Today I write in defense of the Star Wars prequels.
Seriously.
A few weeks ago, I wrote that the Star Wars prequels had a different tone than the original trilogy, and this change in tone was jarring because it wasn’t handled very well. “But that’s a post for another day!” I wrote.
Today is that day.
The tone of the original trilogy was one of pulp space opera, with swashbuckling, acts of derring-do, and clear-cut heroes and villains.
But the tone of the prequels was much more political. The characters are conflicted, and often more driven by politics or obligation than what’s clearly right or wrong. It’s sometimes unclear who the true villains are, and the stories are as much about bureaucratic machinations as they are swashbuckling action.
And you know what? That’s fine. Star Wars is a big enough storyworld to encompass multiple tones.
The problem wasn’t that the tone shifted from Flash Gordon to “the West Wing with lightsabers.”
The problem was that it did so without adjusting people’s expectations.
As an audience, when we go into a story, we usually have certain expectations about its tone, setting, characters, and conflict. Broadly speaking, these expectations are based on three things:
- Genre: If you know it’s a fantasy story, you’ll have different expectations than if you know it’s a romantic comedy.
- History: If the story is part of a storyworld you’ve already visited, you expect the new story to match the stories you already know. (This is especially and obviously true if the story is a sequel to or continuation of a previous story.)
- Marketing Message: From the blurb on the back of the box to the music used in the trailer, every bit of promotion informs us of what to expect from the story. Sometimes it literally tells us (“It’s a romantic comedy – with zombies!”) and other times it relies on word choice and imagery. Regardless of the medium, if the expectations it sets aren’t met, the audience won’t be happy.
In the case of the prequels, the audience had certain expectations based on the genre and the storyworld’s history. The marketing message didn’t do anything to adjust these expectations, so when Episode I started with a discussion of trade agreements and senate procedures, the audience found that its expectations were not met. If the marketing had changed those expectations (like even the earliest trailers for Rogue One did), there might have been less of a disconnect when the move came out.
(And yes, there were plenty of other issues with the prequels. But I’ll argue that maybe this one issue could have been eased with a different take on the marketing.)
So what does this have to do with your own worldbuilding efforts? Tune in next time and find out!
