Sometimes Hollywood
sucks.
It’s not a matter of being upset at expanding or
updating our fictional universes, it’s the poor execution. The soul of the
movie is gone. For me it was when midi-chlorians and a Gungan invaded my
favorite universe, Star Wars.
As a kid, I always had a bruises on my hands from
having lightsaber duels with friends. Because I was too young to watch the
original Star Wars trilogy in theaters, it felt like I discovered the films for
myself. I remember begging my mom to get out of bed and take me out and go to
garage sales on Saturday mornings so I could find Star Wars toys, comics, and
clothes. When the prequel trilogy was announced I bought tickets to watch “Meet
Joe Black” just to see the teaser trailer and I stood in line for hours on May
19th, 1999 to watch the film.
After I watched “The Phantom Menace” I felt betrayed.
The limitless possibilities in the Star Wars universe were reduced to politics
and podracing. “The Phantom Menace” didn’t ruin my love for Star Wars, but my
favorite films had been defiled.
This isn’t a new experience though. Fans throughout
time hold their stories as sacred. In fact, when Christ was on Earth, many
academics agree that the laws found in the Old Testament where being followed
more closely than any other time in history. This group of fans memorized the
entire Torah (the first 5 books of the Bible) by the time they turned 12, just
before their Bar Mitzvah.
Babylonian Talmud Baba Bathra 21a:6 says,
“Before
the age of six do not accept pupils; from that age you can accept them, and
stuff them with Torah like an ox.”
There were two more levels of involvement after
that. Next, you would memorize the
Tanach, the complete Old Testament, and a select few would go on to study and
copy the exact mannerisms of the Rabi they apprenticed under.
Can you imagine the love and dedication you would need
to memorize that vast amount of information? Of course you can! I’m certain you
could speak every line of dialogue in your favorite movie with the TV muted
from the otherside of the house. This group of super-fans, the Pharisees and
Sadducees, didn’t like the Torah… they adored it. They gave their lives to
study and revisit the stories over and over again.
These religious groups
were the gatekeepers of the word of God. They believed every word in the
sacred text and were willing to defend it at any cost. The people who crucified Jesus weren’t evil.
Jesus was crucified by the prevailing wisdom of the day. When Christ came and
said “Your faith has healed you” or “Your sins are forgiven” he was standing
against centuries of religious ceremony, entrenched wisdom, and devoted
followers of the Torah.
The faith traditions within Judaism believed that they
had an exclusive right to the favor of God and the ability to interpret the
sacred text. Jesus brought a new revelation to the law, “Sabbath was not made
for God but for man”. He brought the good news that the love of God was for all
people, not just the Jewish people. Jesus pissed off the Torah super-fans and
paid the price.
Jesus was crucified by well-intentioned people trying
to protect the word of God.
It’s crazy when you think about it that way right?
The most hardcore fans of the Bible, the Pharisees and
Sadducees, were capable of crucifying their own promised Messiah, Jesus Christ,
because they were holding so tightly to their interpretations of the Torah. Do
you think you and I might run the risk of holding our fictional universes as a
little too sacred?
I’m not saying that we should defend poor movies or
obvious cash grabs, but I think we have to keep our own hearts in check when we
feel that righteous, pious, anger begins to rise in us towards the fictional
properties we love.
Do you know what the crazy thing is? My intern from a
few years back loved Jar Jar Binks. He grew up on the prequels and it gave him
a taste of that same amazing universe I love so much. If it wasn’t for the
prequels he may never have discovered Star Wars. If it wasn’t for the Phantom
Menace we wouldn’t have the amazing expanded universe we get to enjoy now.
In Mark 2:22 Jesus tells a group of Pharisees:
“No
one puts new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins,
and the wine is lost as well as the skins. But new wine is for fresh
wineskins.” HCSV
Is it possible that we could see each fresh entry into
our favorite fandoms as an opportunity to discover something new and beautiful
in our beloved universes instead of looking for things to criticize? Can we
judge each movie by its own merit instead of making it conform to what we think
it should be? Maybe we should hold loosely to the properties that made such an
impact on us and allow others to discover the fictional universes we love so
much. Maybe we should celebrate that our beloved universes will get to live on
and continue to be enjoyed by generations to come.
I don’t know if I can let go of my righteous fandom,
but I do know if I don’t at least try I run the risk of becoming a Pharisee
myself.
Grace, peace and May the Force be with you,
by Jonathan Owens
Jonathan is a
lucky husband and father, minister of the gospel of grace and proud nerd
Special thanks to Percy Hudson and Luke Ellis for editing
this article
Title photo credit to Amio Cajander
