My Anxiety Files - Episode IX and Holiday Turkeys
We may have witnessed a minor
cultural shift. It could be a genuine
change in the way my generation behaves from here on out, or it could be merely
a blip on the radar and my ego is blowing it out of proportion. Assigning significance to just about everything
is the American way, so at least I’m being consistent.
The reviews and reactions to Star Wars - Episode IX are in and they are mixed. ‘Mixed’ is the modern euphemism for ‘we
can’t decide if this sucks or not’. It
is messy and problematic, but I still enjoyed the experience. Buried inside that idea is something that us
Gen-Xers, now in our late forties or so, should fully understand. We grew up on a steady diet of pop culture,
and it really doesn’t matter if it was good then, or it still resonates
today. It was fluff made for fun and to
sell toys. Did you have fun? That’s all that matters.
The split on Episode IX isn’t like
the last movie. There were a bunch of
white nationalist, racist, Trumpy pieces of garbage that had a problem with
women in space movies and one of them have the audacity to be born with an Asian
heritage. The movie wasn’t great, but it was still a coherent movie. Ep IX is a dizzying barrage of Star Wars
stuff. Even people who love it agree it
felt rushed. I did. But I wasn’t upset by it. Why? I
understand these truths: I’m
forty-seven. I was entertained. Most
Star Wars movies aren’t A-plusses anyways.
But I loved them, and I will continue to do so.
As an adult, I can use the metaphor
of a holiday dinner. Everyone has had
the experience of a shitty Thanksgiving, Christmas spread, or anniversary
dinner that didn’t go over well. The
oven broke down, the stuffing was underdone, the potatoes were gummy or your
dog jumped onto the dinner table and humped the turkey. It was a meal you looked forward to, and it
was disappointing. You get older and you
laugh at these things because its all you can do. It's funny.
You know you’ve had wonderful meals before, and you’ll have wonderful
meals in the future. You don’t stop having
holiday meals because this one sucked.
You just throw that turkey out.
I’m not an apologist. If you want
to hate on Episode IX, there’s plenty to pick apart. That’s fine.
I just don’t want to do that shit anymore. I had a blog post a week ago that detailed
all my nitpicking about the prequel movies.
I started that in my twenties, and I don’t want to spend another moment
of brain time dissecting fluff. There is
an entire universe of books, comics, and games that tell other Star Wars tales
that are pretty damn good. As for
picking apart this stuff or superhero movies or TV shows with crappy endings, I
will announce my retirement for giving a shit.
Any criticism will be for fun and conversation, any consumption will be
purely for the intent for which it was intended.
It’s also not a cop-out. I’d be making excuses for the movie if it was
a cop-out. I have no excuses to make,
nor do I care about copping out. I am
moving on. Rising above.
The rest of this piece could be
about nerd culture, fandom, the cultural obsession with distraction, the need
to pay closer attention to the things that matter, unplugging, and a dozen
other possibilities. But it’s not. Nothing I say about any of those things
really matter and that might be my point.
It’s about me, and how I deal with the giant culture that surrounds
me. It makes me ill most of the time,
but there are things about it that I love.
I don’t want to leave it behind.
But I have to adapt and grow as a person, and that includes how I engage
with it.
Isn't it better to take it for what it is? Leave the significance at the door? We're adults. We should be able to tell the difference between a nourishing meal and cotton candy. Do we need a debate on whether the last serving of cotton candy was better, or they had better cotton candy twenty years ago?
I honestly believe I would have
walked out of the theater the same way if the movie was a solid A+. “That
was fun. It’s over now. What’s next?”