[ SECRET POST #2567 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2567 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Tumblr and/or social justice in and of themselves aren't fandoms, unfortunately.

Secrets Left to Post: 04 pages, 077 secrets from Secret Submission Post #367.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 1 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[dethtoll]

I hate that it's essentially a big-budget B movie that since 1999 has exploded into an almost religious institution. I don't get the popularity at all. It had some special effects that looked pretty good for the 1970s but started looking like dogshit as soon as Jurassic Park came out. But the actual films simply aren't that good. The first movie is very raw, its universe was barely sketched out, and it basically resembled what it was supposed to -- a fun romp through a vintage-style sci-fi setting. It wasn't actually a very GOOD film, but it was fun. But George Lucas couldn't leave well enough alone, and now the entire franchise is this giant fucking po-faced SPACE OPERAAAA trying to be all solemn and serious, but that's ridiculous considering the franchise's roots in old 50s/60s sci-fi. The thing is, from the 2nd movie on, the whole thing has been one big commercial for toys and games and all the other merchandise. Add to that the timely inclusion of the whole Force thing right at a time when New Age spiritualism was a big thing and you've got people projecting their own need for spiritual fulfillment on a 30-year-old laser-guided marketing campaign, for a 27-billion dollar franchise builto n the success of what amounts to a Saturday morning cartoon. It's ridiculous. The sheer reach of Star Wars and its fandom is insane, having wormed its way into every facet of Western culture. It is literally impossible to go two days without being confronted with something Star Wars related, that's how ubiquitous it is. I never want to hear about May 4th being a "Star Wars holiday" ever again. The very idea of a day of earnest celebration for a mass-media corporate product may be the most dystopian thing I've heard since the 2012 election.

I hate how ingrained it is. I hate that it's the assumed "default" nerd obsession. I hate how people claim they're huge nerds but it turns out it's because they like Star Wars and only Star Wars. That's like claiming you're vegetarian because you ate french fries -- let alone the whole concept of "nerd" is outdated and a form of othering anyway. I hate how there's this ginormous expanded universe (though I hear Disney is tossing it all out -- good.) I hate how it's a geek sacred cow -- and I think geek sacred cows are meant for slaughtering, why do you think I shit on Planescape Torment and Joss Whedon so much?

Fuck Star Wars. Being the only person I know who doesn't like Star Wars is like being the only sober person in a room full of drunks and being tired of listening to everyone else making noise.

[dethtoll]

<3 right back atcha

[dreemyweird]

...I must say that I largely agree. Except it doesn't make me dislike the films. Plus, I think that the setting and the character designs were brilliantly made, even by modern standards. The worldbuilding (as in "the building of a cohesive universe") might have been sketchy, but I love the bits we do get to see. (a non-cinematograph person here, though.)

That's the best things about SW, IMHO? Which is why Yoda is my favourite character. Star Wars aren't good at making a good general picture, but they are damn good at details. That, and some characters are rather well written.

But I find that your argumentation is very interesting and makes a lot of sense. So, thanks. Now we'll see if it starts a shitstorm.

[dethtoll]

The thing is, I preferred the sketchy flavor of the first movie. What bugs me about Star Wars' worldbuilding is that it's so serious-minded but the movies themselves are as popcorn-filler as it gets. They don't jibe.

[dreemyweird]

In some cases it is irksome, but actually I love it when cheesy works treat themselves with utter seriousness (see: the Asylum`s Sherlock Holmes, some of Chesterton`s stuff) *shrugs shoulders* Different strokes.

[(Anonymous)]

Like

I agree with everything you've said but I kind of feel like none of that is actually to do with the movies (or at least the first couple movies).

I definitely agree, though, it's so weird when you see someone talking about how important and meaningful Star Wars is to them and treating it like it matters enormously and it's this seminal thing, and you just look at them and wonder what the hell they're thinking of.

[dethtoll]

The original film is okay, I guess, but everything after that has been a commercial for toys and I hate how it's basically ruined pop culture because of some of the most sleazy marketing since the tobacco industry ran TV ads.

[(Anonymous)]

Well, the whole idea of fandom is pretty much "people who like stuff too much." Why can't they like this and not some other geeky thing?

[dethtoll]

It's a matter of degrees. When I start seeing, I dunno, let's go with Thief (another crazy fandom, and I do mean crazy as in I think some of the people in it are literally insane) stuff on friggin' everything from graffiti to off-hand references in everyday conversation that everyone gets, then we'll talk. But worse, Star Wars fandom is almost completely generated through a vigorous advertising regime. The new trilogy, especially, have completely clogged up pop culture and have also had the unfortunate effect of leading people to believe that the original trilogy, which is one good film and two okay films, are unbelievable masterpieces of cinema that will never be topped ever. Not even the Lord of the Rings trilogy has this much cultural cachet, and I'm still fucking seeing Boromir memes all up in my Facebook 10 years after the movies came out.

[(Anonymous)]

I agree with your points, but that's a very hipster-ish way to think. It's understandable that you'd get so annoyed because you keep seeing it though.

[dethtoll]

I don't really think "hipster" has much meaning anymore.

[(Anonymous)]

DA Hipster to me means taking notice of what's cool or popular and letting it inversely dictate one's preferences. *shrug*

[cbrachyrhynchos]

Nerd historical revisionism: the idea that Star Wars was "counterculture" at any point in time. By the time I was in high school, you couldn't give away action figures for a nickel because everyone had a box.

I'm a big fan of Empire though, since it's the strongest screenplay of the bunch (and a challenging one at that, with two parallel plot lines developed with characters who get only a handful of scenes together in the introduction and conclusion.)

[elialshadowpine]

You know, I actually like the original movies, settings, and some of the games (the Old Republic ones by Bioware, mostly -- TOR has a LOT of problems but good fucking gods the dialogue, particularly for Empire side, is hilarious)

.... and I pretty much agree with every point here. I hate that it's default, expected, and that if you're a chick that can't quote lines from extended universe books and games then you're obviously not a real geek. (Because quotes from the movies are so common that even "the mundanes" know them, according to some of these assholes.) Never mind that I actually can do that for Star Trek (depending on series - DS9 is the one I have watched over and over) - it's not Star Wars so you might as well be a heretic. It's pretty ridiculous.

[(Anonymous)]

Star Trek is better than Star Wars for ever and ever amen and if someone tries to tell you otherwise laugh in their stinking faces, and if they try to say that you're not a real geek because you don't like Star Wars enough tell them to go to hell for a million reasons not least of which is that getting into a Star Wars Star Trek argument is the most laughably cliched geeky thing ever so even if geek bona fides were an important thing that actually existed, doing that would prove them beyond any possible doubt

god people suck sometimes