Okay, now that the preliminaries are out of the way, let’s get down to business.
As most of you know, I am a first-generation Star Wars fan. I was privileged to be alive when the original movie hit the theaters in 1977, and I was one of the many that continued to live inside the movie in the months afterward. I practically wore grooves through the soundtrack to the original LP, eagerly consumed “Splinter of the Mind’s Eye,” one of the first Star Wars novels (if not the first), started (but never finished) my own scripts for what was then known as “Star Wars 2.”
I mention this just to illustrate to any wayfaring strangers that my obsession goes back a ways. And like any meaningful relationship, there are periods of disillusion and wonderment, dissatisfaction and pure joy. So it is with me and the Yoda of Modesto, one G. Lucas.
No, I don’t hate George for the unforgivable sins of the prequel trilogy. I don’t hate the virtual air Jar-Jar breathes, am not scarred for life from the admittedly stilted love scenes between Anakin and Padmé, and don’t begrudge any of the other faults others have with the trilogy. For my part, I was glad to get three new Star Wars movies. I enjoyed all six viewings of The Phantom Menace immensely, like a good deal of Attack of the Clones while acknowledging its imperfections, and rank Revenge of the Sith among the top three of the saga.
I’m even willing to forgive George’s attempts at revisionist history with the Special Editions, although I am loathe to understand his reluctance to release quality versions of his original films. Still, as my nephew Avram has shown me, there is a substantial difference in feel from the original and SE versions. George can be extremely stubborn, and it's just possible he thinks that by giving the original films the treatment they deserve, he would be admitting he was wrong to do what he did to them — something he's not really good at admitting, in my experience.
No, my main objection to George is the way he’s reduced his outreach to his fans to simply fleecing their pockets. I understand he’s a businessman, and I understand there are scores of Star Wars collectors with plenty of disposable income and a need to follow in Steve Sansweet’s footsteps.
In the last few years, I’ve watched Star Wars fandom go over to the dark side of Star Wars collecting. The Force.net, which used to be one of the best fan sites on the Internet, is now almost entirely dominated by collector’s news; exactly when Hasbro is coming out with what limited edition 4½-inch figure, and what stores are expected to get them — that sort of thing. The President of the Official Fan Club (a fan-elected post) was won by a member of Rebelscum.com — the same collector’s site that seems to more-or-less run The Force.net now. The site’s podcast, when I last listened to it a couple years ago, was recorded by two members of Rebelscum, and as such, was biased heavily toward collecting news — nearly an hour of it, as I remember. Most of the e-mails I got from Starwars.com and website updates seemed geared toward getting me to buy stuff. After a disagreement with the Official Fan Club over the number of issues of Star Wars Insider they owed me, I wandered away from the faith.
Enter “The Clone Wars,” the two hour “movie” based on the first few episodes of a planned television series. I had been supremely cynical of the animated series, and am not a huge fan of the Clone Wars period. Even though it’s chocked full ‘o Jedi, which is a good thing in my book, I’m more of a fan of the rebellion period. I’m genuinely intrigues by the possibilities of the new live action series, but am not happy about a 3d cartoon being labeled as a Star Wars “movie.”
Not that it seems to matter what I think, since I don’t seem to have any free will at all when it comes to Star Wars.
Apparently, there’s some hidden switch in me that George can manipulate at will whenever a new Star Wars movie is coming out. When I first learned that “Clone Wars” was being released as a full-length movie, I said emphatically that I wasn’t going. Two months ago I told myself that I might go after a week or so, but I wasn’t going to make any special plans or anything.
Today I admitted to myself that I was going to go as soon as I could; opening night, if possible.
My wife, as usual, knew the truth all along.
“Like there was every any doubt,” she said “Please! You knew you were going to cave like wet tissu...sorry.”
Since then, I’ve watched “A New Hope” all the way through, and am watching the Echo Base scenes from “Empire” as I type this. I am proud to say that my daughter asked for “New Hope” rather than “Phantom Menace,” and wanted the original versions over the Special Editions. She is still young for a padawan, but apparently, I’ve trained her well.
And what woke up my enthusiasm? I think for Star Wars fandom, or any fandom for that matter, to be an active, vital thing, it needs to have the hope of new stories to feed it. At least, that is the way it is for me. Either that, or George really does have an “on” switch installed on me somewhere…
So what’s the verdict? Is anybody else reading this going to “Clone Wars?” If so, drop me a line and let me know.
Until next time, may the Force be with you all.
