Mark Hamill Voices Air Raid Warnings In Ukraine As Luke Skywalker (theverge.com) 88
Star Wars actor Mark Hamill has lent his voice to a Ukrainian air raid app to warn citizens of incoming attacks during the ongoing conflict with Russia. The Verge reports: "Attention. Air raid alert. Proceed to the nearest shelter," says Hamill over Air Alert, an app linked to Ukraine's air defense system. When the threat has passed, Hamill signs off with "The alert is over. May the Force be with you."
Invoking his beloved Luke Skywalker character, some of the lines contain recognizable quotes from the Star Wars franchise like "Don't be careless. Your overconfidence is your weakness." You can hear a few lines in the following video starting around 56 seconds in [here].
The crossover of sci-fi fandom might feel like it's trivializing the real-world conflict, but some Ukrainian residents have found solace -- or perhaps the Force! -- in Hamill's Star Wars-influenced voiceover. "It's a very cool phrase for this situation," said Olena Yeremina, a business manager in Kyiv, in an interview with The Associated Press. "I wouldn't say that I feel like a Ukrainian Jedi, but sometimes this phrase reminds me to straighten my shoulders and keep working."
Invoking his beloved Luke Skywalker character, some of the lines contain recognizable quotes from the Star Wars franchise like "Don't be careless. Your overconfidence is your weakness." You can hear a few lines in the following video starting around 56 seconds in [here].
The crossover of sci-fi fandom might feel like it's trivializing the real-world conflict, but some Ukrainian residents have found solace -- or perhaps the Force! -- in Hamill's Star Wars-influenced voiceover. "It's a very cool phrase for this situation," said Olena Yeremina, a business manager in Kyiv, in an interview with The Associated Press. "I wouldn't say that I feel like a Ukrainian Jedi, but sometimes this phrase reminds me to straighten my shoulders and keep working."
Fictional characters often help with tough times. (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Fictional characters often help with tough time (Score:4, Insightful)
A little humor goes a long way you miserable shill.
Re:Fictional characters often help with tough time (Score:4, Insightful)
Nothing is above ridicule.
Re:Fictional characters often help with tough time (Score:5, Funny)
Nothing is above ridicule.
Well, abortion jokes aren't funny.
There's no delivery.
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Re: Fictional characters often help with tough tim (Score:5, Funny)
You are laboring under a misconception.
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"State legislators this week extended the right to abortion up until the 400th week of preagnancy. When intrerviewed by journalists, local youth said, "Yeah we haven't seen Timmy for a couple of weeks now..." Another added, "I heard his parents didn't want him anymore.""
YITGTHFT. But you did kinda ask...
P.S. didn't i read this joke here on sd?
Re:Fictional characters often help with tough time (Score:5, Insightful)
Dr. Strangelove and MASH were pretty funny. Oddly enough, gallows humor is a way people cope with a nightmarish situation.
Re: Fictional characters often help with tough tim (Score:3, Insightful)
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My brother in law did some of his paramedic training in an inner city area, where death from drug and alcohol overdoses was pretty much a daily occurrence. The way he joked about it was a bit off-putting until you realized there were only two ways for a person in such a profession to behave in the face of such misery; to go insane or laugh. The line between the two responses is very thin, but if one has to choose between laughing about horrors or collapsing with a nervous breakdown, the former seems prefera
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Dr. Strangelove and MASH were pretty funny. Oddly enough, gallows humor is a way people cope with a nightmarish situation.
Indeed, (mostly dark) humour is often the best way for us to confront and discuss taboo or uncomfortable subjects.
Re:Fictional characters often help with tough time (Score:5, Insightful)
What's funny about war, you ghoulish troll?
People always find humor in war, and any and every other bad situation. The phrase "gallows humor" evokes people joking about their impending execution. Black humor of various sorts isn't just common, it's an incredibly valuable technique for coping with horrible situations, and something that all well-adjusted people use when necessary.
If you're ever in combat or dealing with some other really horrific situation and you find yourself with a person that never jokes about it, keep an eye on them because there's a good chance they're going to crack under the strain. Though keep in mind that another common coping strategy is complaining; some do that instead of joking. Most people do varying amounts of both. Soldiers in particular have an age-old tradition of doing lots of both, bitching and cracking dark jokes. It's how you maintain some mental equilibrium in the face of unspeakable horror.
Re:Fictional characters often help with tough time (Score:5, Insightful)
I'd have a hard time calling Hamill a Hollywood "elite". He's like William Shatner, more of a cultural touchstone. Besides, I admire how he made a new career as a voice actor after being the lead in one of the most successful film franchises in history, and basically being typecast forever more as Luke Skywalker. And you know what, if it helps morale in Ukraine a little bit, I'd say that's a pretty good way to use your talents.
Besides, any role, even as an air raid siren, has to be better than the character assassination that was The Last Jedi.
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Popeye, Winnie the Pooh, also come to mind.
That said this feels a little more 'tacky' given how produced for television this entire conflict seems to be.
I am going to modded down but the propaganda levels on this thing is quite amazing.
Choosing Star Wars probable about the most banal good vs evil story to come alone since the Epic of Gilgamesh, fits so nicely with the completely unexamined Russia Bad, Ukraine epicenter of all that is virtuous narrative.
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So you agree with the Russia narrative that they invaded Ukraine (the country that elected a jewish president) to combat a problem with nazis?
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Bothsideists aren't good people either.
Re:Fictional characters often help with tough time (Score:5, Insightful)
Jesus, this kind of moral equivocation drives me nuts. You know what, the Poles in the lead up to the Nazi invasion had hardly behaved well in the 1930s, in particular in joining in the feeding frenzy as Czechoslovakia was disemboweled in 1938. And yet, for the modest misdeeds of Poland, the Brits still made the invasion of the country its red line.
If you're looking for the perfect nation with an absolutely clean record, you're not going to find it. But the order of things since 1945 is that forced annexation of territory is illegal, not to mention that Russian is going back on the guarantees it made when Ukraine gave up its share of the Soviet nuclear arsenal.
So yeah, Ukraine has some bad actors, corrupt officials, and even some outright corrupt governments, but it is still a sovereign state that international law guarantees its territorial integrity, and a much larger nation is occupying that territory and launching military strikes specifically designed to cause significant civilian losses of life. So I have no problem saying Russia is the aggressor, and Ukraine the victim.
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There are often people claiming to be unbiased who still ask questions betraying the bias - ie, "what was the victim wearing?" Sometimes the bias isn't towards one side or the other, but a bias to do nothing and ignore an issue as being someone else's problem - "why do we care about Kuwait?"
Facts on the ground are obvious though: Did Russia invade illegally against international laws and norms to sieze Crimea? Yes. Did Russia invade illegally into Ukraine again in 2022? Yes. Is Russia commiting war cri
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By any standard of international law, Ukraine has been a sovereign state since 1922, when the Soviet Union constituted a number of constituent Soviet republics. That was further entrenched by the recognized declaration of independence in 1992.
So what you wrote is bullshit, and nothing more than pro-Russian propaganda. How's the weather in St. Petersburg?
Re:Fictional characters often help with tough time (Score:5, Insightful)
It's possible to disbelieve the propaganda about this conflict that's coming from both sides. You don't have to believe a word that Russia or Putin says to also disbelieve the other side. There are rarely any good guys involved in wars on either side.
I don't think that matters, at all.
To me, the situation here is very clear-cut: Russia invaded its neighbor in order to incorporate their territory and people into Russia, claiming as their only real justification that Ukraine was always part of Russia and by some historical right belongs to them still, never mind what Ukrainians think or want. (The Nazi blather was just for domestic consumption, never expected to convince anyone outside of Russia.)
Territorial expansion through force of arms is wrong, and should no longer be tolerated by anyone. Ukraine has every right to fight back to repel the invaders, and unless the rest of the world would like to see the clock turned back and military conquest become commonplace as it has been for most of human history, everyone else should support Ukraine in their effort to repulse the invaders. That is, we should take action (non-military, if possible) against the invader, and we should provide materiel and humanitarian support to the invaded. This is what we're doing, and the only real question is whether we're doing enough.
The world was wrong to stand by in 2014 when Russia began this invasion, but perhaps that was understandable, on the theory that we could appease Russia by allowing it that one gain. When Russia invaded mainland Ukraine in 2022 they demonstrated that appeasement was a bad strategy -- which was honestly obvious given that it has never worked in the past, but, hey, maybe worth giving it a shot one more time, and anyway Ukraine's military wasn't in any state to fight back and we didn't really want to conduct a counter-invasion.
All of Russia's blather about NATO expansion is silly. The only reason countries want to join NATO is because they feel threatened by Russia. Russia could have prevented NATO expansion by not being such a shitty and threatening neighbor. As it is, Russia's alleged attempt to prevent NATO expansion has done exactly the opposite, ensuring instead that all of Russia's smallish neighbors are anxious to join up, lest they also be invaded.
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Crimea wasn't the start. The west was naive for years before that, hoping to appease Putin. Putin gets invited to G7 meetings, possibly thinking that he might like being part of the civilized world. Then again, the west was quite conciliatory towards Gadaffi as well near the end. Nobody really blinked much about the invasion into Georgia either, that sort blew over in just a few weeks it felt like. Cease fire agreements get signed, hands shaken, people feel confident in Putin, and then the agreements a
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Maybe a special case, but his attitude keeps being repeated. Ie, Tucker Carlson genuinely sounds like a Putin toady these days, whereas Trump merely sounded a bit confused (mostly he was in awe of world leaders who were dictators and wannabe dictators).
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No, you can't. Even saying "sides" is psychotic in this instance. Invading a neighbor to conquer their territory, exterminate their ethnic identity, and prevent democracy taking root in a former colonial possession is not a "side." Nor is Ukraine's simple assertion of the right to exist.
Human rights are not a side of an argument. Russia is a failed state unleashing chaos and horror on its neighbors like a
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Don't put words in my mouth.
I do not support Russia's actions. Putin is evil and an aggressor. Ukraine is also a corrupt shit hole that is not worth 1 penny of American treasure! It has no strategic value to us. Its a European problem that Europe should deal with supporting or not.
I can hold those opinions simultaneously because, they are not in conflict. Fuck Putin! but also Ukraine not our fucking problem!
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The whole Ukraine thing is entirely strategic. Whether it has tactical value, well, the Ukrainian people and army themselves showed us their value and what they value.
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Re:Fictional characters often help with tough time (Score:4, Informative)
C'mon, you know how he meant it. Yes, in theory, the mass of the bomb and the mass of the ship would attract each other. In practice, gravity is SO weak that you probably couldn't even measure that force, let alone see it happen in a timeframe that is relevant in the span of a 3 hour movie.
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http://eleven-thirtyeight.com/... [eleven-thirtyeight.com]
There’s also artificial gravity inside the bomber, as an important plot point makes us painfully aware, and that alone could have propelled the bombs away. But it turns out that gravity was never necessary—according to TLJ’s Visual Dictionary, the bombs are launched from the bomber by electromagnetic means.
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I see. Then why did they have to be "above" the target? It would have been way more efficient to release those electromagnetic bombs not only from further away but also in a way that doesn't present a vulnerable side to the enemy.
Hell, the "torpedos" in the old movies made more sense. Screw that, the "bombs" in the TIE fighter games in the 90s made more sense.
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It's not as if in the history of navies around the world that all engagements were done in the best possible circumstances. Otherwise every naval engagement would have ended in a stalemate, as every ship somehow could predict all the events in the battle and never get
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Well, no space battle in the history of movies was realistic. Mostly because such battles would be incredibly boring. But using what is the equivalent of WW2 bombers is ridiculously silly.
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With the difference that they used to look good. This was just plain ridiculous.
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A movie that is pretty much sold on effects and looks? This isn't a French subtitled art film, ya know?
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You're also forgetting how dangerous they would be. Every time a ship is hit thousands of pieces would fly out causing damage to anyone who flew through that area. Shrapnel would be everywhere.
And yet, not a single ship in any space movie gets torn to shreds going through all that floating shrapnel.
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Funny enough, that is something they actually got right in TLJ.
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This thread requires the obligatory kxcd [xkcd.com] to be referenced.
Re: Fictional characters often help with tough tim (Score:2)
Turrets have a tracking velocity. This means it's easy to not be hit when at close ranges. Eve-online actually nailed this truth which is why the game had "speed tanking" which only works at close range. In fact, I think multiple scenes in Star Wars actually explain how small attack craft should engage at close ranges because they can "speed tank".
So okay... now you say just drop the bomb outside the range of the turrets. Well the "bombs" don't move that fast, so they would be subject to the same principle
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The tracking velocity of turrets is pretty much meaningless concerning two things about deep space that you can use to your advantage as a defender: First, it's trivial to see an enemy from a very long distance. And two, there is no such thing as maximum range in a zero-G environment. Anything you could send against an enemy can start doing so at pretty much any range you wish. Also, you don't really have to use a warhead, in space, kinetic energy is often enough to penetrate a hull, which often suffices to
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Like I said, the main concern is that range is not an issue in a zero-G environment. Anything you throw away from here will continue moving eternally, so if you just throw out enough mass, it's pretty much impossible to dodge it all. On the other hand, throwing out mass means not only that you have to have that mass, it also means that you will accelerate in the opposite direction.
Dodging those "bullets" also means that first of all you have to be able to register them. Which by itself may be a big issue. S
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This strikes me as after the fact rationalizing like the Kessel Run explanation. Star Wars is not exactly physics best friend.
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Clearly there is gravity on ships and in the Death Star. It's never been explained in canon how it works, but it's not difficult to imagine that whatever force it is extends its influence beyond the hull, to things flying near it.
What kinda screws that theory up is the docking ports on the Death Star. Maybe they are shielded, because otherwise when coming in to dock the direction of gravity would be flipping around. Unlike a planet, the artificial gravity on the Death Star seems to be at a right angle to th
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You know, it's a kids movie set in space, we probably shouldn't worry too much about scientific accuracy. You can hear the "lasers" firing in space too.
And ships cast shadows as well (apologies to AFU) Theater is the willing suspension of disbelief.
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Not to mention that Stormtrooper armor is completely cosmetic. I mean, they get PUNCHED with bare hands and go down. What is the point of the armor?!
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Just for you:
https://imgflip.com/i/7gf9mh [imgflip.com]
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Let's assume the ship is not actually in orbit around the planet, but is merely hovering. There's a lot of ships in the Star Wars universe that can hover and zoom around with their magical bullshit hyperdrives and whatever. Hell, they have entire cities hovering in the clouds! If you're hovering above the planet surface, even a hundred miles up, gravity will have almost the same force as it will near the surface.
What really broke Star Wars for me is when the rebel ship went hyperspace and split a few Sta
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Han shot first.
I don't care how much shitty cgi and how many original discs were pulled from the market and destroyed.
By trying to change it they destroyed his story arc from rogue turned good guy into... uh... good guy stays good guy?
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Star wars, wasn't that the movie where Leia french-kisses her long lost brother Luke in order to make her future husband jealous?
Gross, dude. Incest in space.
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The latest Mandalorian episode even has a line about who shot first.
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Re: Fictional characters often help with tough tim (Score:2)
Nope. Han was shot first. Then Greedo.
Here:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=... [youtube.com]
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Bad faith post on slashdot. Color me shocked.
AC can't distinguish humor from bad faith. Color me shocked.
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I like the part where Luke is going to Tosche Station to pick up some power converters. https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
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Can't help but wonder how many Ukrainians will be reminded of the war every time they see or hear an ad for the Star Wars franchise.
Give it 20 years, and Star Wars references will get you cancelled for insensitivity.
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People would rather get alarming news from a friendly source than a hostile or neutral one, and it doesn't change their reaction to that source later. Cronkite, etc.
Re: Fictional characters often help with tough tim (Score:2)
Yeah. I particularly enjoyed watching Wonder Woman fighting the Nazis.
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disney to sue? over that IP? (Score:3)
and if they do an local judge should drag the case out forever
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Ukraine is the place to go if you want to avoid pesky US laws. That's why our politicians are so hell-bent on keeping it for themselves.
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Star Wars His Putin Ass (Score:2)
Break out those Reagan era Stars Wars Missile systems and light that Putin ass up. Have voice over of Darth screaming out of the head of the missiles "I Am Your Father"!!
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Ride from the Gods...
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Damn auto-correct! "RODS from the Gods."
It's really too bad (Score:3)
I think he should have used his "Joker" voice.
And ObiWan Says (Score:2)