The Kastle Tower

I was listening to an interview with Tommy Yune on Space Station Liberty and Tommy stated that his decisions to keep many story elements vague, i.e. alien vs. Zentraedi and alien drink vs. Tirolian Ale called Zirepa, was so the viewer wouldn't be confused by the description and wonder what the characters were talking about. Huh?

Hate to say it but this is a ridiculous reason. A viewer will not get so confused by this that they turn the DVD off or run for the hills. This type of description actually sets your story above the rest. Sorry to break this to Tommy and Harmony Gold but this sequel was not the bring-in-the-new-viewer platform movie. This was a sequel that fans wanted to see. And on the chance there are new viewers to Robotech, why be scared to give them details on the original 85 episodes. If they like what they see they will seek out those older episodes and watch them or even buy the DVDs.

When Alex says to Scott, "try this new alien drink." I find the fault of this bad dialog on the writer. Not placing an origin on the drink is either due to no creativity or you're dumbing it down for your audience. As for the "I'm half alien" dialog, this is also either an avoidance of the name Zentraedi due to legal issues with Big West or again the writer is dumbing it down for the audience. Either way, I find it poor writing and story telling. There's no reason to dumb it down nor avoid giving descriptions that tie back to the original series.

Tommy stated that he didn't want to mention anything (object or race) that wasn't directly involved or taking place in the Shadow Chronicles. He felt it would only confuse and mislead the viewers. Yet there's a great example of this working in Empire Strikes Back. When Han tells Leia, "Well, the bounty hunter we ran into on Ord Mantell changed my mind." We never see this bounty hunter or even know where Ord Mantell is. Yet, this dialog gave the movie depth. These characters are real and have lives outside the here and now of the big screen. Perhaps a first time viewer of ESB might have wondered if he missed something from the first movie or just got lost in the bigger story.

As a writer and story teller myself, descriptions are the best thing going for one's story. They build a back bone to the universe being created. Don't be afraid to show the audience the best picture of that world. Even if it confuses them at first; they will treasure it later. So shame on Tommy Yune for not calling that drink a Tirolian Ale. And I'm sorry Maia is not half-alien but half-Zentraedi!