The aging of Star Wars Expanded Universe fandom

I think Luke Skywalker's treatment is really symptomatic of a larger attempt by Del Ray to win over audiences attracted to other kinds of science fiction/fantasy. One of the interesting comparisons to the Yuuzhan Vong was to Starcraft, that was rather popular at the time. I actually think that they were on the right track, it was just stopped by not looking at what inspired Starcraft. By which, I mean Warhammer.

There's an aging of the Science Fiction/Fantasy market that's occurring everywhere. Comic Books are now being sold towards 20 year olds, RPGs are likewise being marketed to adults, and the same for video games. For a reason, this is because the various fans of said institutions have grown up and taken over the hobby. Likewise, they realize that older fans are the ones with more disposable income.

I think we can really chart the same sort of shift with the adventure of the New Jedi Order. This is not an exact quote of course. Part of the reason that Timothy Zahn's Thrawn Trilogy was so popular was that it was nakedly marketed to older science fiction fans (twenty somethings) and my dear 12 year old self had to really focus on it in order to understand all of its nuance. George Lucas has always stated he was marketing to young boys and with Clone Wars, he's probably managed to get back some of the market that he lost with his rather political and depressing Prequels.

It might just be a sign of culture darkening in general, however. Last of the Jedi, one of the young adult readers sets, is one of the darkest of Star Wars fictions we've actually got. It's a rather bleak and disturbing series to be perfectly honest and I wonder what sort of weird environment that we're in that parents want their kids reading about the utter defeat of good.

Say what you will about TIE Fighter, but it's interesting to note the *IT* game for Star Wars now has moved away from being Rogue Squadron repeats into playing Darth Vader's young Sith Lord apprentice. It's bizarre that I'm starting to be glad World of Warcraft is out there for my younger relations as it is at least okay with being cute.

Anyone want to speculate on why we have this trend?

I think this can probably be rolled in here.

 

I think the easiest answer is that the fans have gotten older. The EU has to grow woth its audience or else we still be reading stories about six feet tall green rabbits and his adventures with Jar Jar.

Could you handle that?

 

I'm not sure.

I was rather fond of those and I still love G.I. Joe.

 

The early EU was in the early to mid 90s, aimed at people who'd watched the original movies in the late 70s to early 80s. Its target was therefore 20+, though it hooked younger readers too.

Weirdly, my introduction to the EU was through the original Alan Dean Foster novelization (already in my house) - an early version, with pictures. I didn't actually watch the movies until the Special Editions, but the Foster book was neat enough for me to go look for other books like that.

What really stands out when I re-read Bantam (and the seven OT-era Del Rey tie-ins) is that the books are just about completely devoid of teenage angst. (it's also notable that Luke Skywalker, over the course of the movie, gets over his issues and grows up)

Then George Lucas decided to have his romantic leads be 9 and 14 in TPM, and Star Wars novels started using small children and immature teens in important roles, and the angst just exploded all over everything.

 

Star Wars is a big universe and has room for all types of story, but I do see a greater shift towards this jaded, angsty Star Wars. While there's a place for that, it shouldn't consume everything.

The original Star Wars was about HOPE. Coming straight out of Vietnam, it was about making things bright again, about restoring the good that we lost. What happened to thinking "good" was cool? Now we only want to cheer for anti-heroes and drugged out ex-Jedi. I realize part of that is because we relate to fallen characters because we, ourselves, our fallen. But aren't our heroes supposed to inspire us to something greater and beyond ourselves and not just be a reflection of our own twisted mess?

Today, I think we could use a little of that sweet "green bunny" in our lives.

 

To some extent it's because the fans are aging, but really isn't it all about where the money gets spent?

SW.com in the past has surveyed age and levels of income, probably for this exact reason. Sure there are a lot of younger fans but often those are the ones waiting for the books to become available in the library or until they come out in paperback. In the bookstore, younger readers might have to camp in a chair reading as much of the latest SW book that they can, while an adult with a full-time job can just walk up and buy the book to read at their leisure. Fans are often born as teenagers but the benefit of their affinity for the franchise is often reaped years later when there's money in the bank to spend.

Recently some of the themes in the EU appear to be geared to an older audience. First of all the big three aren't spring chickens but it's fun for us old folks to think that 60 is the new 30. Han and Leia show romance can still blossom, while Luke touches a chord in many of the 'more mature' set, who have begun to accept the reality that sometimes we leave our loved ones behind, that our best friends can truly die. Too, the older a person gets the less black and white life can seem and that is reflected in the EU currently.

 

With Yoda being a notable exception.