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When the end credits rolled I was trembling with excitement. I stayed up most of the night consuming every thinkpiece, review, and speculative discussion I could find.
The Star Wars fandom had roused from its slumber and was now infused by prodigal geeks like me and a host of squealing, passionate newcomers. And oh, what a magnificent fandom it has become. Then came Mad Max: Fury Road and I was done. I decided if entertainment refuses to include people like me then I refuse to waste my money on it.
Why slog through dudebros in Antman when I could watch Black nerds in Dope? When I sat down to Star Wars: The Force Awakens , I arrived with my disappointment all ready to go. Beyond that, the original trilogy had long since lost its luster for me. I grew up watching VHS tapes of the original trilogy, but the older I got the less appeal they held. So with all that floating around in my head, imagine my utter shock and amazement when I found TFA completely engrossing. TFA is a wildly imperfect piece of entertainment.
The glaring plotholes and copy-pasted story arc from A New Hope hurt the overall story. Diversity achievements were unlocked but only in the least controversial means possible. Although there are multiple Asian actors nearly all male , barring one quick line about Han Solo between two Kanjiklub dudes, none of them talk to each other.
Or more accurately, the pros of the movie itself far outweigh the cons of social context. Where TFA planted the love, what made it grow and blossom was the fandom. I, like many early reviewers, got lost in the weeds of all those aforementioned obstacles. The sheer number of cons would for any other movie make them major problems, but the longer I spent getting to know this new expanded universe the more those flashing red lights became negligible nitpicks.
Being a fan in the 21st century is pretty kriffing awesome. In a way, being a fan of TFA is participating in two different yet parallel fandoms. And as fans of the characters in TFA we revel in the glory of unbridled imagination. Instead of having to settle with whatever nonsense Lucas decrees, we take his inspiration and run with it.
It was thrilling watching the TFA fandom emerge as fic writers coalesced around collectively created fanon character studies hinted at in the film but left unexplored—Poe being a player who values consent and respect, Finn as a dorky probable virgin desperate not to make a mistake, Rey being blunt and lacking in social cues but yearning for affection and friendship, Hux with a Starkiller-sized bout of emotional constipation, Kylo and his groan-inducing temper tantrums and deadly daddy issues.
Rather, fandom exists to enhance the experience. TFA reminded me of my forgotten love of Star Wars , and fandom turned it into a full-fledged addiction. The characters make or break a movie or TV show for me, and the newbies are hands down the best thing to come out of TFA.
Swoon-worthy Poe shares the dedicated drive, carefree humor, and fabulous hair of Leia but without being forced into a gold bikini. If Luke can do it without complaints from the peanut gallery then so can Rey. More importantly, as much as I needed to see Rey, Finn, Poe, et. There is now a whole generation of young people who are growing up in a world where Captain America and Spider-Man are Black, Ms. Marvel is a Pakistani teenage girl, and Captain Marvel a woman. Hamilton puts women and PoC back into history.
YA haven The CW imbues all of its media with diversity and feminism. Now one of the biggest cultural touchstones in American entertainment finally puts us minorities at the forefront. All those diversity issues I mentioned earlier?
They pale in comparison to the fact that the three main protagonists are a woman and two men of color and that the script is marvellously feminist in subtle yet powerful ways, all while being one of the biggest moneymakers in cinematic history.
That means something, especially to those of us not male or white. Anyway, look The Force Awakens is great yo. We all know it. Force-almighty it is just a blast. Alex Brown is an archivist, research librarian, writer, geeknerdloserweirdo, and all-around pop culture obsessive who watches entirely too much TV. Keep up with her every move on Twitter and Instagram , or get lost in the rabbit warren of ships and fandoms on her Tumblr.
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