Stuff that I have no idea where to put – usually here just for myself or the odd link:
April 9, 2008 Letter to TheForceCast on the Star Wars Expanded Universe…
Years ago I wrote an unpublished piece to TheForceCast (the podcast of theforce.net) railing against Lucasfilm’s cavalier attitude concerning the works they had licensed. (Sidebar: the near continuous dumping on the EU is why I finally stopped listening to the show.) If you’re really interested, here’s the bit:
Hi guys,
I am a very big fan of the Force-Cast and I really enjoy a bit of good-natured debating, but this EU discussion has gone on long enough that I feel free to add to the noise with my own small thoughts.
I am a big fan of the EU, my particular focus being novels, but I would never try and insist that my fandom is somehow more complete or important than someone else’s because they view or ignore different sources. I guess part of my confusion over this whole discussion stems from the fact that I’ve never had someone try to lord over me with their knowledge; I haven’t had to deal with Comic Book Guy in a very long time. So I guess I don’t feel that I need to justify or defend my views to anyone particularly; if you have been put in that position, I’m sorry to hear that. Everyone should be able to enjoy Star Wars in whatever size they feel like snacking on.
So all I’ll say is that there are a few things that keep coming up in this long-running debate that I would really like to address, because I think there are some inconsistencies with the criticism leveled at the EU:
1. Please stop comparisons to Thrawn trilogy
I cringe every time a criticism of the EU starts with more praise of Heir to the Empire and a lament that “nowadays” the books aren’t as good. Newsflash: the books were never as good as that. Heir to the Empire was lightning in a bottle – the first of something is always special, and it filled a place in our hearts that we can never go back to. Holding EU novels up to the Thrawn standard is as unfair as comparing every modern film to Casablanca; not only do current films not meet that standard – classic films didn’t meet that standard, either. No EU novel is ever going to be that good again; and I know that, because Tim Zahn, arguably the most able of all SW scribes, has written 5 Star Wars novels since the Thrawn trilogy and even he couldn’t write something that special again. (All of his books are wonderful, but I think you’d be hard pressed to find anyone who believes that he has equaled his first trilogy.)
2. Quality vs quantity
On a similar line, let’s not let the love for the Thrawn trilogy fool us into misremembering the quality and quantity of the earlier EU titles. The Bantam Spectra titles of the 1990’s were just as uneven and mass-produced as current titles. A recurring anti-EU argument holds that there has been a movement towards too many new books leading to a watering down of quality. A quick look through Wookiepedia (about as much time as I’m willing to spend researching this) shows that this is not entirely accurate: Bantam Spectra published 43 books from 1991-1999 (5/1/1991-8/3/1999; 8yrs 3mo), compared with 53 books published by Del Rey in almost the exact same timeframe; from 1999-2008 (10/5/1999-2/26/2008; 8 yrs 4mo). {not counting any youth oriented titles for either time period}
I think that it’s worth pointing out that Bantam covered a much smaller in-universe time period with their 43 books, by necessity, since the prequels hadn’t been released. The Del Rey novels cover time frames before, during and after the 6-film saga. For example, while 2007 saw the release of a staggering 8 books, only half of those were in the same storyline (Legacy). The others were from 4 different time periods. (By comparison, Bantam put out 5-6 books a year in some of those years, so they weren’t letting the bookshelf get too dusty, either.)
To speak to Jimmy’s point, Darth of the Month is a very real and very problematic trend, you’re right. As real as, say, world destroying device of the month, or emperor resurrection of the month, two of the legacies (pun intended) of the Bantam years. I’m not in love with every twist and turn of the EU, either, but let’s please not fool ourselves into making the most classic of all blunders – pining for the “good old days”. There was no such time.
3. Books too frequent? What about collecting?
And by the way – I think it’s slightly ironic that such criticism is leveled at the EU for oversaturation on a podcast that requires a micro-cast for collecting news. Say what you will about the NJO or Legacy – my $6-7 got me a reasonably well-thought out well-written book that could last a slowpoke reader like me a nice long time. That same amount wouldn’t even scratch the surface of the most recent wave of any collection you name. Surely no one could argue with a straight face that 6-8 novels a year is overreaching in a marketplace that can sustain 3 separate companies who all produce upscale statues & figures of Star Wars characters. Not hating on the collecting by any stretch – I love it; but suggesting that the literary product is getting too watered down in a market that clamors for a Yarna action figure strikes me as a bit ridiculous.
4. George’s Canon (the controversial bit of my bellyaching)
George’s recent comments on the 3 levels of Star Wars storytelling isn’t really the smoking gun in my mind that it seems to be to some. His flip comment that he can’t keep up seems to imply that he has made some effort to keep up, which I don’t believe is the case. Lucas is a filmmaker, period. He is interested in one thing only – how to make the most cinematically interesting 2 hour movie he can. That is no insult – it’s a statement of purpose. Anything that does not advance his efforts to make the most entertaining movie is totally irrelevant to him. That’s fine with me right up to the point where he contradicts the licensed material because it doesn’t fit in with what he has decided to do, or because he can’t be bothered to keep up on the continuity of his own universe. Arguing that it is the filmmaker’s right to decide what is canon is a easy out. There IS a discrepancy when you take the money of fans for licensed material and then ignore what goes on in that material. It is a little insulting and fans can’t be blamed for feeling somewhat duped; “Oh, so this book was good enough for me to pay you for, but not so good that you acknowledge that it actually matters?” I’m not suggesting that as a director of this franchise that he should be so wedded to the licensed works that it ties his hands when making a film. But how difficult should it be to stay on message when all of the storylines to the Expanded materials are approved at Lucasfilm? No one is asking him not to contradict fan fiction, for goodness sake, but how’s about trying to not directly fly in the face of works published by your own company?
Has Star Wars passed George Lucas by? Wrong question. Better question: “is Star Wars bigger than George Lucas?” This argument was used countless times by many film critics and fans when calling for original theatrical cuts on dvd. It isn’t an insult to suggest that Lucas is not the ultimate authority on Star Wars any more than it is insulting to suggest that Stan Lee isn’t the final word on Spider-Man. These things move on and up past their original creators. Lucas clearly seems to accept this as he has made the decision to license so freely to other creative people. I consider this one of the problems that has cropped up in the EU; that Lucas plays so fast and loose with his own universe. Jason made an interesting point some time ago regarding Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry’s approach: “if I didn’t create it, it didn’t happen.” Maybe that would have made for a clearer distinction with Star Wars, but Lucas doesn’t follow those rules. George picks and chooses what he wants – he takes from the EU when he deems it helpful in telling his own story and ignores it when it doesn’t, leading to a very inconsistent approach. I frankly think that it’s a little disingenuous to take the money from these licensees and fans and disrespectful to the authors to be so cavalier about the licensed material.
The bottom line for me is that I really love Star Wars and I want as much as I can get. I do love the idea of making these things more of an event – of having something signed off on by Lucas himself that would be a big deal and we could all get behind. But I just don’t see that happening. Force Unleashed will make it exactly twice that he’s shown an interest in that level of involvement. And I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that; he can spend his time where he likes. But in the absence of G-level canon all the time, I’m going to take the EU, warts and all. It isn’t for everyone, and that’s ok.
Thanks for listening. Sorry to go on so long.
MTFBWY!