Star Wars

[vaznetti]

... was my actual first fandom, when I was in high school and just finding out what fandom was. I would go to Creation Cons back in the 80s, and sometimes there would be some zines for sale under the table in the dealers' room. Oh, the epic Mary Sue romances, and novel-length stories about the fall of Anakin Skywalker! The plotty fics about that bounty hunter Han ran into on Ord Mantell! And of course this was before there was any hint of the EU or the prequel trilogy, so there was so much blank space to fill in. In fact I never really took to the EU, and none of the prequel trilogy characters or relationship sreally spoke to me, and the whole thing became really sprawling, so by the time I got back into fandom after a long gafiation, I considered myself a SW fan, but not fannish about it.

And I learned some useful lessons, which stood me in good stead when my next fandom turned out to be the X-Files. But apparently not letting hope spring eternal was not one of them, because the trailer is out! And I am not going to get to see the movie until January, unless I go to see it dubbed into Spanish while in Mexico. Which I have not entirely ruled out.

And now I want to know what exactly the Rebel Alliance has been doing all this time! I do like the idea that the empire did not collapse completely after the end of ROTJ, and that a lot of planets did not want to have anything to do with the New Republic -- I am excited to see a long period of instability, and maybe even personal danger for the leaders of the Rebellion! At least that would explain why Luke seems to have disappeared off the map, and why we have this girl who has got to be the daughter of either him or Leia growing up on Tatooine without anyone having any idea of who she is.

But I really have to remind myself to stop trying to make sense of all this, because it is a Star Wars movie, and it is going to break my heart and disappoint me. But I don't want it to! I want it to be great! I want a new high point to enjoy -- like the one in the fight with Jabba, when Luke jumps off the landspeeder, somersaults, and catches the lightsaber that R2D2 just shot out to him. I was in the theater for ROTJ on opening day, for an afternoon showing, and the whole theater gasped and cheered, all together. I want my Star Wars feeling back.

What I mean, is that I have a lot of emotion invested in all this Star Wars stuff, and a history of disappointment and fear. I just want it to be good, OK?

Comments

[adafrog]

I hear ya.

[maidenjedi]

Yep. All of this.

[musesfool]

Right there with you. Though I have to say that watching The Clone Wars really did do a lot to ameliorate the prequels for me (or, tbh, mostly replace them in my mind). They made me care about Anakin Skywalker instead of wanting someone to choke him out for being whiny! I guess what I'm saying is, if you haven't watched TCW, give it a whirl. It's pretty good Star Wars.

[vaznetti]

I keep putting off the Clone Wars until such time as Spartacus develops an interest in spaceships; right now he's still only interested in paleontology. But I do hear good things about it!

(The sad truth is that I think my ideal SW backstory and sequels are based on a combination of a bunch of fanfic I read back in the mid-80s. At least most of the stuff I actually fixated on was started after Jedi came out -- the stuff written between Empire and Jedi was total crack!)

[musesfool]

Ah, I wasn't aware of fanfic as a thing then, so all I read were the Brian Daley Han Solo novels and Splinter of the Mind's Eye!

And yes, I would say an interest in spaceships (and laser swords!) is probably important to enjoying TCW. *g*

[thepouncer.livejournal.com]

Star Wars is the first movie I remember seeing in a movie theater. I was really young -- I thought the entire attack on the Death Star at the end was a promo for the next film, because I couldn't follow the plot. I used to play Star Wars with my cousins. Oh, the nostalgia! I still love the first three films, and want this new one to reach their heights. The music has a Pavlovian effect on me, too.

[vaznetti]

I saw SW in the theater when I was seven -- I think my day camp took us all for a matinee! I don't really remember much about the experience aside from that. But I agree about the music -- it has such an immediate effect on me.

[thimble-kiss.livejournal.com]

I'm filled with hope and trepidation, too! I was thirteen when the first movie of the original trilogy came out, and it was so perfect that it hurt. Then the prequels came and were painful for all the wrong reasons. And woe to my nostalgic heart, but I can't help longing for it to be magical again. Tall order, I know...

[vaznetti]

I love your icon!

I know, the three prequel movies were such a disappointment, because you could always see how if someone had paid just a little bit more attention to the actual story, they could have been good. Or at least better. I keep telling myself not to hope, but I can't help it.

(Oddly enough, I don't have this problem at all with the new XF episodes. I have made my peace, and just don't care. I guess I might watch them for old times' sake, but there's nothing I want from them.)