The answer, of course, is no! No we can’t. Because Star Wars is a major phenomenon, it was the first blockbuster, and we can’t tolerate any mistakes discrepancies, or anything being out of place from how we view Star Wars to be.

Sigh…

Okay look, I hate to burst everyone’s bubble, but to all of your Star Wars purists (snobs) out there: Star Wars IS NOT PERFECT! It’s admittedly a better story than anything that I’ve been able to come up with, but it is not perfect. Let’s take a look at ‘A New Hope’ for a second, I mean really take a look at it. There are plot holes all over the place and much of the acting has not aged well at all. (I still want to know why, if the Princess knew that they were being tracked, they still proceeded immediately back to Yavin  and the main base.)

The Empire Strikes Back was arguably better even though I find open plots at the end of movies to be a VERY dangerous move, but it worked out for them.

Return of the Jedi… well people really hated the Ewoks for some unknown reason, but whatever.

So there you have it. The original trilogy is not perfect. Come after me with all the pitchforks and torches you want, it changes nothing.

Now just because it’s not perfect, doesn’t mean that it’s not a good set of movies. It actually is. I love Star Wars so much that I’m able to overlook what I view as minor flaws and really take away a lot from these movies. I know there are a lot of people out there who actually have fun pointing out and attempting to explain away the plot flaws with fan fiction or just debate forums, and if you enjoy that, great. All power to you! You’ve found a way to enjoy Star Wars in your own right, I have no issue with that.

My issue comes from something different. It seems like whenever a new Star Wars movie comes out, there’s a huge controversy surrounding it. We’ve got a lot to cover, so let’s get Started…

If you’ve watched the prequels, no doubt you’ve found something to complain about, just like every other Star Wars fan… and believe me, there is a LOT to complain about. They’re far from perfect. Even I’ll admit that, though they do have their enjoyable aspects… some more than others, but anyway, let’s keep focus.

When Episode 1 came out, there were several complaints that were arguably legitimate; the overuse of CG, poor casting choices, plot holes that took away from the original trilogy, wasted talents like Christopher Lee… just to name a few.

For the most part, these were pretty mild. They were annoyances, but for the most part, people were able to live with them.

Then the controversies started. Suddenly people who usually didn’t bat their eyes at Star Wars movies, were now inserting social and political issues into the fold that in my opinion… well… okay, let;s go through a few shall we?

When the prequels came out:

Jar Jar Binks: Okay, everyone hates this character. I’ll just say that right up front. However, there is a particular crowd (we’ll call them the offense crowd) that has a more underlying issue with this character. Apparently, they think he’s supposed to be some sort of mockery of gay blacks, former slaves, or both. Apparently ‘Missa’ was too close to ‘Master’ or something like that.

Watto: You like him, you hate him. He’s a typical entrepreneur in  a lawless land. However, then the offense crowd comes in and sees something similar to Jar Jar Binks. Based on his accent and his behavior, he’s a mockery of Jewish people… okay…

Viceroy Gunray: Same thing as the other two, except in this case, it’s Japanese people.

There are other examples, but for the sake of space, let’s move on to the newest movie in the Star Wars lineup…

The Force Awakens came out in December… and it was AWESOME!! Some argued that it was basically a retelling of the original movie and to a point I can see that. However, it did introduce new ideas, new possibilities, and all around told a great story. In my opinion, this is how they needed to go about it. This would be the first Star Wars movie in a while, under new direction, and being released to fans who had lived through arguably the worst Star Wars had to offer. This was a way for the new writers and companies to really show what they could do and pull the audience back in, and it succeeded.

But that didn’t get rid of the offense crowd. As with the other movies, they took issue with this one as well. This time, it’s all new stuff!

Fin: Oh man, now we’re getting diversity forced on us as one of the main characters is now black and there are no main white male main cast members…. except you know, Po Dameron and Han Solo! Also, did someone forget who James Earl Jones and Billy Dee Williams are.

Rey: ‘Oh she’s the new Mary Sue.’ Yeah, despite all the evidence to the contrary.

People, grow up.

I’m not kidding. Sorry to be blunt about it, but there is no way around it. It’s a MOVIE! Yes I understand it’s a big cultural phenomenon, blah blah blah blah! It’s someone doing the best they can to tell a story. Who cares what one character is compared to another. Does anyone have any proof of intent in the cases of the insinuated mockeries? Do the writers have a history of doing any of this? Do you have any evidence other than your perceived notions? I highly doubt it.

In Fin’s case so he’s black, so what? Does it hurt the story? Does it affect anything negatively? No? All right then. For those who want white cast members, your bad guy is white, and so is the best pilot in the resistance. So there you go.

(But in a previous topic, you talked about how diversity was killing story lines in Marvel Comics.)

Okay, yes, I did say something like that  in a previous post, but not exactly. My issue with Marvel stemmed from the fact that they were taking well know, time-honored, characters and altering their identities, orientations, races, and other aspects with little to no explanation and for frivolous reasons (Let’s make Spiderman black because we elected a black president.). That’s just poor storytelling.

This is different. Fin is a new character. If Lucasfilms had re-cast Luke or Han as a difference race, gender, etc. then you may have something, but this is not the same thing.

Rey being a Mary Sue… okay, who cares? Really, is this that big a deal? She is one, she isn’t one, does it really take away from the story that much? In the grand scheme of Star Wars, is it really that big a deal?

Like I said people, grow up. It’s a movie. It’s someone trying to tell a story. That’s all. Are we really going to get that twisted up over it? Can’t we just all enjoy Star Wars for what it is, a really enjoyable flick?

I mean, if you want to spend time debating who shot first between Han and Greedo (it was Han by the way), that’s fine. You’re enjoying Star Wars in your own way. However when you start getting offended by some preconceived notion about what you think someone is trying to say when they write a character a certain way, I think it’s you who need to do some soul searching.

As a writer, I can honestly say that when I create characters, I don’t think about this sort of thing. I try to create them in a manner in which I’d find them likable, realistic, and relevant to my plot-line. I neither consider nor care about some underlying meaning someone could pull from how a character acts and I can assure, the writers of Star Wars don’t either.

Anyway, sorry for the rant, but after seeing article after article show up about this on my news feed, I had to get this off of my chest.

Thanks for listening!

Readers,

Do you have a question about writing, publishing, my stories, etc? Please feel free to post a comment or email me.
jimthewritingwizard@gmail.com
I’ll use those comments to select my next blog post.

I have been writing for several years, have 4 published works, experience with publishing and independent work, so I can hopefully be of assistance.
Please note, I only do one of these a day and will do my best to respond to everyone, but it may take some time.

Also, feel free to check out my works of Fantasy and Historical Fiction, Available on Amazon and where ever books are sold. See the link below:

http://www.amazon.com/James-Harrington/e/B00P7FBXTU

Thanks friends!
Catch you on the flip side!

-Jim