Fantasy, Fiction, Fake: How the Fandom is Destroying Star Wars
There is a disturbance in the Force...
We have seen a shift in the Star Wars fandom. The last several months have been fraught with arguments of chronic proportions. Fans successfully bullied an actress off of social media. Old EU and new EU collide over characters and references. TLJ was hailed as either the worst or best film of the year. Prominent Star Wars fans went as far as to say that those of certain political leans couldn't be "true" Star Wars fans. No person or subject is safe.
In all of the fighting and back and forth, we have forgotten one thing: Star Wars, as much as we love it, is indeed fantasy. It is fiction. It is fake. There is no real planet called Tatooine. Jedi and Sith didn't live a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. We are destroying people over a fictional universe. But our actions have real-world consequences.
This has been an article I have sat on for a while. The fandom doesn't like to hear it, but it's true. These characters mean a lot to us. We have breathed them in and see ourselves in them. They are important to us. However, we have reached a precipice and are pushing people off. We have gone past healthy passion and have reached the point of mindless obsession. This must stop. We will beat each other into the ground until there is nothing left. Ask yourself; if you were just getting into Star Wars, would you want to be a part of this fandom? I can tell you confidently, I would not.
I'm old school. I grew up on the original trilogy and the original EU. I miss those characters and story lines. I believe that Disney destroyed some of the best fictional characters ever written. But I don't care if you like the new ones. I like them too. It's ok to like different areas of this huge universe. The big question is when will we either implode or learn to appreciate everyone in this fandom. Decide, Star Wars fans. Because the path we are on will lead not lead to the high ground.
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