JCC Midlife SW crisis looming?

No idea where this should go, but this looks like as good a spot as any (until it isn't).

I think I may have had a bit of an epiphany about my SW fanhood, and I'm hoping some of you can help me out.

Firstly, I hated TLJ. Granted, Some of the "headcanon" arguments are real; I thought I "knew" Ben - had his history and arc all mapped out, and what I saw almost made me vomit in disappointment. Regardless, tip of the iceberg. So many irksome moments for me.

But while engaging someone in a Twitter argument about TLJ the other night (I'm not proud), I realized that a point I was going to make against them (about them not feeling engaged with what they saw in the prequels, therefore they found them "bad"), could just have easily been turned against me, and I started to look in the mirror a bit.

Post-TFA, I wanted to keep the sci-fi ball rolling, so I started watching Star Trek (the original series). I never liked Star Trek as a child, I think because it seemed a bit "heavy" (read: not fun). As a 7 year old, Star Wars ANH was the perfect blend of relatable narrative and thrill ride - it seemingly mirrored reality perfectly. To this day, it seems the "darkest" of the SW movies to me (harsh treatments of foes AND friends by Vader; Owen & Beru, Ben's death, etc.), all pretty ominous to a child. But lots of both fun and "cool factor" for balance.

I'll confess it took me a long time to come around to the prequels; they didn't feel like SW and I was underwhelmed by the world-building. I tolerate them now - and actually enjoy certain moments - because I look past the clumsy dialogue and eyeroll moments, and treat it more as metaphor. I figure if their worst crime is being overly ambitious, I can appreciate that. IMHO, You could edit 20 minutes or so out of each movie and end up with something REALLY good, which is better than being left wanting, I suppose. I get that sometimes you have to really WANT to find depth in something that may be a bit lacking in execution.

What am I getting at? I'm wondering if, as an adult, I need my Star Wars to be more Star Trek. Trek crammed more character depth and twists & turns into 45-50 minutes, than most modern movies can in 2 hours. And it took itself seriously, with (subtle and realistic) humor meant for other characters in the scene, and not playing to the audience. You could look past any cheesy effects because, again, metaphor. Trek was about the lesson, and it was easy to lose yourself in it and suspend disbelief with the visuals because it was always somehow so relatable with its socio-ethical issues.

Some of my TLJ criticisms (in terms of movie-making only; there's no sense in debating content): The breakneck pace of scenes that weren't allowed to "breathe", and humor that undercut the weight of what seemed like should have been weighty moments. These didn't exist in TFA. I feel that's a pretty objective statement. Some of the best scenes in TFA had timely pauses or simply no dialogue at all. I appreciated the (attempt at) heaviness within TFA (a few silly dialogue bits, Rathtars, and the "Let's wrap this up" SKB attack notwithstanding), and it made for a movie that was relatable; like life, there's bits of noise, with large doses of quiet. Some scenes were very Trek-like.

So there's no doubting the difference in tone between TFA and TLJ. TFA felt like it had all the potential for setting up a "Thinking man's SW trilogy", and TLJ kneecapped that notion and reminded us that this is a Disney franchise. I keep hearing that TLJ had all of these profound moments about grey characters and this and that, but I just feel like we've already seen that movie and then some - SW has always been about moral ambiguity, especially in the prequels - which, ironically, a lot of TLJ lovers are dissing in its defense. I went in totally cold to this one, ready to absorb anything...and was neither engaged nor taken aback in terms of story, by anything. I didn't think that was possible, and it saddens me to think that at least part of the reason is about what I now need from a story (or how I now process the ones presented to me).

I'm coming to grips with the fact that my needs have changed a bit, and that's on me. TLJ may be something I come around to (after I at least write some Ben fan-fiction for my own therapy), but the "This is what Star Wars needed", and that sort of stuff..? Is it, really? Where am I totally missing the boat? "Change for change's sake" never struck me as a compelling reason for anything. I can't believe I'm saying it, but I'm wondering if SW is starting to become a thing of my past. Any of you older folks (whatever that means) feeling similarly?

Truly looking to be educated and hear some fresh takes. Thanks for reading.

 

Here, I guess...

http://boards.theforce.net/threads/...e-jcc-tlj-spoilers-allowed-w-o-tags.50004769/