I
updated this blog ….
So
life is weird. As anyone who is still reading this knows, my book was submitted
to the publishers literally (as opposed to metaphorically) two or three days
before the sale of Lucasfilm to Disney. Right or wrong, I did feel as if
I had my finger on the pulse of Lucas and his company up until that point.
That’s what this blog is about, that’s what my book is about, that’s what every
bit of my writing about that galaxy far, far away for the past decade or so has
been about.
Then
everything changed. Lucasfilm was
sold, the sequel trilogy was announced, and a new era was upon us. The
excitement was hard not to get caught up in originally, but then the casualties
starting rolling in. Lucasarts, the
3-D releases, Detours, and most
unforgivably, The Clone Wars. By my
assessment, fandom was thrown into near chaos, with certain things happening
and then endless arguments that they weren’t really happening and so on and so
forth. Enter the now-delayed Episode VII
and it is hard to know where one stands. Or at least, where I personally do.
And
as goes Lucasfilm, pretty much so
went for me. Everything in my life pretty much changed. As it were, I went in a
new direction (ha!), as that botched Disney
memo noted. I hope there is some Star
Wars/Doctor Who fans crossover
here, because regeneration is the best mythic metaphor I know to use to
describe the situation. I’m simply not the Time Lord I once was. The way I have
it figured, I’m two regenerations in. My mother’s illness and subsequent death
was the final punctuation mark behind the whole thing, and that was at the
beginning of the year that’s now over.
With
something of a brand new life being carved out, it has left me somewhat
confused on my feelings toward that one constant across two incarnations now,
namely the Force. To be entirely honest, The
Star Wars Heresies was so the work of Second Paul, with such a Second Paul
style and attitude. When Third Paul flips through that book now, all I can say
is he’s not the same Jedi who wrote it.
And that’s caused a fair amount of cognitive dissonance, and has been
enough to tilt my fandom off-balance.
So
it’s been difficult knowing what to say on this blog. I went almost a year
without even writing anything period. Second Paul was the Writer and the
Philosopher. Sure, there’s going to be some cross-over, and I don’t want to say
my life is compartmentalized quite so strongly, but on the other hand, I don’t
know where that part of me is going. I have some ideas for other stuff, be it The Pop Culture Heresies where I can
just blog about pretty much anything that strikes my fancy, or another bit of
fiction for young readers, or maybe even eventually something new on Star Wars.
But
it’s going to be awhile. Maybe. A lot of new priorities. I will say I launched
into a sublime, meditative fanboy state when I perused Star Wars Frames, which I received as a Christmas gift. It is an
amazing work, and if you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up.
Turn on a little John Williams, and the magic is back.
And
after poring over the Episode I part,
if you need a little more heresy in your life, The Phantom Menace is simply one of the most beautiful movies ever
shot. And I don’t dismiss that as “just a bunch of special effects.” It’s art,
pure and simple.
I
still love the saga, but Disney has a
lot to prove at this point. Sorry. I am most looking forward to Rebels, which I’m sure I will have stuff
to say about this coming year. Honestly, if Dave Filoni was in charge of the
franchise now, and directing Episode VII
and co-writing it with Lawrence Kasdan, I wouldn’t have a worry in the world.
Unlike
a lot of people, Filoni just so clearly understands Lucas’ vision. And that’s
what it has always been about. I will say the one thing that is getting really
tiresome about all of this again is the constant stream of complaining about
everything that isn’t The Empire Strikes
Back. This little cult is so loud and seemingly omnipresent it gets really
old. There is more to this saga than a movie or two.
Guys,
again, we have real life to worry about. I can’t worry about Star Wars too. That is the place that we
blast off to to be entertained, inspired, and enlightened, not to be more
stressed out than we were eventually. If you’re a fan and not been geeking out
and having a blast, you’re doing something wrong. George Lucas’ Star Wars is the most easily enjoyable
thing ever invented, and if I’m dissatisfied with Disney’s version of it, I have no intention of spending the next
fourteen years on the Internet whining and complaining about it. I have the
part of it that I will always love, and that will have to be enough.
And
another thing, all these peeps who try to paint themselves as rebels and
dissidents because they “question” Lucas’ vision of the saga, fret over how
much CGI is used in a scene, or wring their hands about things like “EU canon” are
one day going to find themselves on their deathbed weeping because they wasted
so many precious moments of life. This has been beaten to death on here, and
much more eloquently, but the point still stands.
As
Bryan Young so eloquently put it, Star
Wars is whatever George Lucas says it is. Period. There is no argument, and
I see no point in exhausting myself fighting against a fictitious caricature of
a man that exists nowhere except those dark corners of the Internet infested
with hunchbacked trolls. That he had to retire under anything but
congratulatory, celebratory circumstances is a sad, sorry reflection of this
fandom.
The
world would be infinitely better if there were more George Lucas’ in it and,
deep down in places they don’t talk about at parties, even the most hateful
geek knows it.
So
yeah, Third Paul still feels that way. But he also knows, like everything, like the
message of the films themselves, everything has to change and adapt or it dies.
Including Star Wars itself. And it
may require letting go like Luke Skywalker did in the trench run, and like
Anakin was unable to do. Otherwise, we’re not embracing this thing with love,
we’re Force choking with it.
So
like a good Jedi, all we can really do now is sit in cross-legged meditation,
and wait.
P.S.
And thank all of you guys for reading and reviewing my book. That has been
pretty awesome.So many out there are still representing the fandom with style and grace. I really need to be adding more to online fandom, but my head just isn't back in the game yet.
P.P.S.
I think next up I’ll have to do some “Greatest Hits” blogging about all those top
posts from the past few years.
