User blog:Madman97/A Madman's Perspective of Star Wars VII

Madman97 (Looking like Sheogorath in Han's clothes): This isn't something I normally do, especially when the franchise has nothing to do with the Elder Scrolls. I made a point to some others within the chat that my next blog would be the best anyone has ever seen on this website, but everyone gets sidetracked by reality, hmm? And in my reality, things have been extremely busy during the Holiday Season and I apologize for my absence. The kind of work I do required odd hours and troubled minds. Naturally, I need some time to myself, and as much as I love you guys, my own mind is my true escape...Until...I found out a relative was coming to visit and had Star Wars tickets.

F*ck my mind, let's GO SEE STAR WARS!!!

Now, if you're one of those people tired of the hype and was hoping to see something else from me, forgive me for jumping on the bandwagon, but this actually has a lot to do with the Elder Scrolls for me.

Dave (dressed as Chewbacca): And me!

Madman97: And our frequent guest and personal manservant has managed to see the movie as well. First thoughts?

Dave: Do not go into the comments section of anything ever.

Madman97 (sighing): Yes, we both had it spoiled days early. Not to worry, you won't find any spoilers in here, but I still would not recommend going on the comments section here. Go in clean. Because if you do get it spoiled, it will take at least a day to get over it and return to the excitement you were feeling prior. Seriously, I actually yelled at my screen at the top of my lungs and angered my neighbor...Beware the Dark Side of YouTube, folks...

Dave: So is this a review, Madman?

Madman97: Not necessarily. More like a retrospective of my childhood and how the mythology of the Force has influenced my love of other franchises, like Harry Potter, Narnia, and of course, the Elder Scrolls series. As a consequence for those who do not love Star Wars as I do, this may not resonate with you as much as me and Dave, but I would like you to think back to when you were first exposed to a series you grew to love. I like to think everyone has one that they discovered early in their years and it helped them along, maybe even inspired them. For me, that was Star Wars. I won't burden you with the year I was born or something likewise personal, but I can tell you that I saw the Prequel films in theaters and in my then child-like perspective of stories was much more accepting of Jar Jar Binks...Ignorance is Bliss, my friends.

I liked all the Prequel films and my family had them on DVD...But we also had the Original Trilogy on the greatest movie format of all time...VHS. And while I saw the Prequel films before the Original Trilogy in theatres where the movie magic really hits home, the Original Trilogy resonated with me more...Why?

Dave: Well, you could argue that even as a child, you noticed the Prequel mistakes. The sh*tty slapstick Lucas incorporated into those? I was at a reasonable age where one would've thought I would've found that funny, but I didn't. I thought it was stupid.

Madman97:...I think...There is something inside that you feel when you are at a very young age, something you would call childlike wonder. A lot of things come with it. When a person tells you about Santa Clause, you believe in Santa Clause. When you go to Church, you may feel either bored or exalted. For me, it was a bit of both. That feeling...of learning about things beyond yourself--be it childhood stories you move on from to something more serious like religion, or if you're not into that, just a sense of decency--is why I thought the concept of the Force, as explained by Yoda, not by Midicloreons, was something I could follow. It's something beyond ourself yet very close, and from then on, I watched the Original Trilogy like my life depended on it. Seeing something so powerful but so mysterious at work in as f*cking cool a flim like Star Wars gave me the kind of spiritual satisfaction one would hope for when he/she admires how beautiful nature can be.

Dave: Jeez, why don't you have a rosery with Star Wars characters?

Madman97: Now I'm a fan, but I've never been the kind of fan to buy merchandise. My home is entirely devoid of franchise decoration, and that's partially because I don't like buying things just to have, and partially because the films already struck oil with me. No need to keep drilling. But this is important to know about me if we are going to have this conversation.

Dave: No, totally, I get it. I've been watching the Original Trilogy for years and I think it still holds up. Granted, I don't think it's perfect but no story is. There will always be some nitpicks--Hell, I think there are some major ones in Return--

Madman97: Which I admit, is my favorite of the three.

Dave: But like you said, it was...fulfilling. And it's my childhood franchise. Pick one out of all of them, I will always go for Star Wars. I love Lord of the Rings. Jesus, I love those movies. But I never felt exalted in any way watching Aragorn charge into the armies of Mordor like I did seeing Luke finally confronting his father. I felt the conflict within each and every character! And as said before, this actually influenced how I saw other franchises. Naturally, when you hook onto something at a young age, it can be hard to let go, but really, we're both young enough to have lived in a time when there was an explosion of franchises to choose from. Terminator, Back to the Future (Which runs a close second to Star Wars as favorite Trilogy of all time), Harry Potter--Sh*t, who doesn't love Harry Potter? But is it fulfilling on a personal level?

Madman97: And that's what we are here to talk about today and perhaps open our eyes to how we tell a story. Obviously, not every story has to be grandiose and have an air of the supernatural like the Force to be a good story, but it's not just that that makes it special, it's the characters you come to know along the way. Wedge Antilles barely had five minutes of screentime in the entire Original Trilogy, but he has millions of fans. People wanted to see him back for Star Wars 7, me included! How is it possible that a person I barely know (and I've never been one to delve into the EU, not that it matters now anyway) have such an impact when I could walk into a Bethesda game and not give a single sh*t for any character they have to offer.

And for those I've spoken to about making the perfect blog (this isn't it! It's coming), going to see the new Star Wars in theatres just this afternoon only solidified what I was thinking of talking about and how this all relates to the Elder Scrolls. It's something I never complained about in my Wabbajack Grinding blogs and I am surprised its taken me this long to consider it. I'll definitely go into more detail there, but I can say that of every story a Bethesda game has given me, not one of them has made me care about any of its characters or the stakes. I'll be the first to admit, there was a few scenes in The Force Awakens that made me tear up, and I consider myself a very restrained person. I felt that sense of childlike wonder again and I want to feel that with every good franchise, especially when I know it's good, but I don't!

Like I said, I'll go into it further in my next blog, but I just wanted to let you all know what this experience has meant to me and just how much of an impact it has had on my life up to this point. You may even consider it the reason I'm into fantasy at all, and as such, the reason I am here in the first place. I'm not saying I would like to see a Darth Vader vs Luke Skywalker/ Straight Dark vs Light Side of the Force conflict within the Elder Scrolls, but that feeling of mysticism, characters you can't get enough of that when you see them go, part of you feels lost--Anything like that that can make me feel like I am discovering something that has crawled its way out of Earth's dreamland having slipped past the Great Ones' watch. Like I said, I'll talk more about it, and I guess I haven't made much mention of Star Wars 7 when its in the freaking title, so here you go:

It has 97% on RottenTomatoes.com. Go check it out.

Dave:...Yeah. Avoid the comments!

Madman97: And may the Force be with you...Always...