Is Love Blind in Star Wars Fandom?

 

Okay this is something I personally struggle with on an everyday basis. I’m surprised I haven’t written this already; because it’s something I think about 24/7. Am I a “love is blind” Star Wars fan? In other words will I always love everything that has a Star Wars logo on it? Will I ever not like something made by Lucasfilm, or its licensees? This question arose one day for a couple reasons, first because there are so many new Star Wars films on the horizon, in addition to the books, comics, and games. Second, and mostly because I see or hear constant gripping from other Star Wars fans about one thing or another, whether it’s Alden Ehrenreich being cast to play the young Han Solo, or the prequels in general, or Thrawn is back now Rebels probably won’t do him justice, or Rey is a Mary Sue, or Clone Wars needs to return, or Rebels needs to go away, or Legends needs to continue, or the comics either stink or are okay at best. While I’m over here saying “I love everything!” I love it all, all the time. Bring it on! Give me more! Take my money!

I think this first came up back during the mid 90s when I was at my local comic shop buying Dark Horses version of the Droids comics. I remember the store owner saying to me that the only reason anyone is buying these is because they are fans of Star Wars, not because the comics are any good. I actually agreed with him to point. I enjoyed them, but I knew they were to be taken lightly. I guess the quick answer to my question, is I don’t think I am a blind Star Wars fan. Doesn’t sound very convincing I know. There are some books and comics that I don’t like as much as others, but in general, I will buy them anyway because it IS Star Wars and I want to be immersed in the story as much as possible.

There are times when I see other fans bring up good points as to why a movie or a novel may have not lived up to expectations, and I think the same thing—I just cannot bring myself to say something critical or negative about it. Especially now when I think the story group is doing a great job in creating a larger, more linear story, where many forms of media play just as an important role to the Star Wars story as the films. I do think critical opinions force Lucasfilm to listen to the fans which motivates them to give us a quality product. Lucasfilm knows we are hard to please, which is good in a way, but at times I think some fans take it way too serious. Blasphemer! In my opinion it’s just not worth getting upset over a way a book is written. I don’t really think it’s worth a 2 paragraph rant on Facebook over sentence structure. There is a reason why we don’t work at Lucasfilm, or write these books, and there is a reason why they do. This philosophy has helped me keep a level head throughout the years.

Lastly, I want to chime in about canon, because that seems to be the main point of contention these days. There’s canon and then there’s in-head canon. Guess what? Your in-head canon; my in-head canon doesn’t count. That is not the story they’re telling. If you want to write your own fanfiction or make your own fan films, that’s great! Maybe Lucasfilm will choose yours as the winner next year in Orlando. But if you disagree with the story group’s direction, do us all a favor; get a job with them and convince them that is not the direction they should go in. Until then, deal with it. Enjoy the story for what it is or just don’t read/watch it. In the meantime, don’t rain on everyone else parade of the Ewoks. Not everyone needs to know that you hated Episode VII. Let the rest of us enjoy it because we will regardless.

I’d love to hear everyone’s opinion on the status of being a blind fan. Do you love everything Star Wars? Or are you more critical?

 

The Cantina Cast

The wretched hive your Jedi Master warned you about!

 

Eric Onkenhout

Twitter@willshatter82

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Cantinacast.com, thebeardedtrio.com, coffeewithkenobi.com, beltwaybanthas.com, and thegalacticroundtable.net