J.J. Abrams Addresses The Reaction Fans Are Having to STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER
As expected, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is being met with all kinds of different reactions. Some fans loved it, some hated it. While the film was far from perfect and there were aspects of it that I would have liked to see play out differently, I ultimately enjoyed what Abrams delivered. I actually liked it more the second time around when I saw it with a theater filled with fans who were cheering, crying, and gasping throughout the film. I love seeing movies with audiences like this!
However, there are also lots of fans who didn’t like the movie. I’ve been reading the reactions of fans that hated it. I can totally see why some fans disliked it so much. I get it… I had issues with the film as well, but I could still look past that stuff and enjoy the film for what it is. That’s just the kind of movie fan I am, don’t hate me for it!
Anyway, director J.J. Abrams recently participated in a panel where he was asked about negative reactions and if there's a problem with fandom today, and this was his response:
"I'd say that they're right. The people who love it more than anything are also right. I was asked... 'How did you go about pleasing everyone?' I was like, what? Not to say that should be what anyone tries to do anyway, but how would one even go about it? Especially with Star Wars. I don't need to tell anyone here, we live in a moment where everything immediately seems to default to outrage. And there's a kind of M.O. of it's either exactly as I see it or you're my enemy.
"It's a crazy thing that there is such a norm that seems to be devoid of nuance — it's not about Star Wars, it's about everything — and compassion and acceptance... It's a crazy moment, so we knew starting this any decision we made, a design decision, a musical decision, a narrative decision would please someone and infuriate someone else. And they're all right."
That’s a pretty good response because he’s right. There’s no way in hell that he would have been able to please everyone. The best chance they had to make fans happy was if Lucasfilm would have developed a clear outline for the story of this final Skywalker saga trilogy and where it would have ended up. Instead, they just let the filmmakers do whatever they wanted individually and there was no clear path. The storytelling would have gone so much smoother.
Co-writer Chris Terrio went on to share his thoughts on the matter, saying:
"Your only compass really, your only north star, is your heart and how you feel about this. We went into this movie knowing it was a love letter to Star Wars, it was a love letter to the old school kind of filmmaking that inspired George [Lucas], republic serials, Flash Gordon, samurai movies, all these other genre references that we love. And it's the stuff about Hollywood movie making that we love. It's the big mythic stuff that we love. We went into it deciding that is what we wanted the final episode to be."
What do you think about Abrams and Terrio’s comments? Are you happy with the way the saga ended, or did you leave the theater feeling let down?