skywalker, that are currently fueling fevered fan speculation, one of them is whether there will be some kind of payoff or deeper revelations which will surface around the character of Captain Phasma (Gwendoline Christie, cast back when Game of Thrones still made nerds happy). A minor antagonist whose role in the first two films of the trilogy has been to show up, say mean things to Finn, and get decidedly trounced, Phasma is the textbook definition of a mook, an antagonist who has enough characteristics to be distinctive (particularly visually–she never takes off her mask, which puts her in thematic opposition to Finn, who began defining his identity when he took his own Stormtrooper helmet off), but not enough to actually be a character in any developed sense of the word. These characters are exciting, but surface level. In other words: cool.
It’s a common technique, particularly in action stories and genre pulp. The problem that Star Wars has with Phasma and cool mooks in general is that all sci-fi and fantasy leaves room for its mooks to have hidden depths (not in their personalities, but in their abilities, rules, backstories, etc).
This is distinctly different from, say, a Western, where the existence of a sneering goon with a scar on his face and wearing a green bandana does not automatically imply that some kind of epic past of equal sweep and scope to the hero’s was responsible for the goon’s sneer, or that there is a detailed technological explanation for his scar, or that he hails from a peculiar community of bandana-wearers with their own distinct culture, wars, and sense of pride. He’s just a mean sumbitch who’s done mean things in a hard place and is there to look intimidating before getting shot by the hero.
The fan desire for more, born from genre expectations (Star Wars is a Western in terms of narrative function, but of course is draped in the trappings of sci-fi), is a problem that Star Wars has certainly exaggerated by merchandising and Extended Universe-ing every minor character and object that ever background acted its way across the screen in a single shot of any of the movies. But it’s also just something endemic to the genre—no matter how expansive the tableau of, say, Tolkien’s Middle Earth, the audience always wants to know more about the world and its inhabitants than the story has time to tell them.
Nor is the Phasma problem one that originates in the sequel trilogy. Star Wars also deliberately used this trope to generate audience interest from the very beginning—one of Lucas’ goals was to present the kind of detailed, lived-in world that would make Star Wars feel like one piece of a wider tale (Part IV, if you will). Boba Fett is obviously the prime example from the original trilogy, a character that excites fans far beyond his minimal role in the story, partly because Fett is mysterious and the nature of Star Wars encourages us to wonder about such things, partly because he’s a cool mook and a large subset of the fans will never not be fascinated by him.
The problem comes when either that desire to know more is overly indulged by creators (mystery has its own pleasantness that is often dispelled by explication) or becomes a demand on the part of the audience. It’s only human to want an end to (appropriately engendered) tension, but maturity requires understanding that often tension itself is more satisfying than satisfaction. Here’s hoping Phasma never takes off that mask.
-Kyu
From the depths of the Kraken, here is what we are bringing you this month.
Guest writer Tenzytile brings us an in-depth look at the latest from auteur Claire Denis, the sensual sci-fi drama High Life.
Catch of the Week Month:
Each and every week the residents here in the Kraken will offer one recommendation for the week that we think you all would enjoy. It might be a movie. It might be a book. Who knows? This is your… Catch of the Week Month.
Kyu: This month, a recommendation with a caveat. I typically don’t recommend anything I haven’t finished yet, but in this case, I’m comfortable doing so, because the work has already given me sufficient satisfaction, if not more. I’m talking about Hollow Knight, which I am playing on the Nintendo Switch but which is also available on the PS4, Xbox One, and Steam. I’m fine recommending Hollow Knight at this point because I’m nearly 30 hours in and the game is still revealing hidden depths and new ideas. A Metroidvania (ie., an action platformer built around exploration and upgrades), the game is about a underground civilization of sentient bugs which has long since fallen to ruin, visited only by intrepid treasure-hunters, including yourself. It’s your job to delve deep into the maze-like structures and warrens, fighting off hostile bugs with your trusty blade (actually, a nail) and discovering the secret history of the insect society’s collapse. The result is surreal but also at times eerie, horrifying, or even beautiful. The game is about as polished and effective in terms of visual design and musical score as you could hope for–but all of the pleasures of the art, music, and creative, elliptical storytelling would mean nothing if the mechanics weren’t excellent. Luckily, moment to moment, Hollow Knight is one of the best action platformers I’ve ever played. The fighting is incredibly fine-tuned and rewarding–designed to encourage you to leap forward, slash with your nail, and dance away in one carefully timed attack after another. When you slash, there’s a small amount of knockback–enough to shove you off a platform (into spikes or acid below, more often than not)–and that alone is a stroke of genius, because it prevents you from pressing an attack. You have to fight with conscious intention, which is good, because there is a vast variety of bugs to fight, each with their own patterns and dangers. The game then marries this excellent base combat loop to its exploration and economic mechanics in a way that pulls you through a huge, intricate world filled with secrets, dangers, and rewards. I suppose there’s still time for Hollow Knight to end so poorly that it lowers itself in my estimation, but for now this is one of my favorite games in the genre, period.
David: This month I will go with a movie that has been out for a bit now, but still deserves more shine: Booksmart. This clever and hilarious film by Olivia Wilde immediate draws comparisons to Superbad, but it’s from the female perspective, and its similar narrative is attached to a better overall movie. This film is superbly cast, and has the right mix of irreverent humor and heart that makes it a great watch even for people who don’t generally like edgier comedic films.
That’s it for this month’s notes. The Kraken is deeply concerned that global warming may shrink the polar ice caps and harm the habitat of polar bears and penguins; as a sign of solidarity, he will raise his internal temperature by ten degrees per day every day in July. Dress accordingly.