Discussion Why all the EU Hatred?

Around here they call me Darth Handsome. You got yourself a date.

So true. But people don't go to books stores or the library anymore.
I don't like it when people say that they are huge Star Wars fans but think that just because they have watched the movies, they are geeks on par with Sheldon Cooper. I met this one girl who, after finding out that I liked Star Wars, was like "Oh, I'm a HUGE Star Wars fan! I went to Star Wars: The Exhibtion!" You are not a huge Star Wars fan just because you liked the movies and saw something at the science center YOU WORK FOR, especially since you will never do anything else Star Wars ever again. Someone who's a huge Avatar fan after watching the movie is a huge Avatar fan, because there's only one movie and that's it. In terms of hours spent consuming, the movies are less than 1% of the Star Wars universe. Geek is more than owning one Captain America distressed t-shirt you got for ten bucks at Target.
I also am annoyed when little kids think they know more Star Wars than me, and that they are the ultimate fan ever because they watch TCW every week.

I would watch TCW every week, if it wasn't on in its awful new time slot.

I would too, if I got that channel.
But watching a TV show alone does not make you an ultimate fan.

True. A huge SW fan spends $5000 on his new cosplay outfit and is a member of the 501st. A huge SW fan makes up SW tie fighter models on Cinema 4D. A huge SW fan at least KNOWS there are books, comics, video games and a Star Wars TV series. A huge SW fan owns the SW Family Guy and Robot Chicken DVDs. A huge SW fan may make up SW fanart for their favorite fanfiction story or do roleplaying or make fan films.

It's not just sitting down and watching a movie.

The way things now stand, a true SW fan might make quite a bit more than a fan film...

Right. A real fan goes beyond what everyone else in the theatre did with you, watching the movie.
Personally, I don't have a lot of merch, but I don't buy much of anything (I'm all about consumption, not owning) - but I go find content that isn't blockbuster flicks stuff. I read. I research. I know more SW when I was 12 than those hipsters who think they are the hugest fans ever because they bought a Star Wars Happy Meal will ever know.

You are not a really big SW fan...until other regular Star War fans think "Wow, what a fanboy nerd!"

I'll PM you.

Actually the whole recent accepting/promotion of Geek culture is annoying to me. All of a sudden people that used to make jokes about me for wearing hard to find Marvel and Batman T-Shirts, collecting some of the toys, and even reading the comics are going to me "OMG I'm SUCH a HUGE fan of Iron Man, he's so cool!!! I have a bunch of t-shirts and screensavers and games. And I've read up on him on Wikipedia. Are you a Marvel fan too?"

Something that was made fun of eight years ago is now cool and everybody's a geek because they went to Hot Topic and got a bunch of T's.

Then I am now the coolest of the cool. I have to inform my sons.

Seriously. Geek is now cool. But real geeks still are not.

And you like Iron Man because you saw him in The Avengers? Do you know anything about the comics he came from?
Wait - Iron Man has comics?

Or even worse - They still make comics?

Geeks actually TRY which is what makes them geek. Buying a t-shirt (at Hot Topic, no less, not Her Universe) does not cut it.

I agree.
Simply owning the DVDs and some lego does not a fanboy make (or fangirl).
I don't fully understand the "EU hatred", either. While I agree that some of it is poorly written or thought out, that in and of itself isn't enough to justify the hatred. And saying you liked Zahn's Thrawn books, but not Denning, Salvatore, or whoever, doesn't make sense. What you're saying, then, is that C'baoth and Ysalimiri lizards are better than Yuzan Vong and Chewbacca's heroic death, because it's slightly better written? Do you think Windham's movie adaptations are well-written? Because they aren't. A child can read those. In fact, my understanding is that most SW literature is written FOR young readers. Hence, not the height of literary excellence. I LOVED the FotJ series. The villan was the most staggeringly evil thing the galaxy has ever faced, Ben and Jaina came into their own, loose ends were tied up, Han finally comes to terms with the deaths of his friends and family members, and (OMG!) The Sith and Jedi working together (sort of)!? I own hundreds of books, not all Star Wars. I have Lovecraft, Poe, Christopher Moore, Tolkien, Harrison...I read more than anyone I know. And I fully enjoyed FotJ. It was fun and exciting. One of the nicest things about the EU is it's continuity. If they ignore the EU completely in these new movies, I will be disappointed. However, if they at least have nods and cherry picks from the EU, I'll be fine. They don't NEED to bring back Chewie. They don't NEED to explain who Ben's mom was. Just like they didn't need to explain who Vader really was when ANH first came out, for it to be a good, exciting, space-opera movie. As for anyone who want's to argue about which/what EU is bad or not, don't bother, because I don't care. It's all EU to me, badly written or not. And it's all "canon" to me. As far as I'm concerned, Chewie is DEAD. Vader is DEAD. Mara is DEAD. Jacen is DEAD. If you choose to argue about such things, I will not respond, so move along.

Proved my point for me. Not saying that to be a prick, but it's the truth and is what I was getting at: the number of people who will be "outraged" at EU being cast aside is completely insignificant compared to the movie-going audience. Moreover, many people that read/play EU products/watch TCW don't eat up every scrap of information on Wookiepedia and won't notice or care if the movie invalidates some of these sources.

There is no chance disregarding "EU Canon" will cost Disney money in either the near or long-term.

Re: Your Last Point

Some people went to the book stores and didn't think there was very well-written content on the shelves.

I already said I was okay with a reboot because I hate half of the story lines. I am all for a good action packed SW movie and not have it bogged down by 'canon'. If I see Luke and Mara together I will be happy.

My point wasn't that they didn't read the books. I was shocked that they didn't know they existed. I mean there is an actual HUGE section in my local bookstore that is only SW. Unless you never stepped foot in a big bookstore, I don't know how you could miss seeing it. If you were really a "Huge" Star Wars fan I would think the logo would catch your eye and you might wander over and take a look.

I often pretend to not be aware of the existence of the books so that I don't have to get into a conversation with an EU nerd. lol

Well, this is the age in which 8 year olds have iphones and curse you out better than a sailor on xbox live. What is this reading you speak of?

Same. I hate a lot of what happens in the books, so I don't have to read them, but I still know what happens in them.
At one of my favorite Barnes and Nobles, the NJO and more adult books are traditionally placed, but all the Star Wars children's books/coloring books/sticker books are located in a stand-alone shelf marked "Non-fiction".

I forgot about that aspect. It's been years since I set foot in a bookstore, yet I read more than ever! That may be the case with many people. If you aren't looking up "Star Wars" on amazon, why would you be aware of the books?

If they blow the movies or strip mine Star Wars so no one cares about the movies coming out. There's going to be no fan base to back them like we did Lucas in the period between ROTJ and TPM.

Never say "there's no chance." People thought "there's no chance Apples ever gonna be worth more than Microsoft", "There's no chance this internets gonna take off", "Batman franchise is dead" "Comic book movies will never be popular", "The official Star Wars forum and Shop will survive" etc etc

No serious fanbase, but there will still be $$$. Blockbuster movies.

True, but I was referring to so called "HUGE" Star Wars fans and not the general population.

And please...there will always be a fanbase. We are still fans after Jar Jar, Boss Nass and furry little Ewoks helping overthrow the Empire. Somebody in another thread said the only way she would walk out of EP7 is if they made a SW version of The Human Centipede. And I would still probably watch it unless Luke's lips were sewn to Jar Jar's nether region.

I am aware of the canon levels maintained by LucasLicensing for continuity purposes. Perhaps my statement should have been more specific in that I was referring to film canon or G canon. I thought this would have been self-evident since we are in the FILM forum, discussing the next FILM in the Star Wars saga.

My only point is simply, if George or LucasFilm decide they want Chewie to appear in EPVII, then they will write him into the script. They are not going to consult the Holocron and see that he'd been killed in one of the novels and change their story.

Will they borrow names or ideas from the EU? Sure, they did so for the PT and OT SE so I'd think its a safe bet they will once again. Just don't expect to see Thrawn or Prince Xizor onscreen. I just believe when trying to speculate on EPVII, it's more realistic to stick with the events and characters of the films that have come before.

A "real fan" is not in the business of telling others that they aren't real fans. That doesn't make you a fan, it makes you a hipster.

A real fan is inclusive with their passion, not exclusive.

But dude, I was totally into being a geek before it went mainstream...