Star Wars: The Next Generation

Fun fact: In a few months, Star Wars Episode 1 will be old enough to drink. 

The other day I was watching some people on Twitter argue about Star Wars.  Actually, I do that most days.  One person said that he can’t wait until twenty years goes by, and the new trilogy is just another part of the series.  I remember saying the same thing about the Prequel trilogy a few years ago. 

Of course, there were a ton of responses to the tweet, some complaining about all the new films, some praising this film over that film, and so on.  But I noticed something interesting.  The younger tweeters kept saying things like, “Episodes 1-6 are timeless classics.  These new movies will never be as accepted as the original six.”  Gee, that sounds familiar.  Judging by their profile pics, these tweeters were probably about the same age when they saw The Phantom Menace as I was when I first saw A New Hope.  The cycle continues, and I love it.  But still, that phrase – “the original six” – hit me hard.  Twenty years from now, another generation will be referring to the current movies as “the original nine” while complaining about the newest entries. 

If it takes twenty years.  The latest rumors seem to indicate that the next trilogy will take place 400 years earlier, during the New Republic era.  What I’m wondering is if these movies will be called “Episodes 10-12”, or if they’ll have their own numbers.  I hope it’s the latter.  I don’t want the main series to jump back and forth in time.  I say keep the main series generational, with a new trilogy every couple of decades.

Anyway, it’s neat that the kids who grew up on the prequels are adults now, criticizing the next generation.  If you’re exactly the right age to appreciate one trilogy, it means you’ll be exactly the wrong age to appreciate the next trilogy.  I just don’t think adults get how Star Wars movies are supposed to be written.  George Lucas conceived Star Wars as an homage to the Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers serials from the 30s and 40s.  They were never supposed to be serious dramas.  They were supposed to capture the imaginations of children, and make silver screen buffs misty-eyed with nostalgia.

Star Wars isn’t bad when it’s serious, but it’s at its best when it’s cheesy.  People had lots of complaints about The Last Jedi, but I wonder if it’s biggest flaw may have been that it was too good to be a Star Wars movie.  Maybe it was deeper than Star Wars fans expect, in ways that didn’t fit the “space opera” genre.  I don’t know, it’s just a thought.  For me, out of the new trilogy, The Force Awakens feels the most like a Star Wars movie.  The Last Jedi went a little too far trying to subvert expectations, and Rise of Skywalker went a little too far with the fan service, but both are fun movies in their own way.

Unrelated, but I think it’s neat that each trilogy consists of one stand-alone movie, followed by two movies that complement each other.  A New Hope?  Perfect stand-alone movie, with a valid beginning, middle, and end.  But Empire Strikes Back is useless without the other movies.  You won’t know what’s happening if you haven’t seen A New Hope, and you don’t get any resolution if you don’t see Return of the Jedi.  A New Hope can be enjoyed by itself, but ESB and ROJ need each other. 

The Prequels even more so.  The Phantom Menace is a cute (if sometimes boring) story introducing the characters and showing us Anakin’s roots.  It’s not a great movie, but it’s a complete one.  Episodes 2 and 3 are a two-part story showing the rise and fall of the Clone Wars.  It’s nice to see that the newest trilogy keeps the tradition alive.  The Force Awakens is a solid one-shot movie, if a little derivative of A New Hope.  Its sequels are a bonded pair, even if the fans are too stubborn to recognize it.

This is why I hate all the fighting between Last Jedi and Rise of Skywalker fans.  The two movies complement each other just fine, just not in the ways some fans hoped for.  Empire Strikes Back had you asking questions that Return of the Jedi answered.  But the new trilogy has a slightly different relationship:  The Last Jedi starts rumors that The Rise of Skywalker debunks.  It’s less like the teacher/student relationship of earlier trilogies, and instead Rise of Skywalker is like Snopes, and Last Jedi is like that geriatric aunt of yours who only watches Fox News.  You didn’t get the answers you wanted, but you got the answers you needed.  It’s a somewhat rocky relationship, but it’s still a relationship.

Anyway, here’s a video I made about the whole “Last Jedi” vs “Rise of Skywalker” civil war: