Star Wars and Adjusted Expectations

Herein I use Star Wars to refer to the entirety of the franchise (the films and ancillary media) rather than the original film from 1977.

When I first learned that Disney had acquired Star Wars from George Lucas I was incredibly excited. Finally the films could break new and unexpected ground free from the shackles of Lucas' very flawed vision. I imagined Star Wars brought to life through the lens of my own preferences, the ideas suggested to me by the early conceptual artworks from the original trilogy. I imagined a dark contemplative fantasy, perhaps exploring the question of why the dark side of the force was seemingly so much more powerful than the light side, hinting at an ultimately evil order at the seat of power. I imagined a minimalist musical score, perhaps haunting electronica, juxtaposed against technology so advanced and ancient that its purpose has been long forgotten. I let my mind run wild, and then I realized the ridiculousness of my thinking and reigned in my imagination. As I reflected on the Star Wars films, I recognized that I did not appreciate them so much on their own as I appreciated what they brought to life visually and what those visuals suggested to my own imagination. I didn't care for the narrative or even the characters, I wanted something closer to Dune perhaps, with some of the aesthetic and production values of Star Wars (or rather, the production values that a Star Wars film could afford). It occurred to me that if those at Disney felt as I did they would not have purchased Star Wars at all. If all one is interested in is the promise of Star Wars then one can go ahead and make their own take on the thing, keep it original and avoid all criticism of straying too far from the proven formula. To purchase Star Wars is to signal a keen interest in what Star Wars is and what it promises. What it is may be many things to many people, but to most certain things are common: a throwback pulp-serial adventure, a pastiche of genres, a classic good vs. evil story, wrapped in the latest filmmaking spectacle and technology. Realistically I had little interest in Star Wars as understood by most of the audience and therefore little reason to be excited by it. So I adjusted my expectations and came to expect little other than repetitions of what had been done with the property before.

When I saw The Force Awakens I was largely pleasantly surprised. For sure there was a lot to not like and take issue with, but on the whole it was a visually striking film that moved through the familiar franchise tropes with a great deal more competence than that exhibited by the majority of the franchise entries. Unlike the prequels, TFA largely delivered on my childhood expectations of seeing the special effects of the original trilogy done with modern competence - no obvious black lines or green screens or mismatched lighting, but enough sophistication in the CGI to escape the feeling that I was simply watching a cutscene from a video game. Perhaps I went a bit too far in my lowering of expectations: in my worst fears time travel was introduced to the Star Wars universe and a literal do-over of the original trilogy occurred (a trick employed by director J. J. Abrams in his soft-reboot of Star Trek in 2009). While some may argue that the reset button was effectively hit on the franchise, I appreciate at least the modest amount of restraint employed by not making the switch literal.

References

Star Wars: The Force Awakens. (2015) Directed by J. J. Abrams [Film]. Burbank, Calif: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.

Star Trek. (2009) Directed by J. J. Abrams [Film]. Hollywood, Calif: Paramount Pictures Corporation.

Star Wars. (1977) Directed by George Lucas [Film]. Los Angeles, Calif: 20th Century Fox.