I’ve been a Star Wars fan ever since I saw the film in the cinema in December of 1977. I jumped on the Star Destroyer as it flew overhead, and apart from a short time in my teenage years, I’ve been an avid follower of all things from a galaxy far, far away ever since.
Until the prequels were announced, the only way to engage with others was at conventions and shows. You would make trades in-person, get an autograph or two, or perhaps enjoy the good natured comparison of Star Wars vs Star Trek, but that’s as far as any sort of rivalry went.
That all changed in the second half of the ‘90s with the advent of the internet; CompuServe, MySpace and forums were a new way to connect with other like-minded people, although getting on line with dial up modems wasn’t always the easiest or quickest. I fondly remember trying to download the first trailer for The Phantom Menace overnight with a modem cable trailing over the floor so I could monitor the connection from my bed.
The Phantom Menace arrived, and with it came a whole barrage of criticism – for the story, the dialogue and even some of the actors. This was so severe that one of the actors, Ahmed Best, considered suicide, while the young Jake Lloyd is still very much a recluse to this day, some 25 years on.
Star Wars has always been a story of good versus evil, and most of the time we see good prevail, so why have we let a few rogue fans ruin things for fandom? It seems ever since the first prequel, no matter the project, or who ultimately owns Lucasfilm, the few spoil it for the many, going online and sharing their opinions, being downright spiteful and even rude to the actors, writers, showrunners and executives, sometimes before they’ve seen a single episode of a series or the film has been released to the public.
I fully appreciate that we can’t find favour in everything, and nobody is forcing everyone to like all the output that comes from Lucasfilm; after all, the content has to appeal to a wide age range from preschoolers to first generation Star Wars fans, some of whom are now in their 80s and beyond.
What we can do though, is have some respect for the time and effort that goes into these projects, regardless of the content. The people who make these shows and films are just like you and me, going to work each day to earn a living, to do the best they can using whatever tools they find themselves working with – be it a pencil and paper to design an alien or starfighter, a set of spanners to build a droid, or a keyboard to code a series of special effects. Think about how that vitriol may hurt the thousands of people who work on these shows.
Put yourself in their shoes – how would you like it if a small minority of (mostly non-expert) people picked holes in your job performance?
Most of us live in a country which allows free speech, and I’m not advocating censure, what I am suggesting though is the need to be mindful, to really think about the comments we make in the name of fandom.
What do they achieve, apart from hurt? What would happen if they simply followed the advice an old Jedi Knight gave some 47 years ago to… “move along.”
Alternatively, you could always listen to what my mother taught me… “if you have nothing good to say, then don’t say anything at all.”
In a world that’s more divided than ever, I think we’d all advocate for peace, so why not extend that to our Star Wars fandom? Instead of ranting on social media and degrading those who worked tirelessly to produce the content, just don’t tune in, don’t stream it or just don’t buy a ticket – Disney and Lucasfilm will soon get the message when revenue is down and merchandise sales fall flat. Star Wars fans don’t need to punch down and hurt people along the way for this to happen.
Critique is fine but ad hominem attacks have no place in Star Wars or any fandom.
Together we must do better – please – may the Force be with you, always.
