thecolorsblend said:

TheBoost said:

The idea of canon only exists to please a certain sort of fan. Lucasfilm would make just as much money off the franchise if they discounted the idea entirely, like Star Trek does.

I have to laugh that you cited Superman comics as I'm a bit of a junkie.

The "rules" are different for comics and like properties. Their realities are far more elastic, likely given their longevity.

Star Wars, however, is a movie. Nothing else. When you say "Star Wars", 99% of people will think of something tied directly back to the films. The "reality" of Star Wars is much narrower. It exists in a different kind of medium with different rules. Comics adaptations (X-Men movies, The Dark Knight, et al) do not have to jibe (in terms of continuity) with the comics. The rules are different for TV/movie-based properties however.

Don't get me wrong, because I appreciate the canon policy does not mean I like the EU. The vast majority of it is poop on a stick.

I accept your point that to the vast majority of people who know "Star Wars" (including people who love it) it is the movies and nothing more. BUT... if we're talking about the EU we can acknowledge that it's a fictional universe thas been added to consistently for over 30 years.

30 years after his creation Superman had been several films with two actors, a TV series, a radio show, and endless comics, and was plainly a cultural icon. And there was no effort AT ALL towards consistency across properties.

Like Superman, I think it would be swell if Star Wars had a seperate continuity for each property.

Star Wars comics have their own continuity.
Novels have their own continuity
Videogames have their own continuity... if they have any at all.
The films have their own continuity... and all others would obviously be based on them, they way all Superman properties are basically based on the comics.

I think the stories would be better in general if there was less worrying about how to fit the RPG supplement character "Darth Milennial" or obscure plots from the old daily comic-strip into the overarching story. I think more comeplling stories would be told concern about 'canon' weighing less on the creators.

On the other hand, as the policy exists, flawed as I find it, I appreciate that it exists for the fans of the EU. LFL makes an effort to respect that all of their products, even crappy ones like "Battlestar: Space Medics" have fans, and try to not make one property less important than another.