Why Fans Have a Right to be Angry about the Direction of Star Wars

Hey, everyone.

So if you're familiar with the world of geekdom, you've likely noticed the hub-bub surrounding Star Wars. For those who don't know, the hub-bub centers on "disagreements" regarding the direction of the franchise. I'm not going to go into what those all are as it is quite the tale, but there are numerous videos on YouTube explaining them. Here's a small sample:

1. "The Decline of Star Wars: Part I - The Films" by WorldClassBullshitters featuring RetroBlasting
2. "Solo: A Star Wars Story: An Unbridled Rage" by MauLer
3. "A Critique of Star Wars: The Last Jedi - Part 1" by MauLer
4. "Women Hated The Last Jedi Too" by Geeks+Gamers featuring Mindless Entertainment
5. "The Real Reason Why People Are Pissed at the Last Jedi" by Lobster Magnet's Review: The Channel
6. "Thanks for Ruining Star Wars, Kathleen!" by WorldClassBullshitters featuring RetroBlasting, Razorfist, and MauLer
7. "Star Wars BEFORE Feminism" by Mindless Entertainment

With that out of the way, I can now address why fans have a right to be angry about the current direction and handling of Star Wars.

First, I would like to ask the question: what is a "fan?" What does it mean to be a fan of something? Does it simply mean to like something, like can you be a fan of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches? I don't think so; that seems a little too basic.

I define "fandom" as the state in which a person likes something, either a band, writer, movie, etc, so much so that they make room for it in their lives, perceptions, and emotions. They choose to spend their time with that something special over other things, they spend their money buying merchandise that represents that something special, and they spend their brain power speculating on the future of that something special. To put it simply, to be a fan means to bring that something special into your life and allow it to affect your life, not so dissimilar from a relationship or friendship.

Since fans do this, it is inevitable they would grow attached to whatever their fandom surrounds, and so it is with Star Wars, which has been creating fans since 1977. Some people have been fans their entire lives, and others have been fortunate enough to be around since the very beginning. If anyone is invested in what Star Wars is and represents, it is these people, but all fans have played a part in building its legacy and legend. So you'll listen to these people's criticisms when they say SW is not headed in the direction it should.

Unfortunately, that's not what we see. Where fans have criticized Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy for pushing a female-centric agenda, she responds by saying SW doesn't need male fans, despite the fact that 90% of SW fans are male. Where fans have criticized The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson for making a movie that is inconsistent with all of its predecessors and for destroying fan favorite character Luke Skywalker's arc, he responds by saying that fans "don't get" the movie, and when the fans push back with more criticism, he screams harassment and uses social media to insult them. Where fans have criticized Lucasfilm for pushing forced diversity by casting minority roles and then doing nothing to build the characters and stories of these roles, Lucasfilm responds by calling fans racists and bigots.

This is why fans are angry about Star Wars. Not only are they watching their favorite franchise be taken in a direction it was never meant to go--forcing political agendas rather than being used to tell a classic tale of good versus evil--fans are also watching Lucasfilm doubling down on their current path of politicizing the movies, and then insulting anyone who disagrees with this direction. And then when tempers really flare, Lucasfilm employees respond with "it's just a movie."

True, The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi and Solo: A Star Wars Story are movies, but they are also only three parts of a much larger universe that incorporates 7 other movies, countless books and video games, and the imaginations of a world-wide fandom that helped to create a truly impressive and massive expanded universe over the course of four decades. To say that Star Wars is "just a movie" diminishes the care and energy fans have spent on SW. For these people, SW is not "just a movie"--it's an inseparable part of their lives. So when Lucasfilm dismisses fans and their concerns, they dismiss people's thoughts, feelings, and memories--they bite the hand that feeds.

Fans have a right to be angry because they care--they care where Star Wars has been and they care where it's going. Therefore, when the quality of the films and other media do not meet the standards and practices of storytelling they are used to, fans have a duty, as loyalists to the soul of Star Wars, to let the creators know they are slipping and an adjustment needs to be made. That's what a true fan is. A person who just accepts everything regardless of quality and delivery just because it's "Star Wars," and therefore must be a good thing, is a sycophant. And likewise, fans have a right to be angry with these bootlickers who further divide the fandom with their instigation of further conflict.

Despite how inspirational true stories are, fictional stories are no less important to people. Regardless of whether a story is told in a movie, video game, or book, our lives are touched by that story. We are affected and changed by them. Most would argue their lives are better for the creation of Star Wars until you start talking about the Disney era, and then you look at how Lucasfilm and other media outlets attack fans who don't like the new movies. So of course fans are going to be happy that Solo: A Star Wars Story is a box office bomb because it sends a clear message to Disney and Lucasfilm that they have lost the plot, and as a result, fans are not going to feed the beast until things are set right.

If you still don't know what I'm on about, here are two more videos for you that sum up my points in a much more succinct and entertaining manner:

1. "STAR WARS NOVELIST DENIES REALITY AND ATTACKS FANDOM!! Y U MAD??" by ComicArtistPro Secrets
2. "How to Kill the Star Wars Franchise in 10 Days" by WorldClassBullshitters

Edit: In regards to Kelly Marie Tran deleting her Instagram account, no one knows why she did it. Everyone assumes it is due to bullying, but until Tran says so herself, every article that comes out on the topic is speculation and smacks heavily of Lucasfilm attempting to deflect from the failure of Solo as well as the news that Lucasfilm is finally replacing Kennedy.

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Keep writing, my friends.

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