Biggest Misconceptions About Star Wars

Poe reminds me of Ponch from CHIPS, he's arrogant and cocky, in other words confident. It takes a great deal of confidence to be a great pilot. He was the Resistance ace, that seemed believable to me. As it turns out Poe was a smuggler, which requires a skilled pilot to evade the authorities or even pirates.
Luke on the other hand, was a "bush pilot" piloting an atmospheric craft. He didn't know the basics of hyperspace travel. I would not say Luke was an ACE, Wedge, I think was the rebel ace.

 

OK.....you nailed it here!

"Good shooting Wedge!"

Just remember who is the ONLY pilot to:

1. Take part in the attack on DS 1

- AND -

2. Take down an AT-AT with a tow cable

- AND -

3. Take part in, and take the killshot, in the attack on DS 2

Wedge Freaking Antilles.....

 

Bugged out in the middle of the trench run though .......

 

Luke started as a farm boy and made the smart choice to open himself up to The Force and pursue training. He had to go through major sacrifices like Owen and Beru and Obi-Wan. (This also builds on the decisions and sacrifices of the Erso family.)

Leia made the brave choice to support the Rebellion and sacrificed her entire home world.

Han made the choice to come back for The Battle of Yavin and decided to care about people instead of just money. He sacrificed his dream of becoming rich.

Poe showed up for work.

 

As far as “choice”, I think it’s fairly evident in the films that no one in the Resistance is there collecting a paycheck. They’re united under a common cause - Poe included.

I’m sorry, but I’m still not totally following what you’re getting at. Poe, in TFA, doesn’t really have a character. He’s Leia’s “most daring pilot”. He fulfills that claim at the end of the film by doing something daring . . . as a pilot. That’s kind of all there is to him in that episode. He wasn’t originally supposed to live to the end, so there isn’t a whole lot of development for him. He’s a pilot. That’s kind of it. Is that what you’re knocking up against? That his destroying the oscillator should have been more of a personal victory than just a military one? Had more of an arc?

With TLJ, Rian Johnson (apparently recognizing he had Oscar friggin’ Isaac in the cast) promoted him from supporting player to active participant with his own goal and motivation. He’s Leia’s protégé all of a sudden - the pseudo-surrogate son she’s chosen as her successor. He makes (what we’re told) is a disastrous decision at the jump and disappoints this pseudo-maternal figure. His “daring” nature, the only thing we really know about the guy from TFA, works against him. That’s his challenge. That’s his arc: Growing up and becoming someone worthy of succeeding Leia.

And that’s what TROS gives the old college try at attempting to realize for him: General Dameron, Resistance leader. He clumsily went from side character to legacy character. It’s not great, but it works.

 

Not sure if RJ came up with it, but Charles Soule was the first to write about it like that. (And I think TFA's visual dictionary had some clues about his and Leia's relationship, but I honestly don't know.) Soule's Poe and RJ's Poe were also slightly different. It's enough to annoy some like me, but overall YMMV.

Gotta be honest, I'm not a giant fan of Wedge. He's in the same category of "overhyped" that Boba Fett is for me. Still, his feats were pretty cool I guess.

 

Fair enough. Although I would argue that Boba was more overhyped than Wedge.

Wedge is an acquired taste, while Boba was cool from day one.

 

You can't compare Wedge to Boba Fett. Wedge actually did something, while Fett just stood around looking cool. Really up until recently with the Mandalorian season 2, did fett do anything. If anything Wedge is underrated.

 

@Flying spaghetti monster I like the way you think, Sir.....we've got a space opening up in Red Squadron if you're interested. How are your X-Wing skills?

 

If luke can fly an xwing, so can I. Actually I'm planning to take flying lessons next year.

 

Right ... well, about that ....
I'm not really sure if Poe is the best pilot in the Galaxy according to the ST.
There are the some scenes that seem to indicate that Rey is a better driver, I particularly remember one in tRoS (but maybe I'm wrong).
If you had asked me who is the best driver in the OT I would answer Han Solo (even if in reality it is not true, in the canon also Chewbacca is a better pilot).
Luke is a good pilot, because if you think he uses "piloting skills" only in ANW, and would have died without Han Solo's intervention (while in a very similar situation Plo Koon manages to kill his pursuers himself - this it's a deep cut, I challenge you to find the scene in Clone Wars, I think it's during the Zigerrian's escape, but I'm probably wrong).

I don't think he create a flaw however, not everybody has to be the "Chosen One" or force sensitive.
I think that Poe being "just" the best pilot is good enough, if that was his unique trait, but it's not: as I mentioned before Rey is probably as goos as he.

It's not quite right. But maybe I misunderstand what are you're saying. Han, Lando and Leia had a reason to be in the movie, they all have a specifici role: Han being the carismatic scoundrel, Lando the traitor friend and Leia the political leader (with Luke being the "supernatural" hero)...

...Finn, Poe (or Rose) don't have a "purpose" in the ST, they don't have specific skills or knowledge to carry the story forward.
Poe destroys the Starkiller base, but if someone else does it won't change anything, it's not like he benefits from some prestige in the next film as Leia still considers him impulsive rather than a hero.
Poe was supposed to become the leader of the Resistance, but in the last film he decides to follow Rey in his treasure hunt rather than organize the attack (or do I remember correctly? It is not Lando who gathers the Resistance fleet, what does Poe do important? )

The problem with Finn it's that his "former stormtrooper" status doesn't anything to do with the rest of the story.
Having a Stoormtopper defector was a truly unique opportunity to explore a more complex character, someone who didn't fit with the retoric Star Was depiction of black and white, good vs evil. Someone who could embrace both aspect of the universe (in someway an anti-hero, like Han Solo was supposed to be), but... no. 30 seconds afte Finn meets Poe he immediatelly feel the necessary to celebrate the deaths of his former comrades, like a psycho.
His unique quality has never a real impact or utility during the trilogy (beside saving Poe in the first 10 min).

 

Well, no, not the best in the whole galaxy. We’re told he’s the best among the Resistance pilots. That could be little more than mocking praise coming from someone like Kylo I guess. But really it’s just exposition. The Poe character’s function in the story honestly is only to facilitate the Finn character’s initial escape. "Can you fly a TIE fighter?" "I can fly anything." The statement is just establishing something that’s about to be important: he’s a better than average pilot.

It dovetails back in at the climax where Poe’s skill as a pilot is what destroys Starkiller. Not preternatural skill. Not anything miraculous. He manages to slot his fighter into a narrow opening. Something an average pilot probably couldn’t have maneuvered. So, at the end, he was indeed the Resistance’s best pilot and that’s how he does his part to save the day. It all tracks fine for me.

 

Fett did what he suposed had to do.

He was the bounty hunter, under Vader's order, who Found and gave the location to the empire (Vader) of Luke and the others.
Got his prize, Solo, and sold to Jabba.

So, his mission was efficient and perfect. I don't think he was there only to look cool.

 

What I dont understand is how Boba Fett landed the slave 1 in a goddamn garbage shoute. That's the only way he found Han/falcon. You cant possibly say it's because he saw it coming. Hey i think ill park my car un a trash heap. Boba fett would have never caught the falcon if not for the hyperdrive.

 

Biggest Star Wars misconceptions:

1) the Original Trilogy didn’t have bad acting. (“Tosche Station to get some power converters!”)
2) the prequels were “all CGI.” (More practical effects than any OT movie in TPM alone.)
3) Rey was in no way a Skywalker (she died, and gained life Force from Kylo Ren, who was a Skywalker.)
4) Star Wars is about spaceships (see famous George Lucas quote on that one.)
5) Star Wars is about “good vs. evil where good wins.” (Not necessarily. The prequels’ message had a stark warning.)
6) Star Wars is a science fiction (nope, space opera.)
7) The jedi are the good guys. (Again, watch the prequels and learn why they were wiped out.)
8) Return of the Jedi refers to Luke Skywalker (in my point of view, it refers to Anakin Skywalker or the jedi order.)
9) Darth Vader was the ultimate villain in the saga (nope, it was the emperor. Vader spent most of his time as a lost jerk in search of answers and was always duped.)
10) Luke Skywalker is the ultimate hero and main character of the saga (Anakin was.)

 

One of the bigger misconceptions I’ve seen is the attitude that the ‘dark side’ is exclusive to the Sith. The dark side is unchecked greed that comes at the expense of others. Anyone can be susceptible to fear and anger and pain and manifest it as aggressive selfishness. The Sith represent the dark side, yes. But so does the Empire. So does Canto Bight. So do the Hutts and other criminal organizations. They’re all expressions of that mindset of acquiring power regardless of who suffers as a result.

 

The biggest one is people believing Jedi are all good knowing entities which is in-fact incorrect. The Sith aren’t as evil as many believe. They aren’t just brutal savages many have goals, ideals, passions and love interest just like all the others in the universe they are still just people.

 

THIS.
The Sith, like the Jedi, are a philosophy, not a complete representation.
This is one of my biggest (but far from only) complaint with TROS bringing back Palpatine and shunting off the Knights of Ren. Star Wars media had been building up this philosophy of separate Dark Side groups for years until that point - from the Night Sisters to the Inquisitors (who were created to get around the Sith's adherence to the Rule of Two) to the Knights of Ren themselves. They were an alternative, and in some ways an evolution, to the Sith. To then say that the Sith are the ultimate representation was both reductive and unsatisfying.
But as you say, those Force groups aren't the only representation of the Dark Side or evil. Any group or person that takes power from another for their own gain - any manifestation of selfishness - represents the Dark Side.

 

Well I would still say they were the good guys. They had flaws and realized it too late, they made mistakes, but still they were the good guys (an not only the Jedi)