I’m a fan of Star Wars. This shouldn’t really be that much of a surprise, as I am very nerdy and have many nerdy interests. However, throughout the years, I have been told that I am “not as much of a fan” of Star Wars as other people because of a myriad of reasons, with more recently because I don’t have a strong definitive opinion about The Last Jedi.* Or the fact that I’m not remotely associated with the 501st or have a Rebellion or Empire sticker tattooed on me or brandished on my car.
*I didn’t think it was the best SW film, but I have not declared a jihad against it either
With the standalone Solo film around the corner, I’ve noticed people on social media being super curmudgeon about its release, and how they’re going to make zero effort to watch it and have basically denounced Star Wars as a franchise. Or any other rhetoric along those lines. I mean that’s fine and all that they’re not looking forward to it, but I think it’s a little excessive to be lifting a leg and farting all over those people who don’t take SW as serious as a religion. Perhaps consider learning how to temper expectations, because even the best people in their fields don’t bat 1.000, and it’s only with the possibility of failure where the cream of the crop can truly rise.
But because I tend to not be so extreme in any direction about my excitement or apprehension about Star Wars, or anything really, I often get accused of being something of a filthy casual fan, who knows little about the franchise, and whose opinion about the franchise doesn’t matter as much as someone who, has SW tattoos, emblems on their car, or dresses up as Stormtroopers at Dragon*con.
The thing is, just because my fandom in Star Wars isn’t as vocal, as outwardly or so open to the rest of the world doesn’t mean that I’m no less of a fan. I could name planets that aren’t mentioned in the canon films like Kashyyyk. I played my fair share of X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter and Knights of the Old Republic. There has been a lot of Star Wars in my life over the years, it’s just that I’m not so obnoxiously outward with it as the whole rest of the narcissistic world is.
My biggest source of fandom came in the form of the wide variety of Star Wars novels, that were a huge part of my life in the late 90s into the 2000s. My mom was always riding my ass about how I needed to read more books, and I found that the Star Wars books were a perfect compromise of expanding my horizons while at the same time sating my mom’s badgering to read. It was in these books where I was introduced to characters like Mara Jade, the Solo twins Jacen and Jaina, admiral Thrawn, Prince Isholdor and Prince Xizor.
I knew author names like Timothy Zahn and Kevin J. Anderson long before I even went to my first Dragon*con in 2002, because they wrote so many of these Star Wars novels that I enjoyed so thoroughly.
But then somewhere along the line, there was a definitive line drawn in the sand of the Star Wars fan universe, and pretty much everything I ever enjoyed was basically called glorified fan fiction, and was not considered canon to the official Star Wars storyline. Jacen and Jaina were relegated to imaginary characters after lord knows how many books revolved around their existence. Even Mara Jade, pretty much every fanboy’s dream Mary Sue was invalidated by the powers in charge.
Most everything I had ever based my Star Wars fandom around was considered invalid, leaving me thinking what the fuck? And when something on the magnitude of that happens, I’m not going to fight it or try and do whatever it takes to get my SW cred back on track, I’m just going to accept it and move fucking on.
Regardless of the catastrophic redaction of all the things I ever liked, didn’t mean I was going to harbor any ill will or be remotely against any of the movies that have been coming out now. I thought The Force Awakens was a magnificent film. Rogue One, despite the fact that I loved it, is where I really began to see the extreme divisiveness of the franchise, and The Last Jedi basically drew another line in the sand of Star Wars fans, which is where we stand now, where it seems like there are more people who dislike the franchise but are still willing to hate-watch Solo, because they don’t want to be left out, than there are people who are really, looking forward to seeing it.
Frankly, my expectations for Solo are as low as the ground, but that’s kind of how I was for Rogue One and The Last Jedi. Having high expectations only leaves people vulnerable to extreme disappointment, and given the revolving door of directors and personnel it takes to make a movie, consistency is a long-lost concept in the film industry, and it’s no more reflected than in a continuous series of films.
But the thing is, I’m seeing it, because I’m a Star Wars fan, and regardless of what everyone around me thinks, that’s not really going to change because of some installments they thought were unsatisfactory. Which, if we’re really being petty and keeping score, kind of makes me a bigger fan than anyone else who denounced the series now.
