6 steps to fix Star Wars
I have seen the first six films in the Star Wars saga dozens of times each. My friends and I would play with toy lightsabers for hours, pretending to be young Jedi. I have Star Wars clothing, video games, toys and every other type of merchandise. Needless to say, I love Star Wars and I cant wait to see my kids watch and enjoy it as much as I do.
The first two films of the new Star Wars trilogy were well made, well acted and have incredible action sequences . I have seen both of them multiple times and I enjoy them greatly but as I walked out of The Last Jedi something felt off. The series that had begun with a young boy determined to save a princess and find out who he was had become something more corporate and less authentic.
I wasn’t the only one that felt this way, all over the internet people attacked the issues they had with The Last Jedi. Heck, if you look up “why The Last Jedi is bad” on youtube you get well over two million results. However, the biggest indicator of fan anger was found at the box office where, domestically, The Last Jedi made over three hundred million dollars less than The Force Awakens. Its even worse on an international level as The Last Jedi made more than eight-hundred million dollars less than The Force Awakens. Now, The Force Awakens was a special movie and after more than a forty year hiatus, it was expected that more people would flock to see that movie than you might think. However, an eight-hundred million dollar diffrence is certainly nothing to scoff at and Disney has to know this.
Here are 6 steps that Disney must take in order to preserve the rare power of the Star Wars brand:
- Let some time pass between the story of The Last Jedi and episode nine-
The Last Jedi picked up the second after The Force Awakened ended. Think about this, Rey went from a stranded girl on a desert planet who knew almost nothing about the Jedi to a person powerful enough to lift boulders, defeat Kylo Ren( who had been training his entire life) in a lightsaber duel, stand her own against Luke Skywalker (the man who defeated the Emporer and Darth Vader) and become a sort of moral compass for him and defeat the advanced guard of Snoke. The writers didnt really give her a lot of time to progress as a person. She is literally flawless, and this doesnt lend to her level of relatibility.
Luke spent an entire movie growing up and failing in the original trilogy. We saw him disobey Yoda, lose to Darth Vader, come to understand his ignorance and learn of his parentage. Between A New Hope and Return of the Jedi, nine years passed. Luke had time to grow and become a man, he had time to hone his skills so that when he did meet the Emperor, he was ready. Rey was not awarded this time and this hurt her charecter.
Lets see an older and more mature Rey in the ninth movie, a Rey that has earned her power.
2. Dont copy Marvel-
Star Wars is its own unique brand and is obviously a lot diffrent than the M.C.U. or the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Disney has made more than billions on its Comic book universe and it has to be tempting to use some of the tactics employed by comic book films. However, Star Wars is in a class of its own in terms of brand and popularity. When The Phantom Menace and The Force Awakens were released there was undoubtedly a nationwide frenzy. Domestically, films in Star Wars Saga have been among the highest grossing films of all time. America loves Star Wars. However, with the upcoming film titled “Solo: A Star Wars Story” there has already been signs of “franchise fatigue”. People are simply not as excited about this film and upcoming Star Wars films. Disney can make bucketloads of money from their Star Wars films, but the films should be events, not just another yearly film.
My recommendation: Dont release Star Wars episode 9 until 2020 or 2021. Stop releasing Star Wars films every year. Star Wars is special, lets keep it that way.
3. Scale down the number of main charecters
I really do pity Rian Johnson, in The Last Jedi he had to balance 8 “main” charecters. Between Poe, Rey, Rose, Fin, Luke ,Kylo, Snoke and Leiah. These are 8 people that needed time and dialogue to progress within the context of the story. In the end, people really only cared to know the story of 4 people in The Last Jedi, Kylo, Rey, Luke and to a lesser degree, Snoke. In the original trilogy there were supporting charecters like Lando, and Chewie; but in the end people really only cared about Luke, Leiah, Han and Darth Vader. Han and Leiah progressed together as charecters and so did Luke and Vader. The story was about things that people cared about, family, friends, love and courage. In essence the first two Star Wars trilogy had something the new trilogy lacks, focus. Rey, Kylo, and Luke are interesting charecters. While the role of Luke will undoubtedly be diminished in the ninth film, there is a need to eliminate unnesesary storylines. We like Fin and Poe, but they are not the center of this trilogy, they are not what drive us to the theater. Please J.J. Abrams, dont make us sit through an hour an a half of Poe Fin and Rose. Lets get to know Rey and Kylo, lets see them clash, love and hate. Lets focus on what important
4. Dont antagonize fans for criticizing Rey
People have called Rey a “Mary Sue”, or a charecter that excels at things simply because the story needs her to. The term “Mary Sue” is not a sexist term, it is not exclusive to female characters. If a male character to good at things then we would call him a “Gary Stu”. J.J. Abrams recently said that those who were critical of Rey felt threatened by her gender. While sexists who dont like Rey’s power because of her gender do exist, there are passionate Star Wars fans who have legitimate gripes with the story. These fans are not sexist, they are simply passionate.
5. Listen to the fans
Star Wars fans know their stuff. They are among the most intelligent and powerful fans in media. What they want has to matter. If I am making a car, or house I definatley want to know the input of my consumer. Now, its ok to suprise the fan, to throw the fan a twist they didn’t really see coming. What is not ok is to treat these fans like intellectual inferiors who simply dont understand your grand plan. In the end the Star Wars isnt made for Disney, or Rian Johnson, its made for the fans that have poured over Star Wars material for countless hours over the last few decades. Inform the fans, treat them with respect, show a love for the charecters and the universe in which they live.
6. Focus on what’s important
I already adressed some of this in a few of the subjects above but I think it is important that I reiterate some of it. The first and second Star Wars trilogies were about hope, family, love and bravery. These are things that anyone can relate to. We have all felt like Luke, staring into the sky and wondering who we are and what we’ll do. We have all had family issues and had to come to terms with them. Like Luke and Vader we have all been hurt by someone that should never have hurt us, but in the end we have all seen that forgiveness is the only way to achieve peace. The new trilogy has been flashy and had good moments of friendship and loyalty. Though the new trilogy has fixed a lot of the issues that existed within the prequels like the stiff dialogue and the overuse of special effects, there is something missing: heart. If you have to bring George Lucas back, so be it. In the end Star Wars has to be about the things that matter, that is what makes it diffrent.
I really enjoyed The Last Jedi, I love Star Wars, but I admit that there were some issues with it. While Disney may have done irreparable damage to its fans, there is time to come back and make an ending to a really great Star Wars trilogy in episode 9. J.J. Abrams, you have a difficult task ahead.