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What's the deal with this fandom?

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In my experience, the Star Wars fandom seems far more prone to drama and division than those of other pieces of pop culture. Originaltrilogy.com is a fine place, but those of us who spend a lot of time on YouTube or Reddit have probably seen what I’m talking about.
I can scarcely find a commenter there capable of saying something positive about one aspect of the franchise without condemning another. And that’s not even mentioning the actual bullying and harassment that several cast and crew members have faced.
For years now, I’ve been wondering: what makes people act like that? What, if any, other fandoms have these kinds of issues? And how do we respond to it?

You’ve got to ask yourself one question: “Am I making Carrie Fisher’s ghost proud?”
Well, are ya, punk?

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What’s the deal with you?

What compelled you to create a whole new thread just for this one sentence?

My preferred Skywalker Saga experience:
I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX

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StarkillerAG said:

What’s the deal with you?

What compelled you to create a whole new thread just for this one sentence?

Sorry. That was really vague. I’ll update the description.

You’ve got to ask yourself one question: “Am I making Carrie Fisher’s ghost proud?”
Well, are ya, punk?

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The Star Wars fandom is approaching 50 years old, there’s been a lot of time for division to take place. Off the top of my head, in chronological order, there’s:

SW vs ESB
SW and ESB vs ROTJ
The OT vs TPM
The OT vs the PT
The Lucas Saga vs the Saga+EU
Lucas vs Disney
The EU vs NewEU
The Lucas Saga vs TFA
TFA vs TLJ
TFA+TLJ vs TROS
Episodes 1-8, the Old EU, the NewEU, the Holiday Special, Jaxxon, The Bigger Luke Theory, Every Fan Film, etc… vs TROS

So yeah, the fandom isn’t so much a unified group so much as it is a loose confederacy of groups with precious little to unite them.

You probably don’t recognize me because of the red arm.
Episode 9 Rewrite, The Starlight Project (Released!) and ANH Technicolor Project (Released!)

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The youtube stuff is primarily for clicks and profit, marshaling hate for money. I don’t even think its about fans who love star wars and have a disagreement where the franchise is going anymore. They never focus on what they love about the movies. You don’t like Disney Star Wars, fine then enjoy the past movies and novels and video games and comics.

If you don’t like a movie you simply don’t watch it plain and simple.

What did fans do who disliked the Prequels they walked away from the franchise. Only a small minority spent years telling Lucas he ruined their childhood.

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Star Trek fandom says Hello.

Any large fandom has it’s jerks, unfortunately.

Forum Moderator

Where were you in '77?

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Oh okay there’s a question edited in there now so I’ll stop being facetious. Here’s the thing… create two things on either side of a metaphorical fence and people will argue about it. SE vs OT. PT vs OT. Anything. Some will argue that anything Star Wars after 1995 is a dumpster fire the same way some people will argue that anything Star Trek after 2005 is a dumpster fire. Some people have no critical thinking powers whatsoever of course, but generally there’s a debate going on with something, somewhere.

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The problem with this fandom is the problem with any fandom that gets too big and grows too old: the franchise marches on and some people don’t like the new direction. TLJ and Chibnall Doctor Who are pretty much the same drama over two fandoms, the only difference being I agree with the complaints about Chibnall Who, even if they are way overblown.

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Ed Slushie said:

those of us who spend a lot of time on YouTube or Reddit have probably seen what I’m talking about.
I can scarcely find a commenter there capable of saying something positive about one aspect of the franchise without condemning another.

There is a list of some decent, insightful, and informative youtubers - and something a little different to the toxic reddit / youtube ‘clickbait / hate for clicks & money’ types… in the An Index & Help Thread for Original Trilogy Discussion… under the ‘FAQs, Information & Useful Links…’ category.

They may not be to everyone’s taste - but they are very different to many clickbait / noxious youtubers out there. And if they say something negative or are being critical, they’ll do it with civility, and actually explain why they don’t like a certain film, character, or aspect - without ranting, throwing their toys across the room, or casting blame… or using those oh so familiar ‘key words’ the haters often use.

There are also a couple of Star Wars reddits which focus on the more positive aspects of the GFFA - though are often targets of trolls and wums from other more negative reddits and sites.

Of course, YMMV.

I hope you or others like a few of the youtubers etc listed.
 

A little patience goes a long way on this old-school Rebel base. If you are having issues finding what you are looking for, these will be of some help…

Welcome to the OriginalTrilogy.com | Introduce yourself in here | Useful info within : About : Help : Site Rules : Fan Project Rules : Announcements
How do I do this?’ on the OriginalTrilogy.com; some info & answers + FAQs - includes info on how to search for projects and threads on the OT•com

A Project Index for Star Wars Preservations (Harmy’s Despecialized & 4K77/80/83 etc) : A Project Index for Star Wars Fan Edits (adywan & Hal 9000 etc)

… and take your time to look around this site before posting - to get a feel for this place. Don’t just lazily make yet another thread asking for projects.

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Arguing and divisiveness is everywhere online. It isn’t exclusive to Star Wars. I don’t see people holding hands and skipping everywhere else. Star Wars is fine. It’s a great time to be a Star Wars fan.

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JadedSkywalker said:

The youtube stuff is primarily for clicks and profit, marshaling hate for money. I don’t even think its about fans who love star wars and have a disagreement where the franchise is going anymore. They never focus on what they love about the movies. You don’t like Disney Star Wars, fine then enjoy the past movies and novels and video games and comics.

If you don’t like a movie you simply don’t watch it plain and simple.

What did fans do who disliked the Prequels they walked away from the franchise. Only a small minority spent years telling Lucas he ruined their childhood.

Honestly wish more people myself included could do this more often.

I’m just a simple man trying to make my way in the universe.

Star Wars has 3 eras: The eras are 1977-1983(pre Expanded Universe), (1983-2014) expanded universe, or (2014- now) Disney-bought version. Each are valid.

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https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/1472151/action/topic#1472151

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I wasn’t born yet when the OT came out, but I do know that the fandom seemed to be a lot more unified in their love of Star Wars pre-TPM - even when the Special Editions came out in 1997. In virtually every promotional and news coverage video I’ve seen surrounding the SE’s and TPM before their release, the fans all seemed unanimously enthusiastic when in line to see the movies and when they walked out of the SE’s, regardless of the new additions. I feel like the period after TPM ended its theatrical run was the point when the fandom started to become divided into sects - OT vs PT fans, people who liked TPM vs people who didn’t.

I think the reason the fandom is so divided now is just because of sheer amount of Star Wars content that’s been released over the course of nearly half a century - none of it is all the same, there’s a lot of variety, which inevitably means some fans won’t like all of it. That’s true for ANY entertainment property that goes on for so long and produces that much varied content - some will simply just watch the movies/shows, read the books/comics and play the games they like and not do the same for the ones they don’t like, but there will always be fans who debate and argue over what products or aspects of the franchise they like and don’t like.

I hate the Disney Channel Live Action Universe

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OT had already solidified itself as an instant classic by 97, I imagine a lot of the fondness comes with a set of rose tinted glasses, things are more heated within proximity of the event, people weren’t unified on ROTJ or even ESB to a lesser extent. The PT vs OT thing I feel might be more relevant if PT had been made in the 80s, it’s there but the generational difference itself is more significant in my opinion.

“The ability to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the power of the Force.” - DV