"There Has Been An Awakening..."

I keep waiting for my brain to catch up to reality that this is actually happening.

That we're sitting here on the cusp of the release of a brand new Star Wars movie.

Episode 7.

Something that was never supposed to happen.

I'm having fun with my font emphasis because - hey, seriously - this is pretty epic stuff right here.  Star Wars fans were always led to believe that episodes 7, 8, and 9 would never be made as movies.  The books and comics (known as the "Expanded Universe" or "EU") were our means of carrying on these stories and having adventures with these characters that we'd come to know and love.  We were fine with that because that was the way things were.  That's all we knew would ever happen - ever again.

Along comes Disney.  Buys up Lucasfilm.  People are either uber-excited or mad as hell and they're not going to take it anymore.  New movies are coming out.  Again, either cheering or booing.  Then the Expanded Universe is wiped away.  Gone.  Eradicated from existence like Alderaan.  Like Han would say, "That's what I'm tryin' to tell you, kid.  It ain't there.  It's been totally blown away."

This left a lot of fans with a bitter taste in their mouth.  The EU had some pretty die-hard fans, even if not all of the stories were stellar.  The sad thing is that some great characters, great plot lines, and epic events have been wiped out because of this effort to "clean the slate" for the upcoming movies and new plot lines.  I'm sure that some of them weren't surprised by the move.  After all, one time I remember seeing Timothy Zahn speak at a convention.  Someone asked how he felt about them killing off his character Mara Jade in a later book (that he had nothing to do with).  Timothy explained it simply (and I'll paraphrase because I can't quote this after so many years): "You know, we get this great opportunity to come over and play with George's toys.  He invites us over to play with them, and we jump at the chance.  But all of his toys are in the driveway, so sometimes you just have to be prepared for a car to back out of the garage and run over one of your toys."  No doubt - you're crushed that you've lost this toy.  But holy cow, you got to play with it in the first place.

I will still say that I mixed feelings about the erasing of the EU.  I don't really love the idea because there are things I'm truly going to miss (most of which are Zahn's stories, actually).  But I also have to admit that I understand why it's being done, and for the most part, I agree with it.  I think if we're finally going to continue this storyline, we're going to have to start from scratch.  The EU had so much information, detail, new characters - there was no (good) way that any new films could stay true to it and still have a decent story, in my opinion.  It would have required a lot of effort, knowledge, and work-arounds to get it to finally become a decent stroy.

I really hope that they justify this decision to wipe out the printed stories by giving us one hell of a show on the big screen come December 18th.

I'd love to be able to watch that movie, laugh, cry, gasp and grip the edges of my seat.  And at the end of it, I want to be able to truthfully say, "Chewie - we're home."

The Fandom Soap Box Rant

There's a couple of things I've kept (mostly) to myself in relation to the upcoming Star Wars movie, The Force Awakens.  I feel like if I enter into that sort of a conversation right now with some folks, I run the risk of entering into an argument similar to "the prequels are bantha poodoo and need to be banished from the face of the planet and thrown into the Great Pit of Carkoon".  I don't really desire to get in the middle of a heated fandom discussion like that right now, so - for the most part - I've kept my thoughts to myself about the new movie.

I've also tried to refrain from doing what I do - writing.  Not necessarily writing things down like fan fiction or the like.  But brain writing.  The kind of writing that isn't physical pen to paper, but it's when your brain waves do fun things like Oh, man, Shada.  Think about it.  Think what would happen if [highlight for Shada's crazy fan theory/personal weirdness]Poe Dameron was somehow mentally hijacked by Kylo Ren, and he's been implanted into the Resistance as a sleeper cell agent to help bring them down[/end Shada's crazy fan theory/personal weirdness].

But as the release date gets closer and closer, I can feel myself slipping on both of these things.

I find myself wanting to jump into the conversations that start with:

1. "Well, JJ better not screw it up because then we'll have to call him Jar Jar Abrams for the rest of his life."
2. "You know there's going to be so much lens flare you won't be able to see anything."
3. "It's just going to be a rehash of an old story with more graphics and less heart than the original."
4. "Disney is just going to f*#$ it all up because the Mouse rules all!"
5. "Disney has taken marketing to the extreme!  This is insane!  It's on everything from make-up products to collegiate football gear.

But my non-confrontational personality makes me step back and say, "Nope.  Nope, nope, nope, nope."  However, inside, my little inner hot-head makes her appearance, dusts off her soap box, and then unleashes fannish hell-blabber to whoever is around me that I trust most: close friends, close family, or my husband.  And now, this blog.  So lets's starts this thing off - in order:

1. Honestly, we're not going to end up calling him "Jar Jar Abrams" for the rest of his life.  Number one - because it won't suck that badly.  And number two - because you could come up with a lot better insult than "Jar Jar Abrams" if you really wanted to.
2. Does it really bother you that badly?  Any worse than the old-fashioned screen wipes from the original Star Wars?  Or the Yoda puppet in The Phantom Menace?  Or Sebastian Shaw's Force ghost being swapped out for Hayden Christensen?  Okay, fine.  If it bothers you that badly, ask and you shall receive.  J.J. talked to Stephen Colbert, and here you go: J.J. Abrams Promises Less Lens Flare.
3. There is the basis to this argument?  Do you have some concrete evidence of the plot line or access to the script?  Have we seen anything that's pointed to there being no "heart" in the trailers?  (Really, I've seen a lot of emotion portrayed there, actually.  So I dunno - I think you're going to be surprised by just how much this movie makes you feel...on multiple levels.)  And more graphics - when we're actually kind of reverting back to more sets, life-size props and vehicles.  Yeah, I don't agree with either of these.
4. Has Disney effed up your Marvel universe?  I can't say they've been 100% perfect, but no one ever is.  Now, I'm not even a comic book fan or a super hero fan, but I have really enjoyed these movies.  And I've talked to lots of other people who are comic book fans and super hero fans who really love them, too.  You're going to have a dud movie now and then no matter what studio you're working with.  It happens.  You can't please everyone all the time.  
5. I have 3 words for you: Phantom Menace promotions.  Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, and KFC.  Kentucky Fried Chicken, people.  C'mon.  It's not like this hasn't been done before.

And that, my friends, is my soap box for the day.  I know I said in my original post that I will have opinions that people won't agree with, and that's fine - because there are opinions that I don't agree with.  But that doesn't mean I'm going to bash someone for them if they share them.  Share away, but be respectful.

Be fans and be friends - because that's what this is really all about.

The Fandom Connection

There's something special that happens when one Star Wars fan meets another Star Wars fan.  You don't have to know the person.  You don't have to be in the same state this person lives in.  You don't have to be of the same "walk of life" as this person or even share the same likes in pizza toppings and views on religion.  All you have to do is realize that this other person is a Star Wars fan and - boom - instant connection.  It's what makes fan events like Star Wars Celebration so great.

Star Wars Celebration has a history that dates back to the prequel era when Lucasfilm held the first Celebration in Denver, Colorado in 1999 to celebrate the upcoming movie, The Phantom Menace.  At the time, I never heard a thing about Celebration - despite the fact that I was frantically snatching up action figures, clipping articles from the newspapers, and drinking more Pepsi products than I ever had in my entire life just so I could collect all of those character cans.  (Fandom makes you do weird things, people.  It's truth.)  A few years went by, and a second Celebration was held in conjunction with the release of Attack of the Clones, and the convention was moved to Indianapolis, Indiana.  I remember I heard about this - the weekend it was happening.  Now, Indianapolis isn't that far from me - a few hours in the car, and I could have been there.  But I was a young college student, not a lot of money, and trying very hard to work a job and go to school full time.  So Celebration was out, and I was bummed like you wouldn't believe.

I made a vow - right there - that I would be at the next convention, no matter where it was held.  So I made myself a little bank out of a coffee tin I snagged from my parents (because I didn't drink coffee at the time), and I printed out a picture of Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi and labeled it "Celebration III Fund".  Every time I would have change, it went in the tin with a satisfying "clink".  If I made some money from helping my videographer friend film a wedding, I put that money in my tin - "clink".  Extra cash left over after buying books and gas and insurance - "clink".  I saved for three years in that little bank, and I managed to save up enough money for a ticket, gas to get there, and to split a hotel room with a friend of mine.

Then real life happened - it wasn't a bad thing, but it felt like it at the time because it made my trip a tad harder.  My friend met her husband and got married in the midst of all of this Celebration planning, and then our group of two went to a group of three - and I didn't feel like I could room with them in a hotel.  That would just be a tad awkward.  So we added a second hotel room onto the reservation that I would be in by myself, and - since it was fair - I offered to pay for it in whole.  So that doubled my room expense, and I didn't have that money saved.  Luckily, my friends were understanding, and they offered to let me pay them back on a monthly basis, no interest, with the teeniest little college-kid-budgeted size payment plan you've ever seen.

And you know what?  It worked.  I made it to Celebration III in Indianapolis, IN in my mother's Hyundai Accent, with my burned CD of compiled Star Wars songs, parodies and sound clips and a whole lot of Star Wars excitement in my heart.

Now, I won't deny that this was a rough time for me personally.  School was tough.  I was in my senior year of college.  Things were dark and kind of oppressing, and I was struggling with a fun little bout of depression.  I had just recently found out it was "major depressive disorder", and my brain thought oh, so that's what's wrong.  But that's another story, and we won't delve into that ugliness right now.  What really matters here is that - yes - things were dark and heavy and rough and brooding and ugly - but Celebration...was a Celebration of so many amazing things.

I met online friends from the forums at www.StarWars.com.  I saw shows, looked at costumes, hung out with fans, watched trailers and gasped and ooo'ed and aww'ed over all sorts of things that were just nerdy and geeky and downright fun.  I waited in lines and then laughed when lines were "capped" (again) and complained more and laughed with people.  I got to wear my hand-stitched Jedi tunic that I'd worked for a year on - a year.  And I was so proud of it, and everyone thought it was awesome, and I felt so awesome.  And yes, there were times I was still down and I felt like crap thanks to my fun little brain chemical deficiency, but you know what - I wouldn't trade that Celebration for anything.  Not a thing.  None of it can ever be replaced. 

It's why I've continued to go to Celebration since CIII in Indianapolis.  I've been from one side of the country (Orlando, FL) to the other (both Los Angeles and Anaheim, CA), and those experiences have all been a mixture of both bad and good in all sorts of ways.  But I wouldn't trade them.  None of them.

Because when one fan meets another fan - while you're waiting in yet another long time for a panel, or just sitting there eating lunch, or you've seen someone wearing a costume you love - there's a connection that you don't find much in life anymore.  There's a sense of, "This person is like me.  Okay, maybe not 100%, and we don't see eye to eye on everything.  But check this out!  They like this thing!  This one thing, and we can talk about this, and we're both excited about it.  And isn't it so amazing that blah and he did yada and omg did you see when so-and-so?!"  *insert Kermit flail here*

That is what being a fan is.  What it's supposed to be about.

And I won't trade that for anything.  Ever. 

A Long Time Ago in a Galaxy Far, Far Away....

It is a time of insane ideas, geeky moments, and crazy adventures.  We can all live in those momentary flights of fancy, pretending that we’re the hero.  That we’re off to save the day or protect the galaxy….or maybe just fix the copy machine and manage to navigate the 9-5 pace.  Truth is, we don’t always have time for our nerdiness.  The responsibilities of adulthood tend to take over our minds, and we can forget the power of dreams and imagination and creativity.  I know I’m one of these people.  I’ve caught myself on more than one occasion grumbling about real life, and I know for a fact that my imagination isn’t what it used to be.

But I believe there are times when you can cut loose and let that “childishness” come out.  It’s not something to be ashamed of as an adult.  I think it’s something to embrace, honestly.  Sometimes, this world is just ugly; it seems like all we see is hate, bitterness and torment.  I think being able to wipe that all away – even for a moment – and dream of a better time, a better place, a better world…that is amazing.  It’s therapeutic.  It keeps us sane in an otherwise insane world.

So my inner-child comes out to play through a couple of things that I hold near and dear.  The first thing I’ll claim is Disney (since I learned about it at a much earlier age).  My second (and probably largest) fandom is Star Wars.  Now, in the last few years there has been a lot of talk about these two fandoms/franchises – with the sale of Lucasfilm which is now owned by Disney.  There are new movies coming out, a reboot of the Expanded Universe books, new developments for a “Star Wars Land” at the Disney Parks.  It’s an insane time to be a fan of both of these things.

Now, I know I’m not the only one out there who is a Star Wars fan and a Disney fan.  These things aren’t exclusive to me alone.  But the way I view these fandoms, how they fuel my life, my passions, and my goals – all of that is unique to me.  No one else.  Just me.  And while some people will agree with what I have to say, other people will go, “My word, woman!  What are you thinking when you say [insert what I considered to be a normal statement here]?!”  The thing is that I’m thinking what I think – and that’s okay.  And it’s okay for you to agree with what I think or disagree with what I think.  I think that’s just fine.  We’re all different.  It’s the only thing that makes this crazy world interesting.

This blog – while I’ll be honing in on the topics of Disney and Star Wars specifically – probably won’t bring you anything new in terms of news.  Everyone out there is talking about Disney and Star Wars.  That’s not news.  But what this blog will be in my unique spin on what these things mean, what they do for me, what they’ve done for other people, and how they have and will affect my life in so many different ways.

It’s going to be a journey, and I promise it will be a weird and winding one.  It might be boring along the way because – hey – whose life is 100% exciting all the time?  Even Luke Skywalker had his dull moments.  A lot of ’em.  Up until he stared out at that twin sunset on Tatooine and wished he were a million miles away, Luke was stuck and down and depressed on a desert planet.  But when he looked out at that sunset, he dreamed of something bigger – knew he was destined for something greater, even if he didn’t know what it was just yet.

So that’s what we’ll work towards.  We don’t know the ending, and we don’t even know what paths we’ll take to get to where we’re going.  But we’ll get there, and we’ll do it together.

May the Force be with us.