I got into Star Wars earlier this year and caught all the three animated series — Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars: Rebels, and Star Wars: Resistance. Before this year, I had watched all the Star Wars films but I never really felt strongly about the franchise. It left me questioning why I liked it so much now.
So I turned to my friend Jedd to find out why he liked it. Jedd has been a Star Wars fan ever since the tender age of six. As a prolific film critic and action figure customiser, he has viewed Star Wars through many difference lenses and appreciates all facets of this popular franchise. In fact, Star Wars has been such an integral part of his life that his Instagram handle is @jeddthejedi – a clear reference to his allegiance to the Light Side of the Force, and testament to his love of all things Star Wars. Recently, he was invited to film short video introductions for film screenings of THX 1138 and The Hidden Fortress at ArtScience Museum, as part of the Star Wars Day events and ArtScience on Screen programme.
What was your first experience with Star Wars?
Jedd: I first watched the Original Trilogy on laserdisc with my family. I can’t remember if these were the Special Editions, but they must’ve been. It was 1999. I didn’t watch The Phantom Menace in theatres that same year. I remember the scene towards the end of Return of the Jedi in which Luke takes Vader’s helmet off. I felt sad, I understood that it was meant to be sad, but I couldn’t explain why. That stayed with me. I think I only really became a fan three years later, in 2002.
Why do you like Star Wars?
Jedd: I was really interested in movie special effects as a kid when I was around eight or nine, and I think that really got me interested in movies overall. I gravitated towards movies like Jurassic Park, Back to the Future, the Indiana Jones movies, Terminator 2: Judgement Day, and of course, Star Wars. I think I’m drawn to special and visual effects from before the advent of CGI. Not to put down CGI, which is fascinating in its own right and certainly has its applications and can be executed really well, but I think there’s just this special alchemy to practical effects and model-making that is charming and fascinating, where compared to CGI, it’s easier for a layperson to understand how an effect is achieved. I think that’s a big reason why I like Star Wars; the Original Trilogy changed the way movies are made. I do love the story and the characters, but I love the behind-the-scenes aspect even more, and watched every documentary and behind-the-scenes featurette about the making of those movies that I could.
What is your favourite aspect of Star Wars?
Jedd: I like how Star Wars was the first successful pastiche franchise. It’s glued together from all these disparate parts, from John Ford Westerns to Akira Kurosawa’s The Hidden Fortress, from Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon to Dune, as well as real-world religious and cultural influences. There’s a blog about the history of the making of Star Wars which chronicles all the myriad influences on Star Wars, and it’s called “kitbashed,” which I think is very appropriate. It’s a model-making term: you buy a bunch of plastic model kits, and instead of following the instructions, you combine them to make something new. Star Wars was probably the first movie series to accomplish that on such a successful level.
Which is your favourite Star Wars film?
Jedd: Return of the Jedi. Star Wars taught me the difference between “favourite” and “best” – with the caveat that this is all subjective, I’d say Empire Strikes Back is the best, in that it is arguably the Star Wars movie that is the most effective as a movie, but Return of the Jedi is my favourite. I think Return of the Jedi probably has the biggest adventure component of the Original Trilogy. The opening with the escape from Jabba’s Palace is such a fun sequence. The redemption of Vader is so powerful and impactful and I think the space battle at the end is still one of the best Star Wars space battles. I don’t even mind the Ewoks, even though the Forest Moon of Endor sequence admittedly runs very long. I think it’ll always be my favourite.
What was it like to film the short video introductions for the film screenings of THX 1138 and The Hidden Fortress?
Hansen, one of the organisers of the Star Wars Day event, reached out to me to ask if I would like to give short introductions before those two films. The Programs department at ArtScience Museum had curated several Star Wars-adjacent films, and those two movies are narrative movies which are key predecessors to Star Wars: THX 1138 was George Lucas’ first feature film and The Hidden Fortress was a movie with many elements that influenced Star Wars.
I think the intention was for me to give short pre-screening talks in person, but because of Covid, these were scrapped in favour of short videos. Rachel from the ArtScience Programs team contacted me and drafted up some questions, which I wrote detailed answers to, and the videos were filmed in the form of questions and answers. I hope that anyone who saw those videos before the movies themselves played found them helpful. I think I was already interested in working part-time at the Star Wars exhibition before this, and after spending time at the museum making the videos and then being a part of the crew during the Star Wars day event itself, that gave me a bit of familiarity with it before I joined as a part-time visitor experience agent.
Which is your favourite Star Wars media, excluding the films, such as television shows or comics?
Jedd: I’m not a huge reader of the Expanded Universe books, but I remember reading the comic book adaptations of Timothy Zahn’s Thrawn Trilogy as a kid. I think I had always taken that to be Episodes VII, VIII and IX in my head. I think maybe my favourite Star Wars media outside the films though, is Star Tours. I’ve not been to Galaxy’s Edge (the Star Wars sections of the Disneyland and Disney World parks in Anaheim and Orlando respectively) yet; that’s definitely a bucket list thing. I really enjoyed both the original Star Tours and the revised version. I love theme parks and am fascinated by the art and science that goes into creating theme park attractions, especially immersive ones that place the rider within the world of the movies, and I think Star Tours was one of the earlier attempts at that with motion simulator technology.
Who is your favourite Star Wars character?
Jedd: C-3PO. He’s not an especially popular character, because he is whiny and kinda silly and gets in the way sometimes, but I’ve always felt kind of a connection to him, and as an adult, I think I understand why. C-3PO was programmed with anxiety – why would anyone do that? What utility does giving a robot anxiety even serve? Here’s a character who gets pushed around a lot and repeatedly finds himself in situations way over his head. I can’t say I’ve experienced anywhere close to the adventures C-3PO has been a part of, but I think I know what it’s like to feel like life doesn’t go as programmed. Also, I wish for Anthony Daniels’ decades-long job security.
Which is your favourite Star Wars vehicle?
Jedd: I think the Slave One is just really cool. I love the way the wings rotate when it takes off, and the seismic charges are a really neat idea. Most Star Wars ships in the original trilogy, you kinda get that they’re riffs on existing aircraft, mostly World War II-era fighters or bombers, but the Slave One, you can’t quite place it, and I like that quality to it. It was a genuine thrill to see it back on the screen in The Mandalorian. Also, this is probably addressed in some Expanded Universe thing somewhere, but I love how a lot of the ships have letter designations (X-Wing, A-Wing, B-Wing, Y-Wing), when the Latin alphabet does not exist in-universe, so nobody would know what an “A” is.
What is your favourite Stars Wars storyline or arc?
Jedd: It’s still the Original Trilogy. It’s just a magical combination of really old storytelling techniques with archetypical, loveable characters, executed in this wonderful way that really captures the imagination. I think Han’s journey from mercenary to true believer of the cause is a great arc that’s really carried by Harrison Ford’s charm. Much as he doesn’t like Star Wars, he’s kind of the secret ingredient. All the Han and Leia stuff works so well, and Carrie Fisher is extraordinary. In a meta sense, I love the arc of her relationship to the Star Wars franchise, and the place that Star Wars has in her own dramatic life story, with all its ups and downs. She’s said so many funny, insightful and honest things about her objectification and sex symbol status, about what Leia means to her, about how she eventually embraced doing conventions and meeting fans. I love her for her advocacy of mental health and her frankness about the subject. There’s so much more to her than Princess Leia, and yet, she fully owns her part in the iconography of Star Wars and looked back on it with such a great sense of humour. I highly recommend the filmed version of her one-woman show Wishful Drinking, and the documentary Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds.
What is your favourite Stars Wars Lego set or minifigure?
Jedd: I collected Star Wars LEGO sets for a long time when I was much younger, and occasionally feel like dipping back in, but have to restrain myself. I think I have a sentimental attachment to the 4504 Millennium Falcon, which was released in 2004. I’ve tried to modify it (and convince myself I don’t need to buy any of the subsequent LEGO Millennium Falcons) many times over the years. So many of my LEGO Star Wars sets are severely faded. My 4502 X-Wing has gone from white to beige, verging on brown. My excuse is that all these ships have been through a lot, so they’re beat-up. Oh, 10188 Death Star is a favourite too. I love the dollhouse concept, of combining several small vignettes in the structure of the Death Star. It’s not a literal to-scale representation of the Death Star, of course, but it really works. That sat in the box for eight years; I didn’t know if I wanted to sell it off, until I finally decided to go ahead and build it, and I don’t regret that decision. I’ve made a bunch of MOCs (My Own Creations) too, and one of my favourites that I still have intact depicts a battle in a palace garden, maybe on Naboo, with the Clones on one side and the Droids on the other. It is an expansion of the two original LEGO Star Wars Battle Packs from 2007; I rebuilt the Clone speeder bike into a small speeder.
Which is your favourite Star Wars era?
Jedd: The Galactic Civil War, which is the Original Trilogy. I think since that’s where the story of Star Wars really began, it’s maybe the truest to what the franchise is at its heart. Star Wars is set “a long, long time ago,” but it is ostensibly futuristic, and I love the idea of a used “future” where everything’s beat-up and rusty, at a time when audiences associated the sci-fi genre and space operas with shiny, chrome surfaces and white jumpsuits. I also think that I like a time before Star Wars had this expansive, frankly overwhelming amount of lore. The Original Trilogy certainly alludes to other material, but I think it’s a complete story in and of itself.
If you could interview one person about Star Wars, who would it be?
Jedd: This is a really good question. It’s got to be John Williams. I think his contribution to the films cannot be overstated. Sure, he’s riffing on a lot of existing stuff (especially Holst’s The Planets), but he does so in a way that really works. I think a big, orchestral, Golden Age of Hollywood-style score was really surprising for a movie in the 70s, and I think his music really lends Star Wars a lot of its scope and sweep. My favourite piece of music from the Star Wars films is Luke and Leia from Return of the Jedi. I love how it’s warm and hopeful but also has this touch of mournfulness to it. It builds to the grandeur that we associate with a lot of the music in Star Wars, but also has this real sweetness to it.
In your opinion, who is the most powerful character in Star Wars?
Jedd: I’m not really someone who enjoys debating power levels because approaching media from a behind-the-scenes perspective more than an in-universe one, it’s not really something I care about. I guess Galen Marek/Starkiller is pretty powerful. He’s probably not the most powerful character in Star Wars, there’s probably someone from some book I haven’t read or video game I haven’t played.
The Starkiller Base vs Galactus vs Unicron – pick a winner!
Jedd: Unicron, because he’s Orson Welles.
(Marcus: Best answer ever)
What is your least favourite aspect of Star Wars?
Jedd: Here’s the thing: George Lucas is a writer-director who admittedly does not enjoy writing dialogue, and also does not enjoy directing actors. This shows. He’s a good ideas man, but I feel like he really needs a lot of help in developing those ideas into stuff that works cinematically. It’s perplexing to me because he is a huge film nerd, he went to USC and everything, and he was friends with Scorsese, de Palma, Coppola, Spielberg, that bunch of filmmakers, but he just doesn’t seem to have that touch as a filmmaker, in the writing-directing sense. This is laid bare in the Prequels. I grew up with the Prequels, Attack of the Clones was my first Star Wars movie in theatres, but man, much as there’s stuff about them I feel attached to, they’re rough in so many ways. I also feel like the Prequels have a bunch of incredibly uncomfortable racial stereotypes (Jar-Jar, Watto, the Neimoidians) that have not aged well, when the Original Trilogy didn’t really have that and was made way earlier. And just on the level of me being lazy and not wanting to engage with every single piece of material, I don’t like that there’s just so much stuff, and that other fans might hold “ah but you haven’t watched/read/played X!” over your head.
If you could change one part of Star Wars lore, what would it be?
Jedd: “Rey Palpatine” was a bummer. I feel like that was the least interesting possible outcome. I don’t hate The Rise of Skywalker as much as a lot of other fans do. It has a bunch of things I like but absolutely none of them coalesce.
What is your most prized Star Wars collectible?
Jedd: Honestly, I don’t think I own anything that’s that exclusive or rare, but I do feel a sentimental attachment to many of the collectibles I own. I met Kelly Marie Tran and Veronica Ngo at an event in Ho Chi Minh just before the release of The Last Jedi (shout-out to Dominic and Kimberly of the 501st Legion Singapore for helping me get in). I didn’t interact with Veronica Ngo much, but Kelly Marie Tran is just wonderful and deserves every success. I think both actress’ autographs are my most prized Star Wars collectible.
What custom figures have you made?
Jedd: I think with the Black Series figures made by Hasbro, I’ve mostly done a few small modifications to them. A recent figure I made that I’m quite proud of is an original character named D’dej; she’s a Twi’lek musician. This character was created as part of the Identity Quest at the Star Wars Identities exhibit. There are ten stations where you scan an RFID wristband and make certain choices, and at the end of the thing, you get to see the character you made.
What would you consider to be your greatest or favourite Star Wars-related achievement?
Jedd: I’ve not met as many people directly involved in making the Star Wars films as I would like to have. Maybe it’s being in the same room as George Lucas, for the Singapore press conference for Strange Magic. We were forbidden from asking any Star Wars-related questions. I’m also proud that I got to take my Dad to the Singapore premiere of The Force Awakens, which I attended as a film critic, ten years after he took me to watch Revenge of the Sith.
What rating would you give yourself as a fan? Why?
Jedd: I don’t think I can really give myself a number or letter grade, because I don’t subscribe to the idea of that being quantifiable in an empirical (heh) way. Everyone interacts with the Star Wars franchise in different ways, and I think while I often feel out of my depth with regards to the lore, especially to certain eras like the Old Republic that I know nothing about, I am happy to interact with Star Wars the way I do. I think as long as you’re not hurting anyone, there’s no right or wrong way to be a fan.
What do you look forward to next in the Star Wars universe?
Jedd: There’s so much to look forward to. I’ve really enjoyed The Mandalorian, and I think it’s a great indicator of what the future live-action series on Disney+ might be like. Jeans Guy aside, it really all looks so cinematic. It’s a TV show, but it feels like a movie, and there’s a tactility to The Mandalorian and a degree of heart that I think all Star Wars content should strive for. I’m hyped for Kenobi, and we’ll see where things go with the other shows like Andor, Rangers of the New Republic, Ahsoka and The Acolyte. Taika Waititi is making a Star Wars movie; that’s going to be interesting. It’s kind of wild to think one of the most powerful filmmakers in Hollywood right now is Taika Waititi.
Read more about Jedd and his work on his Facebook Page.
This is an original article on marcusgohmarcusgoh.com.
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I’m an independent scriptwriter who’s written for popular shows like Lion Mums, Crimewatch, Police & Thief, and Incredible Tales. I’m also a Transformers enthusiast and avid pop culture scholar. You can find me on social media as Optimarcus and on my site.
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