0:00

I was raised a Star Wars kid . Though

0:03

I don't remember it , save a vague memory

0:06

of standing in some very long

0:08

line as a child , I am told

0:10

that my parents took me to see Empire

0:12

Strikes Back in the

0:14

theater For many

0:16

Christmases , year after year

0:19

. All I ever wanted after

0:21

that day was the next Star

0:23

Wars toy , from the X-Wing fighter

0:26

, my favorite , to the Millennium

0:28

Falcon , everyone else's favorite

0:30

. I stayed a fan

0:32

for years , years

0:35

and years into my adulthood , even

0:38

while in law school . I

0:40

even took time out of my studies to camp

0:43

in line at the Newport Beach

0:45

Big Newport movie theater

0:47

. It was going to be

0:49

the release of the Phantom

0:51

Menace . This was going

0:53

to be the first Star Wars release on

0:56

the big screen since the originals

0:58

. If you don't count the special

1:00

editions , it

1:02

was a madhouse . Count

1:09

the special editions , it was a madhouse Star Wars fans for a week living in tents on the lawn

1:11

of this movie theater in Newport Beach , california . That was me

1:13

. I was there . If

1:15

I remember correctly , my friends and I were even

1:17

interviewed by this director

1:19

who was making a short film on

1:22

the line , and

1:24

a year or two later that film debuted

1:26

at a number of film festivals . Evidently

1:29

, our appearance in that film was not a small

1:31

part of the story . I still haven't

1:33

seen that short film as

1:35

the years went on before

1:38

, way before Disney ever

1:40

purchased Lucasfilm . I

1:42

found continued enjoyment in reading Star

1:44

Wars novels . There were no

1:46

movies to be seen after all , just

1:48

the original trilogy and the

1:50

prequels , if you so liked those . Now

1:53

, the novels were never really earth shattering

1:55

they were . Often they were a bit too contrived

1:58

, but just the feeling

2:00

of being in the Star Wars world

2:02

was enough of a feeling to

2:04

keep me . Coming back to the novels

2:07

Now , you

2:09

may have noticed I didn't speak kindly

2:11

of the prequels . After

2:13

having seen them and being such a diehard

2:16

quote-unquote truest for

2:18

the original trilogy , I

2:20

had my own headcanon that the prequels

2:23

basically didn't exist . They

2:25

had never been made . I

2:27

was happy living in the original

2:30

trilogy as gospel canon

2:32

and

2:41

exploring the extended universe through

2:44

the novels . You see I wanted to care Like

2:48

Lord of the Rings . Star Wars was my thing , my connection to a larger

2:50

community of diehards . Star Wars , trivial Pursuit Yep

2:52

, I was that guy who knew most

2:55

of the questions . I liked

2:57

caring . My friends

2:59

and I had a running joke that the

3:01

events of Star Wars were real

3:03

, had a running joke that

3:05

the events of Star Wars were

3:08

real and that Lucas had not created Star

3:10

Wars . He

3:14

merely uncovered the all-too-real history and presented it to us in a movie form . Yeah

3:16

, I know sounds ridiculous

3:18

, but that was all the fun

3:21

of it , you see , because back

3:23

then to be a Star Wars

3:25

fan was to rule the world

3:27

. To

3:34

be a Star Wars fan was like being

3:36

a Patriots fan . During the 20 years of Brady's reign , you

3:42

were the boast of the town . As a Star Wars fan , you could talk

3:44

about George Lucas as one

3:46

of the greatest directors of all time no-transcript

3:52

. So one could rest in the confidence that

3:54

Star Wars was king , not

3:56

like those sorry Trekkie fans

3:58

who had to put up with some new mediocre TV

4:00

show or other . Star

4:02

Wars fans were the big kids on the block

4:05

, and for good reason . And

4:08

so the years went on and

4:11

one fateful day the

4:14

news that Disney had

4:16

purchased Lucasfilm was

4:18

announced . Like

4:20

many , I was excited

4:22

by the news . This was before

4:25

Disney was known to be the pandering

4:28

, woke shell of a production studio

4:30

that it is now . This was

4:32

the emperor of emperors , this

4:34

was Disney . This was the emperor of emperors , this was Disney . And they had

4:37

the money and the creativity

4:39

we thought to take the

4:41

Star Wars extended universe onto the

4:43

big screen . I was hopeful

4:45

, excited

4:53

and optimistic . Oh , to be back in those naive days

4:55

. Then , in 2015 , something happened

4:57

. During the build-up

4:59

to the upcoming the force awakens

5:02

, anticipation was at a fever

5:04

pitch and I picked

5:06

up a novel that was a lead-up

5:08

to the force awakens

5:11

. It's a novel called aftermath

5:13

star wars novel

5:15

by a man named Chuck Wendig

5:17

. In the story

5:19

there was a character who expressed

5:22

homosexual tendencies I

5:25

can't forget the double take

5:27

that I did in my mind A

5:30

gay character in Star Wars

5:33

. This was

5:35

unheard of and

5:37

it was so unnecessary

5:39

, so forced and so

5:41

obvious in its intention

5:43

to normalize

5:46

homosexuality , even

5:48

in space , even in Star

5:50

Wars . You

5:52

see , star Wars real

5:54

Star Wars had never had

5:57

much sexuality at all , though

5:59

there was romance and beauty and

6:01

, yes , princess Leia , you know , in

6:04

the Return of the Jedi outfit

6:06

. But the Star Wars universe

6:08

was free , generally speaking , of

6:10

politics and agendas . Well

6:14

, wendig's aftermath changed

6:16

that and a chill of

6:18

portent crept down my back , realizing

6:21

that it wasn't just Chuck Wendig , it

6:24

was Disney that okayed this decision

6:27

to inject a gay character

6:29

into the main storyline

6:31

, into the Disney Star

6:33

Wars canon line , into

6:36

the Disney Star Wars canon . I'll just say it . I

6:38

was pissed , not because

6:40

I'm a bigot , but

6:50

because the injection of modern , social , political messaging completely took me

6:52

out of the Star Wars world . It took me out of

6:54

the story of the imaginative world

6:57

. It reminded me in that moment

6:59

, like the lights turning on full

7:01

bright in the middle of a movie , showing that

7:04

I was reading a story , a made

7:06

up story by some author who

7:08

had an agenda , and

7:10

it very quickly and all of a sudden

7:13

ceased to

7:15

be Star Wars . It

7:17

became a mere vehicle

7:20

for a message . I held

7:22

onto my optimism . However , I

7:25

didn't completely abandon Star Wars

7:27

. I simply was a bit more cautious

7:30

in my reading . My excitement

7:32

for the Force Awakens continued

7:34

to grow . My excitement for the Force Awakens continued

7:36

to grow as we began seeing the trailers leading up

7:39

to it . My thoughts were

7:41

Lucasfilm certainly

7:44

had learned its lesson from the prequels

7:46

. I thought we're not going to have any Jar

7:48

Jar Binks in there and they've

7:50

had so many years to plan for this

7:52

release . And this is Disney

7:54

and its new Star Wars content

7:56

. It had to be good

7:58

, I thought , and

8:01

honestly it wasn't too bad

8:03

. I enjoyed the Force Awakens

8:05

. It wasn't , you know , changing

8:08

the world , but it gave me the sense

8:10

of the Star Wars universe and I was genuinely

8:12

intrigued to see where we would go

8:15

with Rey and Kylo and

8:17

, of course , luke . The

8:21

epic scene where Rey is

8:23

holding the lightsaber out

8:25

to Luke Skywalker in the closing

8:27

scene of Force Awakens filled

8:29

me with an excitement that

8:31

I had not felt for

8:33

many , many years . That

8:36

was the epic Star

8:38

Wars feeling I had been waiting for . I

8:43

had no idea that

8:45

it was all being set up for the

8:47

biggest disappointment , the

8:50

biggest offense in

8:52

the guise of a Star Wars story

8:54

I was ever to view , in

8:57

the guise of a Star Wars story I was ever

8:59

to view . When the Last Jedi

9:01

came out , I was there

9:03

opening night , heart

9:06

pounding all

9:13

the expectation in the world I couldn't wait

9:15

to see , and

9:21

Rian Johnson's despicable mind had Luke Skywalker toss the lightsaber over his shoulder

9:23

without a care , with disdain even

9:26

. I felt something

9:28

break inside of me . It

9:32

was as if Luke was throwing

9:34

all of Star Wars fandom

9:36

over his shoulder over the cliff

9:38

, without a care

9:40

. Something

9:49

inside me broke in that moment , began

9:52

to evaporate and continue

9:55

to evaporate throughout the course of

9:57

that wretched film and

9:59

the abomination that followed

10:01

the Rise of Skywalker

10:04

. By the

10:06

end of my one and only

10:08

viewing of the Rise of Skywalker , I

10:10

had in essence ceased to

10:13

care about Star Wars . I

10:15

was so offended by the utter

10:17

mediocrity that those films

10:19

were . It was an affront

10:22

to all that makes fantasy

10:24

storytelling good and important

10:26

and even vital . It

10:29

wasn't just a slap in the face , it

10:32

was a spit in the face and a kick

10:34

off the cliff . And it was

10:36

in this apathetic world that

10:39

I have lived now since those forgettable

10:41

closing scenes of the Rise

10:43

of Skywalker . Yeah

10:46

, I watched Solo . Yeah

10:49

, I watched Rogue One pretty

10:51

good , but I didn't

10:53

really care anymore . Yeah

10:56

, I watched the first season of the Mandalorian

10:59

. But truth be told , and

11:01

you know , if you know , for all

11:03

the hype and for as

11:05

good as some of the Mandalorian

11:07

was , even it had

11:09

many cracks and shortcomings

11:11

I often left those viewings

11:13

unsatisfied and just eh

11:16

. I watched a couple episodes

11:19

of the Book of Boba Fett and

11:21

saw quickly it was an utter

11:23

waste of time . Yes , a

11:26

bitterness still resides within me

11:28

. No doubt I feel it even now

11:30

telling this story to you , but

11:33

before I didn't let it show

11:35

, I kept my mouth shut and my pocketbook

11:38

to myself . I don't read

11:40

Star Wars novels anymore . I don't watch

11:42

anything Star Wars anymore . I

11:44

don't subscribe to Disney

11:46

Plus . Why ? Because

11:50

I know it is subpar

11:53

, I know it sucks . I

11:56

know that I'll be appalled by every

11:58

languishing scene after

12:01

languishing scene . Somewhere

12:04

during the pathetic attempts

12:07

of the Obi-Wan show grown

12:09

men , trained hitmen , couldn't catch

12:12

a small child in the forest and

12:14

the even worse , ahsoka , so

12:16

utterly stupid , thrown

12:19

as the biggest idiot ever . My

12:22

apathy started to turn to

12:24

mockery . I began to

12:27

enjoy seeing how bad

12:29

the writing had become . How

12:35

bad the writing had become . So I began to turn my attention to outlets like

12:37

the Critical Drinker , nerdrotic , disparoo and others . My

12:39

new Star Wars-related entertainment

12:42

was their deft criticism

12:45

of one Disney failure after

12:47

another . And boy , disney did

12:49

not disappoint , did they ? I

12:52

could relate so well to the Critical

12:54

drinker and nerd-rotic in Disparu their

12:56

criticisms . Very often their

12:58

criticisms mirrored my own thoughts

13:00

. And this brings me to

13:03

season one of the Acolyte Slow

13:07

dialogue going nowhere

13:09

, idiotic , slow

13:12

establishing shots , boring

13:15

slow shots of people walking

13:17

and an utter disdain for

13:19

the true storytelling core

13:22

, which requires traditional

13:24

values that made the original Star Wars

13:27

so great . And instead

13:29

the acolyte Lesbian

13:32

space witches , ritualistic

13:35

pagan ceremonies , gender

13:37

pronouns in space , physics-defying

13:41

stupidity , tropes

13:43

so old and tired now

13:46

that it screams Disney

13:48

has simply run out of ideas

13:50

and I just can't anymore

13:52

. Yes , my love

13:54

of Star Wars died when Luke

13:56

Skywalker threw the saber over his

13:59

shoulder , but the corpse of

14:01

that love is now just being

14:03

flogged to the point of unrecognizability

14:06

. Star Wars doesn't

14:08

exist anymore . There

14:11

is no Star Wars For

14:13

the Star Wars that I know and will always

14:16

love is saved in those

14:18

three original movies

14:20

. Thank you , george Lucas . And

14:23

everything else just

14:25

isn't Star Wars . It's

14:27

not my Star Wars , at least Not

14:29

in the slightest . So

14:32

, as an Orthodox Christian man , star

14:35

Wars , like Lord of the Rings , is

14:38

a story safely tucked in

14:40

the past and it cannot be touched

14:42

, no matter how many Disneys or

14:45

Jeff Bezos come along to

14:47

vandalize the remains with

14:49

new concoctions of modern messaging

14:52

wrapped in the veneer of

14:54

lore , somehow sort

14:56

of resembling Star Wars

14:58

. Oh look a lightsaber

15:01

. Oh look the Force . Nope

15:04

, sorry . There

15:07

is a real Force . It's

15:10

the Holy Spirit . There

15:12

is a real Palpatine with

15:14

his stormtroopers , satan

15:16

and his demons . The myth

15:19

that I now occupy my time with

15:21

is the myth that tells the

15:23

truth , not myth

15:25

boldly lying to my face

15:27

, telling me that two

15:29

female witches can procreate

15:32

two children using the thread

15:34

. Nope , whether

15:37

Luke Skywalker or Aragorn

15:40

, son of Arathorn . My heroes

15:42

resemble Christ Jesus

15:44

and they point me to him

15:47

, the way , the

15:49

truth and the life . Thank

15:54

you for listening . Thank

15:56

you for listening to my story of Star

15:59

Wars . I would love to hear your thoughts

16:01

. Agree , disagree

16:03

, let's talk

16:05

about it . If you're

16:07

at all curious about Orthodox Christianity

16:09

, find a parish near

16:12

you , go talk to a priest

16:14

. And thank you for listening to

16:16

Cloud of Witnesses Radio .