The Quickening: Star Wars... Why have you lost The Force? · 2:28am Sep 20th, 2019
I'm back with new eyes, so to celebrate here's a post about Star Wars.
To say that the universe created by George Lucas under the name Star Wars is an cult classic is little. There’s literally an unofficial religion in this regard that revolves around The Force, so trying to deepen the significance of Luke and company in the popular imagination would be a futile exercise.
Rather we’ll do the opposite. Since Disney acquired the concept and gave rise to new sagas and films it seems The Force has abandoned the franchise. It’s no mystery to anyone that the new trilogy, with a pending episode, has failed in its attempt to bring new faithful to the galactic cult and instead has become a source of numerous memes according to this era of ubiquitous social networks. It has been reported that the new Star Wars themed attraction called Galaxy’s Edge has had a much smaller influx than expected, causing Disney shares to fall, and the new teasers of the last episode haven’t generated much enthusiasm.
Why this iconic saga has lost its charm? We could blame the intrusion of Disney, a millionaire and evil corporation, but that would be a very simple way out. In the humble and not expert opinion of this author, the saga has devoured itself as if it was a black hole. I’m not a devoted fan, but rather a supporter who has had fun with Star Wars without feeling that it’s a fundamental part of his life, so I think I have a less skewed vision.
And then, apart from the very ugly Ben Solo, flying Leia and Luke milking mutant cows that give green milk, what has drained The Force?
An eternally dissatisfied fandom
We already said it: Star Wars is sacred to its fans. Hence, nothing done will be worthy enough to honor the most holy space saga. Social networks are very eloquent about it. If there’s new stuff, heresy will have been incurred against the sacred texts of St. George Lucas; if you stick to what has already been shown, then the sin of omission of creativity will be committed. Total... I don't know what warsies expect to feel satisfied, because nothing has succeeded.
Too Expanded Universe
Stories that span thousands of years before the events of A New Hope until decades later. Entire novels that narrate intermediate events between the films, encyclopedias that detail the bruises in Boba Fett’s armor, video games about the barely important pod-race and series and more series about the clone wars. The matter becomes super dense. And then there are the stories of the years after the fall of the Empire, stories that enjoy the favor of the fans but have been erased at a stroke thanks to the new trilogy. Frustrating, certainly. Thus, the immense amount of material and the ups and downs on canonical aspects and those that are not undoubtedly cause confusion and rejection among occasional fans, who are the vast majority.
Darth Vader
Iconic, omnipresent, well-known character, praised by himself almost without the need of the universe that sustains his history. Some of the most transcendent lines in the history of cinema are due to him. Not even Hayden Christensen's failed casting as young Vader diminished his popularity in the least, but it’s the meaning of this character a double-edged sword. His popularity inevitably obscures the entire Star Wars universe. George Lucas stated that analyzing the first six films, it’ll be understood that the real protagonist of this space fantasy saga is Darth Vader himself and even with the new episodes this is evident. Without Vader, Star Wars doesn’t feel like Star Wars. He had to come back in Rogue One for this film to have the impact it achieved and his complete absence in Solo was only one of the factors of its failure.
On the other hand, Ben Solo / Kylo Ren, his uncomfortable grandson, is a pale imitation that soon became a parody. When Darth Vader died Star Wars died ... I’m sorry, but it’s true.
Social Justice Warriors
YouTube is full of videos in which fans detailing how Star Wars has been "ruined" by feminism and other social activism. Just the fact thatthe new Jedi protagonist, Rey, is a woman has caused stinging among the most conservative and actress Kelly Marie Tran, who plays Rose Tico, suffered from cruel harassment in social networks because of her physical appearance, being target of racist attacks. Being strict, there are no ideological speeches in the movies but the fandom is always scandalous and these unnecessary controversies have hurt the reputation of the saga as a whole.
Conclusion
Star Wars grew so much that it became a galaxy devoured by a black hole. With a base of fans so obsessive and a plot that has gone out of control, it would be best to broadcast the pending episode and let the saga sleep for at least the next 20 years. Fixing what hasn’t been broken has never been a good idea.
