"cute" Ewoks
b...@crash.uucp
edison!d...@topaz.arpa (David C. Albrecht) writes:
>Ewoks?, be serious. It is obvious to anyone with half a brain that
>this was a stupid descent into cutesieism to get the christmas toy
>market. They were big overbloated teddy bears that made cute
>noises, walked funny and had adorable skittish mannerisms otherwise
>skywalker an co. wouldn't have put up with them tying them up et al.
Happily, I am told I am blessed with more than half-a-brain, so I
can safely go ahead and disagree.
I don't doubt that the aftermarket possibilities of the Ewoks had
occurred to Lucas and company when they developed them for the film. But
I do feel that Mr. ALbrecht has gone too far in condemning them as a
reasonable concept.
There has been much speculation about the ability of little Ewoks to
produce the kind of attack depicted in the film. I would agree with those
who suggest that this is a hunting society, so some of the item seen would
have been built; another idea presented by someone here was that the Storm-
troopers had been a problem for the Ewoks for some time, and the Ewoks had
already been fighting back.
Still, I think Ewoks, as presented would have a greater capability than
they have been credited with. I think there has been an erroneous tendency
to look at a little Ewok and dismiss any possibility of heavy work quickly.
I submit, however, that four to six Ewoks could chop down a tree in an hour,
and fifty Ewoks, using a primitive form of block and tackle, could raise the
stripped log. Others could use ordinary levers to move logs into a pile
restrained by a keystone-type lever.
The Ewoks would seem to be early-to-middle Paleolithic. They have
learned fire, sophisticated weapons-making, and have a tribal structure in
what does not appear to be a nomadic society. Moreover, they have had some
exposure to the modern technology of the Empire. None of the activity
attributed to them would be beyond a humanoid culture at the same stage of
development. It is anthrocentristic to deny small, furry people the same
capabilities. The Ewoks are, in many ways, what Piper's Fuzzies would have
become had a non-interference directive kept them uncontaminated by man.
Two specifics:
>. . .otherwise skywalker an co. wouldn't have put up with them tying them
>up et al.
This isn't realistic belief. If I'm busy shooting down Ewoks in front
of me with my blaster while Ewoks to me left, right, and behind are filling
me full of arrows and spears, I'm going to be as dead as any Ewoks I shoot.
>Yes, I like fuzzies but only when treated as fuzzies not as a serious
>character which is to give storm troopers any competition.
This suggest a reference to Piper's Fuzzy novels. If Mr. Albrecht read
them and got the idea that Fuzzies weren't serious characters or were capable
of little beyond "yeeking" and "smokko", then he missed a very great deal.
/Bruce N. Wheelock/
arpanet: crash!bnw@ucsd
uucp: {ihnp4, cbosgd, sdcsvax, noscvax}!crash!bnw
Frank Adams
In article <31...@topaz.RUTGERS.EDU> b...@crash.UUCP writes:
> There has been much speculation about the ability of little Ewoks to
>produce the kind of attack depicted in the film. I would agree with those
>who suggest that this is a hunting society, so some of the item seen would
>have been built; another idea presented by someone here was that the Storm-
>troopers had been a problem for the Ewoks for some time, and the Ewoks had
>already been fighting back.
> Still, I think Ewoks, as presented would have a greater capability than
>they have been credited with. I think there has been an erroneous tendency
>to look at a little Ewok and dismiss any possibility of heavy work quickly.
>I submit, however, that four to six Ewoks could chop down a tree in an hour,
>and fifty Ewoks, using a primitive form of block and tackle, could raise the
>stripped log. Others could use ordinary levers to move logs into a pile
>restrained by a keystone-type lever.
My doubts that the Ewoks could have prepared their defenses as quickly as
they did were not based on denigrating their physical characteristics.
Let me clarify by stating that I don't think a group of humans at the same
cultural level could have built those defenses in less than a few weeks,
either.
There are several problems with a faster schedule. First, note that there
must have been more defenses which were not triggered in the movie. The
Ewoks had to prepare for walkers emerging from the installation in any
direction, unless they were to rely on really incredible luck.
Second, note that the defenses were specifically oriented to fighting the
Imperials. I do not think such a variety could have been invented
overnight; and even if invented, relatively few craftsmen can make a
new invention accurately the first time. There is a learning curve
involved. This is especially true for group activities.
Finally, I think you underestimate the difficulty of building some of
these things with primitive tools. Consider medieval siege engines,
which took weeks to build with better tools. A pile of logs (one of the
simpler devices) seems trivial, but it must be set up to be stable until
you are ready to use it, then go rolling quickly in the proper direction
when released. I would expect a modern army to take at least a day or two
to get it right.
David C. Albrecht
> produce the kind of attack depicted in the film. I would agree with those
> who suggest that this is a hunting society, so some of the item seen would
> have been built; another idea presented by someone here was that the Storm-
> troopers had been a problem for the Ewoks for some time, and the Ewoks had
> already been fighting back.
> Still, I think Ewoks, as presented would have a greater capability than
> they have been credited with. I think there has been an erroneous tendency
> to look at a little Ewok and dismiss any possibility of heavy work quickly.
> I submit, however, that four to six Ewoks could chop down a tree in an hour,
> and fifty Ewoks, using a primitive form of block and tackle, could raise the
> stripped log. Others could use ordinary levers to move logs into a pile
> restrained by a keystone-type lever.
> The Ewoks would seem to be early-to-middle Paleolithic. They have
> learned fire, sophisticated weapons-making, and have a tribal structure in
> what does not appear to be a nomadic society. Moreover, they have had some
> exposure to the modern technology of the Empire. None of the activity
> attributed to them would be beyond a humanoid culture at the same stage of
> development. It is anthrocentristic to deny small, furry people the same
> capabilities. The Ewoks are, in many ways, what Piper's Fuzzies would have
> become had a non-interference directive kept them uncontaminated by man.
really give a rip wether their stage of development could make them serious
competitors or not. They were chosen by a human to emphasize characteristics
we consider "cute". This does not in my mind aid the plot, it keeps us from
taking them seriously just like cartoonization keeps people from taking
bears seriously (which are certainly serious creatures) and gets some of
them hurt. The point is that this was vastly detrimental
to the plot which would have been much better if he had used characters
we could have taken seriously rather than ones we tend to associate
with defenseless or harmless creatures.
> Two specifics:
>
> >. . .otherwise skywalker an co. wouldn't have put up with them tying them
> >up et al.
>
> This isn't realistic belief. If I'm busy shooting down Ewoks in front
> of me with my blaster while Ewoks to me left, right, and behind are filling
> me full of arrows and spears, I'm going to be as dead as any Ewoks I shoot.
when they caught blaster fire there would be no ewoks. They showed themselves
a primitive god worshipping race. In keeping with this I would expect they
would have been a little less blase about large people who fling fire from
from their fingertips, I know one of our primitive societies would. With
stubby arms combined with their small size it would be difficult to put
any force behind one of those sticks and the bows if my fuzzy memory serves
me were a joke. Seriously, one good Uzi would have taken the whole lot out
Which brings up another question. Where is the futuristic hand held machine
gun?
>
> >Yes, I like fuzzies but only when treated as fuzzies not as a serious
> >character which is to give storm troopers any competition.
>
> This suggest a reference to Piper's Fuzzy novels. If Mr. Albrecht read
> them and got the idea that Fuzzies weren't serious characters or were capable
> of little beyond "yeeking" and "smokko", then he missed a very great deal.
the point of the whole series. But as to being a physical threat I think not.
Creatures that size learn the same response to a larger predator that I have
with large unfriendly animals when I'm only armed with a sharp stick (I don't
know about you but I run).
David Albrecht
General Electric
Peter da Silva
> become had a non-interference directive kept them uncontaminated by man.
The fuzzies would have become extinct. Remember Hokfusine?
> This suggest a reference to Piper's Fuzzy novels. If Mr. Albrecht read
> them and got the idea that Fuzzies weren't serious characters or were capable
> of little beyond "yeeking" and "smokko", then he missed a very great deal.
> /Bruce N. Wheelock/
Hear hear!
--
Peter da Silva (the mad Australian)
UUCP: ...!shell!neuro1!{hyd-ptd,baylor,datafac}!peter
MCI: PDASILVA; CIS: 70216,1076
CAR...@ru-blue.arpa
From: <crash!bnw at NOSC.ARPA>
Stormtroopers had been a problem for the
Ewoks for some time, and the Ewoks had already been fighting back.
One thing that bothered me about the Ewok victory: Guerrillas
@i(never) finally defeat regulars without the assistance of an allied
regular force.
High-tech stormtroopers defeated by low-tech guerrillas sounds like a
romanticized view of the Viet Cong (sans the NVA) to me. Perhaps
that is why the cutness of Ewoks evokes such passionate reaction one
way or the other.
_B
K.L. Martin, Hardware
I like Ewoks,
but it's so hard to find a restaurant that cooks them properly :-)
-mwt