So, You Have Accepted the Truth



   “So, You Have Accepted the Truth” - Extended Universes


“A thousand pages of hobbits hasn’t been enough for three generations of post-World War II fantasy fans…writers are creating the hobbits they still love and pine for; they are trying to bring Frodo and Sam back from the Grey Havens because Tolkien is no longer around to do it for them.”
-          Stephen King, On Writing


There will never be another Star Wars movie.  It is done.  Finished.  Many believe it should have stopped after Return of the Jedi; there are even some who think it should have stopped with A New Hope.  Yet there are those who believe that the new trilogy (NT) is just as relevant, just as inspired as the old trilogy (OT).

The entire Extended Universe (EU) remains an active example of the above quote.  The entire EU is a pale reflection of the only universe there is.  George Lucas’ universe.  There is no other, and since he is done making Star Wars films, an entire industry has been thriving to avoid this fact.  It is the classic example of “you can’t have your cake and eat it to”.  It should be pointed out that most people misunderstand this quote.  They take it as, “it’s my cake, why am I not entitled to it?”  It means you can’t hold the cake in your hands and eat it at the same time.  It is one or the other.  If you eat it, you no longer have it.  It is no longer yours.  If you hold onto it forever, you cannot eat it.

EU fans are caught in this very struggle.  They want Luke to save Darth Vader and bring him back to the light.  They also don’t want that to happen because it means the end of this wonderful dream.  And so they are stuck in limbo, reading pale, shadowy reflections, “thin, sort of stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread.”  They want every bad guy to have some kind of redemption, they want new, bigger and better Death Stars, but alas, instead they get the Sun Crusher.

So, instead of accepting the bittersweet reality that the story ended with Darth Vader’s transformation, EU fans hold on, sometimes vehemently.  With every new Jedi, with every new Sith Lord, with every new ship, the miracle of the original experience is covered in shadow.  The darker the shadow becomes, the more the original memories fade, the more the EU is thought to be needed.  The more they miss that original feeling they had when they had seen the movies for the first time, the more they are willing to accept anything.  Quantity has replaced the old currency of Quality.

The debates and arguments are endless.  EU fans perpetually grow angry with George Lucas.  They hate him and what he has done because he refuses to bring the hobbits back from the Grey Havens.  Lucas is blamed for their own lack of vision.  For not perpetually making them feel like they are 8 years old again.  But people need someone to blame for their own unhappiness, don’t they?

The EU is dangerous.  It chokes the life out of what is.  There is nothing to be gained by shining a million watt light into every nook and cranny of this universe.  Nothing to be gained by pulling back the curtain and shouting “ah-hah!” at the great and terrible Oz sitting at his machine.  EU fans, writers, etc. are supposed to do what Lucas did.  You were meant to be inspired and go out into the world and create your own worlds, to show the world things they have never seen because it is within your own imagination.  You were not supposed to run around in circles in this galaxy like somebody’s pet hamster.  You were meant to “bring balance…not leave it in darkness.”

Remaining in the Star Wars EU is certainly a safe haven.  There are no surprises here; it is comfortable like a favourite shirt.  It takes courage to go out and fail.  It takes courage and maturity to admit that your favourite shirt no longer fits like it used to.  It takes courage to go out and find something new.  Something that will inspire you to dream out loud.

“Go then, there are other worlds than these.”

            - Stephen King, the Dark Tower Series

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