A New Hope or just another Phantom Menace?

So the third and final trailer has come out for Episode 7 and I feel like I need to comment.  I am going to comment on two subjects.  First and foremost is my general feeling about the new movies as a once diehard fan burned by the crap that was Episode 1-3.  Secondly, a more granular analysis of this new boycott movement that claims that the new Star Wars is anti-{plug in ethnicity}.

First and foremost my overall take on it is best represented by my post on Facebook….

Forgive me for being the crotchety old fan, but I waited 16 years for a new Star Wars movie through which I invested a lot of time and effort into the RPG despite a mediocre literary expanded universe. What did I get in return for my dedication and fandom…. the crap-tastic Episode 1. So this crotchety old fan is still skeptical even after the final trailer.

Although I admit that there are a few moments of hope in the trailer, my fear is that it will be as flashy and short-minded as the Star Trek films.  JJ Abrams used to have a lot of credit with me because of his innovative ideas.  He put out a crap-ton of shows in the early 2000s that I really liked. Some made it, some did not.  My favorites I think were Fringe and Alcatraz.  But when took over Star Trek, he lost all credibility.  I think I read somewhere once that he felt OK taking over Star Trek because he was more of a Star Wars fan than Star Trek.  And that is what he turned it into – Star Wars Trek.  Nothing about the films except some of the window dressings was Star Trek and he even went against much of the established axioms of the universe.

Now, will he do the same with Star Wars?  Just because he is a Star Wars fan does not mean he sees Star Wars the same as you and I.  I would imagine that GL was a Star Wars fan and look at the crap he gaves us in Ep 1-3.  I have said my peace about Ep 1-3, over and over again.  I hate them all together.  They killed my fandom of Star Wars.  Collectively, they told a weak story that had no origin or motivation, they just happened.  The bad guys did what they did because they are bad.  The good guys did what they did because they are good.  What was the beef that the Trade Federation had with the Republic and why did they invade the lame world of Naboo?  How did the separatist movement convince all those other factions to join?  What was the whole “balance of the Force” thing and why wa sit so important?  Show me, don’t just tell me!  GIve me a reason to hope for the good guys, hate the bad guys and feel the decline into darkness of Anakin.

OK, rant over.  For now.

I was so invested into the universe for so long.  I was all about Star Wars since I was a kid.  Nope, my parents could not afford all the toys, but I played with all the ones they did give me until they wore out.  I bought a lot of the books.  Held on to my first Splinter of the Minds Eye forever.  My Han Solo trilogy too.  I got into the Expanded Universe about the same time I got into the d6 RPG.  I heavily invested myself into that because it opened up so much more and stayed true to what I saw was the Star Wars universe.  Yeah, every once in a while, a book came out that was not up to par but most were pretty good to great.  The RPG expanded on them even more. Greedo was not a Rodian until the RPG named him so.  I ran the RPG for a long time – d6 and d20.  We created some great stories, both in the Rebellion era and after.   Star Wars was practically in my book then.

Then Episode 1 killed all that.  I sold or donated everything I had, including the books I never read, the RPG books I just bought and the minis I did not want.  I was done.

I am not blind to the fact that GL had writers and producers in the first 3 movies that helped him re-write and touch up the story.  In the prequels, he obviously listened to none of that.  Which explains why I always say that GL was an idiot and a terrible writer – great visionary but awful writer.

Now this trailer comes out and all the fan boys are going crazy.  Some say it is my choice to be this curmudgeon, and I embrace that.   I choose to skeptical because the last time I dove in all fanboy I was given crap. I think that is the difference between a fan boy and a fan. I don’t think most fans have forgiven them for Ep1-3. Most fan boys simply ignore them (or at least Ep 1 … case in point, the Machete method of watching the movies … )  I was a fan boy that matured into a fan.  I won’t spend another dime I don’t have or minute I don’t have to go all fan boy on this one. I will give it the nod it deserves but I am not convinced yet that it will be any better than Ep1. I won’t be until I see it.

Now the second point about these racist-centric idiots that want to impose real world divisiveness on a fantasy world – they are close-minded sheep.  The sad part is that if they had any clue or imagination, they would realize that we are trying to represent a galaxy’s worth of diversity with the limited amount of human stock we have on one planet. They do not even realize how diverse a whole galaxy could be. I think that is one thing Star Trek got right, in their ridges of the week aliens…. #CLUELESS-SHEEP.

And that’s all I got to say about all that…