I’ve signed the petition.
Not because I believe for a second that Disney will “strike Ep VIII from the official canon” nor do I think this is the right course of action (I mean, done is done. The movie is out there and is now part of the saga however unfortunately) but hopefully it might get their attention somewhat that they can’t just do whatever the f##k they want with SW and expect fans to just accept it and keep paying for it. Below is one of the comments from the petition that I can definitely sympathise with:
"I stand with my fellow “Star Wars” fans in expressing a deep disappoint and revulsion of how Rian Johnson and Disney have defiled many of the beloved characters in “Episode VIII.” All other criticisms of the film aside, this is a film that ignores decades of character development, world building and mythology in favor of cheap moments of sensationalism and shock value.
This film feels less like a “Star Wars” movie and more in line with “Guardians of the Galaxy” with its poorly-timed humor and shallow character development. But the greatest sin of all is putting words in Luke’s mouth that feel completely out of character. I did not mind Luke’s actions in the film. In fact, I really liked the idea behind what Johnson was trying to do. However, a complete lack of believable motivation and horrendous dialogue made Luke feel like a cardboard cut out, instead of the wise and hardened warrior we left in “Return of the Jedi.”
I do not seriously expect Disney to strike “Episode VIII” from canon, but as a life long fan, this has made me question whether I will go and see any of Disney’s “Star Wars” movies in the future. Poor decision making, horrible direction and writing. Johnson has killed Luke twice with this film. A grave disappoint for many fans."
It was around 23,000 signatures when I first opened it a couple of hours ago and is now rapidly closing in on 26,000. The numbers pale beside how many people would have gone to see the movie but it’s still a sizeable subset of the fan base all gathering under the same criticism and shoutout to Disney: https://www.change.org/p/the-walt-disney-company-have-disney-strike-star-wars-episode-viii-from-the-official-canon
This movie has majorly pissed me off if anyone can’t tell…
.Val