Commentary: ‘Star Wars’ Fans Need To Remember It Was Created For Children
by Frank Martin
Star Wars has grown quite a lot since it first premiered nearly half a century ago. It’s expanded well beyond the films into television, comics, video games, and more. With such a large franchise, different tones and takes on the series are inevitable. Fans that fell in love with the universe and its characters have grown up into adults who are looking to continue their fandom. However, tastes change and evolve over time. Although many fans still want to experience Star Wars, they are looking for more serious and grounded stories, such as those depicted in Star Wars: Andor and Star Wars: The Acolyte, But it’s important for adults to remember the franchise began as something geared towards children.
The first Star Wars film had a very simplistic plot that follows familiar formula. Darth Vader (James Earl Jones) is looking for the Death Star plans and takes princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) prisoner until gives them up. The plans fall into the hands. Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), who ends accidentally stumbling upon the Death Star and rescuing the princess. He then returns later, utilizing the plans to destroy the massive space station. To put the plot in fairy tale terms, a princess is kidnapped by a dragon. A knight then rescues the princess from the dragon and brings her to the castle before returning to slay the dragon.
Modern Star Wars is aimed at a more mature and older audience and is filled with subtext and symbolism. Of course, this grew from the foundation laid by the first Star Wars film, but the film itself has a very childish tone to it. This becomes obvious when viewing the film with children. Chewbacca’s growls, R2D2’s beeps, and scavenging Jawas are all fun and whimsical elements that kids adore. There’s a certain leap of faith in regards to the Force and Luke’s heroic actions from simple farm boy to rebel fighter pilot. Adult fans can be quite critical of new stories within the universe, but it helps to remember that the franchise was built on a lot of childish whimsy.
Star Wars is now streaming on Disney+.
