By: Cam Ray
My favorite thing about Star Wars is time travel. Now, before you let your turbolasers overheat about the truths of the World between Worlds and what it truly is or is not, the time travel I’m referring to is all in my mind. The mere mention or thought of Star Wars immediately takes me back to where it all began for me—my childhood. I would also bet a stash of Canto Casino credits that Star Wars began for almost all of us during childhood, whether we can pinpoint a specific moment or not. After all, George Lucas has made it no secret that he created this fantastic galaxy—and the stories that are told there—for kids. While Star Wars brings joy, excitement, and wonder to many, as an enthusiast I am also very aware of the “Dark Side” of the fandom. How can something meant to be a fun and adventurous escape for kids (of all ages) spark such negativity and hurtful words or actions from people who since childhood have had a passion for Star Wars? I believe the answer may lie within the question, and I believe Baby Yoda (I mean, “The Child”) may be able to save us all.
Growing up in the eighties, my first exposure to Star Wars was the Original Trilogy, therefore the OT is my trilogy. My son was born in the late 2000’s, so the Prequel Trilogy is his. My daughter was born four years ago, so she gets the Sequel Trilogy. Or, is The Clone Wars better suited for my son and Resistance a better match for my daughter who is really too young to watch the sequels? Although, she loves The Clone Wars, and her favorite Star Wars character is Darth Vader—an OT character. Is that even allowed? Even within my trilogy, I am supposed to pick the one that is the most cinematically celebrated, or is it the one with the least childish characters? I think I’m supposed to be mad at someone now, right? This is the insanity which attempting to wrap one’s mind around may end up wrapping you in the head with force ghost Yoda’s cane. Now I’m even questioning being so bold as to make two TLJ references so close together.
Most kidding aside, can’t we all just get along? Yes, and no. The dilemma we find ourselves in is that Star Wars is no longer a single film, or 2 films, or a trilogy, or 2 trilogies. It is a Coruscant of ever-expanding media, products, and experiences which covers such a wide range of flavors that not every single offering with the Star Wars name attached is going to satisfy your individual tastes. If your expectation is to receive perfect, custom-tailored entertainment every single time a film or series releases, you may encounter disappointment. Unless you are an executive or creative with Lucasfilm or Disney, chances are someone other than you created the art. Your choice is to simply watch or not watch. If you watch, you are able to form an opinion. Some may choose to not watch yet still form an opinion. This is where the great balancing act begins.
One chooses to either focus on bringing balance to the Force of the fandom by celebrating each other’s opinions—even when they differ—or one chooses to take a trip to the Dark Side, having an opinion deemed better than others’ and letting others know that they are wrong and therefore their opinions are invalid. This is not to say, however, that when we don’t get the film we expected that everyone becomes enraged, bloodthirsty Sith-bullies. Palpatine-level bullies are toxic and very likely unchangeable, but these people are the minority (and their issues are best left to a professional in psychology). We are only responsible for our own words and actions, and we should keep a steady awareness of their place of origin. We cannot change someone else’s hateful words or actions, but when addressing fellow fans who have a different opinion than us, we can listen, acknowledge their opinion, and try to find some common ground. We may even choose to change our own opinion after listening, and that is OK.
We need to ask ourselves: why are we all Star Wars fans? Isn’t it because there was a spark that lit a fire (sorry, that’s three) inside of our imaginations when we were kids? Isn’t it that fire that keeps us weeding through the toxic Twitterverse to find others who share our passion, why we collect toys and stuffed animals that we sometimes don’t even open or play with, and why we actually enjoy classical music? While the cause of the spark may be different for each of us in its minutia, the common ground is that each spark was from Star Wars, and that is something we can agree upon.
For me, seeing Darth Vader emerge from the smoke in A New Hope solidified him as my favorite character until the day I die, and watching Yoda lift the X-Wing out of the swamp helped me understand there is never a task too big for us and we are never too small. For you, this may be true, or it may be the hope that Finn is filled with as he discovers his Force sensitivity that lit your spark—great! You may even cheer as Jabba sends Oola to the rancor as a Twi’lek snack—great, although a little twisted. I may not like it, I may not agree with it, but I accept it, as it is your spark from Star Wars. We need to return to the Dagobah of our childhood to remember our training, while not letting our complicated, smarty-pants adultness cloud our judgment. We get fired up because we are passionate, but it’s helpful to remember the other person is just as fired up, and equally as entitled to the authenticity of their passion, which was also ignited by Star Wars.
As a teacher, I get to observe kids day after day. One thing I’ve realized is they quite often teach me the greatest lessons. As Master Yoda said, “Truly wonderful, the mind of a child is.” They are truly filled with wonder and passion, and they are so accepting of each other’s differences. When we have deep discussions, there may be disagreements or varying opinions, but at the end of the day, they just want to know why others think what they think, and then they are just ok with it. What if we could also discuss openly our opinions, and then, at the end of the day, just be ok with it? It’s amazing—Yoda was right, again!
One thing all of my students have in common is they all know about and adore Baby Yoda—even the ones who claim to not like Star Wars. First, one of my goals as an educator is that every one of my students, after their 3-year stretch with me, will like something about Star Wars. Secondly, thanks to “The Child,” my goal has been easily accomplished and without a single Jedi mind trick. This whole Baby Yoda thing got me thinking: who does not like the Babe? The answer is: no one. At least, if we cannot find any other commonality with a fellow fan, we can agree that we both love Baby Yoda. Friendship restored.
While we will always find some people that we connect with on a deeper level than others, let’s try to always remember that part of the thrill of Star Wars is the diversity of characters, planets, ships, weapons, and talents. How boring would it be without that variety? Let’s celebrate each other’s diversity of tastes and opinions while also kindly sharing ours to be celebrated. In the end, we are all fired up with a lifelong passion for Star Wars (and Baby Yoda), and that Force is with us all. This is the way.