Star Wars and the smallness of The Empire Strikes Back

[intrigueing]

A great, bubbly, and very enjoyable read about why Empire was the best Star Wars movie:

The Empire Strikes Back is faster and more intense—but only because it’s smaller and more personal.

It also made me laugh because I'm pretty damn sure the fanfic-and-meta-and-fanart cohort of fans* (as opposed to the male uh, I mean, the what-is-Darth-Vader's-suit-made-of-and-is-it-fireproof-fans) noticed this and went to town on it ages ago. How come critics are always late to the blindingly obvious party?


*(Is there an official term to distinguish these fans from the dudes (yeah yeah and girls) whose fandom consists of only collecting Star Wars merchandise and playing Star Wars cards and that kind of stuff?)

Comments

[lightbird]

Thanks for the link. That sums it up perfectly. Empire has always been my favorite of this franchise.

[intrigueing]

Yeah, I was surprised how concisely it pointed out all the right bits (I loved especially the part about the quiet Dagobah moments.)

[tei]

The term I have heard for the fanfic-and-meta cohort is "transformative fandom"? I feel like I have heard a term for the more merch-and-canon -focused kind but I can't remember it...

[intrigueing]

Transformative sounds right! Unfortunately "transformative" is also one of those adjectives that doesn't actually mean anything to people who don't know what context it's being used in...

[tei]

that's a good point... if you tell someone that you're a member of "transformative fandom" they're just as likely to assume that you mean that fandom has been transformative to you personally as that the presence of the fandom transforms the canon. hmmmm.

[muccamukk]

I feel like there is a word, but my headcold is preventing me from thinking of it. It's something like remixing or interacting or ...

It is the best movie and that's why though. Which is odd given the usual wizdom about middle acts of trilogies.

Transformative may have been what I was thinking of.

[intrigueing]

I wonder if middle-act-syndrome is due to excessive self-awareness on the part of filmmakers or something. Like, deliberately not letting stuff happen because it's the middle? IDK.

[st_aurafina]

It is the best movie, it's so true.

Is there an official term to distinguish these fans

I don't know, but I do know exactly who you mean - the people who are really looking forward to finally seeing Thanos in the Avengers movies.

[intrigueing]

Yeah, there just seems to be a really sharp divergence in focus, not just fan-activity, between the two.

[lilacsigil]

I use "fangirls" and "fanboys" with the disclaimer that not all fangirls are female and not all fanboys are male. I've also seen "transformative fans" and "affirmative fans" meaning those who want to take canon as a creative starting point vs those who want to experience as much of the given canon as possible.

[intrigueing]

That's interesting too, though I don't know if all fanfic/meta fans use canon just as a creative starting point -- some fans mostly write fanfiction as a way to explore the canon rather than jump off of it. IDK if that still counts?