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About a year ago I stumbled upon an old calendar from my first few months of life. My parents met on a U.S. Army base in Germany and shortly thereafter they got married and started their family. Because popular films took a while to make it to military post screens in Europe, the blockbuster 1983 Star Wars film Return of the Jedi was still in theaters when I was born in early 1984 --- apparently it was one of my parents' first post-delivery date nights! Needless to say, the original Star Wars trilogy was ubiquitous throughout my entire childhood, and I am proud to say I am one of those early 80s kids who can't imagine life without that galaxy "far, far away."
My brothers, cousins, friends and I had your typical 80s/90s (and even early 2000s) childhood complete with countless Star Wars action figures, playsets, lightsabers, lunchboxes -- you name it. I was even a huge collector of the Decipher Star Wars: Customizable Card Game, spending countless hours building my collection through trading cards with friends and haunting flea markets and comic book/collectible stores. To this day, my home office boasts a Star Wars wall featuring a host of memorabilia including several home-made lightsaber hilts I crafted from various items purchased at Lowe's, Home Depot, and Ace Hardware.
Suffice it to say that when Disney purchased the franchise and began rolling out a continual stream of new Star Wars content, I was elated. I read a good deal of the new novels and perused some comics, but for me Star Wars has always primarily been a movie/TV show experience. For years now I have woken up extra early on release days in order to head to our family room with a cup of coffee in the pitch black, pull up a chair close to the TV, and say to myself, "This is where the fun begins!" (true story). From Mandalorian to Book of Boba Fett, Andor to Tales of the Jedi/Empire, Visions to Bad Batch to Obi-Wan Kenobi to Acolyte, I've watched it all. And if you include the Sequel Trilogy along with Disney+ content, I have watched it all very closely over this past near-decade of Disney Star Wars. I've even been a regular panelist and host on SQPN's The Secrets of Star Wars for a number of years in which I've participated in breaking down all of this content to underscore much deeper themes and meanings. Here's where I'm at as of Summer 2024.
I think some key ingredients that made Star Wars what it was have largely and increasingly gone missing in recent years. I don't intend here to get into the wide array of theories surrounding why exactly that is (I have LOTS of opinions on the matter) but in this post I just wanted to share a very simplified version of the key differences I think exist between what I've dubbed "authentic Star Wars" and something I'm seeing more and more of in recent productions, even though they have all the official branding and so many external "Star Wars-y" attributes we all recognize and love.
So here goes. Here is my personal grading rubric moving forward when it comes to what is authentic "Star Wars" and what I think is essentially fan fiction:
Authentic "Star Wars" is NOT:
Primarily oriented around flashy special effects and "cool fights"
Despondent/depressing/overbearing/preachy
Ultimately morally ambiguous
Authentic "Star Wars" is:
Fun
Hopeful
Rooted firmly in the perennial conflict between GOOD and EVIL
To briefly elaborate, I would only add a few points. Of late, very often I've found myself in the wake of a new Star Wars release and during the credits, I'm only thinking about how cool the lightsaber fight was (I'm looking at you, Acolyte... but not ONLY you). Do I love the fights from the OT and the prequels? ABSOLUTELY, I do. But in the long run, was the fight between Vader and Obi-Wan in A New Hope anything to write home about? Nope. But the stakes were incredibly high. I was invested in Obi-Wan's character. I don't feel as invested in the characters in many new Star Wars projects, and it's not just because I'm hyper-critical or overly nostalgic. They're just not great characters for the most part. And far too often over these past years, I don't have the predictable fun I've come to expect from Star Wars. Some shows get it right 9 times out of 10 for me (Bad Batch, Tales of the Jedi, Mandalorian). Most others just don't.
Also, while Star Wars was always substantially filled with story elements that could easily lead to deeper reflection about things like war, justice, love, duty, etc., it wasn't usually a place for deeply rooted (and lately, remarkably obvious) socio-political dogmas to be imposed upon the viewer. You may disagree with me on the particulars, but I doubt you can seriously claim that most if not all of the current Disney Star Wars material is packed to the gills with trending hot-button commentary that just doesn't seem to fit (or at list isn't necessary to tell a good story). As someone whose patience with virtue signaling more or less gave out years ago, this is something I'm especially tired of being forced to expect with any new Star Wars series or film.
Finally, and probably the aspect of all this that disappoints me the most, Star Wars was always about GOOD VS. EVIL. Period. Lucas said so over and over again. Yes, characters often struggled to navigate the battlefield of light vs. dark, but the reality that the light was LIGHT and the dark was DARKNESS was never seriously in question. It deeply troubles me that so many new Star Wars creators are seemingly sought out/hired precisely for their morally ambiguous vision of storytelling. Actors, directors, writers, producers --- I've heard representatives of pretty much every aspect of production mention in interviews over the past few years that this particular project really explores the question of whether there really is any "good" and "evil" because, after all, how can we really know? We CAN. Many don't want to. For example (SPOILER ALERT): When Osha totally force chokes her unarmed former Jedi master to a horrible death in Acolyte, that is not "gray". It is very BAD/evil/wicked/sinful, etc. It is called "murder". But perhaps I'm not sophisticated enough, because in the show, she is totally fine with it after a few moments, and so is her sister Mae and her new Sith master (boyfriend?) Qimir. After all, you have to follow your heart, right? Maybe being a murderer is right for Osha. Who am I to weigh in on her personal decisions?
And that brings me to today. Why am I writing this, anyway? I think I'm doing so to simply articulate the following heartfelt beliefs about my beloved Star Wars universe:
Children of the 70s/80s/90s: Our childhood can never happen again, and everything you loved about that Original Trilogy was unique and unrepeatable (this goes for Indiana Jones fans too!) It's also available --- at least for now ---- for you to go and watch whenever you want!
It might help you, as it's helping me, to reframe how you look at what genuine "Star Wars" really is. What speaks to you? What inspires you? What is leading you into a darker/sadder/more frustrated kind of place? Do you feel like you are somehow required to follow every new release? Why? Who cares? Don't forget: you don't have to watch any of the new stuff.
Remember, these are movies/TV shows, and none of this is worth sinning over (i.e. cruelly or hatefully maligning writers, directors, actors, executives, etc.)... HOWEVER, criticism --- even strong criticism --- of the promotion of truly bad ideas, philosophies, and positions entirely antithetical to Christian faith through Star Wars for the purpose of virtue signaling or scoring political points is not only justified, it may in fact be your duty as a Christian, a parent, a Star Wars fan, etc.
Anyhoo, that's where I'm at, and I'd love to discuss it with you. God bless!
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