There have been plenty of vocal Star Wars fans over the years pleading and waiting for the day an R-rated Star Wars project is finally announced. Debate on both sides has always existed -- pros and cons for both arguments for and against the idea. I have resisted the notion for a long time that Star Wars needs to be more graphic or explicit -- but maybe that's not the real reason people claim they want an R-rating associated with a galaxy far, far away.
To better understand the argument for an R-rating, it's necessary to understand where (and whom) it's coming from. Many of the proponents of the pro-R-rated argument are -- and I say this absolutely without judgment, being a longtime hardcore fan myself -- people who live and breathe Star Wars. Who know it inside and out. Who are not afraid to both praise and criticize it. Many of these fans first saw Star Wars when they were kids. They've since grown up. And it's not at all uncommon for longtime fans of a franchise to want to see it grow up with them.
The notion that Star Wars is for everyone often, unfortunately, is taken to mean Star Wars is sometimes too childish. "For kids" and "suitable for children" are different by definition, but they're often taken to mean the same thing. George Lucas has always been adamant that Star Wars should be for everyone, and for the most part, it has stuck to that promise even after he willingly relinquished control of it. But many fans want more. More realism, perhaps. More violence, more grit. These are stories about war, after all.
But more than anything, there are grown adult fans of Star Wars who want a piece of Star Wars they feel is made especially for them. We watched the original trilogy as kids, they say. We want something more sinister. Perhaps they feel they're owed that. I can't speak to that personally -- I like that Star Wars, as a perfect blend of science fiction and fantasy, isn't so realistic that I feel I have to look away during an intense battle scene. But to each their own.
And that's why Lucasfilm should give this particular audience what they want. An R-rated project they can claim as their own. Why not? The more Star Wars expands its own definition of what it is and can become, who's to say loosening some of the usual restrictions wouldn't be a good business move?
Does "you never know until you try" apply here? I'm not an industry professional, I can't speculate for certain. But I am a journalist, and I do know that if an R-rated Star Wars film were ever announced, it just might break the internet. And not necessarily in a bad way.
Whether you're for or against the idea, you have to admit it: It would be uncharted territory for the franchise, and sometimes, that's just wild enough to work.