Strap in Star Wars fans. I have a bone to pick with you.
From a young age, Star Wars has been part of my life. One of my earliest memories is of watching Star Wars. I was five, sitting in the living room, bored out of my mind. Snowed in, in the middle-of-nowhere Ohio, my dad put the VHS of Star Wars: A New Hope into the VCR. When it ended, I asked to rewatch. My dad put in Empire Strikes Back rather than listen to my silly desire to rewatch A New Hope. While I don’t remember the exact details beyond the above, I do remember being enraptured by Star Wars. From the opening crawl to the credits hitting, the wild five-year-old my mom complained about sat down and stared at a TV. He was calm when hours before he was a menace and couldn’t sit still.
The rest is history.
Thirty years later, I find myself still in love with Star Wars. I love the universe. I love all the possibilities that it offers. I hate the fandom and online discourse that surrounds Star Wars. There is a toxicity surrounding anything that holds the Star Wars name. People crawl out from rocks to yell and complain about something they love. Not that there aren’t valid criticisms, but when the criticism turns to harassing actors, writers, and other people, the vitriol and criticism become pointless. I have no interest in engaging with a ‘fan’ that wishes harm on someone for an arbitrary reason.
Sorry, ‘ruining’ Star Wars is not a reason to curse someone’s name on social media. Or to demand their firing.
I understand why people dislike the sequel trilogy and direction that Disney took Star Wars. It’s laughable to think that Star Wars will change from that direction. While anything is possible, Disney will always have a mountain climb when every fan believes their vision of Star Wars is the correct one. It is not as simple as letting Filoni or Favreau take control to make Star Wars great again (I’ve seen many people comment/convince themselves this is the only way to go)!
In a lot of ways, George Lucas was right in selling the franchise off—at least now he doesn’t have to get hate… Oh, wait, he does. Still. He isn’t free after he tried to wash his hands of Star Wars. I don’t blame any of the actors who also don’t wish to engage in the fandom. Why should they? It’s a nightmare when all the ‘fans’ spew nonsense that crosses into harassment.
My love of Star Wars has never dwindled. No matter what, I enjoy Star Wars because it brings me back to being that five year old kid watching it for the first time. No amount of toxicity will change that for me. Does that mean I give it a free pass? No. The writing for the sequel trilogy was awful. I’m still not convinced by the High Republic (the books and comics are just not clicking with me). Acolyte wasn’t good, but nowhere near as bad as the vocal folks on the internet would have you believe. But within all of that, there is brilliance. Andor is the best Star Wars to ever Star Wars. The Jedi games (Jedi: Fallen Order & Jedi: Survivor) are incredible experiences. Rebels is my favorite Star Wars series (that includes live action and animation). I was excited to see where Acolyte could go in a second season despite not finding it all that exciting (beyond the brilliant lightsaber battle mid-season).
Is Star Wars perfect? No, but I don’t believe it ever was. Yes, when I was younger, I was obsessed and thought it was perfect. As I’ve gotten older, I realize that was the point of Star Wars—convince kids in a universe that is full of possibilities (and to have parents buy toys). The writing was never great. The plotholes were present in the original and prequels. To pretend otherwise is foolish. What made Star Wars special was the universe, the characters, the battles, and the belief that you could become a Jedi. Now, at thirty-five, I’m happy with living in my love of Star Wars. I just have to avoid a fandom that doesn’t seem to love the thing it claims to. It’s exhausting seeing the dislike and discourse that says the same things over and over again.
I love Star Wars. I love being able to close my eyes and imagine a galaxy far, far away. I wish more people did.
May the force be with you, dear readers. I hope you find happiness in the things you love, no matter what the vocal internet folks say.
Jesús M. Rivera 