I Still Love Star Wars
While much of this space is devoted to music education, advocacy, thoughts on instrumental music, and sharing new works that I have completed, I ask for your patience here. Those who know me well know my love of all things Star Wars. But after the closing of the Skywalker saga, I have to get a few things off my mind. You might want to buckle up, baby.
I still love Star Wars. There I said it. I have probably disappointed or offended someone reading this. “Can you believe this guy? He still loves Star Wars.” Crazy thing is, it’s true. The Force, the Jedi — all of it. It’s all true.
From summer of 1977 to present day I have always loved Star Wars. On the way to the theater that evening, we got a flat tire. Luckily for my brother and I it happened right in front of the house of a man that my father worked with. He changed the tire for my mom, and we were able to get into our seats just in time to see Taintive IV be lit up by Imperial Star Destroyer laser fire. Imagine my surprise years later when we rented it on VHS and I saw the title crawl – I had no idea that was a thing. It didn’t matter – I was in. I was hooked. Years later, John Powell’s treatment of the main theme when Han first lays eyes on the Falcon in Solo took me right back to being 4 years old again. Truly wonderful, the mind of a child is.
A long time ago…
So this was all history? It all happened another time?
…in a galaxy far, far away…
So not in this universe? Somewhere else entirely?
Star Wars has always been fantasy. Delightful fantasy following characters that aren’t quite perfect, in a universe that looks for the most part – especially when you looked at Mos Eisley – quite lived in. It really brings me to my first criticism of Star Wars. Not the movies. Not the directors or writers. Not the special effects people. Certainly not the music.
The bloggers. The Podcasters. The YouTube heroes. The people who have built a career out of critiquing the franchise at every waking turn because somewhere in their “fanboy/fangirl” psyche they have already established the fact they could be making the current films better. The attempts to over-analyze every waking second of screen time, every actor choice, and worse yet feed and expound over every possible rumor to create buzz about their opinion and insight. It is a free country, and you can do what you want (for the most part). To their credit, some have the best of intentions as they are also passionate fans. But in the over-reactionary “my words are ‘righter’ than yours”, it has caused some unnecessary schisms and divisiveness. I fully acknowledge that critique and commentary are necessary for art to grow and flourish. I have a handful of people I trust with my own music in that regard before I send it off and I am thankful for their honesty and candor when it comes to that part of the process. But my music – not quite art in the purest sense of the word. And Star Wars? Star Wars is fantasy. Science-fiction. I mean everybody has delusions of grandeur, right?…
The mistake is trying to make Star Wars be accountable for any of our current trappings, shortcomings, and misgivings in 21st century culture and society. I don’t need to have Star Wars politicized in any sense of the word – Sheev Palpatine is enough Politician for me when it comes to Star Wars. What happened to being able to go to a film like Star Wars, and watch only to be entertained? We, as a society, are losing that ability because we want Star Wars to be answerable and completely comparable to our societal norms, check boxes, and be just like us because it is made by people that look like us. You‘re going to find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our point of view…
There are some really good people at work right now on the franchise. I really think Favreau and Filoni are hitting on all power convertors with their work on The Mandalorian. Solo and Rogue One? Both brilliant movies that of which I enjoyed every minute. I have no problem with Rian Johnson, and the utmost respect for J.J. Abrams’ work. Ridley, Boyega, and Oscar Isaac are a powerful trio. Even Adam Driver as Kylo Ren. I wish they all could have one more movie, but I understand. It brings me to my second criticism. Not the movies. Not the directors or writers. Not the special effects people. Certainly not the music.
Disney. There I said it. Are you mad now? Don’t everybody thank me at once. The directors, actors, effects personnel, John Williams, Michael Giacchino and John Powell and others have the deck stacked against them. Disney didn’t buy Star Wars because they cared about the franchise. They cared about the money they could make off of the franchise. They did the research and knew there were a vast number of fans ready to invest into more things Star Wars. Why do things change, why do they fail? Follow the money. It’s an old adage that definitely applies here. Disney has an agenda – keep shareholders happy, make money at the box office, and if the film turns out half-decent well then good for the fans… I don’t trust upper management at Disney farther than I could throw a Rancor. But that doesn’t mean they can’t hire the right people, and hopefully stay out of their way. There are things that you cannot solve by jumping in an X-wing and blowing something up.
Star Wars should have always been about the fans. George didn’t write the story and risk filming it to make the bank happy outside of he was able to pay back the loans he probably took out. He wrote a story and captured it on film so it could be enjoyed by fans. But he made a business decision to continue the franchise. When it was announced, I remember thinking that Disney would throw enough money at it so that it wouldn’t fail. I also remember thinking that “I have a bad feeling about this…”
But through it all, I still love Star Wars. Does every one of the movies have faults? Sure. But I don’t need to convince you what an egregious mistake it is and how I can correct it. I don’t need to shock you with the rumors and what this could possibly mean for the Star Wars universe and Disney franchise. I eagerly look forward to what can become of the Star Wars universe. Will I be destroyed or unhinged when those ideas don’t happen? Probably not. I have my own stories I would love to see told, but they are my stories about the Star Wars Universe. If I thought they were that great, I wouldn’t be writing this post or working my day job anymore. But the possibilities for the rest of the stories that can be told? Those give me hope. And after all, Rebellions are built on hope…
If you haven’t read Timothy Zahn’s new novels about Thrawn, you are missing the bigger picture of where Star Wars can go. Filoni and Favreau haven’t even skimmed the surface with Din Djarin or The Child or (spoiler alert) the fact that Moff Gideon has the Darksaber (is Bo Katan out there?). Give me more from music from Ludwig Göransson. The end of Rebels left us with Sabine and Ahsoka (AHSOKA LIVES!) going on a quest. Bring on Kenobi. But until that time. Enjoy the universe that has been shared. Quit criticizing it. I find your lack of faith in what Star Wars was, is and can be…disturbing.
