Hello
friends. I have a confession to make.
I
am a geek. I know that this is deeply shocking, but it's the truth. I
had always been a geek in a general sort of way, loving things like
dinosaurs and of course, fantasy. However, middle school was the
dawning of a new era of geekiness for me. You see, in middle school I
discovered my first fandom.
Cue
a black screen with blue letters bearing the immortal words: “A
long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...”
STAR
WARS!
Even
if you have never seen these movies you can probably hum the theme,
as well as the “Imperial March”. It comes on and fangirls and
boys across the galaxy cheer and light up our lightsabers. We roar
like wookies, laugh like hutts, and reverse our verbs like Yoda. We
don't say goodbye, but rather: “May the Force be with you”. We
cup our hands around our mouths in an effort to recreate the immortal
sounds of Darth Vader's respirator.
“Search
your feelings, you know it to be true”...
I
grew up watching the original 3 on VHS with my dad. I always liked them, but in middle school
my oldest friend brought me into the know about something incredible.
There
were Star Wars books!
Now,
in order to explain why this was a big deal I have to say that I
watch a lot more movies as an “adult” than I ever did as a kid,
in part because my parents were very pro-reading. They didn't want us
growing up watching a ton of television (something that I'm actually
really grateful for). So, while I loved the movies, it was the Star
Wars books that really brought me into the fandom.
I
can get into books way more than I can most movies because so much is
left up to the imagination. Star Wars is a giant universe to play in
and the books took full advantage of that. I also experienced for the
first time that while the main characters are the “heroes” the
side characters are usually the ones I end up super interested in (a
trend that continues to this day). While my friends were honing their
lightsaber skills and writing Jedi fanfiction, I was imagining how I
could get my hands on a modified Firespray-31-class patrol and attack
craft. I ended up getting
sidetracked from the “main story” concerning Luke, Leia, and Han
and drawn instead into “The Bounty Hunter Wars” by K.W. Jeter. I
love me some bounty hunters. Boba Fett is still my favorite character
in Star Wars, and it is largely due to “extended universe”
fanon, rather than movie canon.
This
has brought up and interesting question in debates between myself and
other Star Wars fans. The obvious argument is always that George
Lucas created Star Wars and as such, whatever story he chooses to
tell is the “real one”. However, if you are like me (and I know
this opinion is shared by a lot of other die-hard Star Wars fans) the
“prequel” movies...kind of don't count. If, for example, I was to
show my godson Star Wars I would just start with A New Hope and go
through Return of the Jedi. The new movies just don't do it for me.
They take away the mysticism of the Force, as well as explaining
things that really didn't need to be explained. It is kind of hard to
take Darth Vader seriously when you have watched him whine for 3
movies. The emperor isn't as effective as the creepy,
psuedo-otherworldly creature that he is in the original movies once
we have watched him be what we as Americans are seeing in droves as
we approach November 6th-just another politician.
It
is hardly surprising that so many of us who got drawn into the
“Extended Universe” have trouble accepting the newer movies. In
some cases, as with my favorite character Boba Fett, the stories are
quite different. I can't stress enough how much I dislike Fett's
origin story in the movies enough and that is in large part because,
in my opinion, his story in David Keys Moran's “The Last One
Standing: The Tale of Boba Fett” is much stronger. Now, this has
been worked into the canon as re-established by the movie, but for me
it just isn't the same. I think some of that has to do with what I
said earlier about the Emperor and Darth Vader. Even with Moran's
story a lot of Fett's past is still shrouded in mystery, which is
perfect for a character like him. Spelling out Fett's childhood robs
him of an element of that ambiguity which is so crucial to his
character.
Anyway,
this long rant is basically to illustrate the question that I am
concerned with. Is there a time when fanon should be held above
canon?
Of
course, as an author if my work were ever to become known/liked
enough to have people writing fanfic about it I would love to hear
what they had to say. Having written a lot of fanfic myself I don't
have a bad opinion of it. It can be done well. I can't
do it well, but I know people who are brilliant at it (Das Mervin,
I'm looking at you).
But
if I were in George Lucas' position and had created a world where
lots of other people were playing, what would then become canon? The
Star Wars novels, as far as I know, have to be approved to some
degree by the man himself. So...if he gives his approval to something
and it gets written, published, and largely accepted as canon is he
then obligated to stick to the story that was approved? Again, a lot
of people I know simply stick to “he created it, he can do whatever
he wants”. And of course, as an author, I can understand wanting
creative control to ultimately be in my own hands. However, as a
someone who is also a fangirl I feel like there is a point where
fanon does become important. Fans come up with some incredible
things.
So...when
does something become, or does it ever become, the “property” of
the collective culture? Is there a point where the creator of
something has to acknowledge that their work doesn't just
belong to them anymore and if so,
how much to they allow themselves to be influenced by their fandom?
This
is a tough question to answer and can be a slippery slope. The
internet has given fanfiction writers unprecidented power to play in
the fandoms they love and share them. And even if you look outside
fanfiction, there are countless forums dedicated to Westeros, Harry
Potter, Star Trek, Star Wars, Tortall, Redwall, and innumerable
others. Fans can speculate about everything together.
Bronies, Harmonians, Team Jacob, Kirk versus Picard, Bones and Booth,
BAU, all of have their fandoms who will loudly venture forth their
opinions and argue with one another in a glorious cacophony of
dissension, discourse, and pure wish fulfillment.
This
also means that if you are working on a story that is still active
and uncompleted there are going to be a lot of opinions about what
SHOULD happen. There's no way to make everyone happy. Look at some of
the reactions to Rowling putting Ron and Hermione together. A number
of the Hermione/Harry “shippers” were devastated and angry. But
does that mean that Rowling should have had Harry and Hermione end up
together?
Star
Wars, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and the countless other
stories that are ingrained in our culture are a part of us. They were
formative to us, they helped us establish friendships and learn what
is important to us in storytelling. But they are still stories that
were created by someone. That takes a lot of work and a lot of
dedication and that merits respect. I don't think that our love of
stories, or our purchase of books, movies, games, etc gives us
"rights" over them.
Before
you get on me about this...imagine if people such as George Lucas, J.K. Rowling,
Joss Whedon, and Gene Roddenberry had indulged every fan idea presented to them. Dobby and Dumbledore could have ended up romantic partners
(yes, that fanfic exists). The One Ring could have actually been a
TARDIS, Buffy could actually have been a vampire who later meets up
with Bella and Edward. I know this sounds ridiculous, but the point
is that pandering to every opinion isn't going to do the story
justice. I started reading Harry Potter because I wanted to hear J.K.
Rowling's story. It was hers to tell, no matter how I feel about some
decisions (certain characters getting eaten by drapery, for example).
I still respect that she is doing what she feels is right for the
characters and the story. We may not always agree about what's “best”
but it is HER story.
Looking
at it that way, it is easier for me to reconcile what happened to
Boba Fett's storyline. I may not like it, but I do think that it is
dangerous for a writer, director, any sort of artist, really, to try
and please everyone. It's important to listen to criticism (a topic
for another post, for sure), but at the end of the day you have to
tell you own story. It won't always end well, but that's art.
However,
that doesn't mean that I have to “accept” Boba Fett's new origin
story, just like all you Harmonians don't have to “accept” that
Harry and Hermione do not end up together. That is part of the fun
of being in a fandom. You are welcome to disagree with canon all you
like, but there has to be respect for the vision of the original
creator as well. They have given you a story; they don't have to give
you exactly what you want every time.
That
said, I think I will still skip showing my godson Star Wars 1-3, at
least until he is old enough to appreciate the differences between
the two triologies.
...just
on principle, you understand.
