Andor: That '70s Scifi Show
Oct. 12th, 2022 07:04 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerI've written a few blogs now about Andor, the latest streaming TV series in the Star Wars universe. I've written about the plot and the writing but not much about the setting— i.e., the Star Wars universe.
The good news about Andor is that it's immediately obvious the series is part of the Star Wars universe. As with earlier spinoffs The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett it's full of rich visuals that so thoroughly evoke the look and feel of the original movies. While the writing may seem like the producers cheaped out and hired college interns, they sure didn't stint on set design, costumes, or special effects.
The odd aspect about this faithful recreation of the original movies' setting is that it's so obvious dated. Humorously dated. In this futuristic vision from the 1970s, mechanical technology is cheap and plentiful. Even working-class families on backwater worlds have hovercraft and droids. Space ships can be fixed with spare parts by the local mechanic in dirty overalls. A panel fell off? Bang it back into shape with a hammer then weld it on. Now it's space-worthy again! Meanwhile communication technology is rare. Next to nobody owns anything like a phone. A few have basically walkie-talkies, but those have to be jerry-rigged by someone who understands circuits and soldering. And computers? They're small and special-purpose.
The vision of scifi as a futuristic version of 1977, where spaceships are like old motorcycles that can be fixed by shade tree mechanics while overseas phone calls are still prohibitively expensive so only the wealthy even think about calling, is comical by modern standards. Yes, it's very faithful to the original setting and it's good for establishing familiar territory, but it's verging on slavish devotion.
The good news about Andor is that it's immediately obvious the series is part of the Star Wars universe. As with earlier spinoffs The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett it's full of rich visuals that so thoroughly evoke the look and feel of the original movies. While the writing may seem like the producers cheaped out and hired college interns, they sure didn't stint on set design, costumes, or special effects.
The odd aspect about this faithful recreation of the original movies' setting is that it's so obvious dated. Humorously dated. In this futuristic vision from the 1970s, mechanical technology is cheap and plentiful. Even working-class families on backwater worlds have hovercraft and droids. Space ships can be fixed with spare parts by the local mechanic in dirty overalls. A panel fell off? Bang it back into shape with a hammer then weld it on. Now it's space-worthy again! Meanwhile communication technology is rare. Next to nobody owns anything like a phone. A few have basically walkie-talkies, but those have to be jerry-rigged by someone who understands circuits and soldering. And computers? They're small and special-purpose.
The vision of scifi as a futuristic version of 1977, where spaceships are like old motorcycles that can be fixed by shade tree mechanics while overseas phone calls are still prohibitively expensive so only the wealthy even think about calling, is comical by modern standards. Yes, it's very faithful to the original setting and it's good for establishing familiar territory, but it's verging on slavish devotion.
