It’s an universal fact that Star Wars is one of the best science fiction franchises of all time. Lucasfilm has been spawning content for the last 40 years, which left behind a significant impact in the movie and pop culture industry. Given the circumstances, it’s no surprise that one of the most passionate and dedicated fanbases out there is the Star Wars one. Always ready to get the best out of the smallest things the franchise has to offer and to purchase as much merchandise as their pockets can afford, they sound like the perfect fans, don’t they? However, being so enthusiastic about something also means that you feel strongly about something you don’t really like, too. And although certain issues have been debated and argued over since the series was created, there are some things Star Wars fans just don’t get about their favorite franchise.
1. The EU Was Never Canon
One thing that adds to the influence of Star Wars in pop culture is the multitude of bonus content it has to offer: a generous number of video games, novels, comic books, radio and audio dramas, web series and many, many more. Despite that, fans don’t get to fully enjoy all that the so called expanded universe (now known simply as Legends) has to offer. At fault for that is that it’s been clearly stated that the Legends aren’t, and have never been, part of the movies’ canon timeline. Unfortunately, some fans refuse to accept that, comparing Star Wars to DC and Marvel, which are well known for intertwining a ton of different continuities. Regardless of the outcome of this raging war, it’s safe to say that we should all be grateful that the expanded universe is out there, for us to enjoy.
2. Jar Jar Is Supposed To Be Unlikable
You can’t please everybody, we all know that. This is why even Star Wars has its black sheep, that some people simply can’t stand. Jar Jar Binks, on the other hand, is on a whole other level. He’s more than widely disliked by the fanbase, he’s being straight up blamed for “ruining Star Wars” and he’s equally hated by fans and by other characters. The thing is, George Lucas intended for Jar Jar to leave you on the edge about liking him, but it’s pretty likely that he never expected the collective hatred to be at such a big scale. In his vision, Jar Jar Binks is more of a “lovable idiot,” who you are supposed to love to hate. Well, seems that the Star Wars fanbase chose to completely disregard the “love” part and focused on hate alone.
3. Lucas Wasn’t a Jack-of-All-Trades
While George Lucas and, respectively Lucasfilm, are the number one names annexed to the success of the Star Wars franchise, Lucas isn’t responsible for most of the things in the series. Gloria Katz and William Huyck are two lesser known names, who played a big role in getting on screen your favorite lines of dialogue, given how unnaturally untalented Lucas is when it comes to writing pieces of dialogue. Credit must also be given to Ralph McQuarrie, the man behind the concept art that inspired a good chunk of the ships, characters and vehicles in the movies. The list can go on with many other names, yet plenty of Star Wars fans seem eager to quickly dismiss them and appoint George Lucas as the genius mastermind behind everything the movies have to offer.
4. Canon Establishment
Sometimes Star Wars gets too overwhelmingly confusing even for the most loyal of fans. It’s a known fact that every new content created after April 25th 2015 is part of a continuity established by Lucasfilm, whilst the controversial expanded universe (or Legends) is deemed as no longer canon. This would be a relatively easy concept to grasp, if it weren’t for the fact that some Legends content does make the cut, becoming canon. This leaves many fans wondering what the selection criteria is and what exactly is it that makes a previously non-canon event, eventually, canon.
5. Lucasfilm Still Owns Star Wars
Disney is generally a widely beloved studio. However, there are certain things some people consider it shouldn’t ever touch. One of them is Star Wars, which some fans fear that will be “tainted” by Disney’s vanilla filters. Those people have nothing to fear, though. We won’t be seeing any talking birds that break into heartwarming songs sitting on your favorite character’s shoulder. This is because the only reason Disney acquired Lucasfilm, was to provide the necessary support for the studio to continue making movies.
6. Midichlorians Weren’t a New Idea
So many things are wrong with the Star Wars prequels, according to almost every fan ever. They’re so widely generally disliked, that the most surprising of things will get pointed out as a flaw. One of those things are the midichlorians, accused of pointlessly trying to give the otherwise mystical and mysterious Force a scientific foundation. What Star Wars fans don’t understand is that the original trilogy itself has mentioned that some people may have a particular sensitivity to the Force, which can even become hereditary.
7. CGI Use Isn’t to Blame for the Prequels
It’s a common reproof for modern movies to accuse them of using too much CGI and, thus, ruining said movie in the process. Star Wars prequels were assaulted with complaints regarding the excess in CGI use: some say it looked awful, some that it shouldn’t have replaced practical effects, some complain about both. But truth is, things aren’t as grim as they are made out to be. Surprisingly, more practical effects have been used in the prequel than in the original trilogy and the CGI didn’t genuinely look that bad. After all, it’s mostly the story that matters and such technical aspects should be easy to ignore when you really want to enjoy something you like.
8. Star Wars Isn’t an Original Concept
Star Wars is the result of George Lucas not being able to acquire the rights to make a Flash Gordon movie. That’s right, you heard it. He wrote the script for A New Hope with the Flash Gordon concept in his head, which is why before being exposed to countless of revisions, the script was basically a complete rip off. This is a recurring theme in the franchise, as the other two movies also take strong inspiration from other sources, even from itself. Return of the Jedi contains many plot pieces from both The Empire Strikes Back and A New Hope, and The Force Awakens is structurally a copy of the first movie too.
9. The Jedi Aren’t Perfect
They have good intentions, sure. No one will deny them that distinction. The Jedi Council has often been behind a series of unfortunate, poor choices, which triggered a chain of events that led to the collapse of the order. They may have been referred to as “guardians of peace and justice,” and there’s no doubt that they try to be, but nobody is perfect. And, you know what? That’s perfectly fine.
10. Star Wars is Essentially a Kids’ Movie
Even though the franchise has its dark points, an incredibly popular formula in the period’s movie industry, Star Wars has always been mainly targeted towards kids. The fact that adults also happen to enjoy them is only a bonus. There are some fans who expect something more adult oriented from the movies, despite both George Jucas’ and The Force Awakens J.J. Abrams’ claims that the movies are as PG as they get. Given the path taken by the movies, though, it’s not unlikely that some more adult elements will be added further down the line.
And this is a wrap on the ten things Star Wars fans just don’t get about Star Wars. This isn’t the first fandom to be torn apart by confusing concepts and disagreements to a certain direction their favorite something has taken, and it definitely won’t be the last.
Image sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.
