Hi! It’s Annie!
May the 4th be with you! Happy Star Wars day everyone! Of course, Star Wars day means that everyone is going to once again talk about their controversial ‘Star Wars’ opinions. These days it really feels like every ‘Star Wars’ opinion is controversial in some way. There’s always something to disagree about in this fandom, and generally disagreement isn’t taken very lightly. In that sense, I’ve seen so many people, especially older ‘Star Wars’ fans, saying the phrase; “(blank) ruined Star Wars”. Most often the (blank) is Disney. I’m sure there are plenty of people who wonder why all of the ‘Star Wars’ posts on this website are categorized under Disney. (The reason is simply because we’re trying to limit the amount of categories on our site.) While I’m not going to make a detailed statement on what I believe Disney did or did not do with the ‘Star Wars’ franchise, I think it’s a bit ridiculous to say that one thing ruined an entire franchise with dozens of different storylines within it at this point. So I’m going to take this Star Wars day post and talk about most of what we’ve gotten in this universe so far and why you can’t possibly ruin it.
Original Trilogy:
This is most people’s favorite piece of ‘Star Wars’ media and for good reason. This was our introduction to this fictional universe and to many characters (and actors) that we love immensely. It was full of space settings that hadn’t been seen before at that time and began the usage of many of the major plot twists that we see in movies today. (“No, I am your Father.”) Luke, Leia, and Han have gone down in history as one of the best film trios of all time. Though there are some things about this trilogy that have definitely aged, the heart and the story of these movies haven’t. When I say aged, I’m talking the special effects and the lightsaber battles which have become so much more action packed and complex since (sometimes weirdly so). Though the slave Leia outfit also didn’t age well but no one talks about that as well as Carrie Fisher herself did. The original trilogy has solidified its place in pop culture probably forever.
Prequel Trilogy:
The comeback that raised eyebrows, though people sometimes forget that. Just like the original trilogy, these were still a direct product of George Lucas. I see a lot of people blame Disney for everything bad in Star Wars and then immediately turn around and praise George Lucas as if he had nothing to do with this trilogy. He was just as involved here as he was with the originals. Recently, I’ve seen a lot more people come to the defense of this trilogy, and I can’t really understand why. But I mean, you like what you like! I just personally feel that these are some of the worst movies I’ve seen in my life. Especially ‘Attack of the Clones’. I don’t how many people here cry-cringe, but I did that throughout the entirely of that movie. I talked about how poorly Padme was treated in another post, but she really did need and deserve a panic button. This trilogy isn’t all bad, I think everyone can agree that Ewan Mcgregor was great as, you know, GENERAL KENOBI. Sorry. But I do think most of us can agree that there’s something really off about all of these movies. Especially because they barely make sense together and definitely don’t make sense apart.
Cartoons:
Here we get to ‘The Clone Wars’, and the series that is probably my favorite ‘Star Wars’ content, ‘Star Wars Rebels’. ‘The Clone Wars’ is a little bit choppy switching between things but it had a clean and unique plot while still being very emotional. I love this series, it’s great. While a lot of people didn’t like ‘Rebels’, I really loved that series. I loved many of the characters, specifically Kanan and Sabine, and I thought that a lot of the plots were actually really interesting. I especially loved the family dynamic and consistent plot here and they got a leg up whenever they brought in Darth Vader and Ahsoka Tano. Dave Filoni is an incredible writer. I think it’s amazing how many people are discovering how excellent ‘The Clone Wars’ and the other animated series really are. A lot of people still don’t really want to watch a ‘Star Wars’ cartoon because to them it feels like it’s for kids.. But now they feel like they have the recognition they deserve. And oh my gosh do I love Sabine. She’s such a relatable and multi-faceted character!
The Spin-Offs:
Here I’m talking about ‘Rogue One’ and ‘Solo’. I know a lot of people like one a lot more than the other. I’m going to say right now that I preferred the one that most people don’t. I wasn’t a huge fan of ‘Rogue One’. I thought that they didn’t spend enough time on the characters, so I really didn’t feel the tragedy at the end. I won’t say that ‘Solo’ was a masterpiece, but I thought it was a fun heist movie. And I always jump at the chance to see more Chewbacca. The reaction to these movies are more muddled. Some people love one over the other, some hate both. I’m not actually sure I’ve talked to someone who loved both movies, but there’s nothing wrong with that if you do. ‘Rogue One’ wasn’t all bad for me though; those Vader scenes were pretty great.
The Sequel Trilogy:
The conversation when these were coming out was a lot more all over the place. Some people were determined to hate them all, others the opposite. Some hated the first movie and not the second, for others it was the other way around. As we’ve been getting further and further away from the release of this trilogy, I see more and more people who liked this trilogy getting bullied. I want to say right now that I don’t believe you aren’t a true fan if you loved these movies. I think the usage of ‘true fan’ is ridiculous. Do you like Star Wars? Poof! There you go! You’re a fan! That’s all there is to it. I also think that the practice of bullying people who disagree with you on a fandom topic is really ridiculous. I don’t have any particularly strong opinions on the sequel trilogy. I think there’s some good there and there’s some bad there. I think that the lightsaber battle with the guards at the end of ‘The Last Jedi’ was one of the best choreographed fights I’ve seen in film. I also think that Luke and Finn were not treated very well. But I don’t think these movies are proof that Disney ruined ‘Star Wars’.
The Mandalorian and Disney +:
We’re getting a lot more Star Wars content from Disney+ and I don’t think anyone’s complaining too much. Though I did have some issues with Ahsoka Tano’s writing in ‘The Mandalorian’ (even though Rosario Dawson is a badass as her), the show itself is actually really great! And now we’re getting more ‘Clone Wars’ spin offs, an Obi-Wan series starring Ewan Mcgregor, and an Ahsoka Tano series with Rosario Dawson; all stuff that looks pretty cool. It also worries me because it’s all coming out in mass, but I guess we’ll have to see.
Some of the things I mentioned above are great and some of them really aren’t so good. And some of the not so good things have happened since Disney took hold of the franchise. So why will I not say that Disney or anything else ruined Star Wars? Because it only ruins it for you if you want it to. No matter how many films or shows that Disney comes out with for this franchise that you might not like; that doesn’t erase the original trilogy or your favorite show. Not only that, but what’s still most popular about ‘Star Wars’ is still the original trilogy despite how much content for the franchise has come out since. Even with young people. It’s the same thing as saying “You ruined my childhood!”. Not unless you want it to. How can one thing ruin something with so many elements to it. And even if the original trilogy isn’t someone’s favorite thing about ‘Star Wars’, they are still a fan and their opinion is still completely valid. So on this ‘Star Wars’ day let’s please not argue as much and try to respect each other’s opinions.
See you across the pond!
Sincerely, Annie
Oreos & Peanut Butter 