Star Wars as a brand was weakened by churning out all those TV shows for Disney+. Since the current content is so subpar, fans look back on the original trilogy and ask, "Was that bad, too?"
The original trilogy is still great, but they are movies for children. Watch them when you're ten, and you'll love them forever. As an adult, they're good to watch with your own kids.
Star Wars worked best as a brand when there was a bit of mystery around it.
Obviously, there was a ton of merchandise around the franchise - toys, clothes, video games, etc. - but that didn't weaken the brand in the mid-to-late 1980s through the 1990s.
I'm a casual fan of Star Wars. I never read the extended universe comics or novels from this era.
For me, Star Wars was at its peak coolness through this period, right up until The Phantom Menace was released in 1999, because the franchise was a bit enigmatic.
Now that Disney has explored every nook and cranny of the Star Wars universe, there's no mystery.
The best way to make Star Wars culturally relevant again is to put it away for a while.
Stop making Star Wars content for 5 to 10 years - which will be hard because Disney will lose heaps of money in the short-term - then bring it back for a new generation of children.
I think that's the only way to restore the Star Wars brand.
The first three Star Wars films, (I'm talking about the Luke Skywalker story now) resonated with me, my wife and my sons as nothing else had before. I had been an incredible fan of T.H. White's THE ONCE AND FUTURE KING and the first movie, "A New Hope" had Luke as Arthur and Ben as Merlin with Darth as the Black Knight and Leia as Guenevere. It was glorious and still is. The prequels disappointed us as they were dark and you knew where they were going. "The Force Awakens," recaptured the joy of the first films with three wonderful characters and a terrific new villain in Adam Driver. But the second and third movies were atrocious. On the Disney Channel Jon Favreau has the right touch in thei Mandolorian. He knows the magic of lovable characters, humours lines and excited fights with villains. I think that's the formula that needs to be adhered to in all projects. New characters can work very well, as we say in "The Force Awakens," if they are well cast and have a lively scritp that keeps alive the spirit of the firm Star Wars films. - Sorry for going on so long, but I care.
If it wasn't for Andor and Mando, I'd be done with Star Wars. The writing has been subpar with alot of it. Andor was incredible, though. The best Stars Wars I've seen since ESB.
I like George Lucas Star Wars. I wanted to like Mousey Star Wars but don’t. I have tons to say but will spare you. Although I have a story I might post here sometime. I think most of what you say is fair and thoughtful and the last sequel movie was the worst, but I despise the series as a whole. My thoughts are more toward the overall lack of planning and awful decision making. I do revere Luke at least more than the people who made the movies. The rest of the stuff beyond the main movies I care less about. Although, everyone dead apparently comes back now. This is soap opera quality stuff. You and me, and anyone likely to comment here could have designed an interesting plot with the limitless tools available in the Star Wars galaxy. Ok, I will stop now. Thanks for writing.
Thank you for commenting. I would love to read your thoughts on Star Wars if you ever do write a SubStack on it. Be sure to tag me in it so I don't miss it if you do. Feel free to link to this article too as that is always helpful too. Thank you, Strawbridge
I'd guess what contributed to people not liking Luke's arc is that he was another established character who became a jaded, depressed, incompetent, broken failure in his old age. (Han Solo, Indiana Jones, Thor and James Bond also spring to mind.) It's like they're saying no matter how well you start in life, you too will end up a pathetic loser who has to be led around by a youngster because you acquired no experience, dignity, wisdom, respect, or basic sense in your decades on earth. That's depressing and hardly the stuff of great stories. Give me an inspiring and successful older character who hasn't been beaten into becoming a sad hermit. But maybe that's just me.
Good post though; I hope you get the Star Wars stories you want!
Thank you, and yes, I agree. The jaded, failed, older male character has become a cliched and overused trope, and is clearly always motivated by an hyper postmodernist ideology among the filmmakers. I understand why people where fed up with it and agree with them entirely. But I still think it made more sense in Star Wars than most franchises, as the arc mirrored Yoda's (or as George Lucas might say, it rhymes'). Yoda failed to prevent or defeat Palpatine and hid like a hermit on a secluded planet while the galaxy fell to a dictatorship. I get why people hated it but it made sense to me...
Thanks for commenting, and I hope we all get great Star Wars stories in the future...
On Luke even thinking about killing his nephew, it just rubs me the wrong way, because this is the same man who sought to save his father, Darth Vader, the emperor's enforcer and brutal tyrant and yet Luke saves him. Luke is a man with an undeniable belief in redemption. So, to see him even entertain the thought that his nephew would go bad just didn't sit right with me. I'll admit the Last Jedi is the least derivative of the sequels, but honestly the sequels should've had one director and one vision. Good article, Peace
I agree with all of that. I just thought that Luke being impulsive and quick to anger was also consistent with his character. And thank you for the kind words. ✌
Most of what comes out of Star Wars and Marvel lately feels like the same sort of homogenized Disney goop. I wish they would leave CGI behind and use real actors, props, and puppets. I was surprised when watching the Mandalorian and Book of Boba Fett that there seemed to be 'borrowed' elements from some of the better Clone Wars episodes. I've also heard they're relying heavily on EU content established in video games and novels in the future. I don't object to this if they do it right, and it might wind up feeling a lot better than most of what they've done lately. I would forgive them of their past transgressions if they managed to pull off a great series about the Knights of the Old Republic.
Star Wars as a brand was weakened by churning out all those TV shows for Disney+. Since the current content is so subpar, fans look back on the original trilogy and ask, "Was that bad, too?"
The original trilogy is still great, but they are movies for children. Watch them when you're ten, and you'll love them forever. As an adult, they're good to watch with your own kids.
Star Wars worked best as a brand when there was a bit of mystery around it.
Obviously, there was a ton of merchandise around the franchise - toys, clothes, video games, etc. - but that didn't weaken the brand in the mid-to-late 1980s through the 1990s.
I'm a casual fan of Star Wars. I never read the extended universe comics or novels from this era.
For me, Star Wars was at its peak coolness through this period, right up until The Phantom Menace was released in 1999, because the franchise was a bit enigmatic.
Now that Disney has explored every nook and cranny of the Star Wars universe, there's no mystery.
The best way to make Star Wars culturally relevant again is to put it away for a while.
Stop making Star Wars content for 5 to 10 years - which will be hard because Disney will lose heaps of money in the short-term - then bring it back for a new generation of children.
I think that's the only way to restore the Star Wars brand.
The first three Star Wars films, (I'm talking about the Luke Skywalker story now) resonated with me, my wife and my sons as nothing else had before. I had been an incredible fan of T.H. White's THE ONCE AND FUTURE KING and the first movie, "A New Hope" had Luke as Arthur and Ben as Merlin with Darth as the Black Knight and Leia as Guenevere. It was glorious and still is. The prequels disappointed us as they were dark and you knew where they were going. "The Force Awakens," recaptured the joy of the first films with three wonderful characters and a terrific new villain in Adam Driver. But the second and third movies were atrocious. On the Disney Channel Jon Favreau has the right touch in thei Mandolorian. He knows the magic of lovable characters, humours lines and excited fights with villains. I think that's the formula that needs to be adhered to in all projects. New characters can work very well, as we say in "The Force Awakens," if they are well cast and have a lively scritp that keeps alive the spirit of the firm Star Wars films. - Sorry for going on so long, but I care.
Please don't apologise. Thank you for this. I could read about Star Wars all day.
If it wasn't for Andor and Mando, I'd be done with Star Wars. The writing has been subpar with alot of it. Andor was incredible, though. The best Stars Wars I've seen since ESB.
Yeah Andor was incredible.
I like George Lucas Star Wars. I wanted to like Mousey Star Wars but don’t. I have tons to say but will spare you. Although I have a story I might post here sometime. I think most of what you say is fair and thoughtful and the last sequel movie was the worst, but I despise the series as a whole. My thoughts are more toward the overall lack of planning and awful decision making. I do revere Luke at least more than the people who made the movies. The rest of the stuff beyond the main movies I care less about. Although, everyone dead apparently comes back now. This is soap opera quality stuff. You and me, and anyone likely to comment here could have designed an interesting plot with the limitless tools available in the Star Wars galaxy. Ok, I will stop now. Thanks for writing.
Thank you for commenting. I would love to read your thoughts on Star Wars if you ever do write a SubStack on it. Be sure to tag me in it so I don't miss it if you do. Feel free to link to this article too as that is always helpful too. Thank you, Strawbridge
Good idea, I’ll do that.
I'd guess what contributed to people not liking Luke's arc is that he was another established character who became a jaded, depressed, incompetent, broken failure in his old age. (Han Solo, Indiana Jones, Thor and James Bond also spring to mind.) It's like they're saying no matter how well you start in life, you too will end up a pathetic loser who has to be led around by a youngster because you acquired no experience, dignity, wisdom, respect, or basic sense in your decades on earth. That's depressing and hardly the stuff of great stories. Give me an inspiring and successful older character who hasn't been beaten into becoming a sad hermit. But maybe that's just me.
Good post though; I hope you get the Star Wars stories you want!
Thank you, and yes, I agree. The jaded, failed, older male character has become a cliched and overused trope, and is clearly always motivated by an hyper postmodernist ideology among the filmmakers. I understand why people where fed up with it and agree with them entirely. But I still think it made more sense in Star Wars than most franchises, as the arc mirrored Yoda's (or as George Lucas might say, it rhymes'). Yoda failed to prevent or defeat Palpatine and hid like a hermit on a secluded planet while the galaxy fell to a dictatorship. I get why people hated it but it made sense to me...
Thanks for commenting, and I hope we all get great Star Wars stories in the future...
On Luke even thinking about killing his nephew, it just rubs me the wrong way, because this is the same man who sought to save his father, Darth Vader, the emperor's enforcer and brutal tyrant and yet Luke saves him. Luke is a man with an undeniable belief in redemption. So, to see him even entertain the thought that his nephew would go bad just didn't sit right with me. I'll admit the Last Jedi is the least derivative of the sequels, but honestly the sequels should've had one director and one vision. Good article, Peace
I agree with all of that. I just thought that Luke being impulsive and quick to anger was also consistent with his character. And thank you for the kind words. ✌
Most of what comes out of Star Wars and Marvel lately feels like the same sort of homogenized Disney goop. I wish they would leave CGI behind and use real actors, props, and puppets. I was surprised when watching the Mandalorian and Book of Boba Fett that there seemed to be 'borrowed' elements from some of the better Clone Wars episodes. I've also heard they're relying heavily on EU content established in video games and novels in the future. I don't object to this if they do it right, and it might wind up feeling a lot better than most of what they've done lately. I would forgive them of their past transgressions if they managed to pull off a great series about the Knights of the Old Republic.