There used to be a time when people stopped caring about
Star Wars. Around 1985, Return of the
Jedi had become a couple of years old, the children had moved on and well,
adults were adults. During that time the
general public was not concerned with the “newest things”. The general public wasn’t foaming at the
mouth for more movie sequels, an over abundance of video games, and more
information, like that of the internet. There
was no social media or not so clever memes of Willy Wonka basically saying the
same condescending taunts on Facebook. It
was a time of new ideas, and breaking ground of our imaginations. People experienced what they had, and a lot
of the times, enjoyed it.
Don’t confuse people not caring for Star Wars as them not
liking it. They did…a lot. But there was this dry spell from 85 to the
early 90’s where people moved on. I,
however, did not. I loved Star Wars
every day of my life. I wasn’t clamoring
for more of it. I enjoyed what I had,
which were three, original visionary films created by my biggest influence as a
writer/storyteller: George Lucas. During
this time the space was lonely. There weren’t
many people to talk to about it anymore, and there wasn’t anything Star Wars on
the shelves, be it magazines, toys, clothes, and what-have-you. This was fine. Back then, we didn’t care as much. These were my movies, and I held them
sacred. It was the greatest story ever
told in my eyes.
Flash forward to the early 90’s and the Star Wars resurgence
began! New toys?!? Novels like Heir to the Empire?!? Comics from Dark Horse?!? It was an amazing time. The drought had ended. Star Wars wasn’t everywhere, but it was still
hanging on. But there were no new
movies. This was what was dubbed as the
Expanded Universe (EU). The premise
behind it was these were new Star Wars stories, but they did not necessarily
fit into the lore of the movies. After
all the movies were sacred. If a story
was awesome, great! But if not, hey no
skin off my back, it was just the EU.
Come 1997, George Lucas announced the Star Wars Special
Editions where there would be new footage, and revamped special effects. All of sudden the world was on fire again
about Star Wars! I wasn’t alone
anymore. People were again feeling the
way I did every day (I always tell people, everyday is May the 4th
for me). This was awesome. Then the movies came out. I for one left the theater excited about the
new editions, of what Lucas and current special effects were becoming capable
of, and also what the future may hold for Star Wars with the announcement of
Episodes 1-3. Everyone else however, was
less than ecstatic. “My Childhood was
Ruined!” is the most common gripe. And it was loud. This was the general consensus. I shrugged it off, and headed to the
future: The Star Wars Prequels.
Around 1998, the first marketing began to show up for the
first of the SW Prequels, The Phantom Menace.
I remember walking in the mall with my cousin Justin, and we were
stopped dead in our tracks by the teaser poster, of a young Anakin Skywalker,
casting the shadow of the fateful villain he was to become. Needless to say we lost our collective
minds! It was so ominous, and there was
so much mystery in the brilliant poster.
We officially couldn’t wait. A
few months down the road, my good friend Dewey brought home the first Phantom Menace
trailer home recorded on VHS! It was
amazing! But what was amazing was it
looked different to me. There was
something new happening in the SW Universe that we had never seen before. It was bright, clean, and noble, with a
splash of ominous darkness about it.
There was a contrast to what the original trilogy was, but it was still
Star Wars. I felt this way after leaving
the theater the first night. The prequel
trilogies became an addition to my favorite movies, and story ever told. Everyone else however hated them. These movies were not the same, and yes they
were clunky to begin, and smoothed out gradually in my opinion, but they were
so imaginative, and visually striking while retaining all the subtle qualities
that the original trilogy held. Not many
people felt the same. This was
fine. It was okay that the people that
loved Star Wars continued to be just a small group, to carry on the excitement,
and joy of these stories alone. But that
isn’t what happened. Hate and venom
spewed out from everywhere regarding the prequels, and even worse, a lot of it
was geared toward the creator himself, George Lucas. Horrible, disgusting things have been said
about the man on a personal level. “He
shouldn't have done this, Star War belongs to us!”
“Lucas a horrible writer/director!”
People even went as far to say “George Lucas should die”.
The weird thing in my mind was always “This man gave us this
thing we claim to love so much, Star Wars.
Who are we to tell him what he should do with it, or that it even
belongs to us.” It isn’t ours. It never was.
We are confusing our memories, or how we felt the first time we saw the
A New Hope, with that of ownership. We
own those memories, and not the story that gave them to us. Those
stories belong to the creator first and foremost. It doesn’t mean anyone has to like it, but if
you don’t it is time to move on and let go of that personal attachment to what
you think belongs to you and doesn’t.
The prequels are done, and made, and they are forever part of the lore
of Star Wars.
After Revenge of the Sith, the prequel stigmata stayed. The excitement that I once received from any
new Star Wars information was then destroyed by the internet. It wasn’t just the trolls in the comments,
but also the journalists, and writers of the articles and in the media. It is almost impossible to find anything SW
related without the hate for the prequels and its creator to come through. It also became hard to talk about Star Wars
with people in general without the animosity toward the Prequels coming out in
the conversation. People’s views on Star
Wars were unfortunately tainted. People
will even go as far as to ask “what the hell is wrong with you for liking the
Prequels”. I explain myself with some
people being respectful of my opinion, and some not. So the cycle goes on and on. But like a Jedi would tell us, “Let go of
your feelings”. These are people’s
opinions and I cannot changes theirs, nor can they change mine.
Now we are in the midst of another Star Wars resurgence. This time the difference is the creator
George Lucas is nowhere to be seen. As
the rights to Star Wars was sold to Disney, Lucas has passed the torch of his
creation to a new generation of SW fans and creators with promises of creating
that feeling we once had in 1977 of seeing our beloved movies for the first
time. The problem is, you can’t recreate
that. I read an article about the
Halloween movies once, where the producers talked about the 3rd movie
in the rebooted series started by Rob Zombie.
The producer went on to say “They want to give the fans another
Halloween movie that captures the feelings they received from watching the
original, created by John Carpenter, for the first time. IT IS WHAT THE FANS DESERVE”. What is it that we deserve exactly? The delusion of capturing a once in a
lifetime feeling again? With The Force
Awakens, I feel that is what we got.
The Force Awakens was a decent movie. And everyone else thought so too. As a matter of fact, it has and is being
treated as the savior of the Star Wars universe, from the wronging of the
prequels and George Lucas himself. But
in all honesty what did George Lucas do that was really wrong? He told a story that he wanted to tell, pure
and simple. He did not reboot a
franchise, and he didn’t mess up something that was created by someone else. I had someone today tell me that he
loves The Force Awakens, and HATES Lucas.
This seems to be the reoccurring theme when it comes to peoples feeling
about SW in general: Biting the hand
that fed them. When Star Wars was first
released in 1977, there was a reason it was so extraordinary: it was a visionary film, created by a
visionary writer/director. It was
something that literally, no one had seen before. This is why it was so amazing. There was a real gamble on the whole thing,
but a young man, needed to tell his story.
And in 2015, JJ Abrams, told it again with The Force Awakens. I feel this was a movie made by angry fans to
tell a story they thought other angry fans would want. If a great story is to be truly told, the
writer/artist needs to stay true to themselves, and write the best story they
can. If it is deserved, it may be loved
by the masses. The Force Awakens is
riding on the coat tails of these ideals, by drenching the story so much in nostalgia,
and the stories that were already told in original movies, that if feels like a
well done fan film, that takes little chances.
I know people are aware of it, and ironically they don’t want to hear
about how TFA is the same as A New Hope, however, I fully believe Star Wars is
better than this.
After seeing The Force Awakens, I left the movie theater
angry. I was angry that the movie played
on our emotional connection to the originals, but I was also angry that
everyone was happy about it. After that
feeling wore off, and I let it go, I started to feel a bit liberated. Me hanging on the fact that I don’t like The
Force Awakens means nothing in the grand scheme of things. I don’t care either way anymore. If the new Star Wars movies from here on out
are good, than that is awesome. If not,
it isn’t a big deal either. To me this
is just the beginning of the new Expanded Universe, and I can accept that. The complete Saga is that of its creator,
Episodes 1-6, the Story of the Rise and Fall of Anakin Skywalker, by George
Lucas. I am not one for TV shows, or any
kind of story lines that keep going forever.
I enjoy a more focused beginning middle and end. I hate when I’m told to watch a TV show
because of how good it is. The structure is that so it can drag people on,
cliff hanger after cliff hanger. The Original Star Wars Saga did not do this.
There was one big surprise, and the plot did not deviate from the
greater story. I guess that is why it is
so sacred to me, and brought me to my conclusion: I don’t want or need more Star Wars
movies.
As far as liking Star Wars, personally, it will always be
difficult going forward. If anything, I
hope that the excitement of the new movies help people move on from what they
hate about the prequels, or Special Editions, so that I can read an article, or even talk to someone about SW that is not overflowing with malicious contempt. It makes me wish that
it was still the early 90’s when everything was quiet, and I could read a new
Star Wars article that wasn’t based off of hate, and was more about
excitement. Believe it or not there are people who like all
the original Star Wars movies, just as I am going to have to accept that most
people love The Force Awakens. However I
will never accept the unadulterated hate for George Lucas himself. I could almost understand if he was an awful
person. But he is a man who raised his
children by himself, and donated the money he received from Disney to children’s
charity. He is the man who paid the
fines of every crew member of The Empire Strikes Back out of his own pocket,
because he insisted the opening crawl be included in his film. He is the man, who fought to do something
different than everything else Hollywood shoved down people’s throats, as they
continue to do today. He gave us our
childhoods, and helped create a slew of writers, and artists, by showing us
what is capable of a visionary imagination.
He is the man that gave us Star Wars, and he doesn’t owe me anything.
