It's Not Yours Anymore

It belongs to everyone...

In 1979’s beloved James Bond adventure “Moonraker,” villain Hugo Drax tells agent 007 that he appears “with the tedious inevitability of an unloved season.” This can also be said of “fans” of various franchises whenever a new film or TV show is announced or begins. We’ve had it constantly recently with followers of “Star Trek,” whose misunderstanding of the entire concept of Genes Roddenberry and L. Coon’s original ideas for the show is there for all to see in their rejection of everything “woke,” which includes a black woman as the new captain of the Discovery in the show of the same name, which saw celebrations upon news of its impending final season. Complaints of it being politically correct for the sake of it and such are signs not only of racism and sexism but also a fact many fans, especially those vocal on the internet, have yet to realise.

It’s no longer yours.

The latest comes from “fans” of the “Star Wars” franchise, who are suddenly aghast at the launching of a new show for children, “Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures.” This animation, set in the lauded High Republic era previously only found in books and comics, has been described as akin to shows like “Paw Patrol,” and of course features a line of cute toys. What makes these people so upset? That it’s for children. Presumably, these are the same who want an R-rated movie in the franchise, and who were upset at “The Last Jedi” presenting a haunted and emotionally scarred Luke Skywalker, instead of the action figure who recently appeared in the second season of “The Mandalorian” taking out wave after wave of robot stormtroopers. Apparently, these people, who all seem to be “adults,” would like to see the child characters of “Young Jedi Adventures” murdered by Anakin Skywalker and co. during the tragic events of Order 66.

It needs no reminder that this comes at a time when a significant part of the world is still mourning the victims of the Nashville tragedy, where three children were murdered when their school was attacked by someone with a gun. And when Ahmed Best’s appearance as a Jedi on a recent episode of “The Mandalorian” is seen as a rehabilitation for the actor, who has spent decades depressed by the reactions of “fans” to his character Jar Jar Binks in the prequels to the point where he considered suicide. Anyone vaguely interested in the franchise will be aware of the constant stream of images and memes of Jar Jar being murdered in many different painful ways that have been coming since the launch of the prequels. But again, this boils down to that simple statement that people try their best to ignore.

It’s no longer yours.

Let’s just look at the money side of things. The prequels brought in about $2.5bn; the sequels even more. These are not the kind of numbers that come from universal hatred, yet this is what people have been led to believe. “Star Wars,” and “Star Trek,” are generational franchises. Especially the former, which has always been aimed at children. It’s just that the children that loved the original trilogy had grown up when the new trilogy came around. The same for the sequels. The same for “The Next Generation,” “Discovery,” and “Picard.” I’m amongst this group. I find elements of these new films and shows that I’m not a huge fan of, but I realise that these things evolve with the times and the audiences. And the reality of things means that they have to be successful to continue. The hard cold fact of the importance of cash.

It’s no longer mine.

We have to roll with it. So what if we don’t like a TV show? New shows appear all the time and old ones are available on streaming. Even within these franchises, there are different varieties of shows. “Star Trek” has the more modern sensibilities of “Discovery,” and the nostalgia of “Strange New Worlds,” with the third season of “Picard” trying to meld the two. You even have “Prodigy” for the younger viewers who maybe aren’t used to Starfleet officers saying the F-word (that’s a subject for another time).

“Star Wars” is the same. “The Mandalorian” is the big popular one, “The Bad Batch” is an animation aimed at younger viewers but still with interesting complexities, and “Andor” is a much more cerebral kind of show. There are already seven or so seasons of “The Clone Wars” to watch, and then “Young Jedi Adventures” for the even smaller ones who recognise how cool lightsabers and spaceships are but aren’t old enough to understand the political machinations of a galaxy far, far away. You still have your vintage figures, model kits, DVDs, novels, and whatever made you love the franchises in the first place. But you just have to reconcile how you feel with this fact.

It’s no longer yours. It’s for everyone.

And that’s what George Lucas has been telling us from the start.