There's been a lot of discussion over the last few months since The Rise of Skywalker's release about whether or not the Disney version of the franchise was good. Many fans believe the Disney-fied films lack the magic of the films in the franchise they grew up loving. But why is that? Yes, Rise of Skywalker had it's flaws, but doesn't every Star Wars movie? In fact, one could argue that no Star Wars movie has ever truly been good in quality. They can be fun and nostalgic, but they tend to lack the level of storytelling that other franchises like Harry Potter or even Marvel movies offer. Star Wars is simply good verses evil and the details beyond that don't really matter. Is there an argument to be made here that maybe that's enough? Maybe these films can be simple without all that Disney hoopla? Do we prefer our Star Wars movies to be simple, without too many complications?
I'd argue that dismissing merits of the entire Star Wars filmography is as faulty of a position as saying they are all amazing (they aren't). There are many merits to the films ranging from their cultural impact, technical innovations, music, etc.. Perhaps a better title would be: "Star Wars has always embraced good vs. evil narrative rather than being morally complex". Because if you want to write about a lack of moral complexity, that is a different article and it helps define your criteria more. Terms like "simple" and "good in quality" are decidedly vague and could create some issues within an article. What makes storytelling "good in quality". I'd also argue against the position that Marvel and Harry Potter are on some "higher plane" of story telling compared to Star Wars. Harry Potter has the advantage that it is build off of some excellent books, but the films rarely are as nuanced as the books they came from, but for whatever reason, the films and books often get lumped together. Many fans have many criticisms to the changes the films made to the book and how they sometimes simplify and cut out characters. Many Marvel films offer similar style "good vs. evil narratives" to Star Wars and there has been a long standing complaint about the lack of depth of many marvel villains aside from Loki, Killmonger and Thanos. The constant release of Marvel movies also covers up some of their own poorly received releases like Thor 2, Iron Man 2, etc.. In contrast, when a Star Wars film is poorly received, the dissatisfaction lingers for much longer because historically there usually was only a film every 3 years (every year during the disney era). This topic needs a great deal of clarification if it is to work as an article.
– Sean Gadus5 years ago
I wouldn't go about this topic by stating that Star Wars isn't good at all. I'd highlight the key points of the fault in it (i.e., what were the series' flaws? how could it have been better?) – Yvonne Tapia5 years ago
There's little I can add to those comments already made by Sean Gadus and Yvonne Tapia, other than to mention that, with respect, your topic suggestion is highly subjective. I'd recommend taking some time to read up on the use of the archetype in classical storytelling. – Amyus5 years ago
I think you might have something to talk about here in terms of narrative simplicity, but a successful and nuanced article would discuss why, despite not being "good" the Star Wars franchise has achieved massive success. Your prompt is interesting but it lacks a consideration of why people enjoy bog standard "good vs evil" narratives, of the massive technical achievements that the original trilogy represented, and so on. Maybe changing the premise to something like why Star Wars was so successful despite it's obvious narrative shortcomings (and why we maybe forget those shortcomings) would round out any prospective articles. – Daniel Byrne5 years ago
Every story has a fight between good and evil. However, Star Wars was one of the first big franchises to have a strong female lead, included a plot twist that would become one of the greatest (and, a little annoyingly, copied), and has iconic music. Not to mention it has great visual effects, quotes, and music. Sure, the newer films aren't maybe as good, but the originals were GREAT.
Also, Harry Potter and Marvel tend to get bogged down by all the characters and subplots and stuff. Star Wars is nice and simple. (Ish) – OkaNaimo08195 years ago
I guess the basic point is that an essay can focus on what Disney added to the series in some significant ways that was different than was there before. I assume as part of an essay on this, the focus would also be whether any changes were aimed at trying to draw in a different type of audience. – Joseph Cernik5 years ago