On criticizing Star Wars for the sake of being heard

There’s no such thing as a perfect story. Not even in Star Wars. As fans, we’re inclined to look at every small detail in a galaxy far, far away and find what’s hidden beneath the surface. Sometimes this means we find things we don’t like — and that’s OK. It’s completely normal and valid to criticize what you love. If you love it, you want it to be better.

This practice turns sour when you stop enjoying what you’re consuming and start actively looking for the flaws in everything that’s made. Of course if you look for them you’ll find plenty. But there’s an entire segment of the Star Wars fandom that exists exclusively to talk about the things within the franchise (as well as those involved in making it) they hate. It sparks debate and results in people getting the attention they crave, and it’s not actually moving the franchise forward. Maybe for some, that’s exactly the point.

Having a loud opinion and launching it out into the world has become a side hustle, a moneymaker. A chance to rise above the noise for whatever the 2022 Twitter equivalent of “15 minutes of fame” happens to be. And when someone becomes renowned for their negativity, they suddenly find themselves with the illusion of power to influence and encourage others with similar viewpoints to amplify the rhetoric.

Perhaps there’s a misguided belief here that saying you hate something has the power to change it, to transform it into exactly what you think you want to see and feel and hear. In the case of Star Wars, this practice doesn’t work the way some might hope. There are entire groups of people dedicated to tearing down every new Star Wars property that exists, but the last time I checked, Star Wars is still continuing to do everything those groups say it shouldn’t no matter how loudly they protest.

That’s the thing though: For many of these people, “changing” Star Wars into what they want it to be isn’t actually the end goal at all. Their only purpose is to dish out their opinions. Why? Because hate gets clicks and clicks get money. And there’s a sense of power that comes with watching a lot of people agree with you, even if it has no real-world benefits.

I’m not here to tell people what they should and shouldn’t do, unless of course there’s harassment or bullying involved (which there unfortunately too often is). Even if I were to kindly ask Star Wars haters to quiet down, they wouldn’t. People are free to do what they please as long as they’re not hurting anyone else in the process. I’m simply here to point out the weird and exhausting process of loudly saying you hate Star Wars for the sake of hearing yourself yell. I don’t see the appeal.

But I also prefer to spend my time enjoying my life and spreading the joy of fandom with others who share the love. You do you, I guess. A person doesn’t have to — and likely won’t — like everything Star Wars makes. But spending your whole life criticizing a space opera is certainly an interesting legacy to crave.

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