May the farce be with you · 10:41pm Oct 5th, 2014
I've got a question for my readers, just skip to the last paragraph if you don't want to read this whole alcohol-induced rant.
So, I just forced myself to watch the Star Wars Holiday Special. It's something I decided I'd do since I heard about it, but always left for later.
And holy crap, that thing is horrible! Harrison Ford looked sorry to play in it and I can understand it. Carrie Fisher looked like she was drunk or high... I understand her even better. I had to start drinking after half an hour to get to the end...
À toute chose, malheur est bon. This is a great example of what not to do in a story. Since we're all (or most of us) writers here, it's always nice to have a reminder of stuff not to do.
The "plot" is ridiculously simple. Actually, I can sum it up in one sentence : Chewbacca tries to go home for Christmas (sorry... "life day"), while the Empire tries to catch Han Solo and him.
Even with such a simple "story", they managed to find room for some plot holes... That's impressive in itself, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. Whoever wrote the script seemed to have no idea of how to make a movie out of that premise, so the focus is on pretty much everything except that.
We see Chewbacca's family in their house, going about their daily life while they wait for him. 'cause you know, fans of Star Wars want to see that, not epic battles with light sabers or cool starships or anything... Who in hell thought that kind of scene could work anyway? Wookies can't talk. You get to see three shaggy carpets growling and braying at each other. Combined, all these scenes take easily 30 minutes out of the whole film...
Thankfully, all of that is cut by scenes that have absolutely nothing to do with the story. Or the Star Wars universe. Or anything at all, really. Somehow, this is still better than watching Chewie junior and grampa Chewie arguing about... something. I'll never know what, I guess.
There's a circus act. There's a woman singing a song in a virtual reality thingy. There's a mock cooking show. There's a rock band playing a tune. A whole tune. About five minutes long.
There's a looooong scene in a Tatooine cantina. It has absolutely nothing to do with the story. The writers didn't even try to come up with a good reason to insert it into the story: some empire guy shows up on a tv screen and says this is mandatory viewing...
And there's an animated short. It's actually the best part of the movie. Like the rest, it has nothing to do with it. (fun fact: Bobba Fett is in it, in an actual, important role, even). The more I think about it, the more I realize that they could have made a decent movie out of that story. How embarassing is it when the movie within the movie is the best of the two? At least story wise, because grahically... uh... Well, here's a screenshot:
So, if you're a fan of Star Wars, make sure you watch that thing. I can promise you, you will never say that episode 1 is the worst afterwards. Even the movies about those freaking ewoks will look good in comparison. Plus, it ends with Carrie Fisher singing a "life day carol". That's quite the experience...
Time to come to my question, anyway. In the latest chapter of Visiting Hours, I wrote in a scene that has little to do with the story (if you read it, you must know what I'm talking about), so now, thanks to that wreck of a movie, I'm questioning myself: was that a good idea? I had a lot of fun writing it and I think it's not completely out of place (under all the silliness, it's about Sweetie Belle aching for her cutie mark), but am I wrong? Did it feel like pointless padding or that I just had no idea what to write? Please tell me what you thought. I have no plans on adding another "out of the story" scene like that one anytime soon, but is it something I should never, ever do again or was it okay? Or even good?
Personally, I thought it was fine. Now that she's the only one left without her cutie mark, Sweetie Belle has every right to be aching. It also gave Matchstick an opportunity to interact with one of Scootaloo's friends, and I thought that was cool.
I also have to admit, I thought Sweetie Belle "going Rarity" on Scoots was hysterical.
When the best actress in your Star Wars special is Bea Arthur, something has clearly gone off the rails. For my money, she's the only one in this thing who manages to escape with her dignity intact, simply by virtue of not trying to be funny or weird. (She apparently had no idea that this was part of the Star Wars universe when she made it. This kind of stuff must have been routine for actors in the late 70s.)
I can understand what you're saying. I mean from a strict writing standpoint, the scene had no place in the story. But otherwise it's harmless fluff.
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That was what I was trying to do: funny scenes to move between the more serious stuff. Glad to see it worked (on you, at least).
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The problem is to make sure that it remains harmless... Apparently I did it this time, but it looks like it's trial and error. We'll see how lucky I am
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I can't blame the actors too much, they had very little to work with. It's a bad sign when the characters barely meet each other...
Still, Harvey Korman looked like he had a lot of fun doing that insane cooking show host. Maybe he was the only one who realized what crap he was shooting...
Hey, is there a slang word in English for a terrible movie? In French we literally call them "turnips".
Hey. Hey Bud.
Psst... Bud
...
Stir, whip! Stir, whip! Whip, whip! Stir, whip!
It had Scootaloo being tricked into (and coming out better for it) being beautified for her cutescenera. Returned the favor even by inviting Diamond and Silver to her party, something Sweetie Belle makes me facepalm when she asks if those two should even be there seeing how she and Scoots went to a party they got invited to despite not having needed to go to said party of disliked ponies... but whatever. The scene worked in well and I imagine it turned out well for everyone anyways.
Course, I still wanted more Scootaloo. This worked more to flesh out Scoot's mom a bit too, whom I don't mind seeing more of as she's part of the story's main characters imo, and Sweetie Belle is as much part of Scoot's life as her mom I'd imagine with how far back her and Scoots are implied to have known each other.
I'm not sure what to say on the matter. You should label chapters as character specific side stories, maybe make a Side Stories story if you really wanted to explore other characters in the world and put like a "takes place between/during X chapter" or something.
I don't mind the world expanding. And with DT and SS basically admitting they now see Scoots and Bloom as equals now, having thought they would never get their cutie marks due to all the failures they've gone through, it's possible things will start getting easier on all of them. Even if Sweetie still doesn't have her cutie mark, which, that would cause her much anxieties from the insecurities no doubt as explored there.
I guess, what I'm trying to say, is that though I prefer seeing the story through the eyes of RD and Scoots, I'm not against seeing Sweetie Belle give one too.
True story: I love fluff with my peanut butter sandwiches. So write on!
P.S. I saw the live action Life Day christmas special. There was no words to describe how horrifying Chewbaka's family are.
I thought that the part was okay and I think you can put another part like that in if you ever want to again
I found it fun, whimsical, and somewhat important to the story in that it showed some of Sweetie Belle's character (even if she isn't a main one). I wouldn't mind something like it in the future as long as it tied into the story (don't just put in a scene like the movie did and say it was mandatory viewing).
I found it fun, whimsical, and somewhat important to the story in that it showed some of Sweetie Belle's character (even if she isn't a main one). I wouldn't mind something like it in the future as long as it tied into the story (don't just put in a scene like the movie did and say it was mandatory viewing).
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And... beat! Stir, whip, beat...
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I might do side stories. I could write a part about Sweetie getting her cutie mark, but that doesn't have a lot to do with the story, so that'd be a good candidate, for example.
And you're right about the chewies... If that's not nightmarish, I don't know what is:
media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lequ8bUqJg1qzk6ms.gif
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Thanks, I guess it turned out better than I feared.