Just to get this out there at the beginning, I’ve been listening to the ForceCast for a good 4 years now. I fell off for a little while when the Karen Traviss thing soured my opinion of, to be honest, Star Wars fandom in general. I love me some Star Wars, but the loudest voices within the group of people I enjoyed sharing that love of Star Wars with had turned into the very internet trolls they themselves had been so angry about not a year before.
Speaking of which, it wasn’t too long ago (though now that I think about it, it could have been close to a year, maybe two considering it was at the beginning of the Clone Wars TV show) that Jason said something simple like not caring for the current EU novels and them not really being the Star Wars stories he was interested in and as a result he was met with some very strong words from some people in emails and voicemails to the show that said that he obviously wasn’t a real Star Wars fan because he didn’t read everything that came out; blah, blah, blah. To be fair, I really don’t think he deserved the response that he got for that simple statement. His stance used to be that he didn’t care for them, but if you did, that was okay.
Now, however, seemingly in response to those same trolls, or ones like them, he’s become a troll himself, albiet on the other side of the fence. It all really started with the whole Karen Traviss thing when the Clone Wars TV show started stepping on the continuity that she had built up with her Republic Commando series of novels, novels that became very popular within the Star Wars fan community because they were such a breath of fresh air within the EU. The characters were all original, the stories were their own and they showed a different side of war in the Star Wars universe that wasn’t heroic or clean, but dirty and a fight to survive by a group of people that had no idea what they were going to do with themselves when the fighting stopped. She was the first, or one of the first anyway, to show the tragedy of the Clone Trooper and make it compelling, ideas that have made their way very much into the Clone Wars TV show we have now, though in a more kid friendly sense.
Now, the way that Karen Traviss handled the changed in continuity was poor, however, you can understand her being upset I think. All of these characters were original and in a very real sense were hers. Having her stories cut short by something entirely out of her control, especially when she was leading the writing duties for the official tie in novels for the Clone Wars TV show but an almost random feeling decision that had been previously said by both Lucas and Filoni that wasn’t going to happen (namely, the inclusion of the Mandalorians in the Clone Wars TV show) would be jarring and disappointing. I’m still not making excuses for how she handled everything, which was badly, but I can understand where she was coming from in that everything that she had written up until that point was based on the established canon of the Star Wars universe. However, the ForceCast, and Jason in particular took what I felt to be extreme offense that some stupid EU author would dare claim any kind of ownership over anything that says Star Wars on it. After all, it’s Lucas’s story and no one else’s.
That is where they are both right and wrong on quite a few levels. Sure, Lucas created the universe and it’s his to play around in as he sees fit. However, whether there is or not, there definitely feels like there’s a little bit of a lack of respect for what has come before. It’s Lucas’s universe, but he let other people come in a play and change things. If he didn’t want to have to pay any attention to those changes, he shouldn’t have let them happen in the first place.
I’m not saying any one party is wrong. The Star Wars EU has become bloated and boring and the characters and stories within the EU have become stagnant which is why my personal readership has fallen off considerably of late, especially after the nine book series became the standard format. I have neither the time nor the money to buy and read nine hardcover books telling a story that feels drawn out and uncompelling anyway.
So, the opinion that the Star Wars EU isn’t very good is maybe not entirely unfounded. However, the way that Jason takes exception to the end of a character he personally cares about even though he is now, effectively, a different character being used in stories that Jason has, admitedly, never read and taking offense to the idea that the all wise editorial team at Lucas Books could have ever been even responsible for anything going wrong in the Star Wars universe (it’s all obviously completely the writers’ fault. I mean, they’re just incapable of doing their jobs, right?) Because there aren’t any stories out there of writers wanting to tell compelling stories only to get shackled by the editorial staff in charge of their licence. Sam Raimi forced to put Venom in Spider-Man 3 springs to mind, among others.
Ultimately, the idea that Star Wars only belongs to George Lucas is a bit outdated. Star Wars is way bigger at this point than one man. Star Wars belongs to all of us, which is probably why people react so strongly to stuff like this. It’s been something that has gotten me through some rough times myself. Jason says that Star Wars needs to be one big franchise, but apparently fans of the franchise don’t deserve the same treatment. Instead, those that do care about the EU are part of some fringe of Star Wars fandoms that consists solely of “kooks”. It’s been said by others, but the exception that Jimmy took to be called a nerd is fine, but then turning around calling fellow Star Wars fans kooks is okay, I guess?
You’ll realize that I mention Jimmy very little in this whole thing. I think Jimmy is the levelheaded one, but at the same time, as a cohost, he shares some of the blame for the extended, unneeded, and overly confrontational EU rants that Jason keeps going on on the show. Basically, I don’t listen to podcasts to be insulted by their hosts. I originally started listening to the ForceCast because it was fun and because it represented a community of people that I could share Star Wars with. Jason’s loud hatred of the EU, however, has turned the ForceCast into something that isn’t fun anymore. They can’t keep hiding behind the idea that it’s all just commentary when also presenting themselves as a legitimate source of Star Wars news.
I listened to the episode of the ForceCast in which they talked to FanGirl about the blog that kick started this whole thing, and I’ve listened off and on to the show since. I’m still subscribed in iTunes and it’s something that, currently, I’m listening to only when I’m out of other podcasts to listen to on my iPod while I’m walking to work or campus. I’m not as angry as I was when I first started writing this post a couple of weeks ago (it’s been sitting in my drafts for a while). To be honest, I’m kind of over it.
So, while I’m not going to be boycotting the show, I’m not going to be going out of my way to listen either. As I said before, Star Wars had gotten me through some rough times and the ForceCast was a big part of that. I remember when I waited with bated breath for the newest episode of the ForceCast, and I don’t do that anymore, and that bums me out. It really does.
-WC
I’ve been listening to the Forcecast for about 4 years now and, being a fan that cares very little about the EU, I began at one point to get annoyed by the shows constant ramblings about the topic. Due to the fact that I mostly agree with Jason, I haven’t been too bothered by the discussions, so I continue to listen. I don’t see why people would be bothered by what Jason says but then again I usually agree with him. The show does begin to feel a bit stale every time they bring up the topic though.
Fair enough, but being called a kook because I enjoy the EU doesn’t make for fun listening for me. Star Wars fandom is supposed to be fun, and the whole EU thing stopped making it that. I’ve listened to a handful of shows since the whole “Skywalker Must Die” and they’ve been enjoyable, but it’s like hanging out with an old friend who messed around with your ex or something. You’ve got so much good history that it’s still fun, but it feels kind of awkward at the same time.
You don’t have to like the EU to be a Star Wars fan or the host of a Star Wars podcast, but belittling other people because they don’t agree with you is not a good way to keep around the kind of people that listen to Star Wars podcasts. Star Wars fans, especially those on the internet, are the very definition of a vocal minority, especially those that are fans of the EU. As part of that very vocal group, the ForceCast can’t really be surprised when the rest of that group has something to say back.
I don’t have anything against the ForceCast, but it will take me a while to ever get back into it. Provided I do at all.