Rian Johnson Discusses the Themes of Star Wars, Spoiler Policies, and Porgs with Yahoo

Rian Johnson has been interacting with fans and the media quite a bit in the time surrounding this new trailer release. And although he has never been hesitant to converse with fans, the production of this movie has been very secretive, putting The Force Awakens leaky mystery box to shame.

 

 

But with these interviews and the new release materials we are starting to get more of a sense as to his approach to the film, and how that will play out specifically. And, what we are seeing seems to be a very character driven story focusing on this new, younger generation finding their place in this world of dark vs light.

 

“What [Star Wars] is really about is the transition from adolescence into adulthood,” Johnson tells Yahoo Entertainment. “And a big part of that is navigating the relationship with your family, with your parents, with the people closest to you, with the people you most love, the people you’re most afraid of… For me, it’s about being a kid and going into the next phase of your life.”

 

 

But of course, this is still Star Wars so it won’t all be brooding and emotional melodrama. How does Johnson plan to balance out some of those heavy themes the characters are dealing with this film? Well, Porgs of course. Or more accurately, those adorable galactic puffins are just one way of providing some light moments to contrast the heavy emotions and conflict our main characters will face during the film.

 

“Are you sick of them yet?” Johnson asks with a laugh. The porgs, he explains, were inspired by the actual puffins that inhabit Skellig Michael, the island off the coast of Ireland that served as the location for Luke’s hermitage. “I was like, ‘Oh, this is part of the island; we need to find the Star Wars version of this,” the director explains. “And then just story-wise — not that they play a big part in the story — but I knew I wanted to find any source of comic relief I could on the island. And so they were very useful in terms of that.”

 

As to the details of the main plotlines that require such comic relief to balance out the feel, we shouldn’t expect too much more to be revealed as we approach release date. Johnson, it seems, has meticulously determined what will and won’t be seen in the marketing of this movie. So, there could still be a great many surprises yet to come which we have heard or seen nothing about.

 

“A year ago, maybe even more than that, my producer Ram [Bergman] and I sat down with the folks at Lucasfilm and said, ‘OK, this is what we’re going to reveal here and there, and this stuff we’re never going to reveal until the movie comes out.’ We came up with a ‘no-fly list’ of, under no circumstances is this shown or that shown,” says Johnson. “It is a fascinating process. It’s something that for me, just having been a fan my whole life, suddenly being behind the curtain and seeing how it works and seeing how deliberate it is, has been really fascinating.”

 

 

Head to Yahoo for more interesting details from the full article, where Johnson talks more about Carrie Fisher, potential Porg backlash, and incorporating Imax into the production of the film.

 

 

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17 thoughts on “Rian Johnson Discusses the Themes of Star Wars, Spoiler Policies, and Porgs with Yahoo

  • October 11, 2017 at 9:35 pm
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    Obviously we haven’t seen the movie yet, but based on everything he has said and the trailers, I’m kinda wishing Johnson had been the one signed on to finish the series…

    • October 12, 2017 at 12:03 am
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      Same. But on the other hand I like that someone as in tune with everything as himself had time before starting the project to relax and get ready. I’m sure he’d do great with IX but I can only imagine how stressful it would be to just finish an SW main saga film and have to do the next one immediately in time for a release in 2 years. If Rian demanded a one year push back of the release date so he could relax I would have been behind Disney to give it to him if it means he’ll put out some great quality product again.

    • October 12, 2017 at 5:36 am
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      Same. For granted, we need to see if he is suitable, but being a big fan of his work, I totally wish that he would conclude this trilogy. Because, based on the dialogue from this trailer was utterly fantastic. I am a big when it comes to dialogue as it conveys a lot with characters, aside from facial reactions and actions.

      But TFA’s dialogue even in the trailer didn’t grab me. TLJ’s however did the opposite. So yeah, RJ clearly put his screenwriting chops to go use. Hence, why at the very least, make RJ the screenwriter for Episode Nine.

  • October 11, 2017 at 10:10 pm
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    Porgs: “not that they play a big part in the story” Glad to hear it!

    • October 12, 2017 at 12:59 am
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      Hopefully just some subtle notes of levity in an otherwise very dramatic setting. Something like the notes of levity in ESB: Artoo having his little tiff with Yoda when they first meet him, or being spit out by the swamp monster. I still laugh at these things, and they actually heighten the drama by getting you to relax a little before the dramatic reveal of Yoda. Every time I watch it, I try to pretend I don’t know know the little green guy is Yoda, just to experience a taste of this lovely moment of narrative reversal…

  • October 11, 2017 at 10:44 pm
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    Another mystery not revealed until the movie releases is the score, which I can’t wait to hear! Especially given the more complex story I am anxious to hear what JW does with it.

    • October 11, 2017 at 10:49 pm
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      I can’t wait to hear JW’s new riffs on Kylo’s and Rey’s and Luke’s and Leia’s (and maybe even Han and Leia’s) themes. Plus, I’m hoping for a First Order March.

      • October 12, 2017 at 12:56 am
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        I’d love to hear new themes for the legacy characters–not entirely new themes necessarily, but new variations that reflect the fact that they are much older and more care-worn than when we say them in the OT.

        Beyond this, lots of brand-new music. Rey’s theme and the First Order theme were new in the TFA soundtrack, but everything else was pretty much just riffs on OT music. A necessity, perhaps, to make sure TFA was tied into the previous SW movies. But now that this work has been done, more new JW music please!

  • October 11, 2017 at 11:21 pm
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    THIS is exactly what I want to hear. There is nothing worse than seeing a trailer and having all the plot points, funniest and best moments all out before the actual movie.

    Congratulations that they are doing it this way. Now it’ll be up to me to see the movie asap after release and not read or listen to any spoilers.

    • October 11, 2017 at 11:41 pm
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      The only thing I wish they hadn’t shown in the Trailer was Snoke torturing Rey as now we know somehow she is captured. It was the same as in the TFA tv spot they showed Ren pull his lightsaber on Rey near Maz’s castle.

      • October 11, 2017 at 11:44 pm
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        Not necessarily…She could be seeing Snoke in a vision. Could be the same time she’s meditating and Luke is freaking out when the land starts cracking.

        • October 11, 2017 at 11:50 pm
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          I hope you’re right that it’s a big headfake in the Trailer. They can show Finn vs Plasma cause that’s a secondary plot, but I don’t want to see any scenes with Luke/Rey vs Ren/Snoke as I want to be surprised.

        • October 12, 2017 at 5:36 pm
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          I doesn’t really seem like a vision, just visually it doesn’t look like the other Force vision we’ve seen in the Clone Wars and TFA.

      • October 12, 2017 at 7:49 am
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        There is a chance it won’t be in the movie anyways. (Maz handing lightsaber to Leia, X-Wing gunning down Jyn Erso, etc…)

    • October 12, 2017 at 5:32 am
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      Agreed. I could go on about how most modern movie trailers absoutely suck when it comes to revealing details/ key plot points but I direct you to GoodBadFlicks video “WTF is wrong with movie trailers”.

      But I am glad RJ made that clear. If there is one thing that I have to acknowledge about JJ Abrams is that, he kept a lot of details of TFA under wraps. And that in of itself is admirable as he clearly respects the old school days of directing.

      And for RJ to be firm shows me he isn’t going to be pushed around by LF. While LF does own this property, he wants people to go into this movie with an open mind. And I do agree; hence why I won’t be seeing any more trailers/ material. Also on a side note, I have a strong hunch that this movie is going to really divide people.

      Kind of like ESB when it first released in theaters. Because, I know someone who went and saw ESB in theaters and he told me how split his audience were with how different it was.

      • October 12, 2017 at 2:20 pm
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        GoodBadFlicks is extremely enjoyable. Especially the exploring series of programmes. Some of them are truly fascinating.

        • October 13, 2017 at 4:42 am
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          Agreed. He’s one of the best movie Youtubers and even upon getting big has always remained true to himself. 🙂

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